Small talk is the social glue between „hello" and a real conversation, and Croatian has its own ritual openers — some formal, some pure street slang. This page gives you the question-and-answer routine (Kako si? — Dobro, hvala, a ti?), the casual alternatives (Što ima?, Kako ide?), and the safe topics Croatians actually chat about. One opener, Što ima?, even hides a neat grammar point: the existential verb ima („there is"), which is worth understanding because it reaches far beyond small talk.
The standard opener: Kako si?
The default „How are you?" is Kako si? to one person you address informally, and Kako ste? to someone formal or to a group. The expected reply is short and upbeat, and crucially it bounces the question back with a ti? („and you?") / a vi?.
| Croatian | Meaning | Register |
|---|---|---|
| Kako si? | How are you? | (informal) one person |
| Kako ste? | How are you? | (formal) / to a group |
| Dobro, hvala, a ti? | Fine, thanks, and you? | (informal) |
| Dobro, hvala, a vi? | Fine, thanks, and you? | (formal) |
| Može biti / Idemo dalje. | Can't complain / getting by. | (informal) |
Bok, kako si? Dugo se nismo vidjeli!
Hi, how are you? Long time no see! — informal 'kako si'.
Dobro, hvala, a ti?
Fine, thanks, and you? — the standard safe reply, bouncing it back with 'a ti'.
Kako ste, gospođo Horvat?
How are you, Mrs Horvat? — formal 'kako ste' with a surname.
The casual openers: Što ima? and Kako ide?
Among friends, the standard Kako si? gives way to slangier openers. Što ima? is „What's up?" / „What's new?", and Kako ide? is „How's it going?". Both are firmly informal.
| Croatian | Literal | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Što ima? | what is-there? | What's up? / What's new? (informal) |
| Kako ide? | how (it) goes? | How's it going? (informal) |
| Što ima novo? | what is-there new? | What's new? (informal) |
| Ma ništa posebno. | well nothing special | Oh, nothing much. (informal) |
| Sve po starom. | all by the-old | Same as ever. (informal) |
Hej, što ima? Dugo te nema!
Hey, what's up? You've been scarce! — casual 'što ima'.
Kako ide? Jesi li dobro?
How's it going? Are you OK? — informal 'kako ide'.
Ma ništa posebno, sve po starom.
Oh, nothing much, same as ever. — the standard low-key reply.
The grammar inside „Što ima?": existential ima
Što ima? literally reads „what is there?" — and that ima is the existential „there is / there are." This is a quietly important verb. While imati normally means „to have" (imam auto, „I have a car"), in its third-person singular ima it doubles as the impersonal „there is/are," much like Spanish hay or French il y a. It stays singular no matter how many things exist, and the thing that exists goes into the genitive.
| Croatian | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ima li problema? | Is there a problem? / Are there problems? | 'ima' stays singular; 'problema' genitive |
| Ima kruha. | There's (some) bread. | genitive 'kruha' |
| Nema problema. | No problem. / There's no problem. | negative 'nema' + genitive |
| Ima li koga? | Is anyone there? | genitive 'koga' |
Što ima kod tebe ovih dana?
What's up with you these days? — existential 'ima', literally „what is there with you”.
Ima li još kave?
Is there any more coffee? — existential 'ima' + genitive 'kave'.
Nema veze, nije važno.
Never mind, it doesn't matter. — frozen phrase with negative existential 'nema' + genitive 'veze'.
Safe topics: weather, weekend, work, sport, food
Once the openers are done, Croatians chat about the same safe ground as everyone. The weather is the universal fallback; the weekend (vikend), work (posao), football (nogomet — a national passion) and food are all reliable.
Kakvo je danas vrijeme kod vas?
What's the weather like where you are? — weather, the universal opener.
Što radiš ovaj vikend?
What are you doing this weekend? — 'vikend', a classic small-talk topic.
Jesi li gledao utakmicu sinoć?
Did you watch the match last night? — 'utakmica' (football match); 'gledao' male speaker.
Kako ide na poslu? Imaš li puno posla?
How's work going? Do you have a lot on? — 'posao' (work) as a topic.
The weather topic, with its subjectless verbs (pada kiša, „it's raining"), gets its own page: weather expressions.
Common Mistakes
❌ Što imaš? (kao „what's up”)
Wrong sense — 'Što imaš?' = „What do you have?”. „What's up?” is the existential 'Što ima?'.
✅ Što ima?
What's up? — existential 'ima', not 'imaš'.
❌ Kako si? — Dobro. (i ništa više)
Feels curt — leaving off the bounce-back sounds abrupt. Return the question.
✅ Dobro, hvala, a ti?
Fine, thanks, and you? — always bounce it back with 'a ti / a vi'.
❌ Kako ste? (prijatelju)
Wrong register — to a friend use informal 'Kako si?'; 'Kako ste?' is formal or plural.
✅ Kako si?
How are you? — informal, to one friend.
❌ Ima problem.
Wrong case — existential 'ima' takes the genitive: 'Ima problema' / 'Nema problema'.
✅ Nema problema.
No problem. — 'nema' + genitive 'problema'.
Key Takeaways
- The default opener is Kako si? (informal) / Kako ste? (formal); reply Dobro, hvala, a ti? / a vi? — and always bounce the question back.
- Casual openers: Što ima? („what's up?"), Kako ide? („how's it going?") — both informal.
- Što ima? is built on the existential ima („there is"), which stays singular and takes the genitive — the same verb behind nema problema and nema veze.
- Safe topics: the weather, the weekend (vikend), work (posao), football (nogomet), food.
Now practice Croatian
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Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- Greetings and FarewellsA1 — How to say hello and goodbye in Croatian — from the all-purpose 'bok' to formal 'doviđenja' — with register notes and the vocative behind every greeting.
- Existential Sentences (there is/are)A2 — ima/nema, biti, and presentational order.
- Weather ExpressionsA2 — Talking about the weather — 'Kakvo je vrijeme?', subjectless 'pada kiša', 'sunce sja', and the dative 'hladno mi je' for personal feeling — with no 'it' in sight.
- izgledati (to look / appear)B1 — The 'looks like' verb — why it takes an ADVERB ('izgledaš dobro', not '*dobar'), plus 'kao + nominative' and 'da'-clause patterns, contrasted with the dative-experiencer 'činiti se'.