A guest is leaving a hotel and settling the bill at reception. Checking out packs several A2 systems into one quick, scripted exchange: the perfect past tense for what already happened (Jeste li spavali dobro?, "Did you sleep well?"), numerals and money for the total, the se-passive that hotels love for the bill (Sve je naplaćeno, "Everything has been charged"), formal Vi from start to finish, and a set of fixed closing formulas. Because the whole encounter is so ritualised, it is an ideal text for seeing exactly how these forms slot into a real conversation.
The dialogue
— Gost: Dobro jutro. Htio bih se odjaviti, soba dvjesto pet. — Recepcionar: Dobro jutro. Naravno. Jeste li dobro spavali? — Gost: Jako dobro, hvala. Sve je bilo besprijekorno. — Recepcionar: Drago mi je. Trenutak da provjerim račun. — Gost: Jesam li nešto uzeo iz minibara, sjećate li se? — Recepcionar: Da, uzeli ste dvije vode i jedan sok. To je naplaćeno na račun. — Gost: U redu. Koliko ukupno dođe? — Recepcionar: Ukupno sto pedeset eura. Soba je već plaćena karticom pri dolasku. — Gost: Znači ostaje samo minibar? — Recepcionar: Točno. Sve ostalo je naplaćeno. Trebate li račun na firmu? — Gost: Ne treba, hvala. Mogu li ostaviti kofere do podneva? — Recepcionar: Naravno, čuvat ćemo ih. Hvala na posjetu i sretan put! — Gost: Hvala vama na svemu. Doviđenja!
Grammar in action
The perfect past — Jeste li spavali, uzeli ste. Croatian's everyday past is the perfect: the present of biti (sam, si, je, smo, ste, su) plus the l-participle, which agrees with the subject in gender and number. The receptionist asks Jeste li dobro spavali? ("Did you sleep well?") — jeste + li + the plural participle spavali (plural because Vi is grammatically plural). The guest replies about the past with Sve je bilo besprijekorno ("Everything was flawless"), and the receptionist states uzeli ste dvije vode ("you took two waters").
Da, uzeli ste dvije vode i jedan sok.
Yes, you took two waters and one juice. — perfect 'uzeli ste' (auxiliary 'ste' + participle 'uzeli'); 'dvije vode' = paucal genitive after 2.
Jako dobro, hvala. Sve je bilo besprijekorno.
Very well, thank you. Everything was flawless. — past 'je bilo'; neuter participle 'bilo' agreeing with 'sve'.
Dobro jutro. Naravno. Jeste li dobro spavali?
Good morning. Of course. Did you sleep well? — perfect question 'jeste li … spavali'; plural participle because Vi is grammatically plural.
The structure and agreement of the perfect are laid out on the perfect tense.
The se-passive on the bill — Sve je naplaćeno. Hotels and shops describe charges with the se-passive and its close cousin, the participial passive, precisely because no agent needs naming — what matters is that the money was charged, not who charged it. The receptionist says To je naplaćeno na račun and Sve ostalo je naplaćeno ("everything else has been charged"), and Soba je već plaćena ("the room is already paid"). These passive forms (naplaćeno, plaćena) are the natural register of billing.
Točno. Sve ostalo je naplaćeno. Trebate li račun na firmu?
Exactly. Everything else has been charged. Do you need an invoice for the company? — passive 'je naplaćeno' (has been charged), agentless.
Ukupno sto pedeset eura. Soba je već plaćena karticom pri dolasku.
A hundred and fifty euros in total. The room was already paid by card on arrival. — passive 'je plaćena'; instrumental 'karticom' = by card.
The agentless se- and participial passives are covered on the se-passive and impersonal se.
Numerals and money — dvije vode, sto pedeset eura. Croatian counts in a way English does not. After 2, 3, 4 the noun takes the special paucal/genitive-singular form: dvije vode ("two waters"). From 5 upward the noun goes to the genitive plural, and euro is the currency since 2023. Compound numbers stack transparently: sto pedeset = "one hundred fifty." The number itself often stays uninflected in casual speech, so the case-marking burden falls on the counted noun.
U redu. Koliko ukupno dođe?
All right. How much does it come to in total? — 'koliko' (how much) + 'dođe' (comes to), the standard way to ask a total.
How numbers govern the noun's case, and the money vocabulary, are on numbers, prices and haggling; the 11–100 range is detailed on cardinals 11–100.
Formal Vi and check-out formulas. The entire exchange stays on Vi — appropriate between a guest and staff — visible in Jeste li…, sjećate li se, Trebate li…, Hvala vama. The opening request is softened with the conditional Htio bih se odjaviti ("I'd like to check out"), and the close runs through fixed formulas: Hvala na posjetu ("thanks for visiting"), sretan put ("have a good trip"), and Doviđenja ("goodbye"). The reflexive odjaviti se ("to check out") mirrors prijaviti se ("to check in").
Dobro jutro. Htio bih se odjaviti, soba dvjesto pet.
Good morning. I'd like to check out, room two hundred and five. — conditional 'htio bih' softens the request; reflexive 'se odjaviti'.
Hvala vama na svemu. Doviđenja!
Thank you for everything. Goodbye! — 'vama' is the dative Vi-form; 'na svemu' = for everything (loc.).
The choice of Vi with hotel staff is the default explained on ti vs Vi.
Vocabulary
| Croatian | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| odjaviti se | to check out | reflexive; 'prijaviti se' = check in |
| recepcionar | receptionist | 'recepcija' = the front desk |
| račun | bill / invoice / account | 'račun na firmu' = company invoice |
| naplatiti | to charge (a fee) | passive 'naplaćeno' = charged |
| platiti | to pay | passive 'plaćena' = paid |
| kartica | card | 'karticom' = by card (instr.) |
| ukupno | in total | 'koliko ukupno' = how much in total |
| euro | euro | Croatia's currency since 2023 |
| kofer | suitcase | 'ostaviti kofere' = to leave the bags |
| sretan put | have a good trip | standard send-off to a traveller |
Culture & register note
Key Takeaways
- The everyday past is the perfect: present of biti
- l-participle agreeing with the subject — uzeli ste, je bilo, jeste li spavali.
- Bills use the agentless se-/participial passive: Sve je naplaćeno, Soba je plaćena — the money was charged, no agent named.
- Numbers govern the noun's case: 2–4 take the paucal (dvije vode), 5+ the genitive plural; prices are now in eura.
- Soften requests with the conditional Htio bih… and check out with the reflexive odjaviti se.
- With hotel staff, stay on Vi, and close with the fixed formulas Hvala na posjetu, sretan put, Doviđenja.
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Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- The Perfect Tense (perfekt)A1 — The everyday past: l-participle + clitic auxiliary biti.
- The se-Passive and Impersonal ConstructionsB1 — Expressing 'one does / it is done' with se — the everyday Croatian passive.
- Prices and BargainingA2 — Asking prices and haggling in Croatian — Koliko košta?, Preskupo je, Imate li popust?, the all-purpose Može li jeftinije? (can it be cheaper?), round numbers, and paying with the instrumental (karticom, gotovinom).
- Cardinal Numbers 11-1000A1 — Teens, tens, hundreds, and how to build compound numbers.
- ti vs Vi: Formal and Informal YouA1 — Croatian splits 'you' into informal ti and formal/respectful Vi — and the one rule everyone gets wrong is that Vi takes plural verb agreement even for a single person.
- Dialogue: Asking About PricesA1 — An annotated shopping dialogue — the price question (Koliko košta?), comparatives (jeftinije, skuplje), prices in eura, demonstratives (ovaj/taj), and numeral government on the noun counted.