A job advertisement is a small masterpiece of the formal Croatian register, and it leans hard on three grammatical pillars at once: the se-passive (the company doesn't say "we are looking for", it says traži se, "is sought"), a dense web of genitive phrases that state what qualifications are required (poznavanje engleskog jezika, "knowledge of English"), and infinitives that list the duties. Reading one carefully is one of the fastest ways for a B2 learner to see how Croatian builds impersonal, official prose. This page reads a representative posting clause by clause, then dissects each pillar. The text is invented but typical of what you would find on a Croatian job portal.
The text
Tvrtka Jadran d.o.o. raspisuje natječaj za radno mjesto: voditelj prodaje (m/ž).
The company Jadran Ltd. announces a vacancy for the position of: head of sales (m/f).
Traži se komunikativna i odgovorna osoba sa završenim fakultetom.
A communicative and responsible person with a completed degree is sought.
Od kandidata se očekuje poznavanje engleskog jezika i rad u timu.
Knowledge of English and teamwork are expected of the candidate.
Uvjeti: najmanje tri godine radnog iskustva i vozačka dozvola B kategorije.
Requirements: at least three years of work experience and a category B driving licence.
Zadaci uključuju voditi tim, planirati prodaju i izvještavati upravu.
The tasks include leading a team, planning sales and reporting to management.
Nudi se stalni radni odnos, stimulativna plaća i mogućnost napredovanja.
A permanent employment relationship, a motivating salary and the possibility of advancement are offered.
Zamolbe s životopisom šaljite na navedenu adresu do kraja mjeseca.
Send applications with a CV to the stated address by the end of the month.
Kontaktirat ćemo samo kandidate koji uđu u uži izbor.
We will contact only the candidates who make the shortlist.
The se-passive: who is offering, who is sought
The signature move of a job ad is that nobody says "I" or "we". Instead of tvrtka traži ("the company is looking for"), the ad says traži se — literally "(someone) is sought". This is the se-passive: a third-person active verb plus the clitic se, used when the doer is unimportant or deliberately hidden behind the institution. The grammatical subject is the thing being sought or offered, and the verb agrees with it. So Traži *se komunikativna osoba ("a communicative person is sought" — singular *osoba), but Trebaju *se dva prodavača ("two salespeople are needed" — plural). The same pattern runs through the whole ad: *nudi se ("is offered"), očekuje se ("is expected"), zapošljava se ("is being hired"), traže se ("are sought").
Traži se iskusan računovođa za rad na puno radno vrijeme.
An experienced accountant is sought for full-time work. (se-passive, singular subject)
Nude se odlični uvjeti rada i redovita plaća.
Excellent working conditions and a regular salary are offered. (se-passive, plural subject → nude se)
Za navedeno radno mjesto zapošljava se jedna osoba na neodređeno vrijeme.
For the stated position one person is being hired on a permanent basis. (se-passive)
Required qualifications and the genitive
The qualifications section is where Croatian piles up the genitive, and once you see the pattern it reads itself. Three mechanisms are at work.
First, a verbal noun governs its complement in the genitive: poznavanje engleskog jezika ("knowledge of the English language"), vođenje tima ("the leading of a team"). The noun poznavanje ("knowledge") takes a genitive object the way the verb poznavati takes an accusative one — the action is nominalised, and its object slides into the genitive.
Second, quantities and measures of experience trigger the genitive: tri godine radnog iskustva ("three years of work experience"), pet godina staža ("five years of service"). Here both the noun after the number (godine/godina) and the substance measured (iskustva) follow the counting and quantity rules.
Third, the very common frame od + genitive marks the person of whom something is required: Od *kandidata se očekuje… ("Of *the candidate it is expected…"), Od *zaposlenika se traži… ("Of *the employee it is required…"). This od is the preposition "from/of", and like every primary preposition of separation it takes the genitive.
Potrebno je poznavanje rada na računalu i osnova računovodstva.
Knowledge of computer work and the basics of accounting is required. (verbal noun + genitive: poznavanje rada, osnova)
Traži se kandidat s najmanje pet godina iskustva u struci.
A candidate with at least five years of experience in the profession is sought. (godina iskustva — quantity genitive)
Od kandidata se očekuje spremnost na timski rad.
Readiness for teamwork is expected of the candidate. (od + genitive kandidata)
Duties: the infinitive as a job description
When the ad lists what the job involves, it switches to the infinitive — the neutral, headword form of the verb — strung after a frame like Zadaci uključuju… ("The tasks include…") or Posao podrazumijeva… ("The job entails…"). Voditi tim, planirati prodaju, izvještavati upravu ("to lead a team, to plan sales, to report to management"): each duty is an unconjugated infinitive, which keeps the list crisp and impersonal — no "you will" and no "the candidate must", just the bare activities. Croatian also uses the infinitive after modal-ish frames of obligation: Potrebno je *organizirati sastanke ("It is necessary *to organise meetings"), Dužnost je *nadzirati zalihe ("The duty is *to supervise stock"). Note that the infinitive carries its own object in the appropriate case (voditi tim — accusative), so the genitive-heavy requirements give way to ordinary verb government here.
Zadaci uključuju voditi tim i pratiti rezultate prodaje.
The tasks include leading a team and tracking sales results. (duties as bare infinitives)
Posao podrazumijeva komunicirati s klijentima i pisati izvještaje.
The job entails communicating with clients and writing reports. (infinitive list after podrazumijeva)
Potrebno je samostalno organizirati radni dan.
It is necessary to organise one's workday independently. (potrebno je + infinitive of obligation)
The formal register, and where it slips into the imperative
A job ad is firmly formal (administrative-business register): abbreviations like d.o.o. ("Ltd."), m/ž ("m/f"), and bb in addresses; nominal style (poznavanje, vođenje, spremnost rather than verbs); and the impersonal se. Yet at the very end, when the ad finally turns to address the reader directly — telling them how to apply — it usually breaks into the polite vi-imperative: Zamolbe… *šaljite*, *prijave dostavite, životopis priložite* ("send / submit / enclose"). That switch is meaningful: the body describes the post impersonally, but the call to action speaks to you. Recognising the seam between the impersonal description and the imperative instruction is the key to reading the genre's structure.
Zamolbe šaljite isključivo elektroničkom poštom.
Send applications exclusively by email. (closing vi-imperative addressed to the reader)
Životopis i motivacijsko pismo priložite uz prijavu.
Enclose a CV and a cover letter with the application. (vi-imperative in the application instructions)
Vocabulary gloss
| Word / phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| natječaj | job competition, public vacancy notice |
| raspisati natječaj | to announce / open a vacancy |
| radno mjesto | position, job (lit. workplace) |
| voditelj prodaje | head / manager of sales |
| uvjeti | requirements, conditions |
| poznavanje | knowledge, command (of a skill/language) |
| radno iskustvo | work experience |
| vozačka dozvola | driving licence |
| stalni radni odnos | permanent employment |
| na neodređeno vrijeme | on a permanent (indefinite) basis |
| plaća | salary, wage |
| napredovanje | advancement, promotion |
| zamolba | application, request letter |
| životopis | CV, résumé |
| uži izbor | shortlist (lit. narrower selection) |
A register note. The job ad belongs to the administrative-business band: it favours deverbal nouns over verbs (poznavanje rather than poznavati, vođenje rather than voditi), it hides the company behind the se-passive, and it uses fixed legal abbreviations (d.o.o., m/ž, na neodređeno). The phrase (m/ž) after a job title flags that the post is open to both genders, a convention required by Croatian equal-opportunity practice precisely because most job nouns are grammatically masculine (voditelj) — the feminine voditeljica exists, and inclusive ads increasingly write voditelj/voditeljica. Avoid the casual ti-form anywhere in an ad; it would read as unprofessional.
Common Mistakes
❌ Traži se kandidati s iskustvom.
Agreement error — the se-passive verb agrees with its subject in number: a plural subject takes traže se. Use traže se kandidati, or traži se kandidat for the singular.
✅ Traže se kandidati s iskustvom.
Candidates with experience are sought.
❌ Od kandidata se očekuje poznavanje engleski jezik.
Case error — the verbal noun poznavanje takes a genitive object: poznavanje engleskog jezika, not the accusative engleski jezik.
✅ Od kandidata se očekuje poznavanje engleskog jezika.
Knowledge of English is expected of the candidate.
❌ Traži se kandidat s najmanje tri godine iskustvo.
Case error — after a quantity the substance is genitive: tri godine radnog iskustva, not the nominative iskustvo.
✅ Traži se kandidat s najmanje tri godine radnog iskustva.
A candidate with at least three years of work experience is sought.
❌ Zadaci uključuju da vodite tim i da planirate prodaju.
Register/style error — Croatian lists duties with bare infinitives (voditi, planirati), not a string of da-clauses, which sounds heavy and colloquial here.
✅ Zadaci uključuju voditi tim i planirati prodaju.
The tasks include leading a team and planning sales.
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Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- The se-Passive and Impersonal ConstructionsB1 — Expressing 'one does / it is done' with se — the everyday Croatian passive.
- Genitive after PrepositionsA2 — The large family of prepositions that take the genitive.
- Genitive with Certain Verbs and AdjectivesB1 — Verbs and adjectives that govern the genitive.
- Formal vs Informal CroatianB1 — Register in Croatian is a bundle of choices — pronoun (ti/Vi), syntax (infinitive vs da-clause), vocabulary (purist zrakoplov vs colloquial avion) and spelling — that must move together, not one switch.
- Annotated Formal EmailB2 — A line-by-line reading of a real Croatian business email — the Poštovani salutation, the capitalised formal Vi (Vas, Vam, Vaš), polite requests in the conditional (Molio bih Vas), the fixed sign-off S poštovanjem, and the nominal, connector-heavy style that defines written-formal Croatian.