Croatian legal and administrative prose is the densest register the language has, and it is built on a small number of deliberate choices that a learner has to recognise on sight. It turns actions into verbal nouns (sklapanje "the concluding", raskid "the termination", izvršenje "the performance") so that a contract can talk about events without ever naming who performs them. It hides the human actor behind the se-passive. It opens clauses with a fixed inventory of formulae — sukladno + dative, temeljem + genitive, u skladu s + instrumental — that all mean roughly "in accordance with". And it stacks nouns into long genitive chains that an English contract would unpack into several phrases. Below is a short, invented but representative excerpt from a commercial lease, read clause by clause. The content is fictional; the grammar is the real subject.
The text
Ovaj Ugovor o najmu poslovnog prostora sklapaju Najmodavac i Najmoprimac sukladno odredbama Zakona o obveznim odnosima.
This Lease Agreement for business premises is concluded by the Lessor and the Lessee in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Obligations.
Predmet ovoga Ugovora jest davanje u najam poslovnog prostora koji se nalazi na adresi navedenoj u članku 1.
The subject of this Agreement is the letting of the business premises located at the address specified in Article 1.
Najmoprimac se obvezuje plaćati najamninu do petoga dana u mjesecu, a u slučaju zakašnjenja obračunavaju se zakonske zatezne kamate.
The Lessee undertakes to pay the rent by the fifth day of the month, and in the event of delay statutory default interest is charged.
Raskid ovoga Ugovora moguć je sporazumno ili otkazom, uz otkazni rok od tri mjeseca.
Termination of this Agreement is possible by mutual consent or by notice, with a notice period of three months.
Ako Najmoprimac ne plati najamninu ni nakon pisane opomene, Najmodavac ima pravo jednostrano raskinuti Ugovor.
If the Lessee fails to pay the rent even after a written warning, the Lessor has the right to terminate the Agreement unilaterally.
Sve izmjene i dopune ovoga Ugovora valjane su samo ako su sačinjene u pisanom obliku i potpisane od obiju ugovornih strana.
All amendments and supplements to this Agreement are valid only if they are made in writing and signed by both contracting parties.
Za sve što nije uređeno ovim Ugovorom primjenjuju se odredbe mjerodavnog prava Republike Hrvatske.
For everything not regulated by this Agreement, the provisions of the applicable law of the Republic of Croatia apply.
U slučaju spora ugovorne strane nastojat će ga riješiti sporazumno, a u protivnom nadležan je sud u Zagrebu.
In the event of a dispute the contracting parties will endeavour to resolve it amicably, and failing that the court in Zagreb has jurisdiction.
Verbal nouns: turning the whole action into a noun
The first thing a reader notices is how often a finished or potential action is named as a noun rather than expressed by a verb. The heading-like words sklapanje ("the concluding"), davanje u najam ("the letting"), raskid ("termination"), zakašnjenje ("delay"), izmjene i dopune ("amendments and supplements") are all verbal nouns (glagolske imenice) — nouns built from verbs that package an entire event into a single declinable word. Raskid ovoga Ugovora literally reads "termination of this Agreement", where English would just as happily say "to terminate this Agreement". The verbal noun lets the contract treat the action as a thing it can be subject, object, or genitive complement.
Most are the regular -nje type formed from the passive participle (sklopiti → sklapanje, plaćati → plaćanje, izvršiti → izvršenje), but legal Croatian also loves the short, root-derived nouns (raskid, otkaz, spor, najam) that feel even more clipped and official.
Izvršenje obveza iz ovoga Ugovora osigurava se mjenicom.
The performance of the obligations under this Agreement is secured by a promissory note. (izvršenje = the performing, as a noun)
Otkaz ugovora dostavlja se preporučenom poštom.
Notice of termination of the contract is delivered by registered mail. (otkaz, najam — clipped root nouns)
The se-passive: who does it is left unsaid
Notice how rarely a person is the grammatical subject. The contract says obračunavaju se zatezne kamate ("default interest is charged"), primjenjuju se odredbe ("the provisions apply / are applied"), raskid se… osigurava ("[it] is secured"), otkaz se dostavlja ("notice is delivered"). Each is a se-passive: a transitive verb plus the clitic se, with the affected thing promoted to grammatical subject and the human agent left completely invisible. This is the heart of why legal language sounds impersonal and authoritative — the rule applies of itself, not because some named clerk applies it.
The verb agrees with the promoted subject: kamate se obračunavaju (plural, "interest is charged" — kamate is grammatically plural in Croatian), odredba se primjenjuje (singular). When the subject is a whole clause or unspecified, the verb stays third-person singular: za sve što nije uređeno… primjenjuju se… foregrounds odredbe as the plural subject.
Najamnina se plaća unaprijed, a polog se vraća po isteku najma.
The rent is paid in advance, and the deposit is returned upon expiry of the lease. (two se-passives, no payer or returner named)
Smatra se da je obavijest uručena istekom roka od osam dana.
The notice is deemed to have been served upon the expiry of an eight-day period. (smatra se — the canonical impersonal of legal drafting)
The fixed formulae: sukladno, temeljem, u skladu s
Administrative Croatian opens a remarkable number of clauses with a set phrase meaning "in accordance with / on the basis of / pursuant to". They are not interchangeable in their case government, and getting the case wrong is the surest sign of a non-native draft:
- sukladno
- dative: sukladno odredbama Zakona ("in accordance with the provisions of the Law"). Odredbama is dative plural.
- u skladu s
- instrumental: u skladu sa zakonom ("in accordance with the law"). The same meaning as sukladno, but it governs the instrumental after s(a).
- temeljem / na temelju
- genitive: temeljem članka 5. ("on the basis of / pursuant to Article 5"). Članka is genitive singular.
All three are register markers: in everyday speech you would simply say po zakonu ("by law") or prema dogovoru ("by agreement"). In a contract they signal that what follows is grounded in an external authority — a statute, an article, a prior agreement.
Sukladno članku 12. ovoga Ugovora, Najmoprimac snosi troškove tekućeg održavanja.
In accordance with Article 12 of this Agreement, the Lessee bears the costs of routine maintenance. (sukladno + dative članku)
Temeljem punomoći ovjerene kod javnog bilježnika, opunomoćenik potpisuje ovaj Ugovor.
On the basis of a power of attorney certified before a notary public, the attorney signs this Agreement. (temeljem + genitive punomoći)
Ugovor je sastavljen u skladu s važećim propisima.
The Agreement has been drawn up in accordance with the regulations in force. (u skladu s + instrumental propisima)
Long genitive chains and dense subordination
A single legal noun phrase can string three or four genitives together. The very title — Ugovor o najmu poslovnog prostora — is "Agreement about the lease of the business premises": ugovor takes o najmu (locative, "about the lease"), and najmu in turn takes poslovnog prostora in the genitive ("of the business premises"). English would write "Business Premises Lease Agreement" by piling up nouns; Croatian links them with cases. Likewise odredbama Zakona o obveznim odnosima ("the provisions of the Law on Obligations") chains a dative onto a genitive onto a locative.
The other compression device is subordination. A single sentence can carry a conditional clause, a relative clause, and a main clause: Ako Najmoprimac ne plati… ni nakon pisane opomene, Najmodavac ima pravo… raskinuti Ugovor packs the whole rule — condition, exception, consequence — into one period. The conditional ako-clause states the trigger, and the main clause states the right that arises. Reading legal Croatian fluently is largely the skill of finding the main verb first and then attaching the subordinate scaffolding around it.
Ugovorna strana koja prouzroči štetu dužna je naknaditi je u cijelosti.
The contracting party that causes damage is obliged to compensate it in full. (relative clause koja prouzroči embedded in the main clause)
Ako se strane drukčije ne dogovore, primjenjuje se rok iz stavka 2.
Unless the parties agree otherwise, the time limit from paragraph 2 applies. (conditional ako-clause + se-passive main clause)
Vocabulary gloss
| Word / phrase | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ugovor o najmu | lease / rental agreement | o + locative najmu; najmu takes a genitive complement |
| sklapanje (ugovora) | the concluding (of a contract) | verbal noun from sklopiti |
| najmodavac / najmoprimac | lessor / lessee | agent nouns: the one who gives / takes the lease |
| obvezati se | to undertake, bind oneself | reflexive; obvezuje se + infinitive |
| najamnina | the rent (the sum paid) | distinct from najam, the leasing relationship |
| zatezne kamate | default / late-payment interest | grammatically plural in Croatian |
| raskid (ugovora) | termination, rescission | clipped verbal noun from raskinuti |
| otkazni rok | notice period | otkaz = notice; rok = deadline, term |
| sukladno + dat | in accordance with | governs the dative |
| temeljem / na temelju + gen | on the basis of, pursuant to | governs the genitive |
| mjerodavno pravo | applicable / governing law | mjerodavan = competent, authoritative |
| nadležan sud | the court with jurisdiction | nadležan = competent (in the legal sense) |
A register note: this passage is at the extreme (formal / legal-administrative) end of the scale, and almost nothing in it would survive into conversation. Spoken Croatian would say dogovoriti se rather than sklopiti ugovor, po zakonu rather than sukladno odredbama Zakona, and would use full verbs (ako prekineš ugovor "if you break the contract") where the document uses verbal nouns (raskid ugovora). The capitalised defined terms (Ugovor, Najmodavac) are themselves a drafting convention: once a word is defined in Article 1, it is capitalised throughout. Recognising this register on sight — verbal nouns, se-passives, the sukladno / temeljem / u skladu s formulae, and head-first genitive chains — is a distinct C1 reading skill.
Common Mistakes
❌ sukladno odredbe Zakona
Case error — sukladno governs the DATIVE, so sukladno odredbama, not the genitive/accusative odredbe.
✅ sukladno odredbama Zakona o obveznim odnosima
in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Obligations
❌ temeljem članku 5.
Case error — temeljem governs the GENITIVE: temeljem članka 5., not the dative članku (which would follow sukladno instead).
✅ temeljem članka 5. ovoga Ugovora
on the basis of Article 5 of this Agreement
❌ Kamate obračunavaju se u slučaju zakašnjenja.
Clitic-placement error — se must stand in second position in its clause: Kamate se obračunavaju, not after the verb.
✅ U slučaju zakašnjenja obračunavaju se zatezne kamate.
In the event of delay, default interest is charged.
❌ Predmet Ugovora jest da se daje u najam prostor.
Register error — legal prose nominalises: use the verbal-noun phrase davanje u najam, not a da-clause. The da-construction sounds conversational here.
✅ Predmet ovoga Ugovora jest davanje u najam poslovnog prostora.
The subject of this Agreement is the letting of the business premises.
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Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- Nominalization StrategiesC1 — Turning clauses into noun phrases — the verbal noun in -nje with its genitive object, abstract -ost nouns, and condensing a da- or temporal clause into a noun phrase — and the formal register this creates.
- The se-Passive and Impersonal ConstructionsB1 — Expressing 'one does / it is done' with se — the everyday Croatian passive.
- Subordinate Clauses: OverviewB1 — The da, koji, što, and kad clause types and how their punctuation works.
- Relative Clauses in DepthB1 — How koji, što and čiji build relative clauses — agreement, case from the clause, pied-piped prepositions, and the restrictive/non-restrictive comma.
- 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.