A tourist brochure is built to sell you a place, and Croatian does it with a recognizable grammatical toolkit: it stacks superlatives to crown the destination (najstariji "the oldest", najljepši "the most beautiful"), fires off imperatives to pull you in (Posjetite! "Visit!", Otkrijte! "Discover!"), and threads everything through the place-name prepositions that say where things are (u Dubrovniku "in Dubrovnik", na Hvaru "on Hvar"). The result is a warm, second-person, persuasive register you will meet on every leaflet, hotel website and city poster. Here is an original short brochure for Dubrovnik; read it through, then go line by line.
The text
Dobro došli u Dubrovnik, biser Jadrana!
Welcome to Dubrovnik, the pearl of the Adriatic!
Otkrijte jedan od najljepših i najstarijih gradova na Mediteranu.
Discover one of the most beautiful and oldest cities on the Mediterranean.
Prošećite svjetski poznatim gradskim zidinama i uživajte u pogledu na more.
Stroll along the world-famous city walls and enjoy the view of the sea.
U Starom gradu čekaju vas barokne crkve, uske kamene ulice i živopisne kavane.
In the Old Town, baroque churches, narrow stone streets and lively cafés await you.
Posjetite obližnji otok Lokrum, gdje ćete pronaći najmirniji kutak za odmor.
Visit the nearby island of Lokrum, where you will find the most peaceful corner to relax.
Ako volite sunce i more, zaputite se na Hvar ili na Korčulu — samo nekoliko sati plovidbe.
If you love sun and sea, head off to Hvar or Korčula — only a few hours by boat.
Probajte svježu ribu uz čašu vrhunskog dalmatinskog vina.
Try the fresh fish with a glass of top-quality Dalmatian wine.
Dođite i uvjerite se zašto je Dubrovnik najomiljenija destinacija na jugu Hrvatske.
Come and see for yourself why Dubrovnik is the most popular destination in the south of Croatia.
Superlatives: crowning the destination
A brochure's job is to claim the place is the best at something, so the superlative is everywhere. Croatian forms it by adding naj- to the comparative: star "old" → comparative stariji → superlative najstariji "the oldest"; lijep "beautiful" → ljepši → najljepši "the most beautiful". The superlative is a regular adjective, so it agrees with its noun in gender, number and case: in the text najljepših i najstarijih gradova is genitive plural (after jedan od "one of"), and najmirniji kutak is masculine singular accusative, najomiljenija destinacija feminine singular nominative.
Note the j-mutation that fuses into the comparative stem before naj- is added: mlad "young" → mlađi, jak "strong" → jači, visok "tall/high" → viši. A few are simply irregular and must be memorized: dobar "good" → bolji → najbolji, velik "big" → veći → najveći, malen "small" → manji → najmanji.
Dubrovnik je jedan od najstarijih gradova na Jadranu.
Dubrovnik is one of the oldest cities on the Adriatic. (najstariji, gen. pl. najstarijih after 'jedan od')
Ovo je najbolji restoran u cijeloj Dalmaciji.
This is the best restaurant in all of Dalmatia. (irregular: dobar → bolji → najbolji)
Plitvička jezera su najveći nacionalni park u zemlji.
The Plitvice Lakes are the largest national park in the country. (irregular: velik → veći → najveći)
The imperative of invitation: Posjetite! Otkrijte!
The brochure does not describe — it commands, warmly. Every other sentence opens with a 2nd-person plural imperative, the standard polite/plural form used to address an unknown reader: Otkrijte! "Discover!", Prošećite! "Stroll!", Posjetite! "Visit!", Probajte! "Try!", Dođite! "Come!". This is not bossy; in advertising and hospitality the imperative is the friendly, inviting default — exactly like English "Discover Dubrovnik" or "Taste the difference".
The form is built from the present-tense stem plus the endings -i / -ite (and -j / -jte after a vowel stem): posjetiti → posjeti / posjetite, otkriti → otkrij / otkrijte, probati → probaj / probajte, uživati → uživaj / uživajte. Because the brochure addresses an unknown "you", it always uses the -ite/-jte (plural/polite) form, never the singular -i/-j. A few verbs are irregular: doći "to come" → dođite, jesti "to eat" → jedite.
Posjetite Dubrovnik i zaljubite se u njegove zidine.
Visit Dubrovnik and fall in love with its walls. (polite/plural imperative posjetite, zaljubite se)
Uživajte u zalasku sunca s gradskih zidina.
Enjoy the sunset from the city walls. (uživati → uživajte, -jte after a vowel stem)
Dođite na Hvar i otkrijte skrivene plaže.
Come to Hvar and discover the hidden beaches. (irregular dođite; otkriti → otkrijte)
Place names with prepositions: u Dubrovniku vs na Hvaru
To tell you where, the brochure constantly pairs a place name with a preposition in the locative case (for location). The split between u "in" and na "on" is the classic learner trap. Cities and most countries/regions take u: u Dubrovniku "in Dubrovnik", u Splitu "in Split", u Dalmaciji "in Dalmatia", u Hrvatskoj "in Croatia". Islands take na: na Hvaru "on Hvar", na Korčuli "on Korčula", na Braču "on Brač" — and so do open regions and compass directions: na jugu "in the south", na obali "on the coast".
Whichever preposition, the place name goes to the locative (the where case): Dubrovnik → u Dubrovniku, Hvar → na Hvaru, Korčula → na Korčuli, Dalmacija → u Dalmaciji. Watch the consonant changes some names trigger: Korčula → u Korčuli (no change), but feminine -ka/-ga/-ha names palatalize, e.g. Rijeka → u Rijeci. The same prepositions with the accusative mean motion toward: zaputite se na Hvar "head off to Hvar" (accusative, no ending change here because Hvar is masculine).
U Dubrovniku ćete provesti nezaboravan odmor.
In Dubrovnik you will have an unforgettable holiday. (u + locative for a city: Dubrovnik → Dubrovniku)
Na Hvaru cvjeta lavanda, a na Korčuli zrije najbolje vino.
On Hvar the lavender blooms, and on Korčula the best wine ripens. (na + locative for islands: Hvaru, Korčuli)
Iz Dubrovnika lako stignete na jug, sve do Konavla.
From Dubrovnik you can easily reach the south, all the way to Konavle. (na jug = direction; na + accusative)
The persuasive register: vivid adjectives and "you"
Beyond superlatives, the brochure leans on a thick layer of evocative adjectives — svjetski poznat "world-famous", barokne crkve "baroque churches", uske kamene ulice "narrow stone streets", živopisne kavane "picturesque cafés", vrhunsko vino "top-quality wine", svježa riba "fresh fish". Notice they cluster before the noun and agree in gender, number and case. The text also keeps you ever-present: the verb čekaju vas "await you" and uvjerite se "see for yourself" put the reader inside the scene, and the conditional ako volite "if you love" speaks to the reader's tastes directly. Metaphor seals the tone: Dubrovnik is biser Jadrana "the pearl of the Adriatic", a stock epithet you will see again and again.
Čekaju vas uske kamene ulice i živopisne kavane Staroga grada.
The narrow stone streets and picturesque cafés of the Old Town await you. (čekaju vas = 'await you', reader in the scene)
Probajte vrhunsko dalmatinsko vino i svježe morske plodove.
Try the top-quality Dalmatian wine and fresh seafood. (evocative adjectives stacked before the noun)
Vocabulary gloss
| Word / phrase | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| dobro došli | welcome | lit. "well arrived"; agrees in number/gender |
| biser Jadrana | the pearl of the Adriatic | stock epithet for Dubrovnik |
| otkriti / otkrijte | to discover / discover! | imperative of invitation |
| prošetati / prošećite | to take a stroll / stroll! | ć from t before the imperative ending |
| gradske zidine | city walls | Dubrovnik's famous landmark; pl. only |
| Stari grad | the Old Town | capitalized as a proper place name |
| obližnji | nearby, adjacent | soft adjective |
| kutak | corner, nook, spot | fleeting -a: gen. kutka |
| zaputiti se | to set off, head off | reflexive; takes na + accusative |
| plovidba | sailing, a boat trip | sati plovidbe = hours of sailing |
| vrhunski | top-quality, premium | marketing staple |
| uvjeriti se | to see/convince oneself | uvjerite se = "see for yourself" |
A register note: this is a firmly (persuasive / promotional) register — warm, second-person, and superlative-heavy. The imperatives (Posjetite, Otkrijte) sound inviting here precisely because the genre licenses them; the very same forms barked at a friend would feel pushy. In neutral description you would drop the commands and the superlatives and simply say Dubrovnik je grad na jugu Hrvatske "Dubrovnik is a city in the south of Croatia".
Common Mistakes
❌ Dubrovnik je naj lijep grad.
Form error — the superlative is one word built on the comparative: najljepši, not 'naj' + the plain adjective.
✅ Dubrovnik je najljepši grad.
Dubrovnik is the most beautiful city.
❌ Posjeti Dubrovnik! (on a brochure to the public)
Register/number error — to address an unknown reader, brochures use the polite/plural imperative posjetite, not the singular posjeti (which addresses one familiar person).
✅ Posjetite Dubrovnik!
Visit Dubrovnik!
❌ na Dubrovniku
Preposition error — cities take u, not na: u Dubrovniku. Reserve na for islands, coasts and directions (na Hvaru, na obali, na jugu).
✅ u Dubrovniku
in Dubrovnik
❌ u Hvaru
Preposition error — islands take na, not u: na Hvaru. (Use u for cities and regions: u Splitu, u Dalmaciji.)
✅ na Hvaru
on Hvar
Now practice Croatian
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