This five-word proverb is an unusually rich B1 specimen because it packs a locative prepositional phrase, full plural agreement across three words, and Croatian's verb-first existential word order into one breath. It also hides a small surprise for English speakers: the literal subject is not "the lie" but "the legs," and the whole thing is built around a metaphor that Croatian treats as a plain statement of fact. Read it carefully and you have a template for an enormous range of everyday Croatian sentences.
The proverb
U laži su kratke noge.
A lie has short legs. (The truth always comes out; lies don't get you far.)
Word by word
| Word | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| u | in | preposition taking the locative when it means location/"inside" |
| laži | (in) a lie | locative singular of laž (f.) — "in the lie" |
| su | are | 3rd-person plural of biti ("to be"), the present clitic |
| kratke | short | nominative plural feminine of kratak; agrees with noge |
| noge | legs / feet | nominative plural of noga (f.) — the grammatical subject |
The literal order is "In the-lie are short legs." Croatian leads with the locative setting (u laži), then puts the verb (su), then the subject phrase (kratke noge). The natural English rendering flips the whole image into a possessor: "a lie has short legs." Notice that grammatically the subject is noge ("legs," plural feminine) — and everything else lines up with it.
What it means and when to say it
The figurative meaning is that lies are quickly found out: a liar cannot run far or last long, because the truth catches up. "Short legs" can't carry you anywhere — so deceit collapses under its own weight. It is mild, everyday, proverbial, fine in any register, and is exactly the Croatian counterpart of English "lies have short legs" and "the truth will out."
Use it to warn someone that a lie won't hold, to comment knowingly when a deception unravels, or to advise honesty as the practical choice.
Reci im istinu — znaš i sama da u laži su kratke noge.
Tell them the truth — you know yourself that lies have short legs.
Mislio je da nitko neće provjeriti njegovu priču, ali u laži su kratke noge.
He thought nobody would check his story, but lies have short legs.
Nemoj se izvlačiti izmišljotinama; u laži su kratke noge i sve će izaći na vidjelo.
Don't wriggle out of it with made-up stories; lies have short legs and everything will come to light.
Grammar focus 1: u + locative for "in / inside"
The phrase u laži uses the preposition u ("in") with the locative case. This is the most important everyday rule about u: when it answers the question where? (location, being inside something), it governs the locative. The base noun is laž ("lie," feminine), and its locative singular is laži — the i-ending is the regular locative for this feminine i-declension noun.
Be careful: u is a two-case preposition. With the locative it means static location ("in, inside"); with the accusative it means motion into ("into"). Compare u kući ("in the house," locative) with u kuću ("into the house," accusative). In the proverb the legs simply are located in the lie, so locative is correct.
U njegovoj priči ima previše rupa.
There are too many holes in his story. (u + locative = location)
Istina je negdje u sredini.
The truth is somewhere in the middle. (u sredini, locative)
Grammar focus 2: full plural agreement — su + kratke + noge
The heart of this proverb is agreement. The subject noge ("legs") is feminine plural, and every word that points at it must match in number, gender, and case:
- noge — nominative plural feminine (the subject)
- kratke — nominative plural feminine adjective (matches noge in gender, number, case)
- su — 3rd-person plural verb (matches the plural subject)
So the chain is kratke (fem. pl.) + noge (fem. pl.) + su (3rd pl.). If the subject were singular, all three would change: kratka noga + je ("a short leg is"). Croatian adjectives agree with their noun in three dimensions at once — gender, number, and case — and the verb agrees in person and number. This triple agreement is the engine of Croatian sentence structure.
Vijesti su loše, ali nisu iznenađujuće.
The news is bad, but it isn't surprising. (vijesti fem. pl. → su, loše)
Tvoje isprike su prozirne.
Your excuses are transparent. (isprike fem. pl. → su, prozirne)
Grammar focus 3: verb-first existential word order
Croatian word order is flexible, and this proverb shows a favourite arrangement: adverbial first, verb second, subject last (u laži — su — kratke noge). This "verb-before-subject" pattern is how Croatian naturally presents or asserts the existence of something within a setting: here, in this domain, there exist short legs. English cannot do this; it forces a fixed Subject–Verb order and rebuilds the sentence around a possessor ("a lie has short legs").
The pattern is everywhere in Croatian. Starting with the location or situation and ending with the new, important information (the subject) follows the language's information-flow logic: known/background first, new/focal last. The proverb puts kratke noge at the very end precisely because that is the punchline.
U svakoj priči ima zrno istine.
In every story there is a grain of truth. (setting first, subject last)
Na stolu su bili papiri i nedovršeno pismo.
On the table were papers and an unfinished letter. (locative setting, then verb, then subject)
How this differs from English
Three differences stand out. First, the subject is reversed: English makes "a lie" the subject of "has," but Croatian makes noge ("legs") the subject of su ("are") — the lie is just the location (u laži). Second, no possessive verb: Croatian doesn't say "the lie has legs"; it says "in the lie there are short legs," using biti ("to be") in an existential frame rather than imati ("to have"). Third, no articles: there is no "a" or "the" — laž and noge stand bare, and only context tells you whether to translate "a lie" or "the lie."
Common Mistakes
❌ U laž su kratke noge.
Wrong case — after u meaning 'in/inside' you need the locative laži, not the bare nominative laž.
✅ U laži su kratke noge.
A lie has short legs.
❌ U laži je kratke noge.
Verb doesn't agree — the subject noge is plural, so the verb must be the plural su, not the singular je.
✅ U laži su kratke noge.
A lie has short legs.
❌ U laži su kratki noge.
Adjective doesn't agree — noge is feminine plural, so 'short' must be kratke, not the masculine kratki.
✅ U laži su kratke noge.
A lie has short legs.
❌ Laž ima kratke noge.
Calque from English — grammatically possible but unidiomatic; the fixed proverb uses biti in the existential u laži su…, not imati ('to have').
✅ U laži su kratke noge.
A lie has short legs.
Key Takeaways
- u + locative for "in / inside" a place or state: u laži ("in a lie"). Switch to the accusative only for motion into something.
- The grammatical subject is noge ("legs," feminine plural) — not "the lie." The lie is the locative setting.
- Triple agreement: kratke (fem. pl. adjective) + noge (fem. pl. noun) + su (3rd-pl. verb) all match.
- Croatian uses a verb-first existential pattern (setting → verb → subject) that English cannot copy; English rebuilds the sentence around "a lie has."
- No articles: laž and noge are bare; context supplies "a/the."
- Meaning: lies are quickly found out — "lies have short legs / the truth will out."
Now practice Croatian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- Locative for Static LocationA2 — Where something IS — the rest/position sense of u and na.
- Locative: FormsA2 — Locative endings (identical to the dative) and its prepositions.
- Adjective AgreementA1 — How adjectives match nouns in gender, number, and case.
- Existential Sentences (there is/are)A2 — ima/nema, biti, and presentational order.
- Proverb: Vuk dlaku mijenja, ali ćud nikadaB2 — A grammatical close reading of Vuk dlaku mijenja, ali ćud nikada (a leopard cannot change its spots) — the transitive gnomic present mijenja with its accusative object dlaku, the contrastive ali, and the clause that ends on nikada with the verb left unspoken.