Fleeting 'a' in adjectives (dobar, dobra)

Many Croatian adjectives have what is known as a "fleeting a" (nepostojano a). In their base dictionary form—the masculine nominative singular—an a is inserted near the end of the word to break up awkward consonant clusters.

However, when we add a suffix to make the adjective feminine (by adding -a), neuter (by adding -o), or plural, this a disappears.

Dropping the 'a' in Feminine Forms

Let's look at the adjective gorak (bitter). When describing a masculine noun like čaj (tea), it keeps the a. When describing a feminine noun like kava (coffee), we add the feminine ending -a, and the fleeting a drops out, leaving gorka (not goraka).

This rule consistently applies to adjectives ending in -an, such as aromatičan (aromatic). The feminine form becomes aromatična.

Common Suffixes: -ar and -an

You will frequently see the fleeting a in adjectives ending in -ar and -an. For example, bistar (clear) becomes bistra, and mutan (cloudy) becomes mutna.

Neuter Forms and Beyond

The fleeting a also drops out when describing neuter nouns. The neuter ending -o is added directly to the shortened consonant base.

Here is how some common flavor and beverage adjectives decline across the three genders:

Notice how the base consonant cluster is preserved once the fleeting a is removed.