Condensing Relative Clauses
In English, we often shorten phrases like "the constitution that was adopted" to simply "the constitution adopted." Croatian does exactly the same thing to make sentences more concise.
You can reduce a relative clause by dropping the relative pronoun (koji) and the auxiliary verb (such as je), leaving only the passive participle. This reduced phrase is placed directly after the noun it describes.
For example, nacrt koji je napisan jučer (the draft which was written yesterday) becomes nacrt napisan jučer (the draft written yesterday).
| The draft of the constitution written yesterday is very complex. | Nacrt ustava napisan jučer vrlo je složen. |
Because the passive participle functions exactly like an adjective in this structure, it must agree with the noun it modifies in gender, number, and case. Notice how the participle adapts to match a feminine noun in the following example:
| The charter signed in the city will guarantee independence. | Povelja potpisana u gradu zajamčit će neovisnost. |
Extended Participial Phrases
These reduced clauses rarely stand alone; they usually bring along extra details, such as time, location, or the means of the action. The entire participial block sits snugly behind the noun, briefly interrupting the sentence before the main verb continues.
| The law abolished on that territory no longer exists. | Zakon ukinut na tom teritoriju više ne postoji. |
| The sovereignty guaranteed by this treaty is safe despite the crisis. | Suverenitet zajamčen ovim ugovorom siguran je unatoč krizi. |
| The old constitution abolished during the war was very strict. | Stari ustav ukinut tijekom rata bio je vrlo strog. |
This structure is extremely common in formal, legal, and historical contexts. It allows complex ideas to be packed into a single, flowing sentence without cluttering it with extra verbs and pronouns.
| The fundamental constitution adopted in this territory is very clear. | Temeljni ustav usvojen na ovom teritoriju vrlo je jasan. |