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Croatian

### Subject pronouns

To talk about yourself and others, use these singular subject pronouns:
- **ja** (I)
- **ti** (you, singular informal)
- **on** (he)
- **ona** (she)

### The verb "to be" and dropping pronouns

The short, present-tense forms of *biti* (to be) for singular subjects are:
- **sam** (am)
- **si** (are)
- **je** (is)

Because these verbs clearly show who is performing the action, Croatian speakers usually drop the subject pronouns. You do not need to say "I" or "you" unless you are adding emphasis.

{{item:997997}}

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### The second-position rule

The short forms of *biti* (*sam*, *si*, *je*) are unstressed "clitics." A major rule in Croatian grammar is that clitics cannot start a sentence. They must always sit in the **second position** of a sentence or clause.

When asking questions with words like *tko* (who) or *gdje* (where), the short form of "to be" tucks right into the second position, immediately after the question word.

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When starting a statement with a location like *ovdje* (here), the clitic also goes second:

{{item:998012}}

If you add a pronoun, the clitic sits directly after it:

{{item:998010}}

### Adding emphasis

Keep pronouns to emphasize or contrast two people or locations (like *tamo*, meaning "there"). This is often used with the conjunction *a* (and / but).

{{item:998001}}

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Singular pronouns and to be (sam, si, je)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Noun genders (-Ø, -a, -o/-e)

Demonstrative pronouns (ovaj, ova, ovo)

Plural pronouns and to be (smo, ste, su)

Masculine plural nouns (-i)

Feminine plural nouns (-e)

Neuter plural nouns (-a)

Full verb to be (jesam, jesi)

Negative verb to be (nisam, nisi)

Yes/no questions (je li)

Wh- questions (tko, gdje)

Formal vs informal address (ti vs Vi)

Regular present tense (-ati)

Regular present tense (-iti)

Regular present tense (-jeti)

Verb negation (ne)

The verb to have (imati / nemati)

Inanimate direct objects

Feminine direct objects (-u)

Plural direct objects (-e, -a)

Accusative pronouns (me, te, ga, ju)

Adjective agreement

Plural adjectives

Accusative adjectives

Numbers 1 to 10 (jedan, dva, tri)

The locative case (-u)

Feminine locative (-i)

The verb to go (ići)

Destination (u, na)

The genitive case (-a)

Accusative pronouns (nas, vas, ga, ih)

Animate masculine accusative (-a)

Adjective agreement for animate masculine (-og, -eg)

The verb can (moći)

The verb must (morati)

The verb to want (htjeti, hoću)

The future tense (ću/ćeš + infinitive)

The past tense: l-participle (radio, radila)

Past tense word order (Prvo sam radio...)

Past tense with plural subjects (-li, -le, -la)

Feminine genitive singular (-e)

Possession and origin (od, iz)

Negative existence (nema)

Numbers 2, 3, and 4

Genitive plural (-a)

Numbers 11 to 20

Past tense negation (nisam)

Past tense questions (jeste li)

Dative singular

Dative pronouns (ti, mu, joj)

Past tense negation (nisam, nisi...)

Double object pronouns (mu ga, ti ju...)

Reflexive verbs (se)

Reflexive clitic word order

Commands and requests (radi, radite)

Plural demonstratives (ovi, ove, ova)

Possessive determiners (moj, naš, njegov)

Greetings (Dobar dan, doviđenja)

The body: Boli me glava

Directions (lijevo, desno, ravno)

There is, there are (ima)

Politeness (molim vas, hvala lijepa)

How you feel (Sviđa mi se)

Counting by tens to 100 (trideset, četrdeset...)

Quantifiers with the genitive case (malo, puno...)

Adjective agreement in the genitive singular (-og, -e)

Adjective agreement in the genitive plural (-ih)

Genitive prepositions (kod, do, bez...)

Asking what kind and which (kakav, koji)

Possessive determiners (njegov, njezin...)

Possessives in the accusative case

The reflexive possessive (svoj)

Indefinite pronouns (netko, nešto, neki)

Negative pronouns (nitko, ništa)

The verb to need (trebati)

Reciprocal verbs (se)

Introduction to verbal aspect

Perfective verbs with prefixes

Perfective verbs with stem changes

Irregular perfective verbs

Aspect in the past tense

Aspect in the future tense

Vehicular motion (voziti se, putovati)

Arrival and departure ('doći', 'otići')

Entering and exiting ('ući', 'izaći')

Singular accompaniment ('s', 'sa')

Plural instrumental nouns (-ima, -ama)

Question	Answer
how	kako
to be (sam, si, je)	biti
How are you?	Kako si?
well	dobro
and / but	a
you (sg. informal)	ti
I am well, and you?	Dobro sam, a ti?
who	tko
he	on
Who is he?	Tko je on?
He is well.	On je dobro.
where	gdje
she	ona
Where is she?	Gdje je ona?
at home / home (direction)	doma
She is at home.	Ona je doma.
here	ovdje
I am here.	Ovdje sam.
And where are you?	A gdje si ti?
He is here.	On je ovdje.
there	tamo
I	ja
You are there, and I am here.	Ti si tamo, a ja sam ovdje.
Who am I?	Tko sam ja?
She is there, at home.	Ona je tamo, doma.
How is he?	Kako je on?
I am at home.	Doma sam.