Third-Person Commands with "neka"
Standard Croatian imperative forms only cover direct commands (like "do this" or "let's go"). For third-party commands, permissions, or instructions ("let him," "let her," "let them"), use the particle neka followed by the present tense.
Structure: neka + [subject] + [verb in 3rd-person present]
| Let the bouncer check the ID cards! | Neka redar provjeri osobne iskaznice! |
| Let the minor show the stamp. | Neka maloljetnik pokaže pečat. |
This structure is very common for rules and security checks:
| Let the security guard let the guests in. | Neka zaštitar pusti goste. |
Plurals and Concessions
Neka never changes form. Aside from direct instructions, use it to express concessions ("leave them be" or "it's fine if they do that").
| Let the drunk people sleep. | Neka pijani ljudi spavaju. |
Drop the subject pronoun if it is clear from the verb ending. This is common when pairing the command with an ako (if) clause to set conditions:
| Let them wait outside if they are aggressive. | Neka čekaju vani ako su agresivni. |
| If they are sober, let them enter. | Ako su trijezni, neka uđu. |
Ongoing Rules vs. Single Actions
When managing guests, you will see two forms of the verb "to let in": perfective pustiti (for a single instance) and imperfective puštati (for a general policy or recurring rule).
| Let the bouncers let sober guests in. | Neka redari puštaju trijezne goste. |
Keep in mind that negative commands (prohibitions) generally require the imperfective verb. When telling security not to let someone in, use puštati, even for a specific person.
| Do not let that aggressive minor inside! | Nemojte puštati tog agresivnog maloljetnika unutra! |
