Learn Croatian: Naš profesor je jako duhovit. - Our professor is very witty.

Naš profesor je jako duhovit.

Our professor is very witty.

Breakdown of Naš profesor je jako duhovit.

very, strongly (colloquial)

duhovit

witty, funny

Questions & Answers about Naš profesor je jako duhovit.

Why is jako used here for 'very' instead of vrlo?

Both jako and vrlo mean 'very' and are largely interchangeable in this context. The word jako comes from the adjective jak (strong) and literally means 'strongly', but in everyday spoken Croatian, it is the most common way to express 'very'.

Does profesor only mean a university professor?

No, in Croatia, high school teachers are also respectfully addressed and referred to as profesor (for men) or profesorica (for women). If this were an elementary school teacher, you would use the word učitelj instead.

Does duhovit have anything to do with the word for 'ghost' or 'spirit'?

Yes! The adjective duhovit comes from the noun duh, which means 'spirit', 'mind', or 'ghost'. So someone who is duhovit literally has a quick mind or a lively spirit, which translates to being witty or humorous.

Why is je placed after the two words Naš profesor instead of right after Naš?

The word je is an enclitic, meaning it likes to sit in the second position of a sentence. However, Naš profesor is treated as a single logical unit (a noun phrase). Enclitics usually come after the first full phrase rather than the literal first word, so breaking up 'Our professor' with a verb would sound unnatural here.