Learn Croatian: Očevidac je nedvojbeno vidio počinitelja. - The eyewitness undoubtedly saw the perpetrator.

While both convey certainty, nedvojbeno is formed from dvojba (doubt), so it literally means "undoubtedly" or "unquestionably." It is slightly more formal and emphatic than sigurno, and is often used in legal, journalistic, or formal contexts, which fits perfectly with words like eyewitness and perpetrator.

Can epistemic adverbs like nedvojbeno be moved around in the sentence?

Yes! Adverbs expressing the speaker's attitude are quite flexible. You could place it at the very beginning (Nedvojbeno je očevidac...) to strongly emphasize the lack of doubt right from the start, though placing it right before the main verb like we see here is the most standard, neutral position.

What happens to the word očevidac if we need to use it in the accusative or genitive case?

It undergoes some tricky sound changes. The genitive and accusative singular form is očevica. The final "a" in the nominative is a fleeting "a" that drops out. Then, the "d" finds itself right next to "c" and disappears due to Croatian consonant assimilation rules.

How is the word počinitelja formed?

It comes from the verb počiniti (to commit, usually a crime or error). The suffix -telj is added to form the noun for the person performing the action, much like "-er" in English. Because it refers to a living person, its accusative ending takes the -a suffix, matching its genitive form.