Word
Ovo je stručan žargon, to jest, jezik koji laik ne razumije.
Meaning
This is professional jargon, that is, a language that a layman does not understand.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ovo je stručan žargon, to jest, jezik koji laik ne razumije.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
ne
no, not
razumjeti
to understand
Questions & Answers about Ovo je stručan žargon, to jest, jezik koji laik ne razumije.
How exactly does to jest function in this sentence, and does it require commas?
To jest literally translates to 'that is,' and it's used to clarify or define the preceding term, stručan žargon. In Croatian, it acts as an explanatory conjunction. When it introduces an explanation in the middle of a sentence, it must be preceded by a comma. The comma after it is technically optional in standard Croatian grammar, but it is often used to reflect a natural spoken pause. You will frequently see this marker abbreviated as tj. in writing.
Could I use drugim riječima or odnosno instead of to jest here?
Yes, but with slight nuances. Drugim riječima ('in other words') works perfectly since you are rephrasing the concept for the layman. Odnosno is also very common for clarifications, though it can sometimes ambiguously mean 'or' depending on the context. To jest is the most precise choice here because it perfectly matches the English 'that is to say' or 'i.e.,' which directly defines the term just mentioned.
In the phrase jezik koji laik ne razumije, what case is koji?
It is in the accusative case. The subject of the relative clause is laik (the layman, nominative), and the verb razumjeti (to understand) takes a direct object in the accusative. Because the noun it refers to, jezik, is masculine and inanimate, its accusative form is identical to its nominative form. That is why the pronoun remains koji instead of changing to the animate accusative form kojeg.