Breakdown of Je li hrvatski težak?
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
težak
difficult / severe, serious
li
question particle
hrvatski
Croatian
Questions & Answers about Je li hrvatski težak?
Why do we use li after Je?
To ask a yes/no question in Croatian, we often put the verb first and add the little question word li right after it. Since je is the verb meaning "is", putting them together as Je li translates to "Is...?".
Where is the word for "language" in this sentence?
The full phrase would be hrvatski jezik (the Croatian language). However, Croatian speakers usually drop the word jezik because it is obvious from the context. They just say hrvatski, just like we often just say "Croatian" in English.
Why is the adjective težak instead of teško or teška?
Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Even though it is hidden, the implied word jezik (language) is masculine. Because of this, we must use the masculine form težak.
Does težak always mean "hard"?
It means "hard" when talking about how difficult something is, but it also means "heavy" when talking about weight. You have to look at the context of the sentence to know which meaning is being used!