Learn Croatian: Je li ova ptica gladna?

In Croatian, you usually cannot start a yes/no question with just the short form of the verb 'to be' (je). Instead, we use the question word li right after it to form Je li, which translates to 'Is...?' or 'Are...?'.

Can I say Da li je ova ptica gladna? instead?

Yes! Da li je is another very common way to ask yes/no questions in Croatian. Je li is considered slightly more formal and standard, but you will hear both used interchangeably in everyday speech.

Why is it ova ptica and not ovo ptica?

Ptica (bird) is a feminine noun because it ends in -a. The word for 'this' must match the gender of the noun it describes, so we use the feminine form ova instead of the neuter ovo or masculine ovaj.

If the dictionary word for 'hungry' is gladan, why is it gladna here?

Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because ptica is feminine, the adjective changes to match. It drops the final 'a' from the base word gladan and adds the feminine ending -a, becoming gladna. This dropping of the 'a' is a common pattern in Croatian called the 'fleeting a'.