Learn Croatian: Ne razumijem hrvatski. - I do not understand Croatian.

In English, we say 'I do not understand', using the helper verb 'do'. Croatian is much simpler! To make a verb negative, you just put the word ne directly in front of the verb. So, ne razumijem simply means 'not I-understand'.

Where is the word for 'I' (ja) in this sentence?

Croatian often drops subject pronouns like 'I' or 'you' because the ending of the verb already tells us who is doing the action. The verb razumijem ends in -m, which is the classic ending for 'I' in the present tense. Adding ja is only done for extra emphasis, like saying 'I myself do not understand'.

Why isn't hrvatski capitalized?

In English, we capitalize languages and nationalities (Croatian, English). In Croatian, only the names of countries, continents, and towns are capitalized (like Hrvatska for Croatia). Languages and adjectives are always written with a lowercase letter.

Can I use this same structure to say I don't understand other languages?

Yes! Ne razumijem is a very useful phrase to memorize. You can just put the language or thing you don't understand right after it. For example, Ne razumijem engleski means 'I don't understand English'.