Predsjednik počinje igru.

Because it is the direct object of the verb, so it has to be in the accusative case.

The basic form is igra. In this sentence:

• igra = nominative singular
• igru = accusative singular

For many feminine nouns ending in -a, the accusative singular ends in -u:

• žena → ženu
• kuća → kuću
• igra → igru

So Predsjednik počinje igru uses igru because the president is beginning the game.

Predsjednik is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence.

In this sentence, predsjednik is the person doing the action, so nominative is the correct case.

Many masculine nouns in Croatian have no ending in the nominative singular, so the basic dictionary form already looks like this:

• predsjednik = nominative singular

That is why it does not visibly change here.

Počinje is a 3rd person singular present-tense verb form.

It matches the subject predsjednik, which is singular:

• ja počinjem = I begin
• ti počinješ = you begin
• on/ona počinje = he/she begins

So predsjednik počinje means the president begins / is beginning.

In this sentence, počinje is the present form of počinjati, which is the imperfective verb.

This is a very common thing for learners to notice, because the dictionary verb they first learn is often početi.

Compare:

• početi → počne = perfective
• počinjati → počinje = imperfective

Very roughly:

• počne focuses more on a single completed start
• počinje presents the action as beginning, ongoing, or simply describes what is happening

So this sentence uses the imperfective present form.

Because Croatian does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So predsjednik can mean:

• the president
• a president

And igru can mean:

• the game
• a game

The exact meaning depends on context. Since the meaning has already been shown to the learner, the sentence is understood correctly without any article.

No. This is the neutral, most straightforward word order: subject + verb + object.

Croatian word order is more flexible than English because cases show what each noun is doing.

Other orders are possible, for example:

• Igru počinje predsjednik
• Počinje igru predsjednik

These are not random changes. They shift focus or emphasis.

The basic version Predsjednik počinje igru is the best one to learn first because it sounds neutral and clear.

Yes, predsjednik is a masculine noun.

If the president is a woman, Croatian normally uses the feminine form:

• predsjednica

So the sentence would become:

• Predsjednica počinje igru.

This is a normal and important feature of Croatian: many job titles and roles have masculine and feminine forms.

Because Croatian often does not use subject pronouns unless they are needed for emphasis or contrast.

The verb ending already tells you the person and number, and here the subject noun is explicitly present anyway:

• Predsjednik počinje igru.

Adding on would usually be unnecessary:

• On počinje igru. = He begins the game.

But if you already say predsjednik, you usually do not also need on.

Here it is capitalized mainly because it is the first word of the sentence.

If the same word appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would usually be lowercase:

• Predsjednik počinje igru.
• Danas predsjednik počinje igru.

In ordinary use, Croatian usually writes titles like predsjednik in lowercase unless there is a special formal reason to capitalize them.

A few useful pronunciation points:

• č sounds like ch in church
• j sounds like y in yes
• nj sounds like ny in canyon

So roughly:

• počinje ≈ po-CHIN-yeh
• predsjednik ≈ pred-SYED-neek

The spelling in Croatian is quite regular, so once you learn the sound of each letter combination, pronunciation becomes much easier than in English.