Kandidat čeka kod vrata.

Croatian has no articles, so there is no separate word for the or a/an.

So kandidat can mean:

• the candidate
• a candidate

Which one is meant depends on context. In an isolated sentence, English has to choose, but Croatian does not.

Kandidat is in the nominative singular. It is the subject of the sentence, so nominative is the expected case.

It is a masculine noun, and in dictionary form it is also kandidat.

Čeka is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb čekati.

That tells you:

• the action is present
• the subject is he / she / it or any singular noun
• here it agrees with kandidat, which is singular

So:

• ja čekam = I wait / am waiting
• ti čekaš = you wait / are waiting
• on/ona čeka = he/she waits / is waiting

Because čekati is imperfective, and that fits an ongoing situation like is waiting.

In Croatian, imperfective verbs are commonly used for:

• ongoing actions
• repeated actions
• general situations

A perfective verb would suggest a completed or bounded action, which is usually not what you want for simple waiting in progress.

So in this sentence, čeka means something like:

• waits
• is waiting

depending on context.

Here kod means by, at, or near.

In this sentence, kod vrata means by the door or at the door.

A useful thing to know is that kod is also very common with people:

• kod liječnika = at the doctor's
• kod prijatelja = at a friend’s place

So kod often gives the idea of being at someone’s place or near a location/person.

This is one of the classic things that surprises English speakers.

Vrata is a plural-only noun in Croatian. That means it is grammatically plural, even when it refers to a single door.

So Croatian treats door as:

• vrata in the plural

This is similar to how English has nouns like:

• scissors
• pants

which are grammatically plural even when referring to one object.

Because of that, words that agree with vrata will also usually be plural:

• nova vrata = new door
• vrata su otvorena = the door is open

After kod, Croatian uses the genitive.

So in kod vrata, vrata is in the genitive plural.

The reason it may look confusing is that for vrata, the form vrata is the same in:

• nominative plural
• accusative plural
• genitive plural

So even though the form does not change visibly here, the case really is genitive because kod requires it.

Croatian often omits subject pronouns when they are not needed.

That is because the verb ending already gives person and number:

• čeka already tells us it is 3rd person singular

And in this sentence, the noun kandidat is already present, so adding on would be unnecessary.

Croatian does use pronouns when needed for:

• emphasis
• contrast
• clarification

But in a normal sentence like this, leaving the pronoun out is completely natural.

Yes. Croatian word order is fairly flexible because cases help show grammatical roles.

The neutral, straightforward order here is:

• Kandidat čeka kod vrata.

But you could also hear:

• Kod vrata čeka kandidat.
• Čeka kandidat kod vrata.

These versions are not random; they change focus or emphasis.

For example:

• Kod vrata čeka kandidat. puts more attention on where
• Čeka kandidat kod vrata. can sound more marked or stylistic depending on context

So the original sentence is the most neutral version.

Č is pronounced roughly like ch in church.

So:

• čeka sounds approximately like CHEH-kah

A rough pronunciation of the whole sentence is:

• KAHN-dee-daht CHEH-kah kohd VRAH-tah

A few notes:

• č = hard ch sound
• r in vrata is a trilled or tapped r
• Croatian spelling is quite regular, so words are usually pronounced much as they are written