Želim pregovarati o rasponu plaće.

In Croatian, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

• želim = I want
• so ja is understood automatically

You can say Ja želim pregovarati o rasponu plaće, but that usually adds emphasis, as if you are stressing I specifically.

Želim is the 1st person singular present tense of željeti (to want).

So:

• ja želim = I want
• ti želiš = you want
• on/ona želi = he/she wants

Even though the whole sentence may refer to a future action, Croatian often uses the present tense of željeti plus an infinitive, just like English I want to negotiate.

Because after želim, Croatian normally uses the infinitive.

So the structure is:

• želim + infinitive
• želim pregovarati = I want to negotiate

This is very similar to English want to negotiate, except Croatian does not need a separate word like to before the infinitive in this structure.

Pregovarati means to negotiate, especially when discussing terms, conditions, or reaching an agreement.

Compare:

• govoriti = to speak
• razgovarati = to talk / have a conversation
• pregovarati = to negotiate

So if you want to say you want a discussion specifically aimed at reaching better terms, pregovarati is the right verb.

That said, in a job setting, people sometimes choose razgovarati because it sounds softer and more diplomatic:

• Želio/Željela bih razgovarati o rasponu plaće.

That can sound more polite than the more direct Želim pregovarati...

Because the preposition o usually takes the locative case when it means about or regarding.

• dictionary form: raspon = range
• locative singular: rasponu

So:

• o rasponu = about the range

This is a very common pattern in Croatian:

• o poslu = about the job
• o plaći = about the salary
• o rasponu plaće = about the salary range

Because plaće is the genitive singular form of plaća.

Here, raspon is followed by a noun in the genitive:

• raspon čega? = range of what?
• raspon plaće = range of salary / salary range

So:

• nominative: plaća
• genitive: plaće

This is a very common Croatian structure. English often uses noun + noun combinations like salary range, but Croatian usually expresses that relationship with the genitive case.

No, not in this sentence.

Here is why:

• o governs rasponu
• plaće depends on raspon and answers range of what?

So the structure is:

• o
  • rasponu → locative
• plaće → genitive after raspon

If you said o plaći, that would mean about the salary. But in this sentence, you are not directly saying about the salary; you are saying about the salary range.

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

So Croatian simply says:

• raspon plaće

Whether English would use a salary range or the salary range depends on context, but Croatian does not mark that with a separate article.

Context usually makes it clear.

It is grammatical and understandable, but it sounds fairly direct.

• Želim pregovarati o rasponu plaće. = clear, straightforward, a bit firm

In many professional situations, Croatian speakers might prefer a softer version, such as:

• Želio bih razgovarati o rasponu plaće. if a man is speaking
• Željela bih razgovarati o rasponu plaće. if a woman is speaking

or:

• Htio bih razgovarati o rasponu plaće.
• Htjela bih razgovarati o rasponu plaće.

These can sound more polite because they are closer to I would like to discuss the salary range rather than I want to negotiate the salary range.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• Želim ≈ ZHEH-leem
• pregovarati ≈ preh-goh-vah-RAH-tee
• o ≈ oh
• rasponu ≈ RAHS-poh-noo
• plaće ≈ PLAH-cheh, with a softer ch sound

A few sounds to notice:

• ž sounds like the s in measure
• ć is a soft ch/t sound, softer than English ch
• lj in Želim is a single Croatian sound, somewhat like the lli in million, though not exactly the same

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English, because case endings show the grammatical relationships.

The most neutral order here is:

• Želim pregovarati o rasponu plaće.

But you could also say:

• O rasponu plaće želim pregovarati.

That puts more emphasis on the salary range.

Even though several word orders are possible, not all of them sound equally natural in every context. The original version is a good neutral choice.