Ne odgovarajte onako.

Ne is the basic Croatian word for negation, meaning not.

With an imperative, it creates a negative command:

• odgovarajte = answer / respond
• ne odgovarajte = don’t answer / don’t respond

Unlike English, Croatian does not need an extra helper like do. It simply puts ne before the verb.

Odgovarajte is the imperative form of the verb odgovarati.

More specifically, it is the 2nd person plural imperative, which is used:

• when speaking to more than one person
• or when speaking to one person politely/formally

So the ending -jte here is part of the imperative plural/formal form.

It can mean either:

• you all — plural
• you — singular formal/polite

Croatian uses the same verb form for both. Only the situation tells you which one is meant.

If the speaker were talking to one person informally, the form would be odgovaraj.

This is about aspect, which is very important in Croatian.

The usual aspect pair is:

• odgovarati — imperfective
• odgovoriti — perfective

Very roughly:

• imperfective looks at the action as ongoing, repeated, or focused on manner
• perfective looks at it as a completed whole

In a sentence like Ne odgovarajte onako, the speaker is telling someone not to answer in that manner. Because the focus is on the way of behaving, the imperfective odgovarajte sounds natural.

A form with odgovorite would suggest a more completed, one-time answer and would not fit as naturally here.

Onako is an adverb. Here it means something like like that or in that way.

Because it is an adverb:

• it does not change for gender
• it does not change for number
• it does not change for case

So unlike adjectives or many pronouns, onako stays the same.

These three words are related and learners often confuse them:

• ovako = like this, this way
• tako = like that, so, often the most general choice
• onako = like that / in that way, often with a stronger sense of distance, reference to something already seen, or sometimes slight disapproval

In many situations, tako and onako can both be translated as like that, but the nuance is not always identical.

In Ne odgovarajte onako, onako can sound a bit like:

• not in that way
• not like that you just did
• not in that sort of manner

Croatian usually does not need the subject pronoun if the verb form already shows who the subject is.

Here, odgovarajte already tells you that the command is aimed at:

• you plural
• or you formal singular

So adding vi is usually unnecessary.

You could add it for emphasis, but the normal neutral sentence is simply:

Ne odgovarajte onako.

Because Croatian, like English, can leave the object unstated when it is clear from context.

The verb odgovarati / odgovoriti can be used without saying exactly what is being answered. The sentence just focuses on the manner of answering.

If needed, Croatian can add more information, for example:

• Ne odgovarajte mu onako. = Don’t answer him like that.
• Ne odgovarajte na pitanje onako. = Don’t answer the question like that.

So the short version is completely normal.

Yes. Nemojte odgovarati onako is also correct and natural.

Croatian often uses:

• ne + imperative
• or nemojte + infinitive

So both of these work:

• Ne odgovarajte onako.
• Nemojte odgovarati onako.

The version with nemojte can sound a little softer or more conversational in some contexts, but both are standard.

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but the original order is the most neutral:

Ne odgovarajte onako.

If you change the order, you usually change the emphasis. For example:

• Onako ne odgovarajte. — puts extra emphasis on onako
• Ne odgovarajte onako. — neutral, natural instruction

So learners should usually keep the original order unless they specifically want a different emphasis.