Radionica ima tisuću posuda.

Because tisuću is the accusative singular form of tisuća.

The verb imati (to have) takes a direct object, and in Croatian the direct object is usually in the accusative. In this sentence, the whole phrase tisuću posuda is the object of ima.

• dictionary form: tisuća
• accusative form: tisuću

So:

• tisuća = a thousand / thousand as the basic form
• ima tisuću ... = has a thousand ...

Because after numbers like pet (five) and higher, Croatian normally uses the genitive plural of the counted noun.

Since tisuću means a thousand, the noun after it goes into the genitive plural:

• jedna posuda = one container
• dvije posude = two containers
• pet posuda = five containers
• tisuću posuda = a thousand containers

For this noun, the genitive plural happens to look the same as the nominative singular:

• nominative singular: posuda
• genitive plural: posuda

So it may look strange at first, but it is correct.

Yes. It functions as a single object phrase meaning a thousand containers.

Inside that phrase:

• tisuću is the main counted quantity
• posuda depends on it and appears in the genitive plural

This is similar to how Croatian handles many larger numbers and quantity words.

Because the subject is Radionica, which is singular.

• radionica = singular noun
• ima = has, 3rd person singular of imati

So Croatian matches the verb to radionica, not to posuda.

Compare:

• Radionica ima tisuću posuda. = The workshop has a thousand containers.
• Radionice imaju tisuću posuda. = The workshops have a thousand containers.

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

The basic form is:

• radionica = workshop

As the subject, it stays in nominative:

• Radionica ima ... = The workshop has ...

Not always. Radionica can mean:

• a workshop as a place where work is done
• a workshop as an organized class or practical session

In this sentence, because it has a thousand containers, the physical-place meaning sounds more natural, but context always decides.

Croatian has no articles.

So radionica can mean:

• a workshop
• the workshop

and the exact meaning depends on context.

Likewise, posuda can mean a container, the container, or just the noun container in the right grammatical setting.

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

The neutral order here is:

• Radionica ima tisuću posuda.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Tisuću posuda ima radionica.
• Ima radionica tisuću posuda. (more marked, less neutral)

These alternatives may sound more literary, emphatic, or context-dependent. For a learner, the original sentence is the safest and most natural default.

You know it from the number and the grammar.

Even though posuda looks like singular posuda, after tisuću it means containers, not container. The quantity word tells you that the meaning is plural.

This is a very common thing in Croatian:

• pet žena = five women
• deset knjiga = ten books
• tisuću posuda = a thousand containers

So you should not judge number only by the ending; you also have to look at the numeral.

No. Tisuća is the standard Croatian word, but you may also hear hiljada/hiljadu, especially in some regional varieties and in neighboring standards.

In standard Croatian, tisuća / tisuću is the form learners should use first.

So for standard Croatian:

• tisuća = base form
• tisuću = accusative form

Roughly:

RAH-dee-oh-nee-tsa EE-mah TEE-soo-chu POH-soo-dah

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• c in radionica sounds like ts
• ć in tisuću is a soft sound, something like a softer ch
• Croatian stress is not usually marked in normal writing, so learners often learn pronunciation by listening as well as reading

A rougher phonetic guide:

• Radionica ≈ rah-dee-OH-nee-tsa
• ima ≈ EE-ma
• tisuću ≈ TEE-soo-chu
• posuda ≈ poh-SOO-da

Grammatically yes, but in normal English has is much more natural.

Croatian imati is the ordinary verb to have, and in this sentence ima simply means has. There is no special nuance of formal ownership unless the context suggests one.

So the best understanding is just:

• ima = has