Udarac je jak.

The blow is strong.

Breakdown of Udarac je jak.

• biti: to be
• jak: strong
• udarac: a blow; hit

Questions & Answers about Udarac je jak.

Why is je in the middle of the sentence?

Because je is a clitic in Croatian. Clitics are short unstressed words that usually go in the second position of the sentence or clause.

So in Udarac je jak, the first element is Udarac, and je comes right after it.

This is very normal in Croatian:

• Udarac je jak.
• On je jak.
• Ovaj udarac je jak.

You usually cannot place je freely wherever you want.

What exactly is je here?

Je is the 3rd person singular present tense of biti (to be).

So it corresponds to is in English.

• ja sam = I am
• ti si = you are
• on/ona/ono je = he/she/it is

In Udarac je jak, je links the subject (udarac) with the adjective (jak), just like is in English.

Why is it jak and not jaka or jako?