Bivši vođa je u gradu.

Bivši means former or ex-: someone who had that role before, but does not have it now.

So bivši vođa means a person who used to be the leader.

It does not simply mean old in the sense of age. For that, Croatian would use a different word, such as star.

Because some Croatian nouns for people end in -a even when they are not feminine in meaning.

Vođa is one of those nouns. It can refer to a man or a woman.

In your sentence, bivši is in the masculine form, so the phrase suggests a male former leader. If the speaker clearly meant a female leader, many speakers would use bivša vođa.

So the important point is:

• vođa stays vođa
• the adjective can help show whether the referent is male or female

It changes. Bivši is an adjective, and Croatian adjectives normally agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

In this sentence, bivši is masculine singular nominative, because it goes with vođa as the subject.

In other forms, it can change, for example:

• bivšeg vođe
• bivšem vođi
• bivšu vođu if referring to a feminine noun elsewhere

So yes, it is not a fixed form.

Je is the 3rd person singular of biti (to be), but in Croatian it is a clitic. Clitics usually go in second position in the sentence.

That does not always mean after the first single word. It often means after the first whole phrase.

So in:

Bivši vođa je u gradu.

the first unit is Bivši vođa, and then the clitic je comes after it.

That is normal and natural Croatian word order.

Because Croatian uses different cases depending on whether you mean:

• location: where someone is
• movement: where someone is going

With u:

• u + locative = in, inside, at a place
• u + accusative = into, to a place

So:

• u gradu = in the city / in town → location
• u grad = to the city / into town → movement

Since the sentence says where the person is, Croatian uses the locative: u gradu.

Because after u in the sense of location, grad has to be in the locative singular.

The noun is:

• grad = nominative singular

But after u for location, it becomes:

• u gradu = locative singular

This is a common pattern with many masculine nouns.

It can mean either, depending on context.

So u gradu may be understood as:

• in the city
• in town

In everyday speech, u gradu is often very natural for in town.

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

That means Croatian often leaves definiteness to context.

So this sentence could correspond to English like:

• The former leader is in town
• A former leader is in town

In real use, context usually makes it clear which one is meant.

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order.

For example:

• Bivši vođa je u gradu.
  Neutral statement.

• U gradu je bivši vođa.
  This puts more focus on the location, or introduces who is in town.

The meaning stays broadly the same, but the emphasis changes.

One thing to watch is that the clitic je still wants to stay near the second position.

A rough guide:

• bivši ≈ BEEV-shee
• vođa ≈ VO-jah or VO-djah, depending on how precisely you want to represent đ

Two useful Croatian letters here are:

• š = sh as in shoe
• đ = a soft sound somewhat like the j in judge, but lighter

So:

• bivši has š = sh
• vođa has đ, which English speakers often need practice with

Croatian spelling is quite regular, so once you learn the letters, pronunciation becomes much easier.