Vozač je pijan.

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

So:

• vozač = driver
• je = is
• pijan = drunk

That is why Vozač je pijan means The driver is drunk.

Croatian does not have articles like a/an and the.

So vozač can mean:

• a driver
• the driver

Which one is meant depends on the context. In this sentence, English often uses the driver, but Croatian simply says vozač.

Pijan is an adjective meaning drunk, and it must agree with the person it describes.

Here, vozač is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective also appears in the masculine singular nominative form: pijan.

Other forms would be:

• pijana = feminine singular
• pijano = neuter singular
• pijani = masculine plural

Examples:

• Vozačica je pijana. = The female driver is drunk.
• Vozači su pijani. = The drivers are drunk.

Grammatically, vozač is a masculine noun. It usually refers to a male driver, though in some contexts masculine nouns can be used more generally.

If you specifically want to say female driver, the usual word is:

• vozačica

So:

• Vozač je pijan. = The male driver is drunk.
• Vozačica je pijana. = The female driver is drunk.

Because it is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

In Vozač je pijan:

• vozač = subject, so nominative
• pijan = predicate adjective, also nominative to match the subject

You do not use an object case here, because nobody is receiving an action. The sentence is simply describing the subject.

Normally, no. In standard Croatian, when you use an adjective as the predicate in the present tense, you need the verb biti.

So the normal sentence is:

• Vozač je pijan.

Leaving out je would sound incomplete or nonstandard in ordinary Croatian.

The most neutral word order is:

• Vozač je pijan.

But Croatian word order is fairly flexible, especially for emphasis.

You may also hear:

• Pijan je vozač.
• Je li vozač pijan? = Is the driver drunk?

One important point: je is a clitic, so it usually appears in second position in the sentence or clause.

So while the order can change, je still follows special placement rules.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• vozač ≈ VOH-zach
• je ≈ yeh
• pijan ≈ PEE-yan

A few useful sound notes:

• j in Croatian sounds like English y in yes
• č sounds like ch in church, but a bit firmer
• Stress can vary by dialect, but the rough guide above is fine for learners

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

• VOH-zach yeh PEE-yan

In this sentence, pijan describes the driver's current state: he is drunk.

It usually means the person is intoxicated at that time, not that being drunk is a permanent trait.

If you wanted to describe someone's general habit, Croatian would usually express that differently, depending on the context.

The most common way is:

• Je li vozač pijan? = Is the driver drunk?

Here:

• je li is a standard yes/no question pattern

In informal speech, you may also hear intonation-based questions, but Je li vozač pijan? is the safest standard form to learn.

The negative is:

• Vozač nije pijan. = The driver is not drunk.

Here, nije is the negative form of je.

So:

• je = is
• nije = is not