Vino je skupo.

Because vino is a neuter singular noun, and the adjective has to agree with it.

• masculine: skup
• feminine: skupa
• neuter: skupo

So:

• Sir je skup. = The cheese is expensive.
• Kava je skupa. = The coffee is expensive.
• Vino je skupo. = The wine / Wine is expensive.

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

So je means is.

In Vino je skupo, the structure is:

• vino = wine
• je = is
• skupo = expensive

So it works just like Wine is expensive.

Croatian normally does not use articles like a or the.

So vino can mean:

• wine
• the wine

The exact meaning depends on context.

That means Vino je skupo could mean either:

• Wine is expensive
• The wine is expensive

Usually, yes. In Croatian, many nouns ending in -o or -e are neuter.

So vino is a neuter noun, and that is why the adjective is also neuter: skupo.

This is a very useful pattern for learners, although there are a few exceptions in the language.

Croatian word order is more flexible than English, but not every order is equally natural.

The most neutral version is:

• Vino je skupo.

You can also say:

• Skupo je vino.

This is grammatical, but it sounds more marked or focused, something like The wine is expensive or It’s the wine that’s expensive depending on context.

Vino skupo je is not the normal order.

Also note that je is a clitic, so it usually wants to stay in second position in the clause.

Normally, no.

In a full sentence like this, Croatian needs the verb je:

• Vino je skupo.

Without it:

• Vino skupo.

this sounds incomplete or nonstandard in ordinary speech.

You may sometimes see omission in headlines, notes, or very informal styles, but as a learner you should keep je.

Here it is an adjective.

It agrees with vino, which is neuter singular, so the adjective appears as skupo.

This can be confusing because skupo is also the form of the adverb, meaning expensively.

Compare:

• Vino je skupo. = The wine is expensive.
  (skupo = adjective)

• On živi skupo. = He lives expensively.
  (skupo = adverb)

So the form is the same, but the grammar is different.

A simple English-friendly pronunciation is:

• VEE-no yeh SKOO-po

A few details:

• v = like English v
• i = like ee in see
• j = like English y in yes
• e = like e in bet, but often a bit cleaner
• u = like oo in food
• o = a clear o, not a diphthong

So:

• vino = VEE-no
• je = yeh
• skupo = SKOO-po

Because vino is the subject of the sentence, so it stays in the nominative singular form.

The sentence is simply stating a quality of the subject:

• Vino = subject
• je skupo = predicate

So there is no reason for vino to change case here.

Yes. The adjective skup / skupa / skupo generally means expensive, but in English the best translation can vary depending on context.

So Vino je skupo could be translated naturally as:

• Wine is expensive
• The wine is expensive
• Wine is costly
• The wine is pricey

The Croatian sentence itself stays the same.

The dictionary form is usually given as the masculine singular adjective:

• skup = expensive

From that, the other common forms are:

• skup = masculine singular
• skupa = feminine singular
• skupo = neuter singular

So when you look it up, you will usually find skup, even though the sentence uses skupo.