Položaj mete je poznat.

• položaj = position, location, placement
• mete = of the target / target's
• je = is
• poznat = known

So grammatically, the sentence is built like:

position of-the-target is known

English would normally say The target's position is known or The position of the target is known.

Because mete is in the genitive case.

The base form is meta = target.
But after a noun like položaj (position), Croatian often uses the genitive to express of something:

• položaj mete = the position of the target
• literally: position of-target

So:

• meta = nominative singular, the dictionary form
• mete = genitive singular, meaning of the target

This is very common in Croatian:

• vrata kuće = the door of the house
• boja auta = the color of the car
• položaj mete = the position of the target

Poznat is an adjective meaning known, and it must agree with the noun it describes.

The noun being described is položaj, which is:

• masculine
• singular

So the adjective also has to be masculine singular:

• poznat = masculine singular
• poznata = feminine singular
• poznato = neuter singular

Compare:

• Položaj je poznat. = The position is known.
• Meta je poznata. = The target is known.
• Mjesto je poznato. = The place is known.

Je is the 3rd person singular of the verb biti (to be), meaning is.

So:

• je = is

Croatian usually includes the verb to be in this kind of sentence, just like English does:

• Položaj mete je poznat. = The target's position is known.

You generally cannot leave je out in standard Croatian here.

Croatian has no articles, so it does not have direct equivalents of a/an/the.

That means položaj can mean:

• a position
• the position

And meta can mean:

• a target
• the target

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, English naturally uses the:

• The target's position is known.

But Croatian simply says:

• Položaj mete je poznat.

The basic order here is very natural:

Položaj mete je poznat.

But Croatian word order is more flexible than English, because case endings show the grammatical relationships.

Possible alternatives include:

• Poznat je položaj mete.
• Položaj mete poznat je.

These can sound more marked, literary, or focused differently. The most neutral version is still:

Položaj mete je poznat.

So yes, word order can change, but not all versions sound equally natural in everyday use.

Yes, a little.

Mete can be:

• genitive singular of meta = of the target
• nominative plural of meta = targets

But in this sentence, the meaning is clear because after položaj you expect a genitive phrase:

• položaj mete = the position of the target

It would not naturally be understood here as positions target(s) or anything plural like that.

Položaj is masculine.

One clue is that many Croatian masculine nouns end in a consonant, and položaj ends in -j.

Because it is masculine singular, related words agree with it:

• taj položaj = that position
• poznat položaj = known position
• položaj je poznat = the position is known

This agreement is why the adjective is poznat, not poznata or poznato.

Not normally.

Although poznat can sometimes mean familiar or well-known, in this sentence known is the natural meaning.

So:

• Položaj mete je poznat. = The target's position is known.

If you translated it as familiar, it would sound strange in most contexts, especially if this is about tracking, military language, hunting, or any technical situation.

Yes, it is natural and correct.

It sounds somewhat neutral, factual, and possibly technical or formal, depending on context. For example, it would fit well in:

• military language
• police reports
• strategy games
• technical descriptions
• surveillance or navigation contexts

In casual everyday speech, people might still say it, but the context would usually be something fairly specific.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker:

• Položaj ≈ po-LO-zhai
• mete ≈ ME-te
• je ≈ ye
• poznat ≈ POZ-naht

A few important sounds:

• ž sounds like the s in measure
• j sounds like English y
• Croatian vowels are usually clear and short, not reduced like English unstressed vowels

So the whole sentence is roughly:

po-LO-zhai ME-te ye POZ-naht

Yes, that is possible, but it is not exactly the same in style.

• Položaj mete je poznat. = The target's position is known.
• Lokacija mete je poznata. = The target's location is known.

Both are understandable and correct, but:

• položaj can suggest position in a broader or more exact sense
• lokacija often sounds more like location

Also notice the agreement change:

• položaj is masculine → poznat
• lokacija is feminine → poznata

So if you change the noun, the adjective form may also have to change.