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Learn Hardcore Croatian: Natjecatelj zna odgovor. - The contestant knows the answer.

Hardcore Croatian
/Playing in a pub quiz
/Natjecatelj zna odgovor.

Natjecatelj zna odgovor.

Word

Natjecatelj zna odgovor.

Meaning

The contestant knows the answer.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Croatian

Lesson

Playing in a pub quiz

Breakdown of Natjecatelj zna odgovor.

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Questions & Answers about Natjecatelj zna odgovor.

Why is natjecatelj the subject of the sentence?

Because natjecatelj is in the nominative case, which is the usual case for the subject in Croatian.

In Natjecatelj zna odgovor.:

natjecatelj = the contestant / a contestant → subject
zna = knows
odgovor = the answer / an answer → object

A native English speaker often expects word order alone to show this, but in Croatian, case endings are very important.

Why is odgovor not changed? Shouldn’t the object have a different ending?

Good question. Odgovor is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case. But for many inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative singular is identical to the nominative singular.

So:

nominative: odgovor
accusative: odgovor

That is why it looks unchanged.

Compare that with an animate masculine noun, where the accusative usually changes:

nominative: natjecatelj
accusative: natjecatelja

So in this sentence:

natjecatelj stays nominative because it is the subject
odgovor is accusative, but it happens to look the same as nominative

Why is there no word for the or a in Croatian?

Croatian does not normally use articles like English the and a/an.

So Natjecatelj zna odgovor can mean:

The contestant knows the answer
A contestant knows the answer
sometimes even The contestant knows an answer, depending on context

The exact meaning is usually understood from the situation, context, or emphasis.

What exactly does zna mean here?

Zna is the 3rd person singular present tense of znati, meaning to know.

So:

ja znam = I know
ti znaš = you know
on/ona zna = he/she knows

In this sentence, natjecatelj is singular, so the verb is singular too: zna.

Why do we use znati here and not another verb for know?

In Croatian, znati is used for knowing information, facts, or answers.

That is why zna odgovor means knows the answer.

A different verb, poznavati or poznati, is used more for being familiar with a person, place, or thing:

Znam odgovor. = I know the answer.
Poznajem tog čovjeka. = I know that man.

So with odgovor, znati is the natural choice.

Can the word order change?

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English because case endings help show grammatical roles.

The neutral, most straightforward order here is:

Natjecatelj zna odgovor.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

Odgovor zna natjecatelj. → emphasizes the answer
Zna natjecatelj odgovor. → possible in certain contexts, but less neutral

Even when the order changes, the cases still help identify subject and object.

Is natjecatelj masculine? Can it refer to a woman?

Grammatically, natjecatelj is a masculine noun.

Usually:

natjecatelj = male contestant
natjecateljica = female contestant

However, in some contexts, masculine forms can be used more generally, especially in mixed or unspecified groups, but if you specifically mean a female contestant, natjecateljica is the usual form.

How do you pronounce natjecatelj?

A rough pronunciation guide is:

na-tye-ca-tely

A few useful notes:

tj in natje- sounds somewhat like tye
c is pronounced like ts
lj is a single sound, similar to the lli in some pronunciations of million, or a soft ly

So the whole word is approximately:

na-tye-tsa-tely

The exact pronunciation depends on accent and dialect, but this is a helpful starting point.

What case is natjecatelj in, and how would it change in other cases?

Here, natjecatelj is in the nominative singular.

Some important forms are:

nominative: natjecatelj
genitive: natjecatelja
dative: natjecatelju
accusative: natjecatelja
vocative: natjecatelju
locative: natjecatelju
instrumental: natjecateljem

This is useful because masculine animate nouns often show -a in the accusative singular, unlike odgovor, which is inanimate.

Could this sentence also be translated as The competitor knows the answer?

Yes. Natjecatelj can often be translated as:

contestant
competitor

The best English choice depends on context:

quiz show/game show → contestant
sports or competition more generally → competitor

So both are possible translations.

How would I make this sentence plural?

You would change both the subject and the verb, and usually the object too if needed by context.

Singular:

Natjecatelj zna odgovor. = The contestant knows the answer.

Plural:

Natjecatelji znaju odgovor. = The contestants know the answer.

Changes:

natjecatelj → natjecatelji
zna → znaju
odgovor can stay odgovor if singular, or become odgovore if plural:
- Natjecatelji znaju odgovor. = The contestants know the answer.
- Natjecatelji znaju odgovore. = The contestants know the answers.

Can I say Natjecatelj zna odgovora?

No. That would be incorrect in standard Croatian.

After znati, the direct object goes in the accusative:

correct: zna odgovor
incorrect: zna odgovora

Odgovora is not the accusative singular form here. The correct accusative singular of odgovor is odgovor.

So the original sentence is grammatically correct:

Natjecatelj zna odgovor.

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