Ulazna kontrola počinje sada.

Literally, ulazna means entry / entrance-related, and kontrola means check / inspection / control, depending on context.

So ulazna kontrola is something like:

• entry check
• entrance inspection
• access control
• in some contexts, security screening at the entrance

A useful warning: kontrola is often a false friend for English speakers. It does not always mean control in the sense of power over something. Very often in Croatian it means inspection or check.

Because it is an adjective agreeing with kontrola.

• kontrola is feminine singular
• so the adjective must also be feminine singular
• therefore: ulazna kontrola

This is normal in Croatian: adjectives change to match the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

For example, if the noun were masculine, the adjective form would be different.

It is in the nominative singular.

Why? Because it is the subject of the sentence:

• Ulazna kontrola = the thing that is starting
• počinje = starts / is starting

So this is the basic subject form.

Počinje means starts, begins, or is starting, depending on context.

Here it is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense

It agrees with the singular subject ulazna kontrola.

So:

• Ulazna kontrola počinje sada.
• The entry check starts now.
• or The entry check is starting now.

Both are natural English translations.

It is from the imperfective verb počinjati.

That matters because Croatian verbs often come in aspect pairs:

• počinjati = imperfective
• početi = perfective

In this sentence, počinje is the natural present-tense form for something that is beginning now.

Because počinje and počne come from different aspects:

• počinje ← počinjati (imperfective)
• počne ← početi (perfective)

For a present-time announcement like starts now / is starting now, počinje is the normal choice.

Very roughly:

• počinje = is beginning / starts
• počne = begins, but usually not used the same way for an action happening right now in a neutral statement

So for this sentence, Ulazna kontrola počinje sada sounds right and natural.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Croatian present tense often covers both:

• English simple present: starts
• English present progressive: is starting

So počinje can be understood as:

• starts now
• is starting now

English makes a stronger grammatical distinction here than Croatian does.

Sada means now.

It is an adverb, not a noun form, so it is not changing for case here.

You may also hear:

• sad = a shorter, very common spoken form of sada

So both are possible:

• Ulazna kontrola počinje sada.
• Ulazna kontrola počinje sad.

The version with sada is slightly fuller or a bit more formal/neutral.

Because Croatian has no articles.

English says:

• the entry check
• an entry check

Croatian does not have separate words for the or a/an.

So Ulazna kontrola can mean:

• the entry check
• an entry check

The context tells you which one is meant. In this sentence, it will usually be understood as a specific one, so in English you would normally say the.

Yes. Croatian word order is fairly flexible.

The neutral order here is:

• Ulazna kontrola počinje sada.

But you could also say:

• Sada počinje ulazna kontrola.

That version puts more emphasis on now.

Because Croatian uses endings and agreement to show grammatical roles, word order is often used for:

• emphasis
• focus
• style

So the basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis can shift.

Usually, yes.

So:

• ulazna kontrola = entry check

This adjective-before-noun order is the normal, neutral one.

Croatian can sometimes place adjectives after nouns, but that is not the usual pattern for a basic phrase like this one.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation is:

• oo-LAHZ-na kon-TRO-la po-CHEEN-yeh SA-da

A few useful sound notes:

• č sounds like ch in church
• nj sounds like ny in canyon
• z is voiced, like z in zoo

So počinje is roughly po-CHEEN-yeh.

No. This is a very common learner issue.

In many Croatian contexts, kontrola is better translated as:

• check
• inspection
• screening

rather than English control.

So in this sentence, depending on the situation, a more natural English translation might be:

• The entry check starts now.
• Entrance screening starts now.
• Access control starts now.

The best choice depends on context.