Vojnik nosi stari mač.

Vojnik means soldier, and here it is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence — the person doing the action.

So in Vojnik nosi stari mač, the structure is:

• vojnik = the soldier
• nosi = carries / is carrying / wears
• stari mač = an old sword

Nosi is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb nositi.

It can mean several related things in English, depending on context:

• carries
• is carrying
• wears
• is wearing

In this sentence, with mač (sword), the most natural meaning is carries or is carrying.

So:

• on nosi = he carries / he is carrying
• vojnik nosi = the soldier carries / is carrying

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

So vojnik can mean:

• a soldier
• the soldier

and stari mač can mean:

• an old sword
• the old sword

Which one is meant depends on context.

That is very normal in Croatian, and English speakers usually need some time to get used to it.

Because adjectives in Croatian must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here, mač is:

• masculine
• singular
• accusative (because it is the direct object)

So the adjective also has to match that form:

• stari mač

A useful thing to notice is that for many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular.

That is why both words look unchanged here.

Because mač is the direct object of the verb nosi.

The soldier is doing the action, and the sword is what is being carried. In Croatian, direct objects usually go in the accusative case.

So grammatically, mač is accusative here.

However, mač is a masculine inanimate noun, and those often have:

• nominative singular = accusative singular

So:

• nominative: mač
• accusative: mač

The form does not change, but the function changes.

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The neutral, straightforward version is:

• Vojnik nosi stari mač.

But you could also hear:

• Stari mač nosi vojnik.
• Vojnik stari mač nosi.

These alternatives can sound more marked, poetic, or focused on a particular part of the sentence.

For a learner, the safest choice is to use the neutral order:

• subject + verb + object

So Vojnik nosi stari mač is a very good standard sentence.

It can mean either one.

Croatian present tense often covers both:

• he carries
• he is carrying

The exact meaning depends on context.

So this sentence could mean:

• The soldier carries an old sword
  or
• The soldier is carrying an old sword

If the broader context makes it clear whether this is a habitual action or something happening right now, Croatian usually does not need a separate verb form the way English does.

A simple pronunciation guide:

• vojnik ≈ VOY-neek
• nosi ≈ NO-see
• stari ≈ STAR-ee
• mač ≈ mach, with č sounding roughly like ch in church

A few helpful notes:

• j in Croatian is pronounced like English y
• č is a ch-sound
• Croatian spelling is generally very phonetic, so words are usually pronounced much as they are written

Technically, nositi can mean to wear as well as to carry.

For example:

• Nosi kaput. = He is wearing a coat.
• Nosi torbu. = He is carrying a bag.

With mač (sword), the most natural translation is carries. In some contexts, especially if talking about equipment or weapons, English might also use something like bears or has on him, but carries is the normal choice.

A plural version would be:

• Vojnici nose stare mačeve. = The soldiers carry old swords.

Here the forms change:

• vojnik → vojnici
• nosi → nose
• stari mač → stare mačeve

This shows how both nouns and adjectives change form in Croatian depending on number and case.

In this sentence, stari simply means old.

But in other contexts, stari can also have other uses, for example:

• my old man / dad
• buddy / man in colloquial speech
• former in some contexts, depending on wording

Still, in stari mač, the meaning is straightforward: old sword.

The basic pattern is:

• Subject + Verb + Direct Object

So:

• Vojnik = subject
• nosi = verb
• stari mač = direct object

This is one of the simplest and most useful Croatian sentence patterns, and it works very much like basic English word order, even though Croatian has more case marking and more flexible word order overall.