Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Croatian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Koliko je sati?
What does each word in Koliko je sati? literally mean?
- Koliko = how much/how many
- je = is (3rd person singular of biti “to be”)
- sati = hours (genitive plural of sat “hour” — here it’s “of hours”)
Literal sense: “How many hours is it?” Functionally: “What time is it?”
Why is it singular je and not plural su, since sati is plural?
In this idiomatic “time-of-day” question, Croatian uses an impersonal structure with singular je. You’ll see the same with other “how many” questions: Koliko je ljudi? (“How many people are there?”) — still je. So Koliko je sati? is fixed and natural.
Which case is sati here?
Genitive plural. After koliko in quantity questions, the counted noun appears in the genitive (plural when you’re asking/open-ended). With sat, the nominative plural and genitive plural are both sati, so the form looks the same. With a noun where the forms differ you can see it clearly: Koliko je dana? (“How many days are there?”) — genitive plural dana.
Can I say Koliko sati je?
Avoid it. Standard Croatian uses Koliko je sati? Word order with koliko je + GEN is the natural pattern.