Learn Hardcore Croatian: Možeš li mi kasnije kazati gdje je stanica? - Can you tell me later where the station is?

Možeš li…? literally: Can you…?
Without li (Možeš mi kasnije kazati…) it would be a statement: You can tell me later…
With li (Možeš li mi kasnije kazati…?) it becomes a question: Can you tell me later…?

Where is the word “you” in this sentence? Why isn’t ti used?

Croatian usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.

možeš already means you can (2nd person singular).
So ti (you) is normally omitted: Možeš li…? is enough.

You can say Ti možeš li mi kasnije kazati…?, but it sounds awkward and unnatural. If you want to emphasize you, you’d say something like:

Ti mi možeš kasnije kazati gdje je stanica. (As a statement, stressing you in contrast to someone else.)

What is mi doing here, and why is it in that position?

mi here is the dative form of ja (I), and it means to me / for me.

kazati mi = to tell me
Možeš li mi kasnije kazati…? = Can you tell me later…?

As for position: mi is a clitic (an unstressed short word). Croatian clitics like mi, ti, se, ga, je normally go in second position in the clause, right after the first stressed word or phrase:

Možeš li mi kasnije kazati…?
First stressed element: Možeš
Then: li mi (both clitics) come after it.

You cannot put mi at the end the way you sometimes can in English:

✗ Možeš li kasnije kazati gdje je stanica mi? (wrong)

Why is the verb kazati in the infinitive and not conjugated?

Because moći (to be able/can) is a modal verb, and in Croatian, modal verbs are followed by the infinitive:

možeš kazati = you can tell
možeš doći = you can come
možeš kupiti = you can buy

So:

Možeš li… kazati…? = Can you… tell…?
kazati stays in the infinitive, just like English uses tell (bare infinitive) after can.

What is the difference between kazati and reći?

Both mean to say / to tell and are often interchangeable:

Možeš li mi kasnije kazati gdje je stanica?
Možeš li mi kasnije reći gdje je stanica?

In modern everyday speech:

reći is more common in conversation.
kazati can sound a bit more formal, literary, or neutral-standard.

Functionally, in this sentence, using kazati vs reći doesn’t change the meaning.

Could I say Hoćeš li mi kasnije kazati…? instead of Možeš li…? and what’s the difference?

Yes, you can.

Možeš li mi kasnije kazati…?
Literally: Are you able to tell me later…?
In practice: Can you tell me later…? (often polite, not really asking about physical ability)
Hoćeš li mi kasnije kazati…?
Literally: Will you tell me later…?
This asks more about willingness or future action rather than ability.

Both are common, but Hoćeš li…? is closer to English Will you…?

How would I make this sentence polite/formal instead of informal?

Use the formal/plural form of you: vi.

Change the verb to možete (2nd person plural):

Možete li mi kasnije kazati gdje je stanica?
= Could you (formal) tell me later where the station is?

You might also hear Biste li mi mogli kasnije kazati…? (conditional, even more polite), but your structure with Možete li… is already nicely polite.

Why is kasnije (later) in the middle? Can it move to other positions?

Yes, kasnije is flexible, and different positions are possible:

Možeš li mi kasnije kazati gdje je stanica? (neutral, very natural)
Možeš li mi kazati kasnije gdje je stanica? (also OK)
Kasnije mi možeš kazati gdje je stanica. (a bit more like: You can tell me later…)

Some positions are wrong because of clitic rules:

✗ Možeš li kasnije mi kazati…? (clitic mi should not be separated from second position)

Moving kasnije mainly changes emphasis slightly, not the core meaning.

What does gdje je stanica mean grammatically here? Is it a question inside a question?

gdje je stanica literally: where the station is.

In this sentence it’s an indirect question clause (a subordinate clause), functioning as the object of kazati:

kazati [gdje je stanica] = tell (me) where the station is

Unlike English, Croatian does not change word order inside that clause:

Gdje je stanica? (direct question) = Where is the station?
…gdje je stanica. (indirect question) = where the station is.

Word order stays the same: gdje je stanica, not gdje stanica je and not gdje je to stanica in this context.

What is the difference between stanica and other words like postaja?

stanica generally means station/stop, often used for:

bus stops (autobusna stanica)
tram stops (tramvajska stanica)
sometimes also for train stations in informal speech

postaja can also mean station, but it’s more common in some regions and more typical in official names:

željeznička postaja = railway station
autobusna postaja = bus station

In everyday speech, asking for stanica is very common and will be understood as some sort of stop or station, usually the relevant one from context (bus, tram, etc.).

Why is there a question mark only at the end, not after Možeš li?

The whole sentence is one yes/no question, so it gets one question mark at the end:

Možeš li mi kasnije kazati gdje je stanica?

Even though gdje je stanica looks like a question by itself, here it’s part of an indirect question inside a larger yes/no question. Croatian punctuation treats this as one question, not two.

You would write Gdje je stanica? with its own question mark only when it’s a standalone direct question.

Could I say this as a simple direct question: “Where is the station?” in Croatian?

Yes, the direct version is:

Gdje je stanica? = Where is the station?

Your original sentence:

Možeš li mi kasnije kazati gdje je stanica?
= Can you tell me later where the station is?

So the part gdje je stanica is exactly what you would say as a separate direct question, just embedded into a longer sentence.

Is the order Možeš li mi fixed, or could I say Mi možeš li or Li možeš mi?

The order Možeš li mi… is essentially fixed by Croatian clitic rules:

The main verb (Možeš) comes first.
Then the question particle li (a clitic).
Then the pronoun mi (also a clitic).

So:

Možeš li mi kasnije kazati…? ✅ correct, natural
Mi možeš li kasnije kazati…? ❌ incorrect
Li možeš mi kasnije kazati…? ❌ incorrect

In yes/no questions, li almost always comes right after the first stressed element of the sentence (here: Možeš), and other clitics (like mi) follow it.