Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ona jede voće jer želi biti zdrava. - She eats fruit because she wants to be healthy.

ona = she
jede = eats (3rd person singular present of jesti – to eat)
voće = fruit
jer = because
želi = wants / wishes (3rd person singular present of željeti – to want, to wish)
biti = to be (infinitive)
zdrava = healthy (feminine form of the adjective zdrav – healthy)

Do I have to use ona, or can I just say Jede voće jer želi biti zdrava?

You can absolutely drop ona and say:

Jede voće jer želi biti zdrava.

Croatian usually omits subject pronouns because the verb ending (-e, -u, etc.) already shows who the subject is.

You use ona mainly when:

you want to emphasize she (as opposed to someone else), or
the subject might otherwise be ambiguous from context.

So both are correct; Ona jede… just sounds a bit more explicit/emphatic.

Why is it jede and not jesti or something like je?

jesti is the infinitive: to eat.
jede is the 3rd person singular present tense: (she) eats / is eating.

The present-tense forms of jesti are irregular:

(ja) jedem – I eat
(ti) jedeš – you eat (sg)
(on/ona/ono) jede – he/she/it eats
(mi) jedemo – we eat
(vi) jedete – you eat (pl/formal)
(oni/one/ona) jedu – they eat

je in Croatian is usually:

je = is (3rd person singular of biti – to be) or
a weak object pronoun her/it in some contexts.

So jede is needed here because it’s the correct present-tense form of jesti for ona.

What grammatical form is voće, and why doesn’t it change?

Voće is a neuter singular noun, usually treated as an uncountable / mass noun meaning fruit in general.

In this sentence:

voće is the direct object of jede, so it is in the accusative singular.
For this particular noun, nominative singular and accusative singular look the same: voće.

So:

Voće je zdravo. – Fruit is healthy. (nominative)
Jede voće. – She eats fruit. (accusative)

No visible change in form, but the grammatical role is different.

Why is there no article like a, the, or some before voće?

Croatian does not have articles, so you simply say voće without a/the/some.

The English equivalents depend on context:

She eats fruit (general habit)
She eats some fruit (indefinite amount)
She eats the fruit (a specific fruit already known in context)

All of those could be Ona jede voće in Croatian; the article-like meaning is understood from context, not from a word.

Does jer always mean because, and can I replace it with something else?

Jer is a very common conjunction meaning because.

You can often replace jer with:

zato što – also because, slightly more formal/explicit:
- Ona jede voće zato što želi biti zdrava.

There is also pošto, which in some regions/contexts can mean since/because, but it’s a bit more colloquial/region-dependent.

Most of the time, jer and zato što are interchangeable as because, and both are perfectly natural in this sentence.

Is the word order fixed, or can I move jer želi biti zdrava to the beginning?

You can change the order. Both of these are possible:

Ona jede voće jer želi biti zdrava.
Jer želi biti zdrava, ona jede voće.

Differences:

Version 1 (original) is the most neutral and common.
Version 2 puts emphasis on the reason (because she wants to be healthy) and is more stylistic or explanatory, often used in written or rhetorical contexts.

What you cannot do is split things unnaturally, like:

✗ Ona jer želi biti zdrava jede voće. (grammatical for some speakers, but sounds awkward and is not beginner-friendly)

Do I need a comma before jer as in English (because)?

In Croatian, the general rule is:

No comma before jer when it comes after the main clause:
- Ona jede voće jer želi biti zdrava. (no comma)
Yes, a comma when the jer-clause comes first:
- Jer želi biti zdrava, ona jede voće.

So this is different from English, where a comma before because is sometimes optional and sometimes used for clarity. In Croatian, in the usual word order (main clause + jer + reason), you simply don’t put the comma.

Why is it želi biti zdrava instead of something like želi da je zdrava?

Both structures exist, but they’re used differently:

želi biti zdrava
- Literally: she wants to be healthy
- Uses the infinitive biti after želi.
- Very natural for expressing personal desires and goals.
želi da je zdrava
- Literally: she wants that she is healthy
- Grammatically possible, but sounds a bit odd or redundant if talking about her own state.
- da-clauses are more natural when the subject is different, e.g.:
  - Želi da njezina djeca budu zdrava. – She wants her children to be healthy.

For her own state, želi biti zdrava is the normal and most idiomatic choice.

What does želi imply compared to hoće? Could I say hoće biti zdrava?

Both verbs relate to wanting, but with nuances:

željeti (želi) = to wish, to desire, to want
- Often slightly more polite, softer, and very common in standard language.
htjeti (hoće) = to want, to be willing to
- Also common; in some contexts it can sound a bit more direct or colloquial.

In this exact sentence, you can say:

Ona želi biti zdrava. – very natural, slightly softer in tone.
Ona hoće biti zdrava. – understandable, but can sound more like she insists on being healthy or she’s determined to be healthy, or just more informal, depending on tone and context.

For textbook-style, neutral sentences, želi is often preferred.

Why does zdrava end in -a? When would I use zdrav instead?

Zdrava is the feminine singular form of the adjective zdrav (healthy) and it must agree with the subject ona (she), which is feminine.

Predicate adjectives (adjectives used after biti – to be) agree in gender and number with the subject:

On je zdrav. – He is healthy. (masculine singular)
Ona je zdrava. – She is healthy. (feminine singular)
Dijete je zdravo. – The child is healthy. (neuter singular)
Oni su zdravi. – They are healthy. (masculine/mixed plural)
One su zdrave. – They (all female) are healthy. (feminine plural)

So in Ona … želi biti zdrava, zdrava must be feminine to match ona.

Does this Croatian present tense mean she eats fruit (in general) or she is eating fruit (right now)?

The Croatian present tense covers both meanings:

Ona jede voće can mean:
- She eats fruit (a habit / generally), or
- She is eating fruit (right now).

Croatian usually uses context, not a different verb form, to distinguish:

If you’re describing her lifestyle: it means in general.
If you’re describing what she’s doing this moment: it means right now.

English separates these with simple present vs present continuous; Croatian doesn’t.

How would the sentence change if the subject were masculine or plural?

Change the subject and make verbs/adjectives agree:

Masculine singular (he)
- On jede voće jer želi biti zdrav.
- Only the adjective changes: zdrav (masculine), not zdrava.
Neuter singular (it)
- Ono jede voće jer želi biti zdravo.
Masculine (or mixed) plural (they)
- Oni jedu voće jer žele biti zdravi.
- Verb: jedu, žele (plural)
- Adjective: zdravi (masculine plural).
Feminine plural (they, all female)
- One jedu voće jer žele biti zdrave.
- Adjective: zdrave (feminine plural).

How do you pronounce the parts that start with je- (jede, jer), and is there any link to je meaning is?

Pronunciation (approximate):

jede: YE-deh
jer: yer (with a rolled/flapped r)
je (as is): ye

They all have the je = ye sound at the start, but grammatically they’re different words:

jede – verb (she) eats
jer – conjunction because
je – is (3rd person singular of biti, or object pronoun in some positions)

Croatian spelling is very phonetic, so:

j = English y in yes
e = eh (as in bet)

So je is always pronounced ye, never like English jee or dʒe.