Learn Hardcore Croatian: Danas je nebo bez oblaka. - Today the sky is without clouds.

danas – today
- Part of speech: adverb (of time)
je – is
- Part of speech: 3rd person singular present of biti (to be)
nebo – sky
- Part of speech: noun, neuter gender, singular, nominative case
bez – without
- Part of speech: preposition; it requires the genitive case
oblaka – of clouds / clouds’ (as in without clouds)
- Part of speech: noun oblak (cloud), masculine, genitive plural form

So the structure is literally: Today is sky without clouds.

Why is the verb je (is) necessary here? Could I just say Danas nebo bez oblaka?

You need the verb je here. Croatian usually keeps the verb biti (to be) in the present tense in normal statements like this.

Correct: Danas je nebo bez oblaka.
Incorrect / ungrammatical as a sentence: Danas nebo bez oblaka.

You can drop je in some very short, more "headline-like" phrases (for example, in newspaper titles or notes: Nebo bez oblaka danas), but as a normal full sentence, you should use je.

Why is it nebo and not neba? How does case work here?

Nebo is in the nominative singular case, because it is the subject of the sentence – the thing you are talking about.

Nominative singular: nebo – the sky (as the subject)
- Nebo je plavo. – The sky is blue.

Neba is a different form (genitive singular), used, for example, when something belongs to or comes from the sky:

Boja neba. – The color of the sky.
Zraka neba nema. – There is not a ray of sky.

Here, we are simply describing the sky, so the subject is in nominative: nebo.

Why is it oblaka and not something like oblaci or oblake?

The preposition bez (without) always takes the genitive case.

The noun oblak (cloud) has:

Nominative plural: oblaci – clouds (as subject)
Accusative plural: oblake – clouds (as direct object)
Genitive plural: oblaka – of clouds (after bez, etc.)

Because bez requires genitive, you must use oblaka:

Correct: bez oblaka – without clouds
Incorrect: bez oblaci, bez oblake

So does bez oblaka literally mean “without of clouds”? Why “of”?

In English you don’t usually say without of X; you just say without X.

In Croatian, the genitive case often has a meaning similar to of in English. After many prepositions, including bez (without), you must use this genitive form.

So:

bez
- oblaka (genitive plural)
  gives the meaning of without clouds.

You can think of bez oblaka as “without (any) clouds”, where genitive expresses the absence of something.

Why are there no words for “the” or “a” before nebo or oblaka?

Croatian has no articles like a/an or the.

nebo can mean sky or the sky
oblaci can mean clouds or the clouds

Context tells you whether it is more natural to translate with a/an, the, or no article at all in English.

So Danas je nebo bez oblaka is understood as:

Today *the sky is without (any) clouds.
(not *a sky, because that’s not logical here in English)

Can I change the word order, for example say Nebo je danas bez oblaka? Does it sound different?

Yes, you can change the word order, and Croatian allows this quite flexibly. All of the following are grammatically correct:

Danas je nebo bez oblaka.
Nebo je danas bez oblaka.
Danas je bez oblaka nebo. (less common, a bit more stylistic/emphatic)

The basic and most natural ones are:

Danas je nebo bez oblaka.
– Slight emphasis on today (“Today, the sky is cloudless.”)
Nebo je danas bez oblaka.
– Slight emphasis on the sky, then you add today as extra info.

The difference is mostly one of focus/emphasis, not meaning. All still mean the same thing in normal conversation.

Is there a shorter way to say this in Croatian, like “It’s clear today”?

Yes. Common alternatives include:

Danas je vedro. – It is clear today.
(literally: Today is clear, understood as the sky/weather is clear)
Vedro je danas. – Also It’s clear today, with focus on clear.

You can also say:

Nebo je danas vedro. – The sky is clear today.

Your original sentence Danas je nebo bez oblaka is a bit more concrete and visual (“without clouds”), while vedro is a concise adjective meaning “clear (sky)”.

How does the verb je agree with nebo in this sentence?

The verb je is the 3rd person singular present form of biti (to be).

Person/number: 3rd person singular
Subject: nebo – the sky (singular, neuter)

In Croatian, the verb agrees with the subject in person and number. Because nebo is 3rd person singular, you use je:

Nebo je bez oblaka. – The sky is without clouds.
Oblaci su bijeli. – The clouds are white. (here, plural → su)

Where does the stress go and how do you pronounce Danas je nebo bez oblaka?

A simple pronunciation guide (stressed syllables in bold):

DA-nas – /ˈda.nas/
je – /je/ (short, like ye in yes)
NE-bo – /ˈne.bɔ/
bez – /bez/ (z is voiced, like z in zoo)
OB-la-ka – /ˈɔb.la.ka/ (all vowels are short and clear)

So overall: DA-nas je NE-bo bez OB-la-ka.

Croatian vowel sounds are very consistent:

a like in father, e like in bed, o like in more (British).

Could this sentence also mean “There are no clouds in the sky today,” or is that different in Croatian?

The idea is essentially the same, but Croatian would normally word “There are no clouds in the sky today” as:

Danas nema oblaka na nebu.

Differences:

Danas je nebo bez oblaka.
– Literally: Today the sky is without clouds.
– Focus on the sky and its state (it is cloudless).
Danas nema oblaka na nebu.
– Literally: Today there are no clouds in the sky.
– Focus on the absence of clouds themselves.

In everyday use, both describe the same kind of weather, but the structure and emphasis differ slightly.