Learn Hardcore Croatian: Njegov glas je miran, ali njena pjesma je brza.

This is possible and understandable, but the version with je in both clauses sounds more neutral / standard, especially in writing. You cannot drop the first je in this sentence.

Why is it miran and brza, not something like miran glas / brza pjesma without je?

Both are fine; they are just two different structures:

With “je” + adjective (predicate):
- Njegov glas je miran. = His voice is calm.
- Njena pjesma je brza. = Her song is fast.
Here miran / brza describe the state of the subject via the verb je.
Adjective directly before the noun (attributive):
- Njegov miran glas = his calm voice
- Njena brza pjesma = her fast song
Here the adjective is part of the noun phrase, not a separate statement.

So the original sentence is making two statements about the voice and the song, not just naming them.

Why does miran end in -an, but brza ends in -a?

Adjectives change form to agree with the noun’s gender:

glas (voice) is masculine singular → miran (m.sg.)
- masculine forms often end in -an, -en, -o, -i (e.g. miran, dobar, velik)
pjesma (song) is feminine singular → brza (f.sg.)
- feminine adjectival form typically ends in -a (e.g. mirna, brza, dobra, velika)

Base forms:

miran (m.), mirna (f.), mirno (n.) = calm
brz (m.), brza (f.), brzo (n.) = fast, quick

So you say miran glas, mirna pjesma, brza pjesma, brz glas, etc.

What cases are glas and pjesma in here, and how do I recognise that?

Both glas and pjesma are in the nominative singular:

They are the subjects of their clauses:
- Njegov glas (subject) je miran.
- Njena pjesma (subject) je brza.

You recognise nominative because:

It’s the dictionary form (the one you look up)
It’s used for subjects of sentences.

If you changed the function, the case would change; for example:

Vidim njegov glas → actually you’d use a different expression, but grammatically: accusative glas
Slušam njegovu pjesmu → accusative feminine: pjesmu (not pjesma).

Why is there no “a” / “the” in Croatian? How would you say a calm voice vs the calm voice?

Croatian has no articles (no “a/an/the”).

So:

Njegov glas je miran. can mean
- His voice is calm.
- His voice is a calm one.
- The voice of his is calm. (depending on context)

You express definiteness (whether it’s “a” or “the”) through:

Context (what’s already known)
Word order and emphasis
Modifiers (e.g. taj glas = that voice, onaj glas = that (over there) voice)

There is no special grammatical form that distinguishes a calm voice from the calm voice; both are simply miran glas in Croatian.

What is the difference between ali and a, since both can be translated as but?

Both ali and a can mean but, but their feel is different:

ali = but, often with a stronger contrast or opposition.
- Njegov glas je miran, ali njena pjesma je brza.
  → His voice is calm, but her song is fast.
a = often a softer contrast or just a shift: and / whereas
- Njegov glas je miran, a njena pjesma je brza.
  → His voice is calm, while / whereas her song is fast.

Both are grammatically correct here. Ali makes the contrast feel a bit sharper.

Could I change the word order to something like Njegov glas miran je, ali brza je njena pjesma?

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but some orders sound marked or poetic.

Natural, neutral options:

Njegov glas je miran, ali njena pjesma je brza. (standard)
Njegov je glas miran, ali je njena pjesma brza. (slight emphasis on njegov / je)
Glas mu je miran, ali joj je pjesma brza. (using mu / joj instead of njegov / njena)

Forms like:

Njegov glas miran je, ali brza je njena pjesma

are possible but sound poetic, literary, or highly emphatic, not normal spoken style.

What is the difference between njegov / njena and mu / joj (like in Glas mu je miran)?

Both sets express possession, but in different ways:

njegov / njena / njegovo… = possessive adjectives
- They behave like adjectives and stand before the noun:
  - njegov glas = his voice
  - njena pjesma = her song
mu / joj = dative clitic pronouns (to him, to her), often used to show possession in a more indirect way, very common in speech:
- Glas mu je miran. = literally The voice (to him) is calm → His voice is calm.
- Pjesma joj je brza. = Her song is fast.

Both ways are correct; njegov / njena are a bit more explicit, while mu / joj are shorter and very frequent in conversation.

Could I say Njegov glas je mirno, ali njena pjesma je brzo? What’s the difference between miran and mirno, brza and brzo?

No, not in this sentence. Here you need adjectives, not adverbs.

miran and brza are adjectives describing nouns:
- glas (m.) → miran
- pjesma (f.) → brza
mirno and brzo are usually adverbs (how something is done):
- On govori mirno. = He speaks calmly.
- Ona pjeva brzo. = She sings fast.

So:

Njegov glas je miran. ✅ (adjective describing glas)
Njegov glas je mirno. ❌ (ungrammatical here)

Similarly for brza / brzo in this structure.

How would I pronounce words like njegov, njena, and pjesma? What’s going on with nj and pj?

Key points:

nj is one consonant sound, like ny in “canyon”:
- njegov ≈ nye-gov
- njena ≈ nye-na
pj is just p
- j (like English p
  - y):
- pjesma ≈ pye-sma

Approximate stress (Croatian has more complex pitch patterns, but this is a usable guide):

Njègōv glàs je mìran, ali njèna pjèsma je br̀za.

Usually one stress per word, typically not at the very end in standard accent. Learners often over-stress endings; try to keep the main stress towards the start or middle.

What does pjesma mean exactly? Is it always “song”?

Pjesma primarily means:

a song (with words and melody)
a poem (in some contexts or fixed phrases)

Examples:

Volim ovu pjesmu. = I like this song.
Ljubavna pjesma = love song
Pjesma nad pjesmama = Song of Songs (biblical title)

In Serbian, you’ll often see pesma instead of pjesma. In Croatian, the standard form is pjesma.

Why is there a comma before ali in Croatian? Is it like English?

Yes, very similar to English. When ali introduces a new clause (with its own subject and verb), Croatian usually puts a comma before it:

Njegov glas je miran, ali njena pjesma je brza.
→ Two full clauses joined by ali.

If ali were just connecting shorter elements without a new clause, you might not have a comma (depending on the exact structure), but in this sentence the comma is required by standard punctuation rules.

Could this sentence ever mean “His voice is calm, but her song is loud” instead of fast?

No. brza specifically means fast / quick, not loud.

brza pjesma = a fast song (fast tempo, quick rhythm)
glasna pjesma = a loud song
glasan glas = a loud voice

So, if you want loud, use glasan / glasna / glasno, not brz / brza / brzo.