Learn Hardcore Croatian: On voli pripremiti juhu, a njegova sestra voli pripremiti salatu od ribe. - He likes to prepare soup, and his sister likes to prepare a salad from fish.

On voli pripremiti juhu, a njegova sestra voli pripremiti salatu od ribe.
→ He likes to prepare soup, while/whereas his sister likes to prepare fish salad.

The contrast is between him and his sister, so a is more natural than i here.

Could the subject On be left out? Is On voli pripremiti juhu different from Voli pripremiti juhu?

Yes, you can drop On:

On voli pripremiti juhu.
Voli pripremiti juhu.

Both are grammatically correct and mean the same thing: He likes to prepare soup.

Croatian is a pro‑drop language: the subject pronoun (on, ona, oni, etc.) is often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person:

voli = he/she/it likes

You typically keep On:

when you want to emphasize the contrast (e.g. On vs. njegova sestra),
or to make the subject extra clear in a longer conversation.

In this specific sentence, keeping On sounds natural because it matches the contrast set up by a njegova sestra.

Why is it njegova sestra and not njena sestra or just sestra?

njegova = his
njena = her
sestra = sister

So:

njegova sestra = his sister
njena sestra = her sister

We say njegova sestra because we are talking about his sister (the sister of on = he).

It’s not just njegov sestra because the possessive pronoun must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun sestra:

sestra is feminine, singular, nominative.
So we need njegova (feminine singular nominative), not njegov (masculine).

Just sestra (without njegova) would mean the sister, not necessarily his sister.

What is the exact structure of voli pripremiti? Why do we use an infinitive after voli?

The verb voljeti (to like / to love) is often followed by an infinitive when talking about activities:

voli + infinitive → likes to do X

Examples:

Voli čitati. – He/She likes to read.
Vole putovati. – They like to travel.
On voli pripremiti juhu. – He likes to prepare soup.

So voli pripremiti is:

voli – he likes (3rd person singular, present)
pripremiti – to prepare (infinitive)

Together: He likes to prepare…

Why is it pripremiti and not pripremati? What’s the difference?

Croatian verbs come in aspects:

pripremati – imperfective (ongoing, repeated, process)
pripremiti – perfective (completed action, whole event)

In practice, with voljeti, both are possible, but the nuance changes slightly:

On voli pripremati juhu.
→ He likes the process, the activity of preparing soup (in general).
On voli pripremiti juhu.
→ He likes to get it done, to prepare soup as a complete task (he enjoys preparing it, usually with the idea of finishing it).

In many everyday contexts, both can sound very similar, and both are understood as he likes preparing soup. The given sentence uses the perfective form pripremiti.

Why is it juhu and salatu, not juha and salata?

Juha and salata are the dictionary (nominative singular) forms:

juha – soup
salata – salad

In the sentence, they are direct objects of the verb pripremiti (to prepare), so they must be in the accusative case:

nominative: juha → accusative: juhu
nominative: salata → accusative: salatu

Pattern for many feminine nouns ending in -a:

Nominative: -a
Accusative: -u

So:

pripremiti juhu – to prepare soup
pripremiti salatu – to prepare salad

What does salatu od ribe literally mean? Why do we use od ribe?

salatu od ribe literally means salad made of fish or salad from fish.

salata – salad (nominative)
salatu – salad (accusative, as the object)
od – of / from
ribe – fish (genitive singular of riba)

The preposition od is followed by the genitive case and often expresses:

material or ingredient:
- salata od ribe – salad made of fish
- kolač od jabuka – cake made of apples
origin or source:
- sok od naranče – juice from oranges

So:
salatu od ribe = fish salad (literally: salad of fish).

Why is it ribe and not riba or ribu?

The base word is:

riba – fish (nominative singular)

But:

The preposition od always takes the genitive case.
Genitive singular of riba is ribe.

So:

riba – nominative (subject form)
ribu – accusative (direct object)
ribe – genitive (after od in this sentence)

Because we have od ribe, we must use the genitive, so ribe is correct.

Can I say ribnja salata or riblja salata instead of salata od ribe?

You can say riblja salata:

riblji / riblja / riblje is the adjective form from riba (fish).
riblja salata = literally fishy/fish salad → fish salad.

ribnja is not correct in standard Croatian here.

So:

salata od ribe – salad made of fish (more literal)
riblja salata – fish salad (adjectival form)

Both are normal, and in everyday speech they are often interchangeable.

Why do we repeat voli pripremiti in the second part? Could we say On voli pripremiti juhu, a njegova sestra salatu od ribe?

Yes, you can omit the repeated verb in the second clause, and it’s still grammatical:

On voli pripremiti juhu, a njegova sestra salatu od ribe.

This is understood as:

On voli pripremiti juhu, a njegova sestra (voli pripremiti) salatu od ribe.

Repeating voli pripremiti makes the sentence a bit more explicit and clear, especially for learners, but in natural speech and writing Croatians often omit repeated verbs if the meaning is obvious from context.

Is the comma before a obligatory? How is punctuation handled in this type of sentence?

Yes, in this type of sentence the comma before a is standard.

When you have two independent clauses joined by a, they are usually separated by a comma:

On voli pripremiti juhu, a njegova sestra voli pripremiti salatu od ribe.

Same with similar structures:

On čita knjigu, a ona gleda film.
Volim more, a on voli planine.

So, in this contrastive a-clause, the comma is expected in standard Croatian punctuation.

Could we change the word order, for example: On juhu voli pripremiti or Njegova sestra voli salatu od ribe pripremiti?

Yes, Croatian word order is relatively flexible, but word order affects emphasis and naturalness.

The neutral and most natural order here is:

On voli pripremiti juhu.
Njegova sestra voli pripremiti salatu od ribe.

Other orders:

On juhu voli pripremiti.
– Possible, but sounds more marked/emphatic. It might emphasize juhu just a bit (as opposed to something else).
Njegova sestra voli salatu od ribe pripremiti.
– Also possible, but it feels a bit unusual and stylistically marked; you’d more often hear the neutral version.

For learners, it’s best to stick to:

SUBJECT – VERB – (infinitive) – OBJECT
as in the original sentence.