Learn Hardcore Croatian: Moj brat zna popraviti pokvaren lift bolje od susjeda. - My brother knows how to fix a broken elevator better than the neighbor.

moj brat = my brother (nominative, answering “who?” – tko?)
mojeg brata would be genitive or accusative (answering “whom?” – koga?), which is not correct for a subject.

Pattern:

Moj brat zna… – My brother knows… ✅
Vidio sam mojeg brata. – I saw my brother. (object → accusative) ✅

What exactly does zna popraviti mean? Is it “knows to repair” or “can repair”?

In Croatian, znati + infinitive means to know how to do something (have the skill/knowledge).

Moj brat zna popraviti pokvaren lift.
≈ My brother knows how to repair the broken elevator / My brother can repair the broken elevator.

It is similar to English “can” in the sense of ability/skill, but literally it is “knows to repair.”

Compare:

On zna plivati. – He knows how to swim.
On može plivati. – He can swim (is able to / allowed to / has the possibility).

Why is it popraviti and not popravljati? What’s the difference?

Croatian distinguishes aspect:

popraviti – perfective (one completed act: to fix, to get it repaired once)
popravljati – imperfective (ongoing/repeated action: to be repairing, to repair in general)

In this sentence:

zna popraviti pokvaren lift
– focuses on successfully completing the repair (getting the elevator fixed).

If you said:

zna popravljati liftove
– it would sound more like “he is experienced in repairing elevators (as an activity/profession).”

Why is the word order zna popraviti pokvaren lift, and can I move these words around?

Basic, neutral order is:

[Subject] [finite verb] [infinitive] [object]
→ Moj brat zna popraviti pokvaren lift…

You can move some parts, but not all orders sound natural.

✅ Possible and natural-ish:

Moj brat zna bolje popraviti pokvaren lift od susjeda.
(emphasis on better way of repairing)

Less natural / awkward:

Moj brat popraviti zna pokvaren lift. – sounds strange.
Moj brat zna pokvaren lift popraviti. – can work in some contexts with special emphasis, but is marked.

The safest pattern with znati + infinitive is:

[Subject] + zna + [infinitive] + [object]

Why is the adjective before the noun: pokvaren lift, and not lift pokvaren?

In Croatian, descriptive adjectives normally come before the noun:

pokvaren lift – broken elevator
velika kuća – big house
crveni auto – red car

A structure like lift pokvaren would only appear in very specific, marked contexts (e.g. short predicate form: Lift je pokvaren. – The elevator is broken.), not as a single noun phrase.

Also, pokvaren agrees with lift in:

gender: masculine
number: singular
case: accusative (but for inanimate masculine, accusative looks like nominative: pokvaren lift).

Why is it bolje od susjeda? What case is susjeda, and why?

susjeda is genitive singular of susjed (neighbor, masc.).

With comparisons using bolji / bolje (better), Croatian often uses:

bolji / bolje + od + GENITIVE

So:

bolje od susjeda = better than the neighbor literally “better from the neighbor” but it functions like English than.

Hence:

susjed (nominative) – the neighbor (subject form)
od susjeda (genitive) – after od in a comparison.

Could I say bolje nego susjed instead of bolje od susjeda? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can also say:

Moj brat zna popraviti pokvaren lift bolje nego susjed.

Both are correct:

bolje od susjeda – very common, slightly more neutral.
bolje nego susjed – also common, often a bit more directly contrastive (“better than that neighbor”).

Grammatically:

od + susjeda → genitive
nego + susjed → nominative

In everyday speech, the difference is small; both are widely used.

Why is it susjeda and not susjedu or susjedom?

Because of the preposition od in a comparison:

od + GENITIVE = standard pattern.

So:

susjed – nominative (who?)
susjeda – genitive (of whom? than whom?)
susjedu – dative/locative (to/for/at the neighbor)
sa susjedom – instrumental (with the neighbor)

Here we need GENITIVE → od susjeda.

Is lift the only word for “elevator” in Croatian? I’ve seen dizalo too.

Both are used, but there are regional and stylistic preferences:

lift – very common in everyday speech, especially in Croatia and also understood in other ex‑Yugoslav countries.
dizalo – more “purely Croatian” and often used in more formal or standardized contexts.

You could say:

Moj brat zna popraviti pokvaren lift… ✅
Moj brat zna popraviti pokvareno dizalo… ✅

Note that with dizalo (neuter), the adjective must agree:

pokvaren lift (masc.)
pokvareno dizalo (neuter)

Could I leave out moj and just say Brat zna popraviti pokvaren lift…?

Yes, if the context already makes it clear which brother you mean.

Moj brat zna popraviti pokvaren lift bolje od susjeda. – explicitly my brother.
Brat zna popraviti pokvaren lift bolje od susjeda. – the (my) brother from context; sounds more natural if the brother has already been mentioned or is obvious in the situation.

Croatian does not have articles like “the” or “a,” so possessives like moj are often used when you need to specify.

What’s the difference between pokvaren, slomljen, and razbijen? All are “broken,” right?

All can translate as “broken”, but they’re used in different situations:

pokvaren – not working / out of order (mechanical, electronic, functional problems):
- pokvaren lift, pokvaren auto, pokvaren frižider
slomljen – physically broken into (or nearly into) pieces:
- slomljena noga (broken leg), slomljena stolica (chair broken structurally)
razbijen – smashed / shattered:
- razbijen prozor (smashed window), razbijena čaša (shattered glass)

For an elevator, pokvaren lift is the normal, idiomatic choice.