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Njena haljina je plava, a moje hlače su crne.

Njena haljina je plava, a moje hlače su crne.
Her dress is blue, and my pants are black.

Breakdown of Njena haljina je plava, a moje hlače su crne.

biti
to be
moj
my
njen
her
a
and
crn
black
plav
blue
hlače
pants
haljina
dress
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Questions & Answers about Njena haljina je plava, a moje hlače su crne.

Why is it “njena haljina” and not something like “ona haljina” for her dress?

In Croatian you normally show possession with possessive pronouns, not with personal pronouns:

  • ona = she
  • njena (also njezina) = her

So:

  • ona haljina literally means “she dress” → incorrect for “her dress”.
  • njena haljina means “her dress”.

Formally, njena agrees with haljina:

  • njena = feminine singular nominative
  • haljina = feminine singular nominative

You would only use ona if it’s the subject:

  • Ona je lijepa. = She is beautiful.
What is the difference between “njena” and “njezina”? Can I use both?

Both njena and njezina mean “her” (possessive). They’re just two acceptable variants of the same word.

  • Njena haljina je plava.
  • Njezina haljina je plava.

Both are correct and natural. You’ll see both in writing; some speakers have a slight preference, but grammatically they’re equivalent. The important thing is that they agree in gender, number and case with the noun (haljina here).

Why is it “je” in “haljina je plava” but “su” in “hlače su crne”?

This is agreement with the subject in number. Present tense of biti (to be):

  • 3rd person singular: je = is
  • 3rd person plural: su = are

Subjects:

  • haljina = dress → singular → haljina je plava (the dress is blue)
  • hlače = pants / trousers → grammatically plural → hlače su crne (the pants are black)

Even though in English “pants” is also plural (are), this is the same idea: the verb form follows whether the noun is singular or plural.

Why are “hlače” treated as plural? Could I say “hlača je crna”?

In standard Croatian, hlače (trousers, pants) is always plural. It’s one of those plural-only nouns (like scissors in English):

  • hlače su crne = the pants are black
  • You do not say hlača je crna in standard usage.

Grammatically:

  • hlače: feminine plural nominative (or accusative, depending on context)
  • So it takes plural forms:
    • moje hlače (my pants)
    • nove hlače (new pants)
    • crne hlače (black pants)
    • verb: hlače su … (are …)
Why is it “moje hlače” and not “moja hlače”?

The possessive pronoun moj (my) must agree with the noun in gender and number.

Basic forms of my in nominative:

  • muž. sg.: moj (e.g. moj auto)
  • fem. sg.: moja (e.g. moja haljina)
  • neut. sg.: moje (e.g. moje dijete)
  • all genders plural (for these patterns): moji / moje / moja depending on type of noun;
    for hlače, you use moje.

Since hlače are feminine plural, the correct nominative plural possessive is:

  • moje hlače = my pants

So:

  • moja haljina (feminine singular)
  • moje hlače (feminine plural)
Why is it “plava” and “crne”? How do these adjectives change?

Adjectives in Croatian agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

  1. plava with haljina

    • haljina: feminine singular nominative
    • “blue” must also be feminine singular nominative → plava

    So: Njena haljina je plava. (Her dress is blue.)

  2. crne with hlače

    • hlače: feminine plural nominative
    • “black” must be feminine plural nominative → crne

    So: Moje hlače su crne. (My pants are black.)

If you changed the case, the adjective would change too, e.g.:

  • Vidim plavu haljinu. (I see a blue dress. – accusative)
  • Vidim crne hlače. (I see black pants. – accusative)
What does the conjunction “a” mean here, and how is it different from “i”?

Both a and i can be translated as “and”, but they have different nuances:

  • i = simple addition, like English and
  • a = and / but with a slight contrast or shift, often between different subjects or opposite / different facts

In the sentence:

  • Njena haljina je plava, a moje hlače su crne.
    → You’re contrasting her dress with my pants and blue with black.

If you said:

  • Njena haljina je plava i moje hlače su crne.

it’s still understandable, but it sounds less natural and loses that clear contrast; a is the more idiomatic choice here.

Why are there no words for “the” or “a” in this sentence?

Croatian has no articles like English “the” or “a/an”. The noun stands alone:

  • haljina can mean a dress or the dress, depending on context.
  • hlače can mean pants, the pants, my pants, etc., again from context.

So:

  • Njena haljina je plava.
    can be translated as:
    • Her dress is blue.
    • Her *the dress is blue. (in English we’d still just say *her dress.)

The possession (njena, moje) and the context make the reference clear without articles.

What case are “haljina” and “hlače” in here, and why?

Both haljina and hlače are in the nominative case.

The nominative is used for the subject of the sentence and for predicative nouns/adjectives with the verb to be:

  • Njena haljina (subject) je (verb) plava (predicate adjective in nominative).
  • Moje hlače (subject) su (verb) crne (predicate adjective in nominative).

If these nouns were, for example, direct objects, they would change case:

  • Vidim njenu plavu haljinu. (accusative)
  • Vidim moje crne hlače. (accusative – here the form looks the same as nominative plural, but function is different).
Can I change the word order, like “Plava je njena haljina” or “Crne su moje hlače”?

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, especially with to be sentences. The basic neutral order is:

  • Njena haljina je plava.
  • Moje hlače su crne.

You can say:

  • Plava je njena haljina.
  • Crne su moje hlače.

This is grammatically correct but sounds more emphatic or stylistic. It highlights the adjective:

  • More like: “It is BLUE that her dress is.”
  • “It is BLACK that my pants are.”

In everyday speech, the original order is more neutral and common.