Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ovaj glumac je smiješan, ali njegova ozbiljna sestra ne voli smiješne filmove. - This actor is funny, but his serious sister doesn't like funny movies.

Ovaj glumac je smiješan, ali njegova ozbiljna sestra ne voli smiješne filmove.

This actor is funny, but his serious sister doesn't like funny movies.

Breakdown of Ovaj glumac je smiješan, ali njegova ozbiljna sestra ne voli smiješne filmove.

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Questions & Answers about Ovaj glumac je smiješan, ali njegova ozbiljna sestra ne voli smiješne filmove.

In Ovaj glumac, why is it ovaj and not taj or onaj? What is the difference between these words?

Croatian has three basic demonstratives, all meaning roughly this/that in English, but with different nuances:

ovaj (m.), ova (f.), ovo (n.) = this (close to the speaker)
taj (m.), ta (f.), to (n.) = that (often closer to the listener, or something just mentioned)
onaj (m.), ona (f.), ono (n.) = that over there / that one (more distant or strongly contrasted)

In Ovaj glumac, ovaj suggests “this actor” in the sense of someone you’re focusing on right now (maybe you’re pointing at him, or you’ve just seen him in a film).

You could say:

Taj glumac – more like “that actor” (possibly already known from context)
Onaj glumac – “that actor over there / that particular actor” with more distance or contrast

But ovaj is the most neutral if you’re just introducing or highlighting “this actor” in the conversation.

What does glumac mean exactly, and what gender is it? What would be the feminine form?

Glumac means actor (a male actor) and it is a masculine noun.

Ovaj glumac = this (male) actor

The feminine form is:

glumica = actress (female actor)
- Ova glumica je smiješna. – This actress is funny.

So:

masculine: glumac
feminine: glumica

Why does the sentence say je smiješan and not je smiješno?

The verb je is he/she/it is (3rd person singular of biti – to be).

In Croatian, adjectives must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe.

Subject: Ovaj glumac – masculine, singular, nominative
Adjective must match that: smiješan – masculine, singular, nominative

So:

Ovaj glumac je smiješan. – This actor is funny.

Smiješno is the neuter form. You use it, for example, when the subject is neuter:

To je smiješno. – That/It is funny. (to is neuter)

So we use smiješan here because glumac is masculine, not neuter.

Why is there a comma before ali in ..., ali njegova ozbiljna sestra ...? Is that always necessary?

Yes, in this kind of sentence the comma before ali is standard and expected.

ali means but.
When ali connects two independent clauses (two full sentences), Croatian normally uses a comma before it, just like English often does:
- Ovaj glumac je smiješan, ali njegova ozbiljna sestra ne voli smiješne filmove.

Each part could stand alone as a sentence:

Ovaj glumac je smiješan.
Njegova ozbiljna sestra ne voli smiješne filmove.

Because they’re full clauses joined by ali, you put a comma before ali.

In njegova ozbiljna sestra, why is it njegova and not njegov?

Njegov is the possessive pronoun his, and it also has to agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Nominative singular forms of njegov:

masculine: njegov – njegov brat (his brother)
feminine: njegova – njegova sestra (his sister)
neuter: njegovo – njegovo dijete (his child)

Since sestra (sister) is feminine singular, we must use the feminine form:

njegova sestra – his sister

So njegova is correct here, not njegov.

In njegova ozbiljna sestra, can the order of njegova and ozbiljna be changed? For example, can I say ozbiljna njegova sestra?

Yes, you can say ozbiljna njegova sestra, but the nuance changes.

Default, neutral order:

njegova ozbiljna sestra – his serious sister
- njegova (his) is a possessive determiner
- ozbiljna (serious) is a descriptive adjective

In Croatian, the usual order is:

Possessives/determiners (njegova, ova, neka…)
Descriptive adjectives (ozbiljna, lijepa, pametna…)
Noun (sestra)

So njegova ozbiljna sestra is the normal, neutral expression.

If you say ozbiljna njegova sestra, it often sounds more emphatic or contrastive, e.g.:

“That serious sister of his…” (highlighting “serious” or singling that sister out in some contrast).

Grammatically both are correct; the original order is simply more neutral and typical.

Why is the verb voli used by itself in ne voli smiješne filmove? How does voljeti work here?

Voljeti means to love / to like. In the present tense:

ja volim – I like/love
ti voliš – you like/love
on/ona/ono voli – he/she/it likes/loves
mi volimo – we like/love
vi volite – you (pl/formal) like/love
oni/one/ona vole – they like/love

In the sentence:

(Njegova sestra) ne voli smiješne filmove.
- ne voli = does not like
- smiješne filmove = funny films

You don’t need an extra word like to or that (no Croatian equivalent of “to” as in “to like to do something” here). Voljeti is directly followed by its object in the accusative:

Voli čokoladu. – She likes chocolate.
Voli čitati. – He likes to read. (here it’s followed by an infinitive)
Ne voli smiješne filmove. – She doesn’t like funny films.

Why is ne placed before voli in ne voli? Do you ever use other negative words with it, like a double negative?

Basic sentence negation in Croatian is formed by putting ne directly before the finite verb:

voli – he/she likes
ne voli – he/she does not like

So:

Voli smiješne filmove. – He/She likes funny films.
Ne voli smiješne filmove. – He/She doesn’t like funny films.

Croatian does use double negatives, but in a different way from English. With negative pronouns/adverbs, you usually combine them with ne:

Nitko ne voli smiješne filmove. – Nobody likes funny films.
Nikad ne gleda komedije. – He never watches comedies.

Here nitko (nobody), nikad (never) + ne are standard, not a mistake.
But for a simple “doesn’t like”, you just say ne voli (no extra word needed).

Why is it smiješne filmove and not smiješni filmovi?

This is a case issue. In Croatian, the direct object of most verbs is in the accusative case.

The subject form (nominative plural) is:
- smiješni filmovi – funny films (as the subject)
  - Smiješni filmovi su popularni. – Funny films are popular.
As a direct object of voli (to like), we need the accusative plural:
- noun: filmovi → filmove (accusative plural)
- adjective: smiješni → smiješne (accusative plural masculine)

So:

ne voli smiješne filmove – doesn’t like funny films

Here smiješne filmove is accusative plural (object), not nominative plural (subject), hence the different endings.

Why do smiješan (after je) and smiješne (before filmove) look different if they both mean funny?

They’re different forms of the same adjective smiješan (= funny), inflected to agree with different nouns:

smiješan – masculine, singular, nominative
- agrees with ovaj glumac (this actor – masculine singular)
- Ovaj glumac je smiješan.
smiješne – masculine, plural, accusative
- agrees with filmove (films – masculine plural, accusative)
- ne voli smiješne filmove.

Croatian adjectives change endings depending on:

gender (m/f/n)
number (singular/plural)
case (nominative, accusative, etc.)

So the dictionary form smiješan appears as smiješan / smiješna / smiješno / smiješne / smiješnog etc., depending on what it’s describing.

Could the word order be Njegova ozbiljna sestra ne voli smiješne filmove, ali ovaj glumac je smiješan? Would that still be correct?

Yes, that word order is grammatically correct.

Croatian has relatively flexible word order, especially compared with English. Changing the order usually affects emphasis, not basic correctness.

Original:
- Ovaj glumac je smiješan, ali njegova ozbiljna sestra ne voli smiješne filmove.
- Focuses first on “this actor is funny,” then contrasts the sister.
Alternative:
- Njegova ozbiljna sestra ne voli smiješne filmove, ali ovaj glumac je smiješan.
- Puts more initial focus on the sister and her dislike of funny films, then contrasts back to the actor.

Both versions are fine; they just highlight different parts of the information.

Because the sentence is negative, should it be ne voli smiješnih filmova instead of ne voli smiješne filmove?

You may have seen the genitive of negation in Slavic languages. In older or more formal Croatian, a direct object of a negated verb can appear in the genitive instead of the accusative.

So theoretically:

Ne voli smiješne filmove. – accusative plural
Ne voli smiješnih filmova. – genitive plural

In modern standard Croatian:

Using the accusative (smiješne filmove) is very common and completely correct.
Using the genitive (smiješnih filmova) is also grammatically possible, but often feels more formal, old‑fashioned, or emphasizes something like “(not) any funny films at all”.

In everyday speech, Ne voli smiješne filmove is the natural, straightforward choice. The sentence you have is perfectly correct as it stands.

Does smiješan always mean “funny” in a nice way, or can it also mean something like “ridiculous”?

Smiješan can mean:

funny / amusing (positive or neutral)
- Ovaj glumac je stvarno smiješan. – This actor is really funny.
ridiculous / laughable (negative or mocking), depending on tone and context
- Tvoj izgovor je smiješan. – Your excuse is ridiculous.

If you want clearly positive “funny, witty” you might also hear:

duhovit – witty
- On je jako duhovit. – He is very witty.

But smiješan itself can be either positive or negative; the interpretation comes from the context and the speaker’s tone.

Does sestra always mean “sister”, or can it also mean “nurse”?

The basic meaning of sestra is sister (female sibling):

moja sestra – my sister

However, in medical contexts, sestra is also used for nurse, especially in the expression:

medicinska sestra – (female) nurse

Colloquially, in a hospital someone might say:

Sestra, možete li doći? – Nurse, can you come?

In your sentence, njegova ozbiljna sestra is clearly his serious sister (a family member), not a nurse, because it’s a general context about films, not a hospital setting.