On želi letjeti iznad grada.

he

Breakdown of On želi letjeti iznad grada.

• grad: city
• iznad: above
• željeti: to want

Questions & Answers about On želi letjeti iznad grada.

Why do we need the pronoun On here? Can we just say Želi letjeti iznad grada?

Croatian is a pro‑drop language, so the subject pronoun is often omitted when it is clear from the verb ending.

• On želi letjeti iznad grada. = He wants to fly above the city.
• Želi letjeti iznad grada. = (He) wants to fly above the city.

Both sentences are grammatically correct.
You usually include On to emphasize who you are talking about (e.g. contrast: On želi letjeti, ali ona ne želi – He wants to fly, but she doesn’t).

What is the difference between on and ona in a sentence like this?

On means he, and ona means she. The verb form here (želi) is the same for both:

• On želi letjeti iznad grada. – He wants to fly above the city.
• Ona želi letjeti iznad grada. – She wants to fly above the city.

Croatian verbs in the present tense do not change for gender, only for person and number. Gender is shown by the pronoun (or by context, if you drop the pronoun).

Why is it želi and not something like želim or žele?