Learn Hardcore Croatian: Umor je velik poslije posla. - The tiredness is great after work.

It is uncountable in practice, like tiredness / fatigue in English.
- You don’t say “one umor, two umors” in normal speech.
It can refer to:
- physical tiredness: tjelesni umor
- mental tiredness: mentalni umor
- general exhaustion: osjećam veliki umor = I feel great fatigue / a lot of tiredness.
In this sentence, Umor je velik poslije posla, it means the level of tiredness is high after work.

Why is the adjective velik used here, and not veliki or some other form?

Velik is the masculine singular nominative form of the adjective velik (big, large, great) used in a predicative position (after the verb je).

Croatian adjectives can have a short and a long form (e.g. velik vs. veliki), and there is often little difference in meaning in modern speech.

In this sentence:

Umor is masculine singular nominative.
The adjective that describes it must agree: velik (masc. sg. nom.).
You could also hear Umor je veliki in everyday conversation, and it wouldn’t sound wrong, but Umor je velik is very natural and slightly more neutral.

Key point: The adjective agrees in gender, number, and case with umor, so you cannot use velika or veliko here.

Why do we need the word je here? Could we just say Umor velik poslije posla?

In standard Croatian, you generally need the verb “to be” in sentences like this.

Je is the 3rd person singular present of biti (to be).
The basic structure is:
- Umor (subject) + je (is) + velik (predicate adjective).

Without je, the sentence Umor velik poslije posla sounds like a headline or a very telegraphic, poetic style. In normal speech or writing, that would be considered incomplete or non-standard.

So for regular use, keep je:

Umor je velik poslije posla. = The tiredness is great after work.

Why is there no word for “the” in Umor je velik poslije posla? Shouldn’t it be the tiredness?

Croatian has no articles (no the, no a/an).

Whether English would use the, a, or no article at all is simply not marked in Croatian:

Umor je velik poslije posla.
- Could correspond to:
  - The tiredness is great after work.
  - Tiredness is great after work.

Context decides how you would translate it into English, but the Croatian sentence itself doesn’t mark definiteness.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Poslije posla umor je velik or Velik je umor poslije posla?

Yes, Croatian word order is relatively flexible, and all of these are grammatically correct:

Umor je velik poslije posla.
- Neutral, straightforward order.
Poslije posla umor je velik.
- Emphasizes the time frame (After work, the tiredness is great).
Velik je umor poslije posla.
- Puts a bit more emphasis on “great” tiredness, a bit more stylistic or expressive.
Poslije posla velik je umor.
- Even more “poetic” or emphatic on the whole idea of great tiredness after work.

All are correct; the differences are in emphasis and style, not grammar.

Why is it poslije posla and not poslije posao? What case is posla?

The preposition poslije (after) always takes the genitive case.

Posao is the nominative form (dictionary form): posao (work, job).
The genitive singular form is posla.

So:

poslije + genitive = poslije posla = after work.

That’s why you cannot say poslije posao; it must be poslije posla.

What is the difference between poslije and nakon? Can I say Umor je velik nakon posla instead?

Poslije and nakon both mean after, and both take the genitive:

poslije posla
nakon posla

In this sentence, you can use either:

Umor je velik poslije posla.
Umor je velik nakon posla.

Differences:

Poslije is very common and sounds a bit more neutral/colloquial.
Nakon can sound slightly more formal or bookish, but is also very common in everyday speech.

So yes, Umor je velik nakon posla is perfectly correct and natural.

Is Umor je velik poslije posla how people would usually say “I’m very tired after work”?

Not exactly. The sentence Umor je velik poslije posla is grammatically fine, but it sounds a bit impersonal and stated like a general fact:

The tiredness is great after work (in general).

Typical, more personal ways to say “I’m very tired after work” are:

Jako sam umoran poslije posla. (male speaker)
Jako sam umorna poslije posla. (female speaker)
- Literally: I am very tired after work.

Or:

Nakon posla jako se umorim.
- After work I get very tired / I tire myself out a lot.

So:

Umor je velik poslije posla. – more like a comment about the level of tiredness as a general phenomenon.
Jako sam umoran / umorna poslije posla. – direct personal statement.

How do I say “We are very tired after work” using a similar structure?

To keep the idea but make it about us, you would usually change the structure a bit and talk about people instead of umor:

Poslije posla jako smo umorni. (group of males or mixed group)
Poslije posla jako smo umorne. (group of females)

If you really want to keep umor as the subject, you could say something like:

Naš je umor velik poslije posla.
- Our tiredness is great after work.

But in everyday Croatian, the versions with mi smo umorni are much more natural.

How would I say “I get very tired after work” (focusing on the process of becoming tired)?

For the process of becoming tired, Croatian usually uses the verb umoriti se (to get tired, to tire out):

Jako se umorim poslije posla.
- I get very tired after work.

Or with nakon:

Nakon posla jako se umorim.

This highlights that the tiredness happens/appears over time, rather than describing a static state.

How do you pronounce each word in Umor je velik poslije posla?

Approximate pronunciation (using English-like spelling):

Umor – OO-mor
je – ye (like the ye in yes, but very short)
velik – VEH-lik (short e as in bed)
poslije – POH-slye (the lje is one syllable, like lye but with a soft l)
posla – POHS-la

Word stress (in most common standard pronunciation):

Úmor je vèlik pòslije pòsla.

You don’t need to memorize the accent marks at early stages, but being aware of the approximate stress helps your speech sound more natural.