Learn Hardcore Croatian: Govoreći istinu mirnim glasom, ona svaki dogovor završi bez stresa. - By telling the truth in a calm voice, she finishes every agreement without stress.

Govoreći is a present adverbial participle (in Croatian: glagolski prilog sadašnji) formed from the verb govoriti (to speak / to tell).

Formation: infinitive stem govori-
- -ći → govoreći
Basic meaning: “speaking / by speaking / while speaking”

Function in the sentence:

Govoreći istinu mirnim glasom literally means “speaking the truth in a calm voice”.
It describes an action that happens at the same time as or as the manner/means for the main action.
The subject of govoreći is the same as the subject of the main verb završi: ona.

So the structure is:

Govoreći istinu mirnim glasom, ona … završi bez stresa.
≈ “By speaking the truth in a calm voice, she finishes every deal without stress.”

You cannot give govoreći its own subject; it always shares the subject with the main clause.

Could I replace govoreći istinu mirnim glasom with kad govori istinu mirnim glasom? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

Kad govori istinu mirnim glasom, ona svaki dogovor završi bez stresa.

Both versions are grammatically correct, but the nuance is slightly different:

Govoreći istinu mirnim glasom…
- More compact and stylistically a bit more “bookish”.
- Sounds like a description of manner/means: by speaking the truth calmly.
- Often used in written style, narration, more formal speech.
Kad govori istinu mirnim glasom…
- Literally “When(ever) she speaks the truth in a calm voice…”
- Feels more like a time/condition clause: whenever she does this, then…
- Very natural in everyday speech.

Meaning-wise, in this example they are extremely close; it’s mainly a style preference.

Why is it istinu and not istina after govoreći?

Istinu is the accusative singular of istina (truth).

You use the accusative for the direct object of a verb, answering “what?” or “whom?”:

govoriti što? → istinu
(to speak/tell what? → the truth)

So in:

Govoreći istinu mirnim glasom…

istinu is what she is speaking/telling, so it must be in the accusative, not nominative.

Other similar examples:

Govori istinu. – He/she tells the truth.
Pišem pismo. – I am writing a letter.
Čitam knjigu. – I am reading a book.

In each case, the thing you speak/write/read is in the accusative.

Why is it mirnim glasom and not just mirni glas? What case is that?

Mirnim glasom is in the instrumental singular:

mirni glas – nominative (dictionary form)
mirnim glasom – instrumental (with/by means of a calm voice)

In Croatian, the instrumental case is used for:

Means / instrument: by what means something is done
- pisati olovkom – to write with a pencil
- putovati vlakom – to travel by train
Manner (often with verbs of speaking, movement, behaviour):
- govoriti mirnim glasom – to speak in a calm voice
- hodati brzim korakom – to walk with a quick step

So mirnim glasom means “with a calm voice / in a calm voice”.
If you said mirni glas, that would be nominative and wouldn’t fit grammatically here; it would sound like you’re just naming “a calm voice” instead of describing how she speaks.

Does ona need to be there? Could I say Govoreći istinu mirnim glasom, svaki dogovor završi bez stresa?

You can omit ona, because Croatian usually drops subject pronouns:

Govoreći istinu mirnim glasom, (ona) svaki dogovor završi bez stresa.

Both versions are grammatically correct.

Differences:

With ona:
- Govoreći istinu mirnim glasom, ona svaki dogovor završi bez stresa.
- Slight emphasis on she (as opposed to someone else).
- Useful if the context contrasts her with others.
Without ona:
- Govoreći istinu mirnim glasom, svaki dogovor završi bez stresa.
- More neutral; subject she/he is understood from the verb ending -i (3rd person singular).

One subtle point: because the sentence starts with a participle clause, some speakers prefer to include ona to make the subject explicit, but it’s not compulsory.

Why is it završi and not završava? What’s the difference between these two?

Both come from završiti (perfective) and završavati (imperfective), a typical Croatian aspect pair.

završi – 3rd person singular present of a perfective verb
završava – 3rd person singular present of an imperfective verb

Aspect difference:

Perfective (završiti) focuses on the action as a completed whole.
Imperfective (završavati) focuses on the process / repeated ongoing action.

In the sentence:

Ona svaki dogovor završi bez stresa.
- Suggests that each individual agreement gets fully completed without stress.
- Can express a kind of general rule or typical outcome: whenever she has a deal, it ends stress‑free.
- The perfective here gives a stronger feeling of successful completion.
Ona svaki dogovor završava bez stresa.
- Sounds more like a description of her usual way of working, less punchy, more process-like.
- Also correct, and very natural.

So završi is chosen to underline that every agreement ends successfully and completely without stress.

What does dogovor mean exactly here? Is it like “contract”, “agreement”, or “deal”?

Dogovor is a masculine noun meaning roughly:

agreement / arrangement / deal / understanding

Nuance:

Usually more informal or interpersonal:
- a deal between colleagues
- agreeing on terms with a client
- making plans with someone

It’s not the usual word for a formal legal document:

ugovor – a formal contract (legal document you sign)
sporazum – a formal agreement, often between organizations or countries

In this sentence, svaki dogovor could be understood as:

“every agreement / every deal / every arrangement”, depending on context (business, personal, etc.).

Why is it bez stresa, and what case is stresa in?

Bez stresa uses the genitive singular of stres:

nominative: stres
genitive: stresa

The key rule:
The preposition bez (“without”) always takes the genitive case.

So:

bez stresa – without stress
bez šećera – without sugar
bez prijatelja – without friends
bez ideje – without an idea

You cannot say bez stres; that would be incorrect, because bez requires genitive.

Could I change the word order in the main clause, for example to Ona završi svaki dogovor bez stresa? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the word order. Croatian word order is flexible and often used for emphasis rather than grammar.

All of these are grammatically fine:

Ona svaki dogovor završi bez stresa.
– Subject ona, object svaki dogovor, verb završi.
– Slight emphasis on svaki dogovor (“every single agreement”).
Ona završi svaki dogovor bez stresa.
– More neutral SVO order (subject–verb–object).
– Many learners find this the most straightforward.
Svaki dogovor ona završi bez stresa.
– Strong emphasis on svaki dogovor (contrastive: it’s every deal that she finishes calmly, maybe unlike others).

Meaning in all cases: she finishes every agreement without stress.
The difference is mostly what you want to highlight in the sentence; intonation also plays a big role in spoken Croatian.

Does the sentence talk about one specific event, or about what she usually does?

Formally, završi is present tense of a perfective verb, which often talks about a single completed action or about typical repeated completed actions.

In this sentence, because we also have svaki dogovor (“every agreement”), the natural interpretation is:

a general, habitual statement:
- “Whenever she has an agreement, she ends it without stress.”
- “She finishes every agreement without stress (as a rule).”

If you wanted to clearly talk about one future event, you would normally use the future:

Govoreći istinu mirnim glasom, ona će svaki dogovor završiti bez stresa.
– By speaking the truth in a calm voice, she will finish every agreement without stress.

So here, the original sentence describes her typical pattern / characteristic behaviour.

Can the participle phrase go at the end, like Ona svaki dogovor završi bez stresa, govoreći istinu mirnim glasom?

Yes. This is also correct and natural:

Ona svaki dogovor završi bez stresa, govoreći istinu mirnim glasom.

Differences in feel:

At the beginning:
- Govoreći istinu mirnim glasom, ona svaki dogovor završi bez stresa.
- The way she speaks (telling the truth calmly) is presented first, almost as the “key” to what follows.
At the end:
- Ona svaki dogovor završi bez stresa, govoreći istinu mirnim glasom.
- First you state the main fact (she finishes deals calmly), then you add how she does it as an extra explanation.

In both positions, the subject of govoreći is still ona.