On je stručnjak za hrvatski jezik.

He is an expert in the Croatian language.

Breakdown of On je stručnjak za hrvatski jezik.

• biti: to be
• on: he
• hrvatski: Croatian
• za: for
• jezik: language
• stručnjak: expert

Questions & Answers about On je stručnjak za hrvatski jezik.

Can I leave out on here, like in some other languages that drop subject pronouns?

Yes, you can, but you must change the word order a bit.

You cannot say *Je stručnjak za hrvatski jezik.
In Croatian, the short form je cannot stand at the very beginning of a sentence.

Natural alternatives are:

• On je stručnjak za hrvatski jezik. – He is an expert in Croatian.
• Stručnjak je za hrvatski jezik. – (He) is an expert in Croatian.
  Here the subject on is simply understood from context.

So:

• Dropping on is fine.
• You just need some other word (like stručnjak) before je.

Why is je in the second position? Can I move it somewhere else?

Je is a short, unstressed form of the verb biti (to be). In Croatian, these short words (called clitics) normally appear in the second position in the clause.

In neutral sentences:

• On je stručnjak za hrvatski jezik.
• On nije stručnjak za hrvatski jezik.

You usually cannot move je freely, and it almost never comes last:

• *On stručnjak je za hrvatski jezik. – wrong in normal speech
• *On jezik je stručnjak. – wrong

You can, however, move the other words around (for emphasis), and je follows the first stressed element:

• On je stručnjak za hrvatski jezik.
• Stručnjak je on za hrvatski jezik. – emphasizes on (“HE is the expert on Croatian.”)

What gender is stručnjak, and how do I say it for a woman?

Stručnjak is grammatically masculine.

• On je stručnjak za hrvatski jezik. – He is an expert in Croatian.

The usual feminine form is:

• Ona je stručnjakinja za hrvatski jezik. – She is an expert in Croatian.

So:

• masculine: stručnjak
• feminine: stručnjakinja
• plural masculine: stručnjaci
• plural feminine: stručnjakinje

Why do we use za here? Could I say stručnjak u / od hrvatskog jezika instead?

With stručnjak, the normal preposition for fields/areas is za:

• stručnjak za hrvatski jezik
• stručnjak za matematiku
• stručnjak za marketing

Other prepositions are either wrong or sound very odd in standard Croatian:

• *stručnjak u hrvatskom jeziku – not natural
• *stručnjak od hrvatskog jezika – wrong
• *stručnjak na hrvatskom jeziku – wrong in this meaning

A possible alternative is a genitive construction:

• stručnjak hrvatskog jezika

This is grammatically correct but sounds more formal and bookish. In everyday speech, stručnjak za + accusative is by far the most common and natural pattern.

What case is hrvatski jezik in after za?

The preposition za takes the accusative case.

• za hrvatski jezik – hrvatski jezik is in the accusative singular.

For masculine inanimate nouns like jezik, the accusative singular form looks the same as the nominative:

• nominative: hrvatski jezik
• accusative: (za) hrvatski jezik

You can see the change more clearly with other genders:

• za engleski jezik (masc.)
• za hrvatsku glazbu (fem.) – from hrvatska glazba
• za hrvatsko vino (neut.) – from hrvatsko vino

Why is hrvatski written with a lowercase letter, unlike Croatian in English?

In Croatian, names of languages and adjectives of nationality are written with a lowercase initial letter:

• hrvatski jezik – Croatian (language)
• engleski jezik – English (language)
• hrvatski profesor – Croatian professor
• engleski pisac – English writer

You only use a capital letter for:

• countries: Hrvatska (Croatia), Engleska (England)
• peoples/nations as nouns: Hrvati (Croats), Englezi (English people)

So:

• hrvatski jezik – lower case
• Hrvatska – capital H

Can I drop jezik and just say On je stručnjak za hrvatski?

Yes, in context that clearly talks about the language, you can say:

• On je stručnjak za hrvatski.

This is very natural, because jezik is understood. The same happens with other languages:

• On je stručnjak za engleski.
• Ona predaje njemački. – She teaches German (language).

If the context is not clear (for example, you might be talking about the country vs. language), adding jezik makes it explicit:

• On je stručnjak za hrvatski jezik. – clearly the language.

Can I change the word order, for example: On je za hrvatski jezik stručnjak or Stručnjak je za hrvatski jezik on?

Yes, Croatian word order is quite flexible, and all of these can be grammatically correct, with different emphasis:

1. On je stručnjak za hrvatski jezik.
   Neutral, most common.

2. On je za hrvatski jezik stručnjak.
   Slight emphasis on stručnjak at the end; often used when contrasting with something else.

3. Stručnjak je za hrvatski jezik.
   No explicit subject, or the subject is in previous context.

4. Stručnjak je on za hrvatski jezik.
   Strong focus on on: “HE is an expert in Croatian (not someone else).”

What you cannot do in normal Croatian is separate stručnjak and za hrvatski jezik too strangely or break the za + accusative phrase:

• *On je stručnjak hrvatski jezik za. – wrong
• *On je stručnjak za jezik hrvatski jezik. – wrong / redundant

Is there any equivalent to the English article “an” here? Why just stručnjak, not jedan stručnjak?

Croatian does not have articles like a / an / the.

So:

• On je stručnjak za hrvatski jezik.
  can mean He is an expert in Croatian (language) or He is the expert in Croatian (language) depending on context.

You can sometimes use jedan (one) for emphasis, but it does not work as a normal indefinite article:

• On je jedan pravi stručnjak za hrvatski. – “He is a real expert in Croatian.” (emphasizing how much of an expert he is)
• But you do not usually say *On je jedan stručnjak za hrvatski jezik. as a direct equivalent of He is an expert...

How do I pronounce stručnjak and jezik?

Approximate pronunciation (IPA):

• stručnjak – /ˈstrut͡ʃɲak/

  • str – like str in street
  • u – like oo in book, but shorter
  • č – like ch in church
  • nj – one sound /ɲ/, like ny in canyon
  • ak – like uck in luck, but with a clear a

• jezik – /ˈjɛzik/

  • j – like y in yes
  • e – like e in pet
  • zi – z as in zoo
    • i as in machine
  • k – like k in skate

Main stress is on the first syllable in both words: STRUČ-njak, JE-zik.

What is the plural of stručnjak, and how do I say They are experts in Croatian?

Plural forms:

• singular: stručnjak
• plural: stručnjaci

Sentence with a plural subject:

• Oni su stručnjaci za hrvatski jezik. – They are experts in Croatian (language).

If all the experts are women:

• One su stručnjakinje za hrvatski jezik.

Can I say On je stručnjak hrvatskog jezika instead of za hrvatski jezik? Is there a difference?

You can say:

• On je stručnjak hrvatskog jezika.

This uses the genitive (hrvatskog jezika) instead of za + accusative.

Differences:

• stručnjak za hrvatski jezik

  • most common, neutral, everyday
  • very natural in speech

• stručnjak hrvatskog jezika

  • sounds more formal, bookish, or technical
  • you might see it in academic or official contexts

Meaning-wise, both express expertise in the Croatian language; the difference is mostly in style and frequency.