Njegov ujak nije bogat, ali je zadovoljan svojim životom.

His uncle is not rich, but he is satisfied with his life.

Breakdown of Njegov ujak nije bogat, ali je zadovoljan svojim životom.

• biti: to be
• ne: not
• njegov: his
• ali: but
• svoj: own
• ujak: uncle
• život: life
• bogat: rich
• zadovoljan: satisfied

Questions & Answers about Njegov ujak nije bogat, ali je zadovoljan svojim životom.

What exactly does ujak mean? Is it just “uncle”?

Ujak does mean “uncle”, but more specifically your mother’s brother.

Croatian has different words for different kinds of uncles:

• ujak – mother’s brother
• stric – father’s brother
• tetak – husband of your aunt (teta), i.e. uncle by marriage

In everyday speech people sometimes mix these, but if you want to be precise, ujak = maternal uncle.

Why is it njegov ujak and not something like ujak njegov?

Njegov is a possessive adjective meaning “his”. It usually comes before the noun it modifies, just like in English:

• njegov ujak – his uncle
• njegova sestra – his sister
• njegovo dijete – his child

Word order ujak njegov is possible, but:

• it’s less neutral,
• it usually sounds emphatic or stylized (e.g. in poetry, or to contrast whose uncle you mean).

So njegov ujak is the normal everyday order here.

Why is “is not” translated as nije and not ne je?

In Croatian, the verb “to be” (biti) has special fused negative forms. You don’t say ne je; instead you use nije.

Present tense of biti:

• je – he/she/it is
• nije – he/she/it is not

Similarly:

• sam / nisam – I am / I am not
• si / nisi – you are / you are not
• smo / nismo – we are / we are not
• ste / niste – you (pl) are / you (pl) are not
• su / nisu – they are / they are not

So Njegov ujak nije bogat literally means “His uncle is-not rich.”
Ne je bogat is incorrect.

Why is there no word for “he” in “ali je zadovoljan svojim životom”?

Croatian is a “pro‑drop” language: subject pronouns (on = he, ona = she, etc.) are often omitted because the verb form already shows the person and number.

The subject “his uncle” from the first part is still the subject of the second part:

• Njegov ujak nije bogat, ali je zadovoljan svojim životom.
  = His uncle is not rich, but (he) is satisfied with his life.

You could add on for emphasis or contrast:

• … ali on je zadovoljan svojim životom.
  = … but he is (indeed) satisfied with his life.

but the neutral version normally leaves on out.

Why do we have je in the second part, but not another je in the first part?

In the first clause the verb “to be” is already inside nije (is‑not), so it’s covered:

• nije bogat = is not rich (you cannot say ne je bogat)

In the second part we have an affirmative form, so we need the positive form je:

• je zadovoljan = is satisfied

So structurally it’s:

• Njegov ujak (je) nije bogat, ali (on) je zadovoljan svojim životom.

The first clause has nije (which already includes je), and the second clause needs a standalone je.

Could we leave out je and just say “ali zadovoljan svojim životom”?

You might hear or see this in very colloquial speech or in headlines / notes:

• Njegov ujak nije bogat, ali zadovoljan svojim životom.

However, in normal standard sentences you should keep the verb je:

• … ali je zadovoljan svojim životom. ✅ (standard, neutral)

So for learners, it’s safer and more natural to keep je there.

What does zadovoljan mean exactly? Is it just “happy”?

Zadovoljan is best translated as “satisfied”, “content”, “pleased”.

Nuance:

• sretan – happy (stronger, more emotional, like “happy, lucky”)
• zadovoljan – content with something, not necessarily overjoyed, but at peace with it

So:

• nije bogat, ali je zadovoljan svojim životom
  = he isn’t rich, but he is satisfied/content with his life

He may not have a lot of money, but he feels his life is good enough.

What case is svojim životom, and why is it used here?

Svojim životom is in the instrumental singular:

• životom – instrumental singular of život (life)
• svojim – instrumental singular masculine of svoj (one’s own)

Certain adjectives like zadovoljan take the instrumental without a preposition:

• zadovoljan čime? – satisfied (with) what?
  zadovoljan svojim životom – satisfied with his life

So the instrumental answers the question “with what?” directly, instead of using a preposition like English with.

Why is it svojim and not njegovim životom (“with his life”)?

Croatian has a reflexive possessive adjective svoj which refers back to the subject of the clause.

• svoj = one’s own
• njegov = his (someone else’s, not necessarily the subject)

In this sentence the subject is njegov ujak (his uncle), and “the life” belongs to that same uncle, so Croatian prefers svoj:

• … ali je zadovoljan svojim životom.
  = … but he is satisfied with his (own) life.

If you said:

• … zadovoljan njegovim životom.

it would sound like he is satisfied with another man’s life, not his own.
So whenever the possessor is the subject, use svoj, not njegov / njezin / njihov.

Why does životom end in -om? How is that formed?

Životom is the instrumental singular of život.

For many masculine nouns ending in a consonant, the instrumental singular ending is -om:

• grad (city) → gradom (with the city / by the city)
• prijatelj (friend) → prijateljem
• život (life) → životom

Here, životom is required because of the adjective zadovoljan, which wants the instrumental case.

Why are the adjectives bogat and zadovoljan in these forms? What would change if the subject were female?

Both bogat (rich) and zadovoljan (satisfied) are masculine singular to agree with ujak (a masculine singular noun).

Agreement:

• Njegov ujak nije bogat, ali je zadovoljan svojim životom.
  (masculine singular subject → masculine singular adjectives)

If the subject were feminine, both adjectives would change:

• Njegova tetka nije bogata, ali je zadovoljna svojim životom.
  His aunt is not rich, but she is satisfied with her life.

So adjectives in Croatian must agree in gender and number with the noun or pronoun they describe.

Why is there a comma before ali? Is punctuation like English “but”?

Yes. Ali means “but”, and Croatian punctuation here works much like English.

When ali connects two full clauses (each with its own verb), you normally put a comma before it:

• Njegov ujak nije bogat, ali je zadovoljan svojim životom.
  = His uncle is not rich, but he is satisfied with his life.

So the comma before ali is standard and correct in this sentence.