Zagreb je lijep grad.

Zagreb is a beautiful city.

Breakdown of Zagreb je lijep grad.

• biti: to be
• grad: city
• lijep: beautiful
• Zagreb: Zagreb

Questions & Answers about Zagreb je lijep grad.

Why is there no word for a or the in Zagreb je lijep grad?

Croatian does not use articles at all.
There is no direct equivalent of English a, an, or the.

So:

• Zagreb je lijep grad. can mean
  
  • Zagreb is a beautiful city.
  • Zagreb is the beautiful city. (depending on context)

Definiteness (a/the) is understood from context, not from a separate word.

What does je mean, and why do we need it?

Je is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb biti (to be).

• biti = to be
• je = is

So:

• Zagreb je lijep grad. = Zagreb is a beautiful city.

You normally must include je; you cannot say Zagreb lijep grad in standard Croatian.

Why is lijep before grad? Could you also say grad lijep?

In Croatian, descriptive adjectives almost always come before the noun:

• lijep grad = beautiful city
• velika kuća = big house
• dobar čovjek = good man

Putting the adjective after the noun (grad lijep) is unusual in normal speech and sounds poetic, archaic, or strongly emphatic. For everyday Croatian, keep the adjective before the noun: lijep grad.

Why is it lijep grad and not lijepa grad or lijepo grad?

Because adjectives have to agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• grad (city) is masculine, singular, nominative.
• The masculine singular nominative form of the adjective is lijep.

So you get:

• lijep grad (masculine)
• lijepa kuća (feminine: house)
• lijepo selo (neuter: village)

The adjective ending changes to match the noun’s gender.

Why is grad in the same case as Zagreb? In some languages it would be in a different case.

With the verb biti (to be), Croatian normally uses the nominative case for both:

• subject
• and the noun that describes the subject (predicate noun)

So:

• Zagreb = nominative (subject)
• grad = nominative (predicate noun)

This is similar to English "Zagreb is a city", where both are in the "subject form" (not "Zagreb is a city" with some object case).

Could I say just Zagreb je lijep without grad?

Yes.

• Zagreb je lijep. = Zagreb is beautiful.
• Zagreb je lijep grad. = Zagreb is a beautiful city.

The version with grad makes it explicit that you are talking about it as a city. Without grad, it simply says Zagreb is beautiful in general (as a place, as an idea, etc.).

Is Zagreb considered masculine, feminine, or neuter? Does that affect the sentence?

Proper place names like Zagreb don’t always behave like regular nouns, but grammatically they are usually treated as masculine singular.

In Zagreb je lijep grad.:

• Zagreb is the subject.
• The adjective lijep agrees with grad, not directly with Zagreb.

If you say only:

• Zagreb je lijep.

then lijep agrees with Zagreb as a masculine singular noun (which fits how it’s normally treated).

Could I say Zagreb je lijepi grad instead of lijep grad?

You will sometimes see lijepi (the so‑called long or definite adjective form), but:

• In modern everyday Croatian, Zagreb je lijep grad is the normal sentence.
• Zagreb je lijepi grad can sound more formal, literary, or slightly old-fashioned, and it can add a nuance of more specific / known city.

For learners, it’s safest to use short forms like lijep grad in neutral statements.

Can I drop je like in some Slavic languages (e.g. Russian often omits "is")?

No, not in standard Croatian.

Croatian generally keeps the present tense of biti:

• Zagreb je lijep grad. – correct
• Zagreb lijep grad. – wrong in standard Croatian

You might occasionally see je omitted in headlines, slogans, or poetry for stylistic reasons, but in normal sentences you should always include je.

How do you pronounce Zagreb je lijep grad?

Approximate pronunciation:

• Zagreb – ZA-greb
  
  • Z as in zoo
  • a like a in father
  • g always hard, as in go
  • e like e in met
• je – ye (like ye in yes)
• lijep – LYE-p
  
  • lj is one sound, like the lli in million
  • j is like English y
• grad – grahd
  
  • a like a in father
  • final d is pronounced (not silent)

Spoken slowly: ZA-greb ye LYE-p grahd.

Why is Zagreb capitalized but grad is not?

• Zagreb is a proper noun (a city name), so it is always capitalized.
• grad is a common noun (city), so it is written with a lowercase letter, unless it is part of an official name or title such as Grad Zagreb (the administrative entity).

How would I say "Croatian cities are beautiful" using the same words?

You change everything to plural and add su (3rd person plural of biti):

• Hrvatski gradovi su lijepi.
  • hrvatski – Croatian (masc. pl. nom.)
  • gradovi – cities (masc. pl. nom.)
  • su – are
  • lijepi – beautiful (masc. pl. nom.)

The adjective lijep changes to lijepi to match the plural noun gradovi.

Can I change the word order, like Lijep je grad Zagreb? Does it still mean the same thing?

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but changes in order usually change emphasis.

• Zagreb je lijep grad. – neutral: Zagreb is a beautiful city.
• Lijep je grad Zagreb. – sounds poetic / emphatic: A beautiful city, (that) Zagreb.

All these versions are grammatical, but Zagreb je lijep grad. is the most neutral, textbook version.