Njegov brat često trči u parku.

in

Breakdown of Njegov brat često trči u parku.

• često: often
• brat: brother
• park: park

Questions & Answers about Njegov brat često trči u parku.

Why do we need njegov here? Could the sentence be just Brat često trči u parku?

Njegov means his.

• Njegov brat = his brother
• Brat alone just means (a/the) brother

Croatian has no articles (a/the), so if you say just Brat često trči u parku, it sounds like a very general statement: The brother often runs in the park (with no clear idea whose brother it is).
If you want to say specifically his brother, you must use njegov.

What exactly does njegov refer to, and does it change form?

Njegov is a possessive pronoun meaning his. It refers to some male person previously mentioned in the context (e.g. Marko → Njegov brat = Marko’s brother).

It agrees with the noun it describes in gender, number, and case:

• njegov brat – his brother (masc. sg.)
• njegova sestra – his sister (fem. sg.)
• njegovo dijete – his child (neut. sg.)
• njegovi prijatelji – his friends (masc. pl.)

So the form changes depending on what is possessed, not on who the “he” is.

Where is the word for he in this sentence?