Learn Hardcore Croatian: Sestra želi raditi kao urednica u velikom časopisu. - My sister wants to work as an editor at a big magazine.

Sestra can mean a sister, the sister, or my sister, depending on context.
urednica can mean an editor or the editor.
u velikom časopisu can mean in a big magazine or in the big magazine.

If you want to make it clear it’s your sister, you usually add a possessive:

Moja sestra želi raditi kao urednica u velikom časopisu.
= My sister wants to work as an editor in a big magazine.

2. What is the role of želi in the sentence, and why is raditi in the infinitive?

želi is the 3rd person singular present tense of željeti (to want).

The pattern is:

[subject] + želi + [infinitive verb]

So:

Sestra želi raditi …
Literally: Sister wants to work …

raditi is the infinitive (to work). After želi, the next verb must be in the infinitive:

Želim spavati. – I want to sleep.
On želi učiti. – He wants to study/learn.
Sestra želi raditi. – Sister wants to work.

3. How is željeti conjugated in the present tense?

željeti is slightly irregular in the present tense. The root changes to želj- in most forms:

ja želim – I want
ti želiš – you (sg) want
on / ona / ono želi – he / she / it wants
mi želimo – we want
vi želite – you (pl/formal) want
oni / one / ona žele – they want

In the sentence, sestra is 3rd person singular, so we use želi.

4. What is the difference between želi and hoće / htjeti?

Both can express wanting, but there are nuances:

željeti (to wish, to want):
- more neutral and polite
- common in everyday speech for what someone wants:
  - Sestra želi raditi kao urednica. – My sister wants to work as an editor.
htjeti (to want):
- also means want, but can sound more direct or even a bit brusque depending on tone
- often used in the future tense as an auxiliary:
  - On će raditi. (from htjeti
    - raditi)

Using želi in this sentence is natural and slightly softer than using hoće.

5. Why is the verb raditi used here and not some noun like rad?

raditi is a verb meaning to work.

In Croatian, when you talk about wanting to do a job, you normally use the verb:

Želim raditi. – I want to work.
Sestra želi raditi kao urednica. – My sister wants to work as an editor.

rad is a noun (meaning work as a concept or a piece of work, e.g., a paper, thesis, some labor), and it would not fit after želi in this structure. You would not say:

✗ Sestra želi rad kao urednica. – incorrect

6. Why is it urednica (feminine) and not urednik (masculine)?

Croatian has gendered nouns for many professions.

urednik – editor (masculine form)
urednica – editor (feminine form)

Because sestra is clearly female (sister), the natural choice is the feminine job title:

Sestra želi raditi kao urednica. – My (female) sister wants to work as a (female) editor.

If you were talking about a brother:

Brat želi raditi kao urednik. – My brother wants to work as an editor.

7. Why is it kao urednica and not something like kao urednicom?

kao means as or like.

Very often, when you use kao with a profession, you use the nominative case (the dictionary form):

raditi kao učitelj – to work as a teacher (m.)
raditi kao učiteljica – to work as a teacher (f.)
raditi kao urednik / urednica – to work as an editor

So urednica is nominative singular feminine.

The instrumental form (urednicom) is also used in Croatian, especially with the verb biti (to be), but the pattern is a bit different:

Ona je urednica. (nominative) – She is an editor.
Ona je urednicom. (instrumental) – She (works/acts) as an editor. (slightly more formal/literary nuance)

With raditi kao, the standard, most natural choice is nominative after kao: kao urednica.

8. Could you say Sestra želi biti urednica instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

Sestra želi biti urednica.

The nuance:

želi raditi kao urednica – focuses on the job activity: she wants to work as an editor (do that kind of work).
želi biti urednica – focuses more on the status/role: she wants to be an editor (have that profession or title).

In everyday speech, they’re very close in meaning and often interchangeable, but raditi kao urednica emphasizes the work itself a bit more.

9. What case is velikom časopisu and why that ending?

u velikom časopisu uses the locative case because of the preposition u (in) with a location meaning.

časopis – magazine (nominative, singular, masculine)
u časopisu – in a magazine (locative singular) → časopisu
velik – big (basic adjective form)
u velikom časopisu – in a big magazine

In masculine singular, the -om ending on the adjective (velikom) and the -u on the noun (časopisu) are typical for dative/locative. Here, the preposition u tells you it’s the locative (place where something happens).

10. Why is it u velikom časopisu and not u veliki časopis?

Because u with the meaning in requires the locative case, not the nominative or accusative.

Nominative: veliki časopis – a big magazine (subject form)
Accusative (motion into): u veliki časopis – into the big magazine (used for movement into something)
Locative (position in): u velikom časopisu – in the big magazine (used for location)

In this sentence, the idea is working in a big magazine, so we use locative:

raditi u velikom časopisu – to work in a big magazine.

11. Does u velikom časopisu mean “in a big magazine” or “for a big magazine”?

Literally it means in a big magazine, but in English we would normally say for a big magazine when talking about employment.

Croatian often uses u (in) where English uses for in job contexts:

raditi u školi – to work at a school
raditi u banci – to work in/for a bank
raditi u velikom časopisu – to work in/for a big magazine

So the natural English translation is:

My sister wants to work for a big magazine as an editor.

12. How does the adjective velikom agree with časopisu?

Adjectives in Croatian must agree with the noun in:

gender
number
case

Here:

časopis – masculine, singular
u časopisu – locative singular (masculine)
velik – adjective meaning big

So we use the masculine singular locative form of the adjective:

u velikom časopisu

Both velikom (adjective) and časopisu (noun) are masculine singular locative.

13. Can I change the word order, for example: Sestra želi kao urednica raditi u velikom časopisu?

You can move elements around in Croatian more freely than in English because word order is flexible. However, not all orders sound equally natural.

Most neutral/natural here is:

Sestra želi raditi kao urednica u velikom časopisu.

Other possibilities:

Sestra želi raditi u velikom časopisu kao urednica.
– also natural, slightly more focus on where she wants to work first.
Sestra želi kao urednica raditi u velikom časopisu.
– grammatically possible but sounds less natural; the phrase raditi kao urednica is normally kept together.

In general, keep raditi kao urednica as a unit when you’re learning.

14. How would I say this sentence in past and future tense?

Present (original):

Sestra želi raditi kao urednica u velikom časopisu.
– My sister wants to work as an editor in a big magazine.

Past (perfect tense):

Sestra je željela raditi kao urednica u velikom časopisu.
– My sister wanted to work as an editor in a big magazine.

Future:

Sestra će željeti raditi kao urednica u velikom časopisu.
– My sister will want to work as an editor in a big magazine.

More natural future meaning “she will work” (focusing on the working, not on the wanting):

Sestra će raditi kao urednica u velikom časopisu.
– My sister will work as an editor in a big magazine.

15. How do I pronounce ž, č, and the vowels here?

Key sounds in this sentence:

ž in želi: like s in measure or zh in Zhdanov
č in časopisu: like ch in church (a hard ch)
a: like a in father (short)
e in želi: like e in bet
i in raditi, časopisu: like ee in see
o in časopisu: like o in more but shorter
u in u, časopisu: like oo in food but usually shorter

So very roughly:

Sestra želi raditi kao urednica u velikom časopisu.
→ SEHS-trah ZHEH-lee RAH-dee-tee KAH-oh oo-REHD-nee-tsah oo VEH-lee-kohm CHAH-soh-pee-soo