Learn Hardcore Croatian: Put do jezera je dug, ali lijep. - The way to the lake is long but beautiful.

Croatian does not use articles (“a / an / the”) at all.
So put can mean “a road / the road / road” depending on context.
The definiteness (“the way to the lake”) is understood from context, not from a separate word.

What exactly does put mean here? Is it “road” or “way” or “path”?

Put is a masculine noun that generally means “way, route, path, journey”.

In this sentence, Put do jezera is most naturally “The way to the lake” or “The path to the lake.”
It’s in the nominative singular (the basic dictionary form), and it’s the subject of the sentence.

Why is it do jezera and not do jezero? What case is that?

The preposition do (“to / up to / as far as”) always takes the genitive case.

The noun here is jezero (neuter, “lake”) in the nominative.
Its genitive singular form is jezera.

So:

jezero = lake (nominative, dictionary form)
do jezera = to the lake (genitive after do)

You cannot say ✗ do jezero; that would be ungrammatical because do requires genitive.

What’s the nuance of do jezera compared to something like na jezero or u jezero?

All three have different typical uses:

do jezera – “to the lake / up to the lake”, focusing on reaching the lake as a destination or its vicinity (the route leading there).
na jezero – literally “onto the lake”, more like going to the lake as a place you visit, especially if you think of it as a surface or recreational spot (e.g. going to the lake for a trip).
u jezero – “into the lake”, entering the body of water (e.g. something falls into the lake).

In this sentence, Put do jezera emphasizes the route whose endpoint is the lake.

What is je here? Is that the verb “to be”?

Yes. Je is the 3rd person singular present of biti (“to be”):

(on/ona/ono) je = “he/she/it is”

So, structurally:

Put do jezera = the subject
je = “is” (verb)
dug, ali lijep = predicate adjectives (long, but beautiful)

Literally: “The way to the lake is long, but beautiful.”

Why are the adjectives dug and lijep in that form? Why not something like dugi, lijepi?

Dug and lijep agree with put, which is:

masculine
singular
in the nominative case (subject)

For a masculine singular noun in the nominative, the basic predicate-adjective form is:

dug (long)
lijep (beautiful, nice)

Forms like dugi, lijepi are also masculine but usually used in attributive position (before a noun: dugi put = “the long way”) and can have stylistic or slight meaning differences.

In a simple X is Y sentence, dug and lijep are the natural short predicate forms:
Put je dug. Put je lijep.

Why is there only one je for both adjectives (dug, ali lijep)? Could/should we repeat it?

You don’t need to repeat the verb when two adjectives share the same subject and verb:

Put do jezera je dug, ali lijep.
= The way to the lake is long but beautiful.

You could say Put do jezera je dug, ali je lijep, and it would not be wrong, but:

With one je: sounds a bit more compact and neutral.
With repeated je: can add a tiny bit of emphasis or rhythm, but is less common in simple sentences like this.

Both are grammatically possible; the version without the second je is more standard here.

Why is there a comma before ali?

In Croatian punctuation, a comma is normally placed before coordinating conjunctions like ali (“but”), i (“and”), ili (“or”) when they connect larger parts of a sentence (clauses, or here, two predicate adjectives in contrast):

… je dug, ali lijep. = “… is long, but (it is) beautiful.”

So the comma before ali is correct and follows standard rules.

Could the word order be different, like Put je dug do jezera, ali lijep?

You can move things around in Croatian, but not all orders sound natural or mean the same thing.

Put do jezera je dug, ali lijep. – natural, neutral: “The way to the lake is long but beautiful.”
Put je dug do jezera – shifts focus onto how far (up to the lake) the way is long, can sound like “The way is long up to the lake,” and feels less like a set phrase for “the way to the lake.”
Dug je put do jezera, ali lijep. – also possible; this front-loads dug for emphasis: “Long is the way to the lake, but (it’s) beautiful.”

The original word order is the most straightforward and typical.

Could you drop je and just say Put do jezera dug, ali lijep?

In normal, standard prose you should keep the verb je:

Put do jezera je dug, ali lijep.

Omitting je (“Put do jezera dug, ali lijep”) is not standard in everyday speech or writing. It might appear in:

poetry
slogans
very stylized language

where verbs are sometimes dropped for effect. For regular usage, always include je.

How do you pronounce jezera and lijep? Anything tricky for English speakers?

A few points:

jezera: [YE-ze-ra]
- j is always like English y in yes.
- Each vowel is clear and separate; no schwa.
lijep: [LEE-yep] (in many accents)
- Again, j = English y.
- Don’t make a diphthong like English “lie-ep”; keep it short and crisp: li-jep.

Stress patterns can vary regionally, but segment-wise, treat each written vowel as clearly pronounced; Croatian spelling is very phonetic.

Could put here also mean “journey” (like “the journey to the lake is long but beautiful”)?

Yes, context can allow put to be understood more as “journey / trip / route” rather than a literal road, just like English “way” can be metaphorical.

In a hiking context: likely “path / trail.”
In a more abstract or travel context: more like “journey / trip / route.”

The sentence itself is flexible enough to be interpreted either way depending on the broader situation.