Za nas je važan pozitivan rezultat.

A positive result is important to us.

Breakdown of Za nas je važan pozitivan rezultat.

• biti: to be
• važan: important
• za: for
• nas: us
• rezultat: result
• pozitivan: positive

Questions & Answers about Za nas je važan pozitivan rezultat.

What does za nas literally mean, and what case is nas in here?

Za nas literally means for us.

The preposition za always takes the accusative case, so nas is the accusative form of the pronoun mi (we).

• mi = we (nominative)
• nas = us (accusative / genitive)

So za nas = for us (with nas in the accusative because of za).

Why is it za nas, not za mi?

Because after the preposition za you must use the accusative, not the nominative.

• mi is nominative (used for the subject: Mi radimo. – We are working.)
• nas is accusative (used after za: za nas, za tebe, za njega …)

So za mi would be grammatically wrong; za nas is correct.

What is the subject of the sentence?

The subject is pozitivan rezultat (a positive result).

The structure is:

• Za nas – prepositional phrase (for us)
• je – verb biti (to be), 3rd person singular
• važan pozitivan rezultat – predicate (what the subject is / how it is described)

More explicitly:

• Subject: pozitivan rezultat
• Verb: je
• Predicate adjective phrase: važan (important)
• Prepositional phrase of interest: za nas (for us)

Why is the word order Za nas je važan pozitivan rezultat and not Pozitivan rezultat je važan za nas, like in English?

Both orders are correct in Croatian, but the emphasis is different.

• Za nas je važan pozitivan rezultat.

  • Literally: For us is important a positive result.
  • Emphasis is on za nas – “As far as we are concerned / From our point of view, a positive result is important.”

• Pozitivan rezultat je važan za nas.

  • More neutral, closer to English word order.
  • Emphasis is more on pozitivan rezultat as the topic, then adding that it is important for us.

Croatian allows relatively free word order, and speakers often move parts of the sentence to the front to highlight what is most important or already known from context.

Why does the verb je stand after za nas? I thought verbs usually come right after the subject.

Je is a clitic form of the verb biti (to be). Clitics in Croatian have a special rule called the second position rule: they normally want to be in the second position in the sentence (or clause), after the first stressed word or phrase.

In this sentence:

1. First element: Za nas (a phrase, counted as one “slot”)
2. Second position: je (clitic verb)

So we get: Za nas je važan pozitivan rezultat.

If you start with the subject, you will see the same pattern:

• Pozitivan rezultat je važan za nas.
  (First element: Pozitivan rezultat, then clitic je.)

Could I say Za nas važan pozitivan rezultat and just drop je?

No. In a normal finite sentence, you need the verb biti (je) to make a full clause like this.

• Za nas je važan pozitivan rezultat. – Correct full sentence.
• Za nas važan pozitivan rezultat. – Sounds like a sentence fragment, not a correct, complete sentence.

You might see verbs omitted in headlines or telegram-style slogans, but in standard spoken and written Croatian you keep je here.

What’s the difference between za nas je važan pozitivan rezultat and nama je važan pozitivan rezultat?

Both can translate as A positive result is important to us, but the nuance is slightly different:

• Za nas je važan pozitivan rezultat.

  • za nas = for us / in terms of us
  • Emphasis on for our purposes / from our perspective. It can sound a bit more objective: “In relation to us, a positive result is important.”

• Nama je važan pozitivan rezultat.

  • nama = dative of mi (to us, for us personally)
  • More about how we feel / what matters to us. It is a bit more personal and common in everyday speech.

Both are correct and very natural; context and style decide which sounds better.

Why are the adjectives važan and pozitivan in that form? Why not važna or pozitivna?

Adjectives in Croatian must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they describe.

The noun rezultat is:

• Masculine
• Singular
• Nominative (subject form)

So both adjectives must also be:

• Masculine
• Singular
• Nominative

The masculine singular nominative forms of these adjectives are:

• važan (important)
• pozitivan (positive)

That’s why we say važan pozitivan rezultat, not važna / pozitivna rezultat. If the noun changed, the adjectives would change:

• važan pozitivan rezultat (masculine)
• važna pozitivna odluka (feminine: important positive decision)
• važno pozitivno iskustvo (neuter: important positive experience)

Why are there two adjectives in a row: važan pozitivan rezultat? Is that normal, and is their order fixed?

Yes, it is normal to have multiple adjectives in a row, as long as they agree with the noun.

Both važan and pozitivan describe rezultat, so they both take the same ending. The typical order is:

• more general / evaluative adjective first (e.g. važan – important)
• more descriptive / specific adjective next (e.g. pozitivan – positive)
• then the noun (rezultat)

So važan pozitivan rezultat sounds natural: “an important positive result.”

The reverse order pozitivan važan rezultat is grammatically possible, but sounds odd or marked. It would usually only be used for special emphasis or stylistic effect.

Where would the English article a go in Croatian? Why isn’t there anything like a or the before pozitivan rezultat?

Croatian has no articles like a / an / the. The noun rezultat appears without any article:

• pozitivan rezultat can mean:
  • a positive result,
  • the positive result,
  • or just positive result in a general sense.

The exact meaning (a / the / general) is understood from context, not from a special word before the noun.

Could I say this sentence in a shorter, more natural way in everyday speech?

Yes, several shorter versions are very natural, especially in context where it’s clear you are talking about some match, exam, project, etc.:

• Nama je važan rezultat. – The result is important to us.
• Važan nam je rezultat. – The result is important to us (emphasis on važan).
• Za nas je važan rezultat. – For us the result is important.

You can drop pozitivan when it’s obvious that a positive result is meant (e.g. in sports or tests, rezultat is almost always understood as something you want to be positive).