Moja sestra ima sina i kćer.

My sister has a son and a daughter.

Breakdown of Moja sestra ima sina i kćer.

• imati: to have
• moj: my
• i: and
• sestra: sister
• sin: son
• kći: daughter

Questions & Answers about Moja sestra ima sina i kćer.

Why is it moja sestra and not moj sestra or moje sestra?

In Croatian, possessive adjectives like moj (my) must agree with the noun in:

• gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
• number (singular / plural)
• case

Sestra (sister) is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative (it is the subject)

The basic forms of moj in the nominative singular are:

• masculine: moj (e.g. moj brat – my brother)
• feminine: moja (e.g. moja sestra – my sister)
• neuter: moje (e.g. moje dijete – my child)

So you must say moja sestra because sestra is feminine singular.

Why is it sestra and not sestru?

Sestra is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

• Moja sestra – nominative (who/what has something? → my sister)

If sestra were the object, you would usually see sestru (accusative):

• Imam sestru. – I have a sister.
  • Here sestru answers “whom do I have?” (direct object → accusative)

In your sentence, my sister is the one who has the children, so it stays in nominative: moja sestra.

What exactly is ima, and how does the verb imati work?

Ima is the 3rd person singular, present tense of imati (to have):

• (ja) imam – I have
• (ti) imaš – you have (singular, informal)
• (on/ona/ono) ima – he/she/it has
• (mi) imamo – we have
• (vi) imate – you have (plural / formal)
• (oni/one/ona) imaju – they have

So moja sestra ima literally means my sister has.

Why is it sina and not sin after ima?

Sin (son) changes its form depending on case. After imati (to have), the thing you “have” is a direct object, so it takes the accusative case.

For sin (masculine, animate), the accusative singular looks like the genitive:

• Nominative: sin (subject)
• Genitive: sina
• Accusative: sina (same form as genitive)
  • Moja sestra ima sina. – My sister has a son.

So you say ima sina, not ima sin, because sina is the correct accusative form for a masculine animate noun.

Is kćer in the same case as sina? Why doesn’t it change form?

Yes, sina and kćer are both in the accusative case as direct objects of ima.

The difference is:

• sin is masculine animate:
  • nominative: sin
  • accusative: sina
• kćer (daughter) is feminine:
  • nominative: kćer (or kći in some forms)
  • accusative: kćer (same as nominative)

Many feminine nouns have nominative = accusative in the singular, so kćer doesn’t visibly change.

What’s the difference between kćer, kći, and kćerka?

All three refer to a daughter, but with some nuances:

• kći
  • traditionally the basic (dictionary) form in standard Croatian
  • other cases: kćeri, etc.
• kćer
  • very common in actual speech and writing
  • can be treated as a nominative form (variant of kći)
  • here in your sentence kćer is accusative (same form as nominative)
• kćerka
  • a diminutive / derived form (like “little daughter” / “daughter” in a more colloquial, “-daughter” way)
  • often used in everyday speech; very natural and common

In your sentence, all of these would be understood:

• Moja sestra ima sina i kćer.
• Moja sestra ima sina i kćerku.

Both sound natural; kćerku is clearly accusative singular of kćerka.

Could I change the word order, like Moja sestra ima kćer i sina or Sina i kćer ima moja sestra?

Yes. Croatian word order is relatively flexible because case endings show the grammatical roles.

All of these are grammatically correct:

• Moja sestra ima sina i kćer.
• Moja sestra ima kćer i sina.
• Sina i kćer ima moja sestra.
• Sina i kćer moja sestra ima.

The basic, neutral word order is the one you have:
Moja sestra ima sina i kćer.

Changing the order can slightly affect emphasis or style, but the meaning (who has whom) stays the same.

Why isn’t there a word for English a (like “a son”, “a daughter”) in Croatian?

Croatian has no articles:

• no equivalent of English a / an (indefinite article)
• no equivalent of English the (definite article)

So Croatian simply says:

• Moja sestra ima sina i kćer.

Context tells you whether to understand it as:

• My sister has a son and a daughter
  or
• My sister has the son and the daughter (in a specific context)

If you want to stress one son and one daughter, you can add numerals:

• Moja sestra ima jednog sina i jednu kćer. – My sister has one son and one daughter.

How would I say “My sister has two sons and a daughter” using this pattern?

You can build on the same structure:

• Moja sestra ima dva sina i jednu kćer.

Details:

• dva
  • masculine noun → noun typically in genitive singular:
    • dva sina (not dva sinovi)
• jednu kćer → jedan/jedna/jedno agrees like an adjective:
  • feminine accusative singular: jednu
  • kćer stays the same in accusative

Some speakers also say:

• Moja sestra ima dva sina i jednu kćerku.

Both are natural.

Can I drop moja and just say Sestra ima sina i kćer?

You can, but the meaning changes slightly:

• Moja sestra ima sina i kćer.
  • clearly my sister
• Sestra ima sina i kćer.
  • literally The/that sister has a son and a daughter.
  • could mean “(My) sister has a son and a daughter” if context is clear (for example, you are talking only about your family)

So grammatically it’s fine, but if you want to be clear that it’s your sister, keep moja.

How do you pronounce kćer, and what is the letter ć?

Kćer looks scary, but it’s just two consonants in a row:

• k like English k in key
• ć is a soft “ch” sound, somewhat between English “ch” in church and “t” in Tuesday when pronounced carefully

Approximate pronunciation: [kʨer] or like k-cher (but shorter and sharper than English “cher”).

Key point:

• č and ć are different letters in Croatian:
  • č: harder, like English ch in chair
  • ć: softer, more palatal; tongue slightly closer to the palate

In slow practice, think of kćer as k-cher but try to keep it one syllable.