Learn Hardcore Croatian: Moj brat je hrabar i ne boji se ispita. - My brother is brave and is not afraid of exams.

Moj brat je hrabar. – My brother is brave. ✅
Moj brat hrabar. – sounds like a note / title, not a full normal sentence ❌ in standard speech/writing

You might see sentences without je in headlines, notes, or poetic style, but for everyday speech and standard writing, you should include je here.

Why is it Moj brat je hrabar, not Moj brat je hrabri?

Hrabar is the base (indefinite) form of the adjective brave, used in most neutral statements.

For masculine singular nominative:

hrabar čovjek – a brave man
moj brat je hrabar – my brother is brave

The form hrabri also exists, but it’s mostly:

a definite form used in certain styles or fixed phrases (more formal, literary, or when referring to a specific, known person/group, e.g. hrabri vojnik – the brave soldier)
or used when the adjective is placed before a specific noun, often with a more definite feel

In your sentence, after je, the normal choice is hrabar:

Moj brat je hrabar. ✅
Moj brat je hrabri. – would sound unusual in everyday speech; could work in a poetic or very stylistic context only

Why is it moj brat, and how would it change with a sister or something neuter?

Moj must agree with brat in gender, number, and case.

Here:

brat – masculine singular, nominative (subject)
so moj is also masculine singular nominative

If you change the noun:

moja sestra je hrabra – my sister is brave
- moja – feminine singular nominative
- hrabra – feminine singular nominative
moje dijete je hrabro – my child is brave
- moje – neuter singular nominative
- hrabro – neuter singular nominative

So the pattern is:

masculine: moj brat je hrabar
feminine: moja sestra je hrabra
neuter: moje dijete je hrabro

Why is je after brat and not after Moj? Could I say Moj je brat hrabar?

In Croatian, je is a clitic (an unstressed short word) that normally goes in second position in the clause, usually after the first stressed word or phrase.

In Moj brat je hrabar:

the first phrase is Moj brat (treated as one unit)
the clitic je comes right after that phrase: Moj brat je…

You can say Moj je brat hrabar, and it is correct. The difference is in emphasis:

Moj brat je hrabar. – neutral statement
Moj je brat hrabar. – puts extra emphasis on moj (my), like “It’s my brother who is brave.”

Both are grammatical; the first is more neutral.

What exactly is going on in ne boji se? Why are there two words after ne?

Bojati se is a reflexive verb meaning to be afraid (of). It is always used with se:

bojim se – I am afraid
boji se – he / she is afraid

Se is a reflexive clitic (unstressed pronoun) that usually appears in “second position” in the clause, similar to je.

In ne boji se:

ne – negative particle not
boji – verb (3rd person singular present)
se – reflexive clitic

The normal word order is:

boji se – is afraid
ne boji se – is not afraid

You should not say ne se boji in standard Croatian.

Why is it ne boji se ispita and not ne boji se ispit?

The verb bojati se always takes the genitive case for what you’re afraid of.

bojati se koga/čega – to be afraid of someone/something (genitive)

The noun ispit (exam) in the genitive singular is ispita:

nominative (subject form): ispit – an exam
genitive singular: ispita – of an exam

So:

boji se ispita – he is afraid of the exam / of exams (context decides)
ne boji se ispita – he is not afraid of the exam / exams

Using ispit (nominative/accusative) here would be ungrammatical after bojati se.

Does ispita here mean “of the exam” (singular) or “of exams” (plural)?

Formally, ispita can be:

genitive singular: (jednog) ispita – of (one) exam
genitive plural: (više) ispita – of (several) exams

So the form ispita itself is ambiguous. The meaning (singular vs plural) comes from context:

Ne boji se ispita. – in a story about one upcoming exam, people will naturally hear “of the exam.”
In a more general statement, it can mean “He isn’t afraid of exams (in general).”

If you really want to stress plurality, you can add something like:

Ne boji se nijednog ispita. – He is not afraid of any exam.
Ne boji se školskih ispita. – He is not afraid of school exams.

Why do we use bojati se instead of something literally like “to be afraid of”?

Croatian often uses a reflexive verb where English uses an adjective plus “to be”.

English:

to be afraid of X

Croatian:

bojati se X – literally “to fear oneself (of) X”, but idiomatically just “to be afraid of X”

Examples:

Bojim se pasa. – I’m afraid of dogs.
Ne bojimo se ispita. – We are not afraid of the exam(s).

There is also an adjective uplašen (frightened), but it’s used a bit differently:

On je uplašen. – He is frightened. (describes his current state, often after something scary)
On se boji ispita. – He is afraid of the exam. (ongoing attitude, not just a momentary reaction)

How is bojati se conjugated in the present tense?

Present tense of bojati se:

(ja) bojim se – I am afraid
(ti) bojiš se – you (sg.) are afraid
(on/ona/ono) boji se – he / she / it is afraid
(mi) bojimo se – we are afraid
(vi) bojite se – you (pl./formal) are afraid
(oni/one/ona) boje se – they are afraid

So your sentence uses:

(on) boji se ispita – he is afraid of the exam
ne boji se ispita – he is not afraid of the exam

Can the word order change, like Hrabar je moj brat i ne boji se ispita?

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English, and you can move elements to change emphasis.

All of these are grammatical, but differ in focus:

Moj brat je hrabar i ne boji se ispita. – neutral; simple statement.
Hrabar je moj brat i ne boji se ispita. – emphasises hrabar (brave), like “Brave is my brother, and he isn’t afraid of the exam.”
Moj brat je hrabar i ispita se ne boji. – slightly emphasises ispita and ne boji se; sounds a bit more stylistic.

The core grammar (cases, conjugation, clitics like je, se) stays the same; only the order and emphasis change.

How would the sentence change in the plural: “My brothers are brave and are not afraid of the exam(s)”?

You need to make the subject, verb, and adjective plural.

Two common options (with slightly different nouns):

Using braća (irregular plural of brat):
- Moja braća su hrabra i ne boje se ispita.
- braća – brothers (collective plural form)
- su – are (3rd person plural of biti)
- hrabra – plural neuter adjective form agreeing with braća
- ne boje se – they are not afraid
Using regular plural bratovi (less common, but simple agreement):
- Moji bratovi su hrabri i ne boje se ispita.
- moji bratovi – my brothers
- hrabri – masculine plural form

Both mean essentially: My brothers are brave and are not afraid of the exam(s).