Learn Hardcore Croatian: Moja kćer se boji grmljavine, ali zna da će oluja brzo proći. - My daughter is afraid of thunder, but she knows that the storm will pass quickly.

kćer – standard, neutral; very common in Croatian
kći – also standard, a bit more formal or literary; less used in everyday speech
kćerka – more colloquial; felt as slightly more informal or regional, but still understood

In this sentence:

Moja kćer se boji grmljavine. – completely standard
You could also hear:
Moja kći se boji grmljavine.
Moja kćerka se boji grmljavine.

They all mean the same.

How do you pronounce kćer? That consonant cluster looks impossible.

kćer has the cluster kć, which can be hard for English speakers.

Pronunciation tips:

k: like k in ski
ć: a soft ch sound, similar to t in nature in American English, but shorter and crisper
er: like air but shorter and without a strong r

Roughly: k-cher, but with the ch softer than in English church, and the word quite short.

In fast speech, many native speakers effectively pronounce it close to čer, but the written standard is kćer.

Why is it moja kćer, not moju kćer or moje kćer?

Moja agrees with kćer in gender, number, and case:

kćer is feminine, singular, nominative (she is the subject).
The matching form of moj (my) is moja.

So:

Nominative (subject): moja kćer se boji… – My daughter is afraid…
Accusative (object): Vidim svoju kćer. – I see my daughter.
Genitive: Nemam svoje kćeri ovdje. – I don’t have my daughter here.

In this sentence, moja kćer is the subject, so nominative moja is required.

Why does the reflexive se come after kćer? Can I say Moja se kćer boji grmljavine?

Yes, you can say both:

Moja kćer se boji grmljavine.
Moja se kćer boji grmljavine.

They are both correct. The difference is word order and slight emphasis.

Rules and tendencies:

Short words like se, će, mi, ga are clitics and usually go after the first stressed word or phrase in the clause.
Here, the first stressed word group could be Moja kćer or just Moja.

So both positions are allowed.
To keep it simple: in spoken Croatian, Moja kćer se boji… is very natural and common.

Where is she in ali zna da će oluja brzo proći? Why is there no pronoun?

Croatian is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns (ja, ti, on, ona…) are often omitted when the verb form already makes the subject clear.

zna = he/she/it knows
From the context (moja kćer), we understand that she (the daughter) is the subject.

If you need to emphasize she, you can say:

Ali ona zna da će oluja brzo proći. – But she knows that the storm will pass quickly.

Normally, Ali zna… is enough and sounds more natural when the subject is already known.

How does the future tense work in da će oluja brzo proći? Why će proći?

Croatian future I is usually auxiliary će + infinitive.

Here:

će – future auxiliary (3rd person singular)
proći – infinitive of the verb to pass (completely)

So:

Oluja će brzo proći. = The storm will pass quickly.

Inside a da-clause, the same structure is used:

da će oluja brzo proći = that the storm will pass quickly

Word order is flexible with će (it’s another clitic):

Oluja će brzo proći.
Oluja će proći brzo.
Brzo će oluja proći.

All are grammatically correct; Oluja će brzo proći is the most neutral.

What is the role of da in zna da će oluja brzo proći?

Here da is a subordinating conjunction meaning that, introducing a content clause (what she knows).

Ona zna. – She knows.
Ona zna da će oluja brzo proći. – She knows that the storm will pass quickly.

This is very similar to English that, but Croatian often keeps the da, where English can drop that:

English: She knows (that) the storm will pass quickly.
Croatian: Ona zna da će oluja brzo proći.
(dropping da here is not standard)

Why is it oluja (nominative) and not oluje or some other case?

In da će oluja brzo proći, oluja is the subject of the verb proći:

Oluja – storm (nominative, subject)
će proći – will pass

So the pattern is:

Oluja će proći. – The storm will pass.
Subject = nominative.

If oluje appears, that would be a different case or number:

oluje (genitive singular / nominative plural)
- nema oluje – there is no storm (genitive)
- Oluje su česte. – Storms are frequent. (nominative plural)

In this sentence, we have one specific storm, as the subject → oluja.

What’s the difference between grmljavina and oluja in this sentence?

They refer to related but distinct things:

grmljavina – thunder (the sound), or a thunderstorm with emphasis on thunder
oluja – storm in general (can be with rain, wind, thunder, etc.)

So:

Moja kćer se boji grmljavine – She fears the thunder (the noisy part).
zna da će oluja brzo proći – She knows the storm as an event/weather system will soon be over.

It’s natural to fear the loud thunder but still know that the storm itself won’t last long.

Why is proći used, not prolaziti?

Proći and prolaziti are aspectual pairs:

proći – perfective: to pass (completely), to be over
prolaziti – imperfective: to be passing, to keep passing

For a single event in the future that will be completed, Croatian prefers the perfective:

Oluja će brzo proći. – The storm will (completely) pass quickly.

If you used prolaziti, it would suggest a process, not a single finished event, and in this context it would sound strange:

Oluja će brzo prolaziti. – sounds like The storm will be quickly in the process of passing (unnatural here).

Could I say Moja kćer se plaši grmljavine instead of se boji grmljavine?

Yes, but there is a nuance:

bojati se – very common, neutral verb for to be afraid of
plašiti se – also to be afraid of, sometimes slightly stronger or more emotional, often used for being scared or getting scared.

So:

Moja kćer se boji grmljavine. – neutral, very standard.
Moja se kćer plaši grmljavine. – also correct; may sound a bit more like she gets really frightened.

Both are acceptable in everyday speech.