Ova informacija je važna.

to be

Breakdown of Ova informacija je važna.

• važan: important
• ovaj: this
• informacija: information

Questions & Answers about Ova informacija je važna.

What does each word in Ova informacija je važna mean literally?

Word by word:

• ova – this (feminine, singular, in the nominative case)
• informacija – information / piece of information (a feminine, singular noun, nominative)
• je – is (3rd person singular present of biti = to be)
• važna – important (feminine, singular form of the adjective važan)

So structurally it is: This information is important.

Why is it ova informacija and not ovo informacija or ovo je informacija?

Croatian distinguishes between “this” as an adjective and “this” as a standalone pronoun:

• ovaj / ova / ovo = this (masc./fem./neuter) used before nouns
  
  • ova informacija = this information (feminine noun)
• ovo on its own = this (thing), used as a pronoun
  
  • Ovo je informacija. = This is information / an item of information.

In Ova informacija je važna, ova has to agree with informacija, which is feminine, so ova is the correct form.

• ovo informacija is ungrammatical.
• Ovo je informacija is grammatical, but it’s a different structure: This is information.

Why does ova have an -a ending?

Ova is the feminine singular nominative form of the demonstrative adjective ovaj / ova / ovo (this).

• Masculine: ovaj (e.g. ovaj stol – this table)
• Feminine: ova (e.g. ova knjiga – this book)
• Neuter: ovo (e.g. ovo pismo – this letter)

Because informacija is a feminine noun in the nominative singular, its demonstrative has to match: ova informacija = this information.

Is informacija feminine, and how do you make it plural?

Yes, informacija is a feminine noun.

• Singular nominative: informacija – information / a piece of information
• Plural nominative: informacije – pieces of information / pieces of data

Example sentences:

• Ova informacija je važna. – This (one) piece of information is important.
• Ove informacije su važne. – These pieces of information are important.

Note that unlike English, Croatian treats informacija as a countable noun: you can talk about jedna informacija, dvije informacije, mnogo informacija, etc.

English doesn’t use “a/an” with information, but Croatian uses informacija. Is that like “a piece of information”?

Exactly. In Croatian:

• informacija works more like “a piece of information” in English.
  
  • Ovo je važna informacija. = This is an important (piece of) information.
• The plural informacije can be like “pieces of information” or “information” in a more general sense.
  
  • Imamo sve potrebne informacije. = We have all the necessary information.

English treats information as uncountable; Croatian treats informacija as a regular countable noun.

What is je, and how is the verb “to be” conjugated in Croatian?

Je is the 3rd person singular present tense of biti = to be.

In standard present tense:

• (ja) sam – I am
• (ti) si – you are (singular, informal)
• (on/ona/ono) je – he/she/it is
• (mi) smo – we are
• (vi) ste – you are (plural or formal)
• (oni/one/ona) su – they are

So in Ova informacija je važna, je corresponds to “is”:
This information is important.

Why is the adjective važna and not važan or važno?

The base adjective is važan = important (masculine singular nominative).

Adjectives in Croatian agree with the noun in gender, number, and case:

• Masculine singular nominative: važan
• Feminine singular nominative: važna
• Neuter singular nominative: važno

Because informacija is feminine singular nominative, the adjective must match:

• važna informacija – an important (piece of) information
• Ova informacija je važna. – This information is important.

Other examples:

• Ovaj zadatak je važan. – This task is important. (masculine)
• Ovo pravilo je važno. – This rule is important. (neuter)

What case is used in Ova informacija je važna, and why?

Both ova informacija and važna are in the nominative singular feminine.

• Ova informacija is the subject of the sentence.
• važna is a predicative adjective describing the subject.

In Croatian, as in many other languages, the subject and its complement (linked by to be) appear in the nominative case:

• Ova informacija je važna. – nominative
• Ova informacija je potpuno netočna. – same pattern, nominative

Can the word order change, or does it always have to be Ova informacija je važna?

The neutral, most common word order is:

• [Subject] + je + [adjective]
  Ova informacija je važna.

However, Croatian allows some flexibility, which can change emphasis:

• Važna je ova informacija.
  Focuses on “important”; roughly: It is this information that is important (not something else).

• Ova je informacija važna.
  Still correct, but sounds a bit more emphatic or contrastive: This (particular) information is important.

For a learner, Ova informacija je važna is the safest, neutral pattern.

Why isn’t je in the second position, as I’ve heard Croatian likes clitics in second position?

Clitics in Croatian (including je) usually come in “second position”, but that rule is based on prosodic units (phrases), not simply the second word.

In Ova informacija je važna:

• Ova informacija functions as one prosodic unit (the full subject phrase).
• The clitic je follows that unit:
  • [Ova informacija] je važna.

So the rule is being followed here: je comes right after the first stressed phrase, not necessarily the single first word. For a beginner, you can remember the pattern:

• [full subject phrase] + je + [rest of the sentence]

Can you say this sentence without je, like “Ova informacija važna”?

In standard Croatian, you should include the verb je:

• Ova informacija je važna. – correct standard form.

A version like “Ova informacija važna” may be heard in some dialects or very informal speech, but it is not standard and will sound incomplete or incorrect in most contexts. For proper grammar, always use je here.

What’s the difference between Ova informacija je važna and Ovo je važna informacija?

Both are grammatical, but the focus and structure change:

1. Ova informacija je važna.

   • Literally: This information is important.
   • Subject is ova informacija.
   • Often used when you have already identified or mentioned a specific piece of information and you’re commenting on it.

2. Ovo je važna informacija.

   • Literally: This is important information / This is an important piece of information.
   • Subject is ovo (this thing), and važna informacija is what it is.
   • Often used when you are introducing or highlighting that something (just shown, just said) is an important piece of information.

In many contexts they translate similarly, but Ova informacija je važna sounds more like you are comparing it to other information and stressing this particular item.

How would you say “These pieces of information are important” in Croatian?

You need the plural of both the demonstrative and the noun, plus the plural of to be and the plural adjective:

• Ove informacije su važne.
  
  • ove – these (feminine plural nominative)
  • informacije – pieces of information (feminine plural nominative)
  • su – are (3rd person plural of biti)
  • važne – important (feminine plural nominative)

So:

• Ova informacija je važna. – This (one) piece of information is important.
• Ove informacije su važne. – These pieces of information are important.

How do you pronounce Ova informacija je važna?

Approximate phonetic guide (using English-like notation):

• Ova – [OH-vah]
• informacija – [een-fohr-MAH-tsee-yah]
• je – [yeh]
• važna – [VAH-zh-nah], where ž is like the “s” in measure or vision.

Stress is typically on in-for-MA-ci-ja (third syllable from the end) and VA-žna (first syllable).