Breakdown of Zagreb je glavni grad i prijestolnica Hrvatske.
Questions & Answers about Zagreb je glavni grad i prijestolnica Hrvatske.
Je is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb biti (to be), so it means is.
The full present tense of biti is:
- ja sam – I am
- ti si – you are (sg.)
- on/ona/ono je – he/she/it is
- mi smo – we are
- vi ste – you are (pl./formal)
- oni/one/ona su – they are
In Zagreb je glavni grad…, je matches Zagreb, which is grammatically 3rd person singular.
Croatian has no articles like a/an or the.
Where English needs the capital city, Croatian just says glavni grad. Whether something is definite or indefinite is usually clear from context, word order, and what is already known to the speakers, not from a special word.
Grad (city, town) is a masculine noun. The adjective glavni (main, capital) must agree with it in gender, number, and case.
Masculine nominative singular of the adjective is glavni.
If the noun were feminine, you would see glavna (e.g. glavna prijestolnica), and for neuter it would be glavno.
Both glavni grad and prijestolnica are in the nominative singular.
This is because they are predicate nouns (the thing that comes after je and tells you what the subject is). In Croatian, the predicate noun normally stands in the nominative, just like the subject (Zagreb).
Both can be translated as capital, but they have slightly different flavors:
- Glavni grad literally means main city and is the usual everyday way to say capital city.
- Prijestolnica literally comes from prijestolje (throne), and means something like seat of the throne. It sounds a bit more formal, historical, or literary.
In practice, you can say either Zagreb je glavni grad Hrvatske or Zagreb je prijestolnica Hrvatske, and both are correct. Saying both together just emphasizes and sounds a bit more formal.
Hrvatska is the nominative form (used for the subject of the sentence or for naming something in isolation).
Here, Hrvatske is in the genitive singular case, which often corresponds to of + noun in English.
So prijestolnica Hrvatske literally means capital (city) of Croatia.
Feminine nouns ending in -a usually have genitive singular in -e:
- Hrvatska → Hrvatske
- Europa → Europe
- Poljska → Poljske
Croatian usually expresses of by case endings, not by a separate word. The genitive case (Hrvatske) already includes the of meaning.
You could say prijestolnica od Hrvatske, but it sounds awkward or overly literal in this context. The natural phrase is prijestolnica Hrvatske.
Yes. Zagreb je glavni grad Hrvatske is completely correct and probably the most common, neutral way to say Zagreb is the capital of Croatia.
You can also say only Zagreb je prijestolnica Hrvatske.
Using both (as in the original sentence) just adds a bit of formality or emphasis.
Grammatically, glavni is directly attached to grad, so it clearly modifies grad.
However, in meaning, the whole phrase glavni grad i prijestolnica Hrvatske is taken together, so speakers understand that Zagreb is both the main city and the capital.
If you wanted the grammar to reflect both more clearly, you could say:
- Zagreb je glavni grad i glavna prijestolnica Hrvatske.
Yes, that is also correct.
In Croatian, you can often put the predicate before the subject:
- Zagreb je glavni grad i prijestolnica Hrvatske.
- Glavni grad i prijestolnica Hrvatske je Zagreb.
The second version puts a bit more emphasis on what Zagreb is, as if answering: What is the capital of Croatia? It is Zagreb.
Yes. Hrvatska is a country name, so it is always capitalized, and all its case forms (Hrvatske, Hrvatskoj, Hrvatskom…) are also capitalized.
Adjectives derived from country names are not capitalized:
- hrvatski jezik – Croatian language
- hrvatska kultura – Croatian culture
So: Hrvatska (proper noun) is capitalized; hrvatski/hrvatska/hrvatsko (adjective) is not.
Approximate pronunciations:
prijestolnica: [pree-YES-tol-nee-tsa]
- prije = pree-ye (in practice often like preeh or prye),
- stol = stol (like English stole but shorter),
- nica = nee-tsa.
Hrvatske: [HR-vats-keh]
- Hr: the h is pronounced, and r is tapped or rolled: hr.
- vat = vaht,
- ske = skeh.
Every vowel is pronounced clearly; there are no silent letters.
Zagreb is a masculine noun in Croatian.
That’s why the verb is je (3rd person singular) and why a masculine predicate phrase like glavni grad fits naturally with it. City names are usually treated as masculine singular in Croatian, unless clearly formed as a feminine noun.
You could, and it is grammatically correct, but it sounds a bit odd or redundant, because prijestolnica Hrvatske already implies that it is the main city.
More natural options are:
- Zagreb je grad u Hrvatskoj. – Zagreb is a city in Croatia.
- Zagreb je glavni grad Hrvatske. – Zagreb is the capital of Croatia.
- Zagreb je prijestolnica Hrvatske. – Zagreb is the capital (seat of government) of Croatia.
Croatian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are usually omitted when the subject is clear from context or explicitly stated.
Here the subject is the noun Zagreb, so there is no need to say On je glavni grad….
Subject pronouns are only used for emphasis, contrast, or when the subject would otherwise be unclear.
Yes. I is the basic Croatian conjunction meaning and.
So glavni grad i prijestolnica = the capital city and capital (seat).
There is also te, another word for and, but it is more formal or stylistic; in this sentence, i is the normal choice.