Vjetar je danas jak.

to be

Breakdown of Vjetar je danas jak.

• danas: today
• vjetar: wind
• jak: heavy

Questions & Answers about Vjetar je danas jak.

Why is there no word for the before vjetar?

Croatian has no articles like a/an or the.
The noun vjetar on its own can mean wind, the wind, or a wind, depending on context.
So Vjetar je danas jak can be understood as The wind is strong today or simply Wind is strong today.

What does je mean here?

Je is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb biti (to be).

The main present-tense forms of biti are:

• (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 / formal)
• (oni/one/ona) su – they are

So Vjetar je danas jak = The wind is strong today (Wind is today strong literally).

Can I leave out je, like in some other languages that drop to be?

No. In standard Croatian you normally must include the verb biti in the present tense.

• ✅ Vjetar je danas jak. – correct
• ❌ Vjetar danas jak. – sounds wrong / ungrammatical in standard Croatian

Unlike Russian, Arabic, or some other languages, Croatian keeps je in this kind of sentence.

What case is vjetar in, and why?

Vjetar is in the nominative singular.

The nominative case is used for the subject of the sentence – the thing or person that is or does something.

Pattern here:

• Subject (nominative): vjetar
• Verb: je
• Predicative adjective (also nominative): jak

So both vjetar and jak are nominative singular masculine and agree in gender and number.

Why is the adjective jak and not jaki or jaka?

Adjectives in Croatian agree with the noun in:

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

Vjetar is masculine singular nominative, so the adjective must match:

• masculine singular: jak
• feminine singular: jaka
• neuter singular: jako

Plural forms:

• masculine animate/inanimate: jaki
• feminine plural: jake
• neuter plural: jaka

So:

• Vjetar je danas jak. – The wind (masc. sg.) is strong.
• Kiša je danas jaka. – The rain (fem. sg.) is strong/heavy.
• Vrijeme je danas jako. – The weather (neut. sg.) is strong/severe.

What gender is vjetar, and how can I tell?

Vjetar is masculine.

Many masculine nouns end in a consonant (no final -a, -o, -e), and -ar is a common masculine ending (e.g. čitar, udar, etc.).

However, gender is partly lexical and must often be memorized. Dictionaries usually mark it:

• vjetar (m.) – masculine noun

What does danas mean exactly, and what kind of word is it?

Danas means today. It is an adverb of time.

Adverbs like danas (today), sutra (tomorrow), jučer (yesterday) do not change form; they are invariable and do not decline.

Does danas have to be in the middle, or can I move it?

You can move danas. Croatian word order is fairly flexible, and moving words usually changes emphasis, not basic meaning.

All of these are possible:

• Vjetar je danas jak. – neutral; focus slightly on the wind.
• Danas je vjetar jak. – neutral; light emphasis on today.
• Danas je jak vjetar. – emphasizes that today a strong wind (as a type of wind) is present.
• Vjetar je jak danas. – puts danas at the end; can emphasize today in spoken language.

The first two are the most common neutral choices for The wind is strong today.

Is Danas je vjetar jak more natural than Vjetar je danas jak?

Both are natural and correct. The difference is mainly in what you’re presenting as the starting point (topic) of the sentence:

• Vjetar je danas jak.

  • Roughly: As for the wind, it is strong today.
  • Topic: vjetar (the wind)

• Danas je vjetar jak.

  • Roughly: As for today, the wind is strong.
  • Topic: danas (today)

In everyday speech, you’ll hear both orders; context and what you want to highlight determine the choice.

Can I say Vjetar danas je jak?

It’s technically understandable but sounds awkward and unnatural in standard Croatian.

Typical positions:

• Adverb near the verb: Vjetar je danas jak.
• Adverb at the beginning: Danas je vjetar jak.

Splitting vjetar and je with danas (Vjetar danas je jak) is not how native speakers normally arrange this sentence.

How would I say The winds are strong today in the plural?

You would put vjetar and jak in the plural and use the plural of biti:

• Vjetrovi su danas jaki.

Breakdown:

• vjetar → vjetrovi (plural, nominative)
• je → su (3rd person plural of biti)
• jak → jaki (masculine plural nominative)

Meaning: The winds are strong today.

What is the difference between jak and jako? Could I say Vjetar je danas jako?

• Jak is an adjective = strong.
• Jako is usually an adverb = strongly / very.

In this sentence you need an adjective to describe the noun vjetar, so:

• ✅ Vjetar je danas jak. – The wind is strong today.
• ✅ Vjetar je danas jako jak. – The wind is very strong today (literally: strongly strong).
• ✅ Vjetar je danas vrlo jak. – The wind is very strong today.
• ❌ Vjetar je danas jako. – incorrect, because there is no adjective or noun to go with jako.

How would I say It is windy today, which is more natural in English than The wind is strong today?

The most natural Croatian equivalent is:

• Danas je vjetrovito. – It is windy today.

Here:

• vjetrovito is an adjective used adverbially (literally: windy).
• There is no explicit subject like it; Croatian often uses impersonal constructions like this.

Your original sentence Vjetar je danas jak is also correct, just slightly more literal about the wind being strong.