Breakdown of On se želi prijaviti na besplatan tečaj hrvatskog jezika.
Questions & Answers about On se želi prijaviti na besplatan tečaj hrvatskog jezika.
Se is a reflexive pronoun, but in this sentence it’s best thought of as part of the verb prijaviti se – to apply / to sign up (oneself).
- prijaviti nekoga = to report someone, to register someone else
- prijaviti se = to apply, to sign up (yourself)
So On se želi prijaviti literally means He wants to apply himself, which in natural English is just He wants to apply.
Without se, the meaning of the verb would change.
In Croatian, verbs that express desire, intention, possibility, etc. (like željети – to want, morati – must, moći – can) are typically followed by an infinitive, just like want to do in English.
- On želi prijaviti se… / On se želi prijaviti… = He wants to apply…
So želi prijaviti is the normal structure: 3rd person singular of “want” + infinitive.
Yes, you can absolutely drop on. Croatian is a “pro‑drop” language: the verb ending -i in želi already shows it’s he (3rd person singular).
- On se želi prijaviti… = He wants to apply… (more explicit, maybe a bit more emphatic)
- Želi se prijaviti… = (He) wants to apply… (perfectly natural in context)
You only need on when you want to emphasize he (as opposed to someone else), or when the subject might be unclear from context.
No, that word order is wrong in standard Croatian. Se is a clitic and normally comes right after the first stressed word in the clause.
Correct options in this sentence include:
- On se želi prijaviti na…
- Želi se prijaviti na…
- On se želi odmah prijaviti na… (after the first stressed element On se, adverb odmah, then the rest)
But On želi se prijaviti… is not acceptable in standard language. The clitic se must come earlier: On se želi prijaviti….
The verb in this meaning requires the preposition na:
- prijaviti se na tečaj / ispit / natječaj = to apply for a course / exam / competition
Without the preposition, prijaviti tečaj would be ungrammatical or would sound like a different meaning of prijaviti (to report something), which you don’t want here.
So the basic pattern you should remember is:
prijaviti se na + Accusative (what you’re signing up for).
This is about movement vs location and the case after na:
na + Accusative → movement towards something (onto/into)
- ići na tečaj – to go to a course
- prijaviti se na tečaj – to sign up for a course
na + Locative → being on/at a place
- biti na tečaju – to be at a course
In your sentence, he is applying to a course (movement towards participation), so na besplatan tečaj (Accusative) is correct, not na besplatnom tečaju.
Both besplatan tečaj and besplatni tečaj are grammatically possible in Croatian, but besplatan tečaj is the more neutral, everyday form.
- besplatan = basic (indefinite) adjective form, very common in modern usage
- besplatni = the “long” (definite) form of the adjective; it can sound a bit more formal or stylistically marked, and is also common in some dialects and older usage
In normal, neutral speech and writing, besplatan tečaj is what you’re most likely to hear.
Hrvatskog jezika is in the genitive singular:
- hrvatski jezik (Nominative) = Croatian language (as a subject)
- hrvatskog jezika (Genitive) = of the Croatian language
The noun tečaj (course) here is being specified by another noun in the genitive:
- tečaj čega? – a course of what? → hrvatskog jezika
So besplatan tečaj hrvatskog jezika literally means a free course of the Croatian language.
Croatian has a fairly strict and natural word order inside noun phrases:
- Adjective(s)
- Head noun
- Genitive complement (if any)
So the normal pattern is:
- besplatan (adjective)
- tečaj (head noun)
- hrvatskog jezika (genitive: course of Croatian language)
Forms like besplatan tečaj hrvatski jezik or besplatan hrvatski jezik tečaj break this pattern and sound ungrammatical or at least very unnatural.
Yes.
- tečaj hrvatskog jezika is correct: tečaj čega? → hrvatskog jezika (genitive)
- tečaj hrvatski jezik is wrong: you have one noun in nominative (jezik) and one adjective (hrvatski) just stuck after tečaj with no proper relationship.
To express course of X, Croatian almost always uses Genitive:
tečaj engleskog jezika, tečaj informatike, tečaj plesa, etc.
Prijaviti se is perfective: it focuses on the single, completed action of applying/signing up.
There is an imperfective counterpart:
- prijavljivati se = to be (in the process of) applying, to apply repeatedly or habitually
Compare:
- On se želi prijaviti na tečaj. – He wants to (successfully) apply once.
- On se često prijavljuje na besplatne tečajeve. – He often applies to free courses.