Breakdown of Na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu.
Questions & Answers about Na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu.
In Croatian, the preposition na is often used for:
- events and activities (exams, concerts, meetings)
- surfaces (on the table)
- places seen as “open locations” (at school, at work)
An exam is treated as an event, so you are “on the exam” in Croatian: na ispitu.
The preposition u is more about being inside something (a room, a box, a building, a country), so u ispitu would sound wrong here. You are not inside the exam; you are at/on it as an event.
So:
- na ispitu = at/on the exam
- u školi = in/at school
- na poslu = at work
Ispitu is in the locative singular case of the noun ispit (exam).
The pattern is:
- Nominative (dictionary form): ispit (exam)
- Locative singular: (na) ispitu (on/at the exam)
The preposition na here requires the locative case when it means “at a location / at an event”. So na + locative → na ispitu.
Examples:
- na koncertu (at the concert) – from koncert
- na sastanku (at the meeting) – from sastanak
- na ispitu (at the exam) – from ispit
Dobra ocjena is the nominative form (used for the subject of a sentence):
- Dobra ocjena je važna. – A good grade is important.
In Na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu, the phrase dobru ocjenu is the direct object of the verb dobiti (to get). Direct objects take the accusative case.
Ocjena is a feminine noun:
- Nominative singular: dobra ocjena (a good grade)
- Accusative singular: dobru ocjenu (a good grade – as an object)
So:
- Želim dobiti dobru ocjenu. – I want to get a good grade.
- dobru (feminine accusative) agrees with
- ocjenu (feminine accusative, from ocjena)
Želim comes from željeti and means I want or I wish. It sounds a bit more neutral or polite than hoću in many contexts.
- Želim dobiti dobru ocjenu. – I want to get a good grade. (neutral, acceptable almost everywhere)
- Hoću dobiti dobru ocjenu. – I want to get a good grade. (can sound more insistent, “I insist on it”, sometimes childlike or demanding, depending on tone)
Both are understood as “want”, but:
- želim – more polite/neutral, closer to “I would like / I wish”
- hoću – more direct “I want (and I expect it)”
In everyday speech, hoću is very common, but želim is safer if you want to sound less pushy.
You could say Na ispitu želim dobru ocjenu, and people would understand you, but it sounds a bit incomplete or unusual. It literally feels like “On the exam I want a good grade”, without the idea of getting/receiving it.
Dobiti means to get / to receive / to obtain. In the context of grades, Croatian normally uses dobiti ocjenu (to get a grade):
- dobiti dobru ocjenu – to get a good grade
- dobiti lošu ocjenu – to get a bad grade
So Na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu is the most natural way to say “On the exam I want to get a good grade.”
Dobiti is a perfective verb. It focuses on the result or completion of an action: getting something at least once.
For grades:
- dobiti (perfective) – to get (one-time, completed event)
- dobivati (imperfective) – to be getting (repeatedly, habitually)
In this sentence, you’re talking about a single exam and a single result, so the perfective dobiti fits:
- Na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu. – I want to (successfully) get a good grade (as a result of that exam).
If you talked about generally getting good grades over time, you’d use the imperfective:
- U školi želim dobivati dobre ocjene. – At school I want to keep getting good grades.
Yes, Croatian word order is quite flexible because grammar is carried by endings, not position.
These are all grammatically correct:
- Na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu.
- Želim dobiti dobru ocjenu na ispitu.
- Želim na ispitu dobiti dobru ocjenu.
The difference is mostly about emphasis and what comes first in the sentence:
- Starting with Na ispitu… highlights the exam as the setting.
- Starting with Želim… highlights your wish.
Neutral, everyday options are:
- Na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu.
- Želim dobiti dobru ocjenu na ispitu.
Very marked orders like Dobru ocjenu želim dobiti na ispitu sound emphatic, a bit like “A good grade is what I want to get on the exam.”
You do not have to say ja. The verb ending -im in želim already tells us the subject is I.
- Na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu. – completely natural
- Ja na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu. – also correct, but ja adds emphasis on I.
Using ja usually implies contrast or emphasis:
- Ja na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu, ali on ne brine.
I want to get a good grade on the exam, but he doesn’t care.
So in most neutral sentences, you just say Želim… without ja.
To sound more polite or formal, Croatian often uses the conditional of željeti:
For a male speaker:
- Na ispitu bih želio dobiti dobru ocjenu.
For a female speaker:
- Na ispitu bih željela dobiti dobru ocjenu.
Structure:
- bih – conditional auxiliary (for ja)
- želio / željela – past participle (masc / fem.) of željeti
- dobiti dobru ocjenu – to get a good grade
This is very close in tone to English “I would like to get a good grade on the exam.”
Both are used for assessments, but there are typical tendencies:
ispit
- more often used for bigger, formal exams
- university exams, final exams, driving test (the exam part)
- pisani ispit (written exam), usmeni ispit (oral exam)
test
- often used for shorter tests or school quizzes, but this overlaps a lot in real speech
- sometimes simply borrowed from English and used informally
In school context, both can appear, but:
- Na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu. – sounds like a more formal exam (e.g. school test, university exam).
Approximate pronunciation (using English-like hints):
želim → [zheh-leem]
- ž = like s in measure or vision
- stress usually on the first syllable: ŽE-lim
ocjenu → [o-tsyeh-noo]
- o = like o in or (shorter)
- cj = pronounced together, like ts
- y, resulting in tsye
- e = like e in get
- u = like oo in boot
- stress usually on the first syllable: O-cje-nu → O-tsye-nu
So the whole sentence roughly:
- Na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu.
→ [Na EE-spee-too ZHEH-leem DOH-bee-tee DOH-broo O-tsye-noo]
Ocjena is a feminine noun. Here are the most important singular forms:
- Nominative: ocjena – used for the subject
- Ocjena je dobra. – The grade is good.
- Genitive: ocjene – often “of the grade”
- Boja ocjene – the color of the grade (e.g. on paper)
- Dative: ocjeni – “to/for the grade” (less common with this word)
- Accusative: ocjenu – direct object
- Dobio sam dobru ocjenu. – I got a good grade.
- Locative: ocjeni – used with o, na, u in some meanings
- Razgovaramo o ocjeni. – We are talking about the grade.
- Instrumental: ocjenom – “with/by the grade”
- Zadovoljan sam ocjenom. – I am satisfied with the grade.
In the sentence Na ispitu želim dobiti dobru ocjenu, you see the accusative singular ocjenu because it is the object of dobiti.