Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ta ideja mi zvuči dobro.

ova ideja – this idea (close to the speaker)
ta ideja – that idea (neutral or medium distance, often “the idea we’re talking about”)
ona ideja – that idea over there / that one (more distant, or more emphasized)

In everyday speech, ta ideja often simply means “that idea we’re talking about”, without a strong sense of physical distance. It’s the most commonly used neutral choice in many contexts.

Why is it ideja and not something else? What gender and case is it?

Ideja is a feminine noun, like many nouns ending in -a. In this sentence:

It is the grammatical subject.
The subject is in the nominative singular: (ta) ideja.

So:

ta – feminine nominative singular (agrees with ideja)
ideja – feminine nominative singular (subject)

What exactly does mi mean here? Why not ja?

Mi here is the unstressed dative pronoun for “to me”.

ja is the nominative form, used as a subject (“I”).
mi in this sentence is dative (“to me / for me”).

The structure is literally: That idea sounds good to me.

So:

Ta ideja – that idea (subject)
mi – to me (dative, indirect “experiencer”)
zvuči dobro – sounds good

You would not say “Ta ideja ja zvučim dobro”; that is grammatically wrong. The verb zvučati doesn’t take ja as subject here; the idea is the subject, you are the experiencer in dative.

Why is mi in the middle of the sentence and not at the beginning or end?

Mi is a clitic (unstressed short word) and must appear very early in the sentence, in what’s often called the “second position”. In practice:

It can’t normally start the sentence.
It usually comes right after the first stressed word or phrase.

So:

Ta ideja mi zvuči dobro. – perfectly normal
Ta mi ideja zvuči dobro. – also correct; here ta mi both follow the first position
Mi ta ideja zvuči dobro. – sounds wrong, because mi can’t stand first
Ta ideja zvuči mi dobro. – possible but less natural; clitics like mi prefer to be earlier

You’ll see this “second position” rule with other short forms too: se, ga, je, mu, im, ti, etc.

Why is it zvuči and not something like zvuči se or zvuča?

Zvuči is the 3rd person singular present tense of zvučati (“to sound”).

Full present tense of zvučati:

(ja) zvučim – I sound
(ti) zvučiš – you sound
(on/ona/ono) zvuči – he/she/it sounds
(mi) zvučimo
(vi) zvučite
(oni/one/ona) zvuče

Here, ideja = “it”, so we use on/ona/ono zvuči → zvuči.

You don’t add se with zvučati in this meaning. Zvučati on its own already means “to sound / to seem (by sound or description)”.

What’s the difference between zvučati and činiti se or izgledati?

All three can correspond to English “seem”, but they focus on different senses:

zvučati – to sound (literally or figuratively)
- Ta ideja mi zvuči dobro. – That idea sounds good (from how it’s described).
izgledati – to look / appear (visual impression)
- Ta ideja mi izgleda dobro. – That idea looks good (on paper / visually).
činiti se – to seem / appear (more general, often neutral)
- Ta ideja mi se čini dobra. – That idea seems good (generally).

All three can be figurative, but zvučati keeps a “sound / description” flavour, often used when you’ve only heard about something, not experienced it.

Why is it dobro and not dobra or dobar?

Here, dobro is functioning as an adverb (“well”) or a predicative neuter form (“good” in a general, impersonal way).

In English we say “That idea sounds good”, not “That idea is goodly”. Croatian uses dobro in this “sounds good / feels good / looks good” type of structure:

To zvuči dobro. – That sounds good.
To mi je dobro. – That is good (to me / it works for me).
To izgleda dobro. – That looks good.

You would use dobra if you were directly describing the idea as a quality:

Ta ideja je dobra. – That idea is good.
(Here dobra agrees with ideja, feminine singular.)

But with zvuči, Croatian prefers neuter dobro as the default complement.

Could I say “Ta ideja mi je dobra”? Does it mean the same?

Yes, Ta ideja mi je dobra is correct, but the nuance is slightly different:

Ta ideja mi zvuči dobro. – It sounds good to me (based on what I’ve heard / how it’s presented).
Ta ideja mi je dobra. – I actually consider the idea good (my evaluation, not just based on description).

In many situations they’ll overlap and both will be translated as “That idea sounds good to me”, but zvuči keeps a subtle sense of “from what I know so far”.

Can I leave out mi and just say “Ta ideja zvuči dobro”?

Yes. Ta ideja zvuči dobro. is perfectly correct and means “That idea sounds good.” (in general).

Adding mi adds a personal angle: “That idea sounds good to me.”

So:

Ta ideja zvuči dobro. – neutral, objective-sounding.
Ta ideja mi zvuči dobro. – explicitly your personal impression.

Can I say “Dobro mi zvuči ta ideja”? Is the word order flexible?

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, and that sentence is also correct.

Examples (all natural, with small changes in emphasis):

Ta ideja mi zvuči dobro. – neutral, straightforward.
Ta mi ideja zvuči dobro. – slight emphasis on ideja.
Dobro mi zvuči ta ideja. – emphasizes dobro (how good it sounds).
Meni ta ideja zvuči dobro. – stronger emphasis on meni (“to me it sounds good”).

The main constraint is where the clitic mi goes: it must be early (roughly second position), so Mi ta ideja zvuči dobro is wrong.

What’s the difference between mi and meni here? Could I say “Ta ideja meni zvuči dobro”?

Both mi and meni are dative forms of ja (“I”), but:

mi – clitic, unstressed, must go in second position.
meni – full, stressed form, freer word order, used for emphasis or contrast.

So:

Ta ideja mi zvuči dobro. – normal, everyday version.
Ta ideja meni zvuči dobro. – “To me that idea sounds good (maybe not to others).”

Both are correct; meni makes “me” more emphatic.

How would I say “Those ideas sound good to me” in Croatian?

You need plural agreement:

Te ideje mi zvuče dobro.

Breakdown:

te ideje – those ideas (feminine plural nominative)
mi – to me (dative clitic)
zvuče – 3rd person plural of zvučati
dobro – good (again in the neuter/adverb-like form)

So singular:

Ta ideja mi zvuči dobro.

Plural:

Te ideje mi zvuče dobro.

How would I put this sentence in the past or future?

Use the auxiliary biti (“to be”) with the past participle of zvučati (zvučao / zvučala) for the past, and će for the future.

Past – “That idea sounded good to me.”

For a woman speaking:
- Ta ideja mi je zvučala dobro.
For a man speaking:
- Ta ideja mi je zvučala dobro.
  (The participle agrees with the subject (ideja, feminine), not the speaker, so it’s zvučala in both cases.)

Future – “That idea will sound good to me.”

Ta ideja će mi zvučati dobro.

Here će (future clitic) also has to be early in the sentence, before mi.

Is this sentence formal or informal? Is it okay to use in conversation?

Ta ideja mi zvuči dobro. is neutral and perfectly natural in everyday speech. You can use it:

in casual conversations
in semi-formal and even many formal contexts (meetings, emails, presentations), e.g. when reacting to someone’s proposal

If you wanted to sound a bit more formal or written, you might also see:

Ta ideja mi se čini dobrom.
Ta mi se ideja čini dobrom.

But Ta ideja mi zvuči dobro. is common and appropriate in most situations.