Learn Hardcore Croatian: Učitelj kaže da je važnije biti uporan nego potpuno točan, jer se i izvorni govornici ponekad zbune. - The teacher says that it is more important to be persistent than completely correct, because even native speakers sometimes get confused.

In Croatian, when we talk about something general like „it is important to…“, the adjective often appears in neuter singular, because the subject is either:

An infinitive clause (here: biti uporan)
Or an implied neutral „to“ (that/it)

So:

Važno je učiti. – It is important to study. (neuter važno)
Važnije je biti uporan nego… – It is more important to be persistent than…

„Važniji“ would be the masculine form, used with a masculine noun:

Ovaj zadatak je važniji. – This task is more important.

Why is it „biti uporan“ (infinitive) instead of a conjugated verb like „da si uporan“?

Croatian often uses an infinitive after adjectives like važno, lako, teško, moguće, nemoguće, etc., to express “to do something”:

Važno je učiti. – It is important to study.
Teško je objasniti. – It is hard to explain.

So here:

važno je / važnije je biti uporan
= it is important / more important to be persistent

You could say „da budeš uporan“, but that changes the structure and meaning slightly, making it more personal and specific:

Važnije je da budeš uporan. – It’s more important that you be persistent.

The original is more general and neutral: “to be persistent (in general)”.

What is the difference between „uporan“ and „uporni“, and why is „uporan“ used here?

Both are forms of the adjective „uporan“ (persistent), but they have different uses:

uporan – masculine singular nominative
uporni – masculine plural nominative (or masc. sg. definite in some contexts)

After „biti“ when we describe a person in the singular, we use the singular form:

(on) je uporan. – He is persistent.
biti uporan – to be persistent.

If we were talking about many people:

(oni) su uporni. – They are persistent.
biti uporni – to be persistent (plural).

In the sentence, we talk about being persistent in general, as a quality of a person, so „biti uporan“ is correct.

Why is „nego“ used for “than” instead of „od“?

Croatian has two common ways to say “than” in comparisons:

od + genitive
- On je važniji od mene. – He is more important than me.
nego
- Važnije je biti uporan nego potpuno točan.
  – It is more important to be persistent than completely correct.

Rough guideline:

od is more typical when you compare nouns/pronouns directly.
nego is more typical when you compare phrases, clauses, or adjectives/adverbs.

Here we compare two actions/qualities:

biti uporan vs. biti potpuno točan (understood),
so „nego“ is natural.

What does „potpuno“ mean, and why is it before „točan“?

„Potpuno“ is an adverb meaning “completely / totally”.

Word order:

potpuno točan – completely correct

In Croatian, adverbs that modify adjectives usually come before the adjective, like in English:

jako važan – very important
potpuno siguran – completely sure

So „potpuno točan“ literally means “completely correct”.

Why is there a comma before „jer“ in „…, jer se i izvorni govornici…“?

„Jer“ is a conjunction meaning “because”.

In Croatian, a comma is normally used before „jer“ when it introduces a clause explaining a reason:

Ne idem van, jer pada kiša. – I’m not going out because it’s raining.
…važnije biti uporan nego potpuno točan, jer se i izvorni govornici ponekad zbune.

So the comma separates:

the main clause: Učitelj kaže da je važnije…
the reason clause: jer se i izvorni govornici ponekad zbune.

How does word order work in „jer se i izvorni govornici ponekad zbune“? Why is „se“ there?

Several things are happening here:

„zbune se“ is the verb „zbuniti se“ – “to get confused” (reflexive).
The reflexive part is „se“.
Croatian clitics (like se, je, sam, su, mi, ti, ga, ih) usually go in the second position in a clause, after the first stressed word.

In this clause:

jer – first word (conjunction)
So the clitic se comes immediately after: jer se …

Full structure:

jer se i izvorni govornici ponekad zbune
- jer – because
- se – reflexive clitic
- i izvorni govornici – even native speakers
- ponekad – sometimes
- zbune – get confused (3rd person plural)

In more neutral order (without clitic rules) it would look like “because even native speakers sometimes get confused themselves”, but Croatian must place „se“ early due to clitic positioning rules.

What does „i“ mean in „i izvorni govornici“? Is it “and” or “also/even”?

„I“ usually means “and”, but before a noun or pronoun it often means “also / even”.

Here:

i izvorni govornici
= even native speakers / native speakers too

So the nuance is:

…because even native speakers sometimes get confused.

If you wanted to say simply “and native speakers” as an addition, context would be different. In this sentence, „i“ clearly adds the meaning “even, too”.

What verb form is „zbune“ and what does „zbuniti se“ mean exactly?

„Zbune“ is:

3rd person plural
present tense
of the perfective verb „zbuniti se“ (to get confused).

„Zbuniti se“ literally = to become confused / to get confused.

So:

oni se zbune – they get confused
ponekad se zbune – they sometimes get confused

Even though it’s perfective, in context like “ponekad se zbune”, it describes something that sometimes happens, similar to English simple present: “sometimes get confused”.

Could we also say „zbunjuju se“ instead of „zbune se“? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say „zbunjuju se“, from the imperfective verb „zbunjivati se“.

Difference:

zbune se (zbuniti se, perfective) – focuses on the event, the moment of getting confused.
zbunjuju se (zbunjivati se, imperfective) – focuses more on ongoing / repeated behavior.

In this kind of general statement with „ponekad“, both are possible:

…jer se i izvorni govornici ponekad zbune. – they sometimes (end up) getting confused.
…jer se i izvorni govornici ponekad zbunjuju. – they sometimes (tend to) be confused / get confused.

The original „zbune“ sounds a bit sharper: they do get confused (at times).

Why is „govornici“ plural, and why is there no word for “the” in „izvorni govornici“?

Croatian has no articles (“a / an / the”), so „izvorni govornici“ can mean:

native speakers
the native speakers
depending on context.

Plural is used because we talk about native speakers in general, as a group:

izvorni govornik – a native speaker (singular)
izvorni govornici – native speakers (plural)

English also usually uses plural in this type of general statement:

“even native speakers sometimes get confused”

Could we move „se“ later and say „jer i izvorni govornici se ponekad zbune“?

You might hear that word order, but it sounds less standard and less natural because clitics like „se“ prefer the second position in the clause.

Standard, natural order:

jer se i izvorni govornici ponekad zbune.

Alternative orders with clitic later (like „govornici se ponekad“) are usually marked, used for emphasis or in colloquial speech. In careful, neutral standard Croatian, keep „se“ immediately after the first stressed word (jer here).

What is the difference between „kaže“ and „govori“? Could we say „Učitelj govori da je…“?

Both are related to speaking, but:

reći / kazati (here kaže) – to say, to state something specific.
govoriti – to speak / talk, more about ongoing speech or language ability.

In this sentence, we refer to a specific statement:

Učitelj kaže da je važnije… – The teacher says that it is more important…

You could say „Učitelj govori da je važnije…“, and it wouldn’t be wrong, but it can sound more like “The teacher keeps saying / talks about how it is more important…”.

So „kaže“ is the most natural choice for a single piece of advice or statement.

Why is it „izvorni govornici“ and not something like „materinski govornici“?

In Croatian, the usual phrase for “native speaker” is:

izvorni govornik (plural izvorni govornici)

Literally: “original speaker / speaker from the source”.

While „materinski jezik“ means “mother tongue”, the expression for “native speaker” is not built with materinski but with izvorni.

So:

materinski jezik – mother tongue / native language
izvorni govornik – native speaker of that language