Learn Hardcore Croatian: Iako je pravopis bitan, za razgovor je ipak važnije da te ljudi razumiju. - Although spelling is important, for conversation it is still more important that people understand you.

It introduces a contrast: Iako je pravopis bitan = Although spelling is important.
In practice it almost always comes at the beginning of the clause it introduces, followed by normal Croatian word order:
- Iako je pravopis bitan, …
- Iako su umorni, nastavit će raditi.

You don’t normally move iako around inside the clause the way English can move although.

Why is it je pravopis bitan and not pravopis je bitan or pravopis bitan je?

In this kind of short clause, several word orders are possible:

Pravopis je bitan. – most neutral declarative sentence: Spelling is important.
Je pravopis bitan is less natural as a full standalone sentence but is common after conjunctions like iako, especially in written style:
Iako je pravopis bitan, …
Pravopis bitan je is generally wrong in standard Croatian; clitic verbs like je almost never go at the very end.

So here the pattern is:

Iako + je + subject + predicate adjective

which is very typical: Iako je to istina, Iako je film dobar, etc.

What exactly does pravopis mean? Is it the same as “grammar”?

Pravopis literally means orthography / spelling rules – how words are written:

correct spelling
use of capital letters
hyphenation
writing together vs separately, etc.

It is not the same as gramatika (grammar). Gramatika is about sentence structure, verb forms, cases, etc., while pravopis is about writing correctly. In everyday speech people may blur the distinction, but technically they’re different.

Why is the adjective bitan and not something like važan? Are they different?

Both bitan and važan can mean important, and in this sentence you could say either:

Pravopis je bitan.
Pravopis je važan.

Nuance:

bitan – often feels a bit more “essential, fundamental”.
važan – very common, “important, significant”.

Here, there is no strong difference; it’s a stylistic choice.

Why is it za razgovor and what case is that?

Za is a preposition that usually takes the accusative case.

The base form is razgovor (conversation, speaking).
The accusative singular is also razgovor (same form for this noun).

So:

za + razgovor (accusative) → za razgovor = for conversation / for speaking.

You might compare:

za posao (for the job)
za učenje (for learning)
za rekreaciju (for recreation)

Why is it za razgovor je ipak važnije and not ipak je važnije za razgovor? Is the word order fixed?

The word order is not fixed; both are possible:

Za razgovor je ipak važnije… (what the sentence uses)
Ipak je važnije za razgovor…
Za razgovor ipak je važnije…

Differences are about emphasis and rhythm:

Putting za razgovor first makes “for conversation” the topic/frame:
As far as conversation is concerned, it is still more important that…
ipak (still / nevertheless) typically stands near the verb or the adjective it modifies, but can move a bit for style.

All these variants would be understood and acceptable in normal speech.

Why is the adjective važnije (neuter) and not važan or važnije je?

The core structure here is:

(Za razgovor) je važnije da te ljudi razumiju.
(For conversation) it is more important that people understand you.

In Croatian, when the complement is a whole clause (here: da te ljudi razumiju), the agreeing adjective is often neuter singular:

Važno je da… – It is important that…
Teško je reći… – It is hard to say…
Lako je naučiti… – It is easy to learn…

So:

važnije is the comparative of važno (important → more important).
It’s neuter because it refers to the idea / fact / situation expressed by the da‑clause, not to a specific masculine/feminine noun.

You could literally think: (To) je važnije – That is more important.

What does ipak add to the meaning?

Ipak means something like still / nevertheless / even so.

The pattern iako … ipak … is very common:

Iako je pravopis bitan, … – Although spelling is important,
ipak je važnije… – it is still more important…

It emphasizes that the second part (da te ljudi razumiju) wins in importance, even though the first part is also true.

Why is it da te ljudi razumiju and not just ljudi te razumiju?

The sentence is using a subordinate clause with da:

važno je da… – it is important that…
važnije je da te ljudi razumiju – it is more important that people understand you.

Da here is equivalent to English that introducing a content clause:

Želim da dođeš. – I want (you) to come / I want that you come.
Bitno je da te ljudi razumiju. – It’s important that people understand you.

You could make a separate main clause Ljudi te razumiju (People understand you), but then it would no longer depend on važnije je; it would be a completely separate statement.

Why is it te and not ti or tebe? What form of “you” is that?

Te here is the unstressed (clitic) accusative singular form of ti (you).

Basic forms:

Nominative (subject): ti – you
Accusative (object): tebe (stressed), te (unstressed clitic)

Compare:

Razumijem te. – I understand you. (clitic)
Razumijem tebe, ne njega. – I understand you, not him. (stressed tebe)

In da te ljudi razumiju:

ljudi = subject (people)
te = direct object (you)
razumiju = verb (understand)

So it literally means: that people understand you.

Why is the order da te ljudi razumiju and not da ljudi te razumiju or da ljudi razumiju te?

All of these are possible, but they have different emphasis and naturalness:

da te ljudi razumiju (most neutral here)
- clitic te comes early, before the full noun ljudi.
- This is very typical: clitics want to sit near the beginning of the clause.
da ljudi te razumiju
- possible in speech, but feels more marked; can emphasize ljudi (people) a bit.
- Still, clitics usually prefer an earlier position.
da ljudi razumiju te
- unusual; te at the end sounds stressed and contrastive, like you (and not someone else), so you would normally use tebe there if you really wanted that emphasis:
  da ljudi razumiju tebe (that people understand YOU).

The chosen word order, da te ljudi razumiju, is the most standard and neutral.

Why is ljudi (nominative) and not ljude (accusative)?

In da te ljudi razumiju:

ljudi is the subject of the verb razumiju → nominative plural: ljudi (people).
te is the object (you) → accusative clitic.

So the structure is:

[Subject: ljudi] [Verb: razumiju] [Object: te]

If you used ljude (accusative), it would mean (someone) understands the people, which is not the meaning here.

What tense and person is razumiju, and what is the infinitive of this verb?

Razumiju is:

Present tense
3rd person plural
of the verb razumjeti (to understand)

Partial conjugation (present):

ja razumijem
ti razumiješ
on/ona/ono razumije
mi razumijemo
vi razumijete
oni/one/ona razumiju

So da te ljudi razumiju = that people understand you (present, ongoing or general ability).

Could you give a very literal word‑for‑word breakdown of the whole sentence?

Yes. The sentence:

Iako je pravopis bitan, za razgovor je ipak važnije da te ljudi razumiju.

Very literal mapping:

Iako – although
je – is
pravopis – spelling / orthography
bitan – important
,
za – for
razgovor – conversation / speaking (accusative)
je – is
ipak – still / nevertheless
važnije – more-important (neuter comparative)
da – that
te – you (accusative clitic)
ljudi – people (subject, nominative plural)
razumiju – understand (3rd person plural, present)

So, in a very literal English-ish order:

Although spelling is important, for conversation it is still more-important that you people understand.

which we naturally smooth into normal English as:

Although spelling is important, for conversation it’s still more important that people understand you.