Learn Hardcore Croatian: Za njih je tvoj naglasak potpuno prirodan, iako zvuči drugačije od njihovog. - For them your accent is completely natural, although it sounds different from theirs.

Za njih je tvoj naglasak potpuno prirodan…
Literally: For them, your accent is completely natural…
Putting za njih first emphasizes their perspective. It’s like saying: As far as they’re concerned…
Tvoj naglasak je za njih potpuno prirodan…
This is more neutral and can sound like you’re talking about your accent first, and only then adding for them.

Croatian word order is relatively flexible, so speakers move parts around to highlight what they want to emphasize. Starting with Za njih is very natural here, because the sentence is about how they perceive your accent.

Why is it za njih and not something like za oni or za one?

Because the preposition za always takes the accusative case in this meaning (for someone):

Nominative (dictionary form): oni (they)
Accusative (after za): za njih (for them)

So:

za njih = for them (correct)
za oni = incorrect
za one would mean for those (people/things), but that uses a different word (oni/one as demonstrative those), not the pronoun they.

So whenever you use za in the sense of for someone, you’ll use the accusative, e.g.:

za mene, za tebe, za njega, za nju, za nas, za vas, za njih

Why is je in the middle: Za njih je tvoj naglasak…? Could it be somewhere else?

Je is a clitic (an unstressed short word) and Croatian clitics follow fairly strict placement rules.

Basic idea: In most statements, the first stressed word or phrase in the clause comes first, and then clitics like je come immediately after it.

First stressed phrase: Za njih
Then the clitic: je
Then the rest: tvoj naglasak potpuno prirodan

The most natural positions here are:

Za njih je tvoj naglasak potpuno prirodan… ✔️
Tvoj naglasak je za njih potpuno prirodan… ✔️ (if you change the word order)

But you cannot normally put je at the very beginning:

Je za njih tvoj naglasak… ❌ (ungrammatical)

So the position of je is determined by clitic rules, not by “freedom” of word order.

Why is it tvoj naglasak and not tvoje naglasak?

The possessive adjective must agree with the noun’s gender, number and case.

naglasak (accent) is masculine, singular, nominative.
The masculine nominative form of your (informal singular) is tvoj.

So:

tvoj naglasak = your accent (masculine noun)
tvoja knjiga = your book (feminine)
tvoje pitanje = your question (neuter)

Tvoje naglasak is wrong because tvoje is the neuter or feminine plural form, and it doesn’t match the masculine noun naglasak.

What is the difference between prirodan and prirodno? Why is it potpuno prirodan, not potpuno prirodno?

In this sentence, prirodan is an adjective that agrees with naglasak:

naglasak – masculine singular
prirodan – masculine singular form of natural

The pattern:

Masculine: prirodan
Feminine: prirodna
Neuter: prirodno

So:

Tvoj naglasak je prirodan.
Tvoja priča je prirodna. (your story is natural)
Tvoje ponašanje je prirodno. (your behavior is natural)

Here, because the subject is naglasak (masculine), the predicate adjective must also be masculine:

Tvoj naglasak je potpuno prirodan. ✔️
Tvoj naglasak je potpuno prirodno. ❌ (wrong agreement)

What does iako mean exactly? Is it like “although” or “even though”? Can I use ako here?

Iako means although / even though and introduces a contrast:

…je potpuno prirodan, iako zvuči drugačije…
= …is completely natural, even though it sounds different…

You cannot replace iako with ako here:

ako = if (conditional)
iako = although / even though (concessive)

So:

Ako zvuči drugačije… = If it sounds different… (conditional, hypothetical)
Iako zvuči drugačije… = Although it sounds different… (it does, but still…)

In this sentence, we are not talking about a condition; we’re contrasting natural vs. different-sounding, so iako is the correct choice.

Why is there no subject in iako zvuči drugačije? Who or what is “sounding different”?

The subject tvoj naglasak is understood from the previous clause and doesn’t need to be repeated.

Full, very explicit version would be:

Za njih je tvoj naglasak potpuno prirodan, iako (tvoj naglasak) zvuči drugačije…

But repeating tvoj naglasak is unnecessary and sounds heavy. In Croatian (like in many languages), once the subject is clear, you usually omit it in the following clause and just use the verb:

…iako zvuči drugačije…
= even though (it) sounds different…
where it = tvoj naglasak

Why is it drugačije and not drugačan or drugačiji?

Drugačije is an adverb meaning differently. It modifies the verb zvuči (sounds).

zvuči drugačije = sounds differently / sounds different

If you used drugačan / drugačiji, those are adjectives, which describe a noun, not a verb. That would fit something like:

To je drugačan naglasak. = That is a different accent.

Here we’re talking about how it sounds, so we need an adverb:

zvuči drugačije ✔️
zvuči drugačan ❌ (wrong kind of word; doesn’t fit the verb)

What exactly does njihovog refer to at the end? Why is there no noun after it?

Njihovog is the genitive singular masculine form of the possessive adjective njihov (their).

The full phrase would be:

…iako zvuči drugačije od njihovog naglaska.
= …even though it sounds different from their accent.

But in Croatian, if the noun is clear from context, you can drop it and just leave the possessive:

od njihovog (naglaska) = from theirs (accent)

This is similar to English using yours / theirs without a noun:

Your accent is natural, even though it sounds different from theirs.

So njihovog here really means njihovog naglaska (their accent), but naglasak is omitted.

Why is njihovog in that form? Why not just njihov or njihove?

Because the preposition od (from / of) requires the genitive case.

We’re comparing:

drugačije od njihovog (naglaska) = different from their (accent)

Naglasak is masculine singular, so in genitive singular masculine we get:

njihov → njihovog (genitive masculine singular)

If the noun were feminine or neuter, the form would change:

od njezine knjige (from her book – feminine)
od njihovog auta (from their car – masculine)
od njihovog sela (from their village – neuter, but same form here)

So the form njihovog is dictated by:

the preposition od → genitive case
the (understood) noun naglasak → masculine singular

Is the comma before iako obligatory in this sentence?

Yes, in standard Croatian a comma is normally used before subordinating conjunctions like iako, jer, da, kad when they introduce a dependent clause.

So:

Za njih je tvoj naglasak potpuno prirodan, iako zvuči drugačije od njihovog. ✔️

Without the comma it’s not a catastrophic error in very informal writing, but it’s considered incorrect in standard written Croatian.