Breakdown of On sada pravilno govori hrvatski.
Questions & Answers about On sada pravilno govori hrvatski.
Croatian word order is much freer than English. The basic neutral order is Subject – Verb – Object, but adverbs can move around more freely, and the object often goes towards the end.
- On – subject: he
- govori – verb: speaks
- hrvatski – object (the language)
- sada, pravilno – adverbs: now, correctly
Placing hrvatski at the end sounds natural and neutral:
- On sada pravilno govori hrvatski.
If you said:
- On sada pravilno hrvatski govori. – grammatically possible, but it sounds unusual and marked.
- On sada govori hrvatski pravilno. – also possible, but puts extra emphasis on pravilno.
So, the given sentence follows a common, natural pattern: adverbs before the verb, object at the end.
Yes, absolutely. In fact, native speakers often drop subject pronouns when the subject is clear from context.
- On sada pravilno govori hrvatski. – He now correctly speaks Croatian.
- Sada pravilno govori hrvatski. – Now (he/she) correctly speaks Croatian.
Because govori is 3rd person singular, we already know the subject is he/she/it. Context usually tells you who exactly. Using on just makes it explicit or adds emphasis to he.
They both mean now, but:
- sada – more neutral, a bit more formal or careful; works everywhere (speech, writing).
- sad – more colloquial, very common in everyday speech.
You could say:
- On sada pravilno govori hrvatski. – neutral / standard.
- On sad pravilno govori hrvatski. – very natural in spoken language.
Grammatically, they function the same way.
Both are correct, but they are not identical in meaning:
- pravilno = correctly, according to rules (grammar, pronunciation, usage).
- dobro = well, generally good (fluently, nicely, efficiently).
So:
On sada pravilno govori hrvatski.
→ He now speaks Croatian correctly, i.e., with correct grammar, forms, etc.On sada dobro govori hrvatski.
→ He now speaks Croatian well, i.e., overall good command of the language (fluency, vocabulary, etc.).
You could also combine them:
- On sada dobro i pravilno govori hrvatski.
→ He now speaks Croatian both well and correctly.
The order is not strictly fixed, but some positions sound more natural.
Very natural:
- On sada pravilno govori hrvatski.
- On sada govori hrvatski pravilno. (slight emphasis on pravilno)
- Sada on pravilno govori hrvatski. (emphasis on on = “now he…”)
Less natural / marked:
- On pravilno sada govori hrvatski. (not wrong, but unusual)
What you should remember:
- Adverbs like sada, pravilno, dobro most often come before the verb in neutral sentences:
- On sada govori…
- On pravilno govori…
But Croatian is flexible because stress and intonation also mark emphasis, not just position.
Hrvatski is originally an adjective: Croatian. But in this context it’s used as a short form for the language name:
- hrvatski jezik = Croatian language
- hrvatski (alone) = Croatian (the language), by ellipsis
This is very common:
- Govorim hrvatski / engleski / njemački.
→ I speak Croatian / English / German.
Formally, hrvatski is the accusative singular masculine form of the adjective, agreeing with the omitted noun jezik (which is masculine).
Croatian does not use biti (to be) to form the present continuous like English does.
English:
- He speaks Croatian.
- He is speaking Croatian (right now).
Croatian uses the same present tense (simple form) for both ideas. Context decides whether it’s:
- a general ability / habit (He knows/speaks Croatian)
- something happening right now (He’s speaking Croatian at this moment)
So:
- On govori hrvatski.
→ can mean He speaks Croatian (in general) or He is speaking Croatian (now), depending on context.
You never say:
- ✗ On je govori hrvatski. – incorrect.
Not really, or at least not in standard, natural usage.
- govoriti = to speak, to talk (a language or in general)
- pričati = to tell, to narrate, to chat
For languages, you normally use govoriti:
- Govorim hrvatski, engleski i francuski. – I speak Croatian, English and French.
Pričati hrvatski might appear colloquially, but it sounds off or joking. Use govoriti for “to speak a language.”
The meaning is the same, but the emphasis shifts.
On sada pravilno govori hrvatski.
→ Neutral emphasis. Just a statement: He now speaks Croatian correctly.Sada on pravilno govori hrvatski.
→ Emphasis on on: “Now he speaks Croatian correctly (as opposed to someone else, or as opposed to before).”
Moving on after sada gives it a contrastive feel: now he, not someone else / not earlier.
Hrvatski is pronounced approximately as: [HR-vats-kee].
Breakdown:
- h – like English h in hat
- r – rolled or tapped r
- v – like English v
- a – like a in father
- ts – the c in Croatian is pronounced ts
- ki – kee
Syllables: hr-vat-ski
The tricky part is hrv at the start – Croatian often has clusters without vowels. Aim for something like an English hr cluster but shorter and crisper: hr-vat-ski.
Because of case and gender/number agreement.
We really have:
hrvatski (jezik) – Croatian (language)
- jezik is masculine, singular, accusative (it’s the direct object of govori).
- The adjective hrvatski must agree with jezik:
- masculine
- singular
- accusative
For masculine singular, nominative and accusative look the same: hrvatski.
Other cases would give you different endings:
- Govorim o hrvatskom jeziku. – I speak about the Croatian language. (hrvatskom – locative)
- S hrvatskim jezikom je teško. – It’s hard with the Croatian language. (hrvatskim – instrumental)
Here, since it’s just the direct object of govori, it stays hrvatski.
By itself, it simply states a present situation:
- On sada pravilno govori hrvatski.
→ Right now / these days / at this point in time, he speaks Croatian correctly.
It often implies change, especially in context:
- Maybe before he made many mistakes, but now he speaks correctly.
If you wanted to stress the change more explicitly, you could add:
- Sada napokon pravilno govori hrvatski. – Now he finally speaks Croatian correctly.
- Sada već pravilno govori hrvatski. – By now he already speaks Croatian correctly.
You can, and it’s grammatical, but it slightly changes the rhythm and emphasis:
On sada pravilno govori hrvatski.
→ Neutral; focus on the fact that his speaking is correct.On sada govori pravilno hrvatski.
→ Puts a bit more emphasis on pravilno hrvatski as a block (he speaks proper Croatian).
Both are acceptable; in everyday speech, the first version (adverb just before the verb) is probably more common.
By default, govoriti means to speak (or sometimes to talk). So the natural interpretation is:
- On sada pravilno govori hrvatski.
→ He now speaks Croatian correctly.
It doesn’t normally include reading or writing unless the broader context makes it clear you’re talking about overall language skill. For read and write you’d use:
- čitati hrvatski – to read Croatian
- pisati hrvatski – to write in Croatian
So don’t rely on govoriti to include reading/writing; it focuses on speaking.