Njegova plava košulja je čista.

His blue shirt is clean.

Breakdown of Njegova plava košulja je čista.

• biti: to be
• njegov: his
• čist: clean
• plav: blue
• košulja: shirt

Questions & Answers about Njegova plava košulja je čista.

Why is it njegova and not njegov at the beginning of the sentence?

Because the possessive adjective njegova has to agree with the noun košulja in gender, number, and case.

• košulja = feminine, singular, nominative (it’s the subject)
• So njegov (“his”) must take the feminine singular nominative form: njegova

Basic nominative forms of njegov (“his”) are:

• Masculine noun: njegov (e.g. njegov kaput – his coat)
• Feminine noun: njegova (e.g. njegova košulja)
• Neuter noun: njegovo (e.g. njegovo dijete – his child)

Why do both njegova and plava end in -a?

Both njegova and plava are adjectives (one is possessive, one is descriptive) that modify the same noun košulja, so they must all agree with that noun:

• košulja = feminine, singular, nominative
• So:
  • njegov → njegova (fem. sg. nom.)
  • plav → plava (fem. sg. nom.)

This is called adjective agreement: all adjectives in a noun phrase match the noun’s gender, number, and case.

What case is njegova plava košulja in, and why?

It’s in the nominative singular feminine.

Reason: it’s the subject of the sentence, “His blue shirt”. In Croatian, the subject is in the nominative.

If you changed the function, you’d change the case and endings. For example, as a direct object (accusative):

• Vidim njegovu plavu košulju. – I see his blue shirt.
  
  • njegovu plavu košulju = feminine singular accusative
  • Endings change from -a (nom.) to -u (acc.).

What exactly is je, and do I have to use it?

je is the 3rd person singular form of the verb biti (“to be”):

• (on/ona/ono) je = “he/she/it is”

In this sentence:

• Njegova plava košulja – subject
• je – “is”
• čista – predicate adjective (“clean”)

In standard Croatian, you keep je in full sentences like this.
In fast, informal speech people sometimes drop it (especially in short statements), but that is not standard:

• Colloquial: Njegova plava košulja čista. (sounds clipped, conversational)
• Standard: Njegova plava košulja je čista. ✔️

Why is it čista and not čist or čisto?

Predicate adjectives in Croatian also agree with the subject in gender and number.

The subject is košulja (feminine singular), so:

• Masculine: čist (e.g. kaput je čist – the coat is clean)
• Feminine: čista (e.g. košulja je čista)
• Neuter: čisto (e.g. odijelo je čisto if the noun were neuter)

So čista is the feminine singular form agreeing with košulja.

Can I change the word order, for example to Njegova plava košulja čista je or Plava njegova košulja je čista?

Croatian word order is more flexible than English, but not every order is equally natural.

• Njegova plava košulja je čista. – neutral, natural. ✔️
• Njegova plava košulja čista je. – possible in speech, sounds a bit stylized or emphatic.
• Plava njegova košulja je čista. – unusual; could work with a strong emphasis, like “It’s his blue shirt that is clean,” but it’s not the neutral way to say it.

Typical neutral order for this kind of sentence is:

[subject phrase] + je + [predicate adjective]
Njegova plava košulja je čista.

Where should the possessive njegova go compared to the color adjective plava?

The usual order is:

possessive + descriptive adjective(s) + noun

So:

• njegova plava košulja – his blue shirt ✔️
• njegova nova plava košulja – his new blue shirt ✔️

Switching them (e.g. plava njegova košulja) is possible only with special emphasis and sounds marked; the normal, default order is njegova plava košulja.

How would I say “Her blue shirt is clean” and “My blue shirt is clean”?

You keep the same structure and just change the possessive adjective.

• Her blue shirt is clean.

  • Njezina / njena plava košulja je čista.
  • njezina (more formal/standard), njena (very common in speech).

• My blue shirt is clean.

  • Moja plava košulja je čista.

Other persons for reference:

• Your (sg.) blue shirt is clean. – Tvoja plava košulja je čista.
• Our blue shirt is clean. – Naša plava košulja je čista.
• Their blue shirt is clean. – Njihova plava košulja je čista.

How would the sentence change in the plural: “His blue shirts are clean”?

Everything that refers to košulje (“shirts”) becomes plural feminine, and the verb changes to plural too:

• Njegove plave košulje su čiste.
  
  • njegove – feminine plural nominative (possessive)
  • plave – feminine plural nominative (adjective)
  • košulje – feminine plural nominative (“shirts”)
  • su – “are” (3rd person plural of biti)
  • čiste – feminine plural nominative (“clean”)

What’s the difference between plava and plavi, and when do I use each?

Both come from the adjective plav (“blue”, sometimes “blond/fair” for hair).

In the nominative:

• plav – masculine singular (e.g. plav kaput – blue coat)
• plava – feminine singular (e.g. plava košulja – blue shirt)
• plavo – neuter singular (e.g. plavo more – blue sea)
• plavi – masculine plural (e.g. plavi kaputi – blue coats)

So:

• You use plava for feminine singular nouns like košulja.
• You use plavi mainly for masculine plural nouns: plavi zidovi (“blue walls”).

How do you pronounce njegova, košulja, and čista?

Approximate pronunciation:

• njegova – [nyé-go-va]

  • nj is one sound, like Spanish ñ in señor, or the ni in “onion”.
  • Stress usually on the first syllable: nje.

• košulja – [kó-shoo-lya]

  • š = English sh (as in “shoe”).
  • lj is a single sound, similar to the lli in British “million”.
  • Stress typically on kô.

• čista – [chís-ta]

  • č = “ch” in “church”.
  • Stress on čís.

Croatian spelling is very regular: each letter (or digraph like nj, lj, dž) usually corresponds to one sound.

Can plava also mean “blond” or “fair-haired”? Would that confuse this sentence?

Yes, plav / plava can describe:

• Color: blue (plava košulja – blue shirt)
• Hair: blond/fair-haired (plava djevojka – a blond girl)

In Njegova plava košulja je čista, there is no ambiguity:

• košulja is a shirt, an object, so plava must mean blue, not “blond”.

There is no word like “the” in the Croatian sentence. How do you know if it means “his blue shirt is clean” or “a blue shirt of his is clean”?

Croatian has no articles (“a/an”, “the”). The phrase njegova plava košulja can correspond to:

• “his blue shirt”
• “the blue shirt of his”
• “a blue shirt of his”

Which English version you choose depends on context, not on a specific Croatian word.

Croatian expresses definiteness mostly by word order, context, and sometimes demonstratives (e.g. ta njegova plava košulja – “that blue shirt of his”). But in this standalone sentence, “His blue shirt is clean” is the natural English rendering.

What’s the difference between Njegova plava košulja je čista and Košulja je njegova?

They focus on different things:

• Njegova plava košulja je čista.

  • Subject: His blue shirt
  • Information: that particular shirt is clean.
  • Possession is part of the description of the subject.

• Košulja je njegova. = “The shirt is his.”

  • Subject: Košulja (the shirt)
  • Predicate: njegova (his)
  • Focus: who it belongs to, not whether it’s blue or clean.

You could combine ideas, for example:

• Ta plava košulja je njegova. – That blue shirt is his.

Could I use svoja instead of njegova here, like Svoja plava košulja je čista?

No, not in this sentence.

svoj / svoja / svoje is a reflexive possessive: it refers back to the grammatical subject of the sentence.

In Njegova plava košulja je čista, the subject is njegova plava košulja (the shirt), not the person who owns it. So the possessor (him) is not the subject; therefore svoja would be ungrammatical here.

Correct use of svoj:

• On je oprao svoju plavu košulju. – He washed his (own) blue shirt.
  
  • Subject: On (he)
  • svoju refers back to on.

In your original sentence, keep njegova:

• Njegova plava košulja je čista. ✔️