On želi putovati u inozemstvo.

He wants to travel abroad.

Breakdown of On želi putovati u inozemstvo.

• on: he
• putovati: to travel
• željeti: to want
• u inozemstvo: abroad

Questions & Answers about On želi putovati u inozemstvo.

Can I leave out On, or is it required?

In Croatian you can omit subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.

• On želi putovati u inozemstvo. = Želi putovati u inozemstvo.
  Both mean He wants to travel abroad.

Including On usually adds a bit of emphasis or contrast, e.g. “He (as opposed to someone else) wants to travel abroad.” In a neutral context, it’s very natural just to say Želi putovati u inozemstvo.

What exactly does želi mean, and how is it conjugated?

Želi is the 3rd person singular present tense of željeti (to want, to wish).

Present conjugation of željeti:

• ja želim – I want
• ti želiš – you (singular, informal) want
• on/ona/ono želi – he/she/it wants
• mi želimo – we want
• vi želite – you (plural or formal) want
• oni/one/ona žele – they want

So in the sentence, želi agrees with On (he).

Why is putovati in the infinitive and not conjugated like putuje?

After verbs of wanting, liking, being able, needing, etc., Croatian uses the infinitive, not a conjugated verb.

Pattern: željeti + infinitive

• On želi putovati. – He wants to travel.
• Ona želi spavati. – She wants to sleep.
• Želimo jesti. – We want to eat.

If you conjugate putovati (on putuje), you get a different meaning and structure, e.g.:

• On putuje u inozemstvo. – He is travelling to/He travels to abroad.

That describes the action itself, not the desire to do it.

Why do we use u here? Could it be na or another preposition?

U is the normal preposition for going into / to a place or area.

• ići u školu – to go to school
• putovati u Hrvatsku – to travel to Croatia
• putovati u inozemstvo – to travel abroad

Na is used with some specific nouns (e.g. na more – to the seaside, na posao – to work, na koncert – to a concert), but for inozemstvo, the natural, standard choice is u.

Why is it u inozemstvo and not u inozemstvu?

Because u takes different cases depending on meaning:

• u + accusative = direction, motion to somewhere
• u + locative = location, being in somewhere

Inozemstvo is accusative singular neuter here, so u inozemstvo means to abroad / to foreign countries.

If you say:

• On živi u inozemstvu. – He lives abroad.

Here inozemstvu is locative singular, and the meaning is in abroad / abroad (location, no movement).

Why isn’t there an article like “the” or “a” before inozemstvo?

Croatian has no articles (no direct equivalent of English a/an or the), so you never add an article:

• On želi putovati u inozemstvo. – He wants to travel (to) abroad.
• On živi u inozemstvu. – He lives abroad.

Whether English uses a, the, or no article at all is handled in Croatian by context, not by separate words.

What does inozemstvo literally mean? Is it like “a foreign country”?

Inozemstvo is a noun meaning foreign countries taken together, abroad. It’s more like abroad than a foreign country.

• u inozemstvo – (to) abroad
• iz inozemstva – (from) abroad

If you want to say a foreign country, you’d typically use something like:

• strana zemlja – a foreign country
• u stranu zemlju – to a foreign country

Could I say On hoće putovati u inozemstvo instead of On želi…? What’s the difference?

You can say On hoće putovati u inozemstvo, but there is a nuance:

• želi – more neutral, polite: wants, would like
• hoće – can sound stronger, more willful or demanding: is determined to / insists on / is going to

In everyday speech, hoće is used a lot, but želi is often more polite or “softer” and is very common in standard language.

What’s the difference between putovati and something like otputovati?

Aspect:

• putovati – imperfective: to travel (ongoing, repeated, general action)
• otputovati – perfective: to set off / to leave (on a trip), to complete the act of departing

So:

• On želi putovati u inozemstvo. – He wants to travel abroad (in general, to be travelling there).
• On želi otputovati u inozemstvo. – He wants to (finally) leave for abroad, to set off.

In your sentence, putovati matches the English idea of to travel well.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say On želi u inozemstvo putovati?

Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but the neutral, most common order here is:

• On želi putovati u inozemstvo.

You can say On želi u inozemstvo putovati, but it sounds marked, with extra emphasis on u inozemstvo (as the destination) or on putovati in a stylistic way. Learners should stick to the neutral order until they feel comfortable with Croatian word order and emphasis.

How would this sentence change if the subject was “she” or “they”?

Only the pronoun (and sometimes other agreeing words) change; the verb želi stays in 3rd person singular/plural as needed, and the infinitive putovati doesn’t change at all.

• Ona želi putovati u inozemstvo. – She wants to travel abroad.
• Oni žele putovati u inozemstvo. – They (masc./mixed) want to travel abroad.
• One žele putovati u inozemstvo. – They (fem.) want to travel abroad.

Note how želi → žele in the plural forms.

How do I make this sentence negative?

You add ne in front of the conjugated verb (želi):

• On ne želi putovati u inozemstvo. – He doesn’t want to travel abroad.

The ne always comes directly before the conjugated verb, not before the infinitive:

• ✅ ne želi putovati
• ❌ želi ne putovati (this is wrong in standard Croatian)

Is there any difference between saying On želi putovati u inozemstvo and just Želi putovati u inozemstvo?

Grammatically, both are correct and mean the same thing: He wants to travel abroad.

• Želi putovati u inozemstvo. – Completely natural if it’s clear from context who you’re talking about.
• On želi putovati u inozemstvo. – Adds slight emphasis or clarity that it is he in particular.

Because Croatian verbs encode person and number, starting a sentence without the subject pronoun is very common.