Njegov rad je važan.

His work is important.

Breakdown of Njegov rad je važan.

• biti: to be
• njegov: his
• važan: important
• rad: work

Questions & Answers about Njegov rad je važan.

What kind of word is njegov, and what does it tell me grammatically?

Njegov is a possessive adjective (like his in English). Grammatically, it tells you:

• the possessor: a third‑person singular masculine or neuter (he / it)
• it agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it describes

Here it modifies rad (a masculine singular noun in the nominative), so njegov is also masculine singular nominative.

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Why is it njegov rad, and not something like rad njegov?

In normal, neutral Croatian word order, possessive adjectives and determiners come before the noun:

• njegov rad – his work
• moj prijatelj – my friend
• naš stan – our apartment

Forms like rad njegov are possible but sound more poetic, emphatic, or stylistically marked, not the everyday neutral form.

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What case is rad in, and why?

Rad is in the nominative singular.

Reason: the sentence is a simple equational sentence (X is Y). The noun rad is the subject:

• Njegov rad (his work) = subject
• je = is
• važan (important) = predicate adjective

In Croatian, the subject is in the nominative, just like the basic dictionary form.

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What exactly is je here?

Je is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb biti (to be):

• (On) je – he is
• (Ona) je – she is
• (Ono) je – it is

So Njegov rad je važan literally corresponds to His work is important.

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Can I drop je and just say Njegov rad važan?

In standard Croatian, in a simple sentence like this, you normally keep je.

Omitting je can happen in headlines, notes, or very informal, elliptical speech, but it sounds incomplete as a normal, full sentence. The correct neutral sentence is:

• Njegov rad je važan.

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Why is it važan and not važna or važno?

Adjectives in Croatian must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• rad is masculine singular nominative
• therefore važan is also masculine singular nominative

Other forms would be used if the noun were different:

• Njezin knjiga je važna. – Her book is important. (knjiga = feminine → važna)
• Njegovo pismo je važno. – His letter is important. (pismo = neuter → važno)
• Njegovi radovi su važni. – His works are important. (plural → važni)

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What does rad cover? Is it only “job”, or more general?

Rad is quite general and can mean:

• work in a broad sense (what someone does)
• a piece of written work: a paper, article, assignment
• labor, effort, sometimes in a more abstract or physical sense

So Njegov rad je važan could mean:

• his work in general is important
• his research paper / article / project is important

The exact nuance depends on context.

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Does njegov always refer to “his” (a male person)? Can it mean “its” as well?

Njegov refers to a 3rd person singular masculine or neuter possessor:

• he → his
• it (masculine or neuter in Croatian) → its

Context decides whether it means his or its:

• Njegov rad je važan. – His work is important. (if talking about a man)
• Njegov motor je pokvaren. – Its engine is broken. (if talking about a car – masculine noun)

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What is the difference between njegov and forms like njega, njemu, njim?

They belong to the same pronoun, but:

• njegov = possessive adjective (his/its)
  
  • njegov rad – his work
• njega, njemu, njim = different case forms of the personal pronoun on (he/it):
  
  • vidim njega – I see him (accusative)
  • pomažem njemu – I help him (dative)
  • s njim – with him/it (instrumental)

You use njegov only when it directly modifies a noun and means his/its.

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How would I say “Her work is important” or “Their work is important”?

Pattern stays the same, only the possessive changes:

• Njezin rad je važan. – Her work is important.
• Njihov rad je važan. – Their work is important.

All three:

• Njegov rad je važan. – his work
• Njezin rad je važan. – her work
• Njihov rad je važan. – their work

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What about “My work is important” and “Our work is important”?

Use the 1st‑person possessives:

• Moj rad je važan. – My work is important.
• Naš rad je važan. – Our work is important.

Again, moj / naš / njegov / njezin / njihov all agree in gender/number/case with rad (masc. sg. nom.), so they’re all in that same form.

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Can I change the word order, like Važan je njegov rad or Njegov je rad važan?

Yes. Croatian word order is flexible and often used for emphasis:

• Njegov rad je važan. – neutral, simple statement
• Važan je njegov rad. – emphasizes važan (the importance)
• Njegov je rad važan. – slight emphasis on njegov (his, as opposed to someone else’s)

All are grammatically correct; what changes is which part feels more highlighted.

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Why is there no word for a or the here? How do I know if it’s “a work” or “the work”?

Croatian has no articles like a/an or the.

• Njegov rad can mean his work, his piece of work, that work of his, depending on context.

You infer definiteness and specificity from context, word order, and what has already been mentioned, not from an explicit article.

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When would I use svoj instead of njegov in sentences like this?

Svoj is a reflexive possessive and is used when the possessor is the subject of the same clause:

• On cijeni svoj rad. – He values his (own) work.
• On cijeni njegov rad. – He values his work (i.e. another man’s work)

In Njegov rad je važan, there is no explicit subject, but implicitly we’re just describing the work itself. Svoj would not be used here; njegov is correct.