Learn Hardcore Croatian: Stariji građanin misli da se država mijenja presporo. - An older male citizen thinks that the state is changing too slowly.

stari građanin = an old citizen (just describing age; can sound a bit blunt or neutral-to-negative, depending on context).
stariji građanin = an older / elderly citizen.

stariji is the comparative form of star (old), literally “older”. In practice, stariji građanin is very often used in a polite or neutral way to mean an elderly person, similar to English “a senior citizen” or “an older person”, not necessarily in direct comparison to someone else.

So here stariji sounds more respectful and less harsh than stari.

What gender and number is građanin, and how would I say “elderly female citizen” or “elderly citizens”?

građanin is:

masculine
singular
nominative case in this sentence.

Related forms:

Feminine singular: građanka
- “elderly female citizen” = starija građanka
Masculine plural: građani
- “elderly citizens” (mixed or all male) = stariji građani
Feminine plural: građanke
- “elderly female citizens” = starije građanke

Note how the adjective changes to agree with gender and number:

stariji građanin (m. sg.)
starija građanka (f. sg.)
stariji građani (m. pl.)
starije građanke (f. pl.)

Why is stariji građanin in the nominative case?

Stariji građanin is the subject of the main clause, so it must be in the nominative case:

Stariji građanin (who?) misli (what?) …

In Croatian, the subject normally stands in the nominative, just as in English we say he thinks, not him thinks. So this is the “dictionary form” of the noun and adjective, used because the phrase is the doer of the action misli (“thinks”).

What verb form is misli, and what infinitive does it come from?

Misli is:

Present tense
3rd person singular
From the infinitive misliti (“to think”).

Present tense forms of misliti (imperfective):

(ja) mislim – I think
(ti) misliš – you think
(on/ona/ono) misli – he/she/it thinks
(mi) mislimo – we think
(vi) mislite – you (pl./formal) think
(oni/one/ona) misle – they think

So in the sentence, (on) misli = “he thinks / the citizen thinks”.

What is the difference between misliti da and misliti o?

They introduce different kinds of complements:

misliti da + clause
- Means “to think that …” (to have an opinion/belief about a statement).
- Example:
  - Mislim da je istina. = I think that it’s true.
In the sentence, misli da se država mijenja presporo = “he thinks that the state is changing too slowly.”
misliti o + locative noun
- Means “to think about (something/someone)” (to have in mind, to consider, reflect on).
- Example:
  - Što misliš o državi? = What do you think about the state?

So:

misliti da … → introduces a full clause, a statement.
misliti o nečemu → “to think about something” as a topic.

What is the role of da in misli da se država mijenja presporo?

Here da is a conjunction meaning that, introducing a subordinate clause:

Main clause: Stariji građanin misli
Subordinate clause introduced by da: da se država mijenja presporo

Together: “The elderly citizen thinks that the state is changing too slowly.”

This da is very common and works much like English that after verbs of thinking, saying, believing, etc.:

Kaže da dolazi. = He says that he is coming.
Vjerujem da je to istina. = I believe that it’s true.

Why is se used in da se država mijenja? Could we just say da država mijenja presporo?

se is a reflexive pronoun used here to form the reflexive verb mijenjati se = “to change” (intransitive, to undergo change).

mijenjati se = to change (by itself, to be in a process of change)
mijenjati (nešto) = to change something (transitive, to alter something else)

In the sentence:

država se mijenja = the state is changing (itself / its condition).

If you said da država mijenja presporo, it would be incomplete and wrong, because mijenjati (without se) needs a direct object:

Država mijenja zakon. = The state is changing the law.

So you need se here to make it intransitive: da se država mijenja = “that the state is changing.”

Why is država also in the nominative case inside the da-clause?

Inside the da-clause (da se država mijenja presporo), država is the subject of the verb mijenja:

(tko/što?) država – (što radi?) se mijenja.

Subjects in Croatian are nominative in every clause, even subordinate ones. So:

Main clause subject: stariji građanin (nominative) → misli
Subordinate clause subject: država (nominative) → (se) mijenja

Each clause has its own subject–verb relationship, and both subjects appear in nominative.

What tense/aspect is mijenja, and how would you express other time meanings like “has changed too slowly” or “will change too slowly”?

mijenja is:

Present tense
3rd person singular
From mijenjati se (imperfective aspect).

Imperfective aspect focuses on an ongoing, repeated, or general process: “is changing / changes.”

To express other time frames:

has been changing too slowly / has changed too slowly (over time)
You’d typically still use the present of the imperfective verb and context:
- Država se već dugo mijenja presporo.
  = The state has been changing too slowly for a long time.
changed (completed change) too slowly
You’d normally use the perfect of the perfective verb promijeniti se:
- Država se promijenila presporo.
  = The state changed too slowly (completed, looking back).
will change too slowly
Future tense, usually with perfective or imperfective depending on nuance:
- Država će se mijenjati presporo. = The state will be changing too slowly (process).
- Država će se promijeniti presporo. = The state will change too slowly (as a completed change).

Aspect choice (imperfective mijenjati se vs perfective promijeniti se) changes whether you emphasize ongoing process or completed change.

What exactly does presporo mean, and how is it formed from sporo?

sporo = slowly
presporo = too slowly / excessively slowly.

The prefix pre- in Croatian often has the meaning “too / overly / excessively” when attached to adjectives and adverbs:

toplo → pretoplo = too warm
skup → preskup = too expensive
brzo → prebrzo = too quickly

So:

sporo (adverb) = slowly
presporo (adverb) = too slowly, slower than desirable.

Here presporo modifies the verb mijenja: država se mijenja presporo = “the state is changing too slowly.”

Can we change the word order in the second part, like da se država presporo mijenja or da država se mijenja presporo?

Word order is somewhat flexible, but clitics (like se) must obey special rules.

da se država mijenja presporo – the original, fully natural.
da se država presporo mijenja – also possible; it puts a bit more emphasis on presporo, but is still fine and sounds natural.
da država se mijenja presporo – incorrect / very unnatural, because se is a clitic and normally appears in the so‑called “second position” in the clause, after the first stressed word or phrase.

Rough rules here:

se usually wants to be early in the clause (2nd position):
- da se država mijenja presporo
- da se država presporo mijenja

You cannot freely move se around like a normal word.

Why is there no word for “the” in stariji građanin or država? How do we know it means “the state” and not “a state”?

Croatian does not have separate articles like English a/an and the. Nouns appear without articles:

građanin = citizen / a citizen / the citizen (depending on context)
država = state / a state / the state.

The meaning a vs the is inferred from:

Context (what has been mentioned before),
General knowledge,
Sometimes word order and emphasis.

In this sentence, država clearly refers to the speaker’s own country or the state they live in, so in natural English we translate it as the state. Likewise, stariji građanin becomes the elderly citizen in context, even though Croatian just says stariji građanin without any article.