Learn Hardcore Croatian: Hrvatski je moj omiljeni jezik, iako nije službeni jezik u državi iz koje dolazim. - Croatian is my favorite language, although it is not the official language in the country I come from.

Hrvatski je moj omiljeni jezik, iako nije službeni jezik u državi iz koje dolazim.

Croatian is my favorite language, although it is not the official language in the country I come from.

Breakdown of Hrvatski je moj omiljeni jezik, iako nije službeni jezik u državi iz koje dolazim.

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Questions & Answers about Hrvatski je moj omiljeni jezik, iako nije službeni jezik u državi iz koje dolazim.

Why does the sentence start with “Hrvatski” instead of “Hrvatski jezik”? Is it okay to leave out “jezik” like that?

In Croatian it’s very common to use just the adjective for a language, especially when it’s clear you’re talking about the language.

Hrvatski here means “Croatian (as a language)”.
You could also say “Hrvatski jezik je moj omiljeni jezik”, but it sounds heavier and more repetitive.

So “Hrvatski je moj omiljeni jezik” is natural and idiomatic, and the noun “jezik” is understood from context.

Why is “je” in the second position: “Hrvatski je moj omiljeni jezik” and not “Hrvatski moj omiljeni jezik je”?

Croatian has a strong rule about clitics (short unstressed words like je, sam, si, mi, ti): they usually go in second position in the clause.

Hrvatski je moj omiljeni jezik
- Hrvatski = first stressed word
- je = clitic in second position (right after the first stressed word)

“Hrvatski moj omiljeni jezik je” is grammatically possible but sounds strange and very marked; in normal speech and writing you follow the second‑position rule: Hrvatski je…

Why is the verb “je” used in the first part (“Hrvatski je moj omiljeni jezik”), but in the second part we have “nije” and no separate “je”?

“Nije” is simply “ne” + “je” fused together:

je = is
ne = not
ne + je → nije = is not

So the second part actually does contain je, it’s just built into nije:

iako nije službeni jezik… = although it is not an official language…

You cannot say “ne je” separately; you must use “nije”.

Why is there a comma before “iako” in “…jezik, iako nije službeni jezik…”? Is it always like that?

Yes, you need a comma before “iako” here because “iako” introduces a subordinate clause (a dependent clause).

Main clause: Hrvatski je moj omiljeni jezik
Subordinate clause: iako nije službeni jezik u državi iz koje dolazim

In Croatian, subordinate clauses introduced by words like iako, jer, kad, ako etc. are usually preceded by a comma, just like “although” clauses in English.

What exactly does “iako” mean, and are there alternatives?

Iako means “although” / “even though”.

Hrvatski je moj omiljeni jezik, iako nije službeni jezik…
= Croatian is my favourite language, although it is not an official language…

Close synonyms in Croatian are premda and iako što, but iako is the most common neutral choice. In this sentence you could say:

Hrvatski je moj omiljeni jezik, premda nije službeni jezik…

The meaning and structure stay the same.

Why is it “omiljeni jezik” and not “omiljena jezik” or “omiljeno jezik”?

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

jezik is masculine singular nominative
So the adjective must also be masculine singular nominative: omiljeni

Hence:

moj omiljeni jezik
- moj (my) – masc. sing. nom.
- omiljeni (favourite) – masc. sing. nom.
- jezik (language) – masc. sing. nom.

Omiljena jezik (feminine) or omiljeno jezik (neuter) are ungrammatical because they don’t agree with jezik.

Why is it “u državi” and not “u država”?

The preposition u (in) usually takes the locative case when it means “in / inside” a place.

Base form: država (country) – nominative
Locative singular: državi

So:

u državi = in the country (locative)

U država is wrong because država is nominative; you must use državi after u in this meaning.

In “iz koje dolazim”, why is it “koje” and not something like “koju”?

Koje is a relative pronoun here (which/that) and must:

Agree in gender and number with its antecedent
Be in the case required by the preposition “iz”

Step by step:

Antecedent: država – feminine singular
Preposition: iz (from, out of) → takes genitive
Genitive feminine singular of koji is koje

So:

iz koje (države) dolazim = from which (country) I come

Koju would be accusative, but iz does not take the accusative; it takes genitive, so koje is correct.

Why is it “državi iz koje dolazim” instead of simply “mojoj državi”? Is there a reason for using a relative clause?

Both are grammatically possible, but they’re not identical in meaning:

u mojoj državi = in my country
- Focus on personal possession: the country that is mine
u državi iz koje dolazim = in the country I come from
- Focus on origin, not on “ownership”; it sounds more neutral and explicit about the relationship.

The sentence wants to highlight origin (the country you come from), so “država iz koje dolazim” is a natural choice.

Could I say “zemlja” instead of “država” here? What’s the difference?

Yes, you could say:

…nije službeni jezik u zemlji iz koje dolazim.

Both država and zemlja can mean “country”, but:

država is a bit more formal / political (a state, a political entity)
zemlja is a bit more everyday / general (also “earth, soil, land”)

In this sentence both sound natural; država just leans slightly more toward the formal “state” sense.

What does “dolazim” tell us about the subject? Why is there no pronoun like “ja”?

Dolazim is 1st person singular present of dolaziti (to come).

dolazim = I come / I am coming

Croatian usually drops subject pronouns (like ja = I, ti = you) because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action.

So:

iz koje dolazim literally: from which (I) come
The “I” is built into the verb ending, so ja is not needed.

You could say “iz koje ja dolazim” for emphasis, but normally you don’t.

Is the word order flexible? For example, could I say “Hrvatski je, iako nije službeni jezik u državi iz koje dolazim, moj omiljeni jezik”?

Yes, Croatian word order is quite flexible, and your version is grammatically correct:

Hrvatski je, iako nije službeni jezik u državi iz koje dolazim, moj omiljeni jezik.

This order:

Pulls “Hrvatski je” to the front
Inserts the iako‑clause as a parentheses‑like comment
Ends strongly on “moj omiljeni jezik”

The original order is more straightforward and neutral, but both are fine. The main constraints are:

Keep clitics like je / nije in appropriate positions (usually second)
Don’t break fixed phrases (e.g. službeni jezik, moj omiljeni jezik) in unnatural ways.