Vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar.

I believe that my brother is brave.

Breakdown of Vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar.

• biti: to be
• moj: my
• brat: brother
• da: that
• hrabar: brave
• vjerovati: to trust

Questions & Answers about Vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar.

What is the role of da in this sentence? Is it the same as that in English?

Yes. In Vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar, the word da is a conjunction that introduces a subordinate clause, just like that in English:

• Vjerujem – I believe
• da – that
• je moj brat hrabar – my brother is brave

So the structure is literally: I believe that my brother is brave.

In Croatian, da is very often used in this way after verbs of thinking, believing, saying, etc.:

• Mislim da… – I think that…
• Znam da… – I know that…
• Kaže da… – He/She says that…

Why is the verb je placed right after da and not next to brat, like da moj brat je hrabar?

The verb je (3rd person singular of biti – to be) is a clitic in Croatian. Clitics are short, unstressed words (like je, sam, si, se, ga, mi etc.) that very strongly prefer to stand in the second position within their clause.

In the clause da je moj brat hrabar:

• The first element is da (conjunction).
• The clitic je then goes into the second position in the clause, right after da.

Forms like da moj brat je hrabar sound wrong or at least very unnatural. The neutral and correct order is:

• da je moj brat hrabar – that my brother is brave

Why is it moj brat and not some other form like moga brata or mom bratu?

Moj brat is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the subordinate clause (je moj brat hrabar).

In Croatian:

• Subjects are in the nominative.
• Objects take other cases (accusative, dative, etc.).

Compare:

• Moj brat je hrabar. – Moj brat (nominative, subject)
• Vidim moga brata. – moga brata (accusative, direct object)
• Pomažem mom bratu. – mom bratu (dative, indirect object)

In your sentence, brat is doing the “being brave”, so it must be in the nominative: moj brat.

Why is hrabar in that exact form? Could it be hrabra or hrabro?

Hrabar is an adjective meaning brave, and in je moj brat hrabar it has to agree with brat in:

• Gender: masculine
• Number: singular
• Case: nominative (predicate after je)

So:

• brat – masculine, singular, nominative
• hrabar – masculine, singular, nominative

Other forms:

• hrabra – feminine singular nominative (e.g. Moja sestra je hrabra.)
• hrabro – neuter singular nominative (e.g. Moje dijete je hrabro.)

Because brat is masculine, singular, nominative, the correct form is hrabar.

Do I always need the verb je? Could I say Vjerujem da moj brat hrabar without it?

You must keep je here. In sentences with to be as a linking verb, Croatian normally requires it, especially in the present tense without special stylistic reasons.

• Correct: Vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar.
• Incorrect / ungrammatical in normal speech: ✗ Vjerujem da moj brat hrabar.

So whenever you say X is Y (in present tense) in a normal sentence, you include the form of biti:

• Moj brat je hrabar. – My brother is brave.
• Tvoj pas je velik. – Your dog is big.

Why don’t we see the word I (like ja) in Vjerujem? How do we know it means “I believe”?

In Croatian, subject pronouns (ja, ti, on, ona, mi, vi, oni…) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

The verb vjerujem ends in -em, which clearly marks 1st person singular:

• (ja) vjerujem – I believe
• (ti) vjeruješ – you believe
• (on/ona) vjeruje – he/she believes

So Vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar is fully understood as Ja vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar, and adding ja is only needed for emphasis or contrast:

• Ja vjerujem, ali ti ne vjeruješ. – I believe, but you don’t.

What is the difference between Vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar and Mislim da je moj brat hrabar?

Both can often be translated as I think that my brother is brave, but there is a nuance:

• Vjerujem focuses more on belief, trust, faith.

  • Vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar. – I believe / I have confidence that he is brave.

• Mislim focuses more on opinion, mental judgment.

  • Mislim da je moj brat hrabar. – In my opinion / I think he is brave.

In many everyday situations they can overlap, but vjerujem can sound slightly stronger, more like I truly believe / I have faith.

How would I make this sentence negative? Where does ne go?

You have two main options, depending on what you want to negate.

1. Negate the believing:

   • Ne vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar.
     – I do not believe that my brother is brave.

   Here, ne stands immediately before vjerujem.

2. Negate the being brave:

   • Vjerujem da moj brat nije hrabar.
     – I believe that my brother is not brave.

   Here, the negative form of je is nije (it fuses ne + je), and it stays in the second position of the subordinate clause:

   • da moj brat nije hrabar – that my brother is not brave

Can I drop da and say something like Vjerujem moj brat je hrabar?

No, not in this structure. With vjerovati followed by a full clause, Croatian normally uses a da-clause:

• Vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar. – correct
• ✗ Vjerujem moj brat je hrabar. – incorrect / sounds foreign

If you want to avoid da, you need to change the structure, not just remove da:

• Vjerujem svom bratu. – I believe my brother. (I trust him.)
• Vjerujem u svog brata. – I believe in my brother.

But when it’s believe that X is Y, you should keep da.

Does Croatian have anything like English articles (a, the) in my brother? Why is it just moj brat?

Croatian has no articles like English a, an, the. The phrase moj brat can mean:

• my brother
• my (the) brother – context decides whether it feels specific or general.

You don’t need to add anything to mark definiteness or indefiniteness. The possessive moj already makes it clear we are talking about “my” brother, and context tells you whether it is some brother in general or a specific one in the situation.

So:

• Vjerujem da je moj brat hrabar. – I believe that (my) brother of mine is brave.
  No extra word like the is required or possible.