Mikrovalna ne radi, ali perilica posuđa danas konačno radi bez problema.

In everyday Croatian, mikrovalna is often a shortened form of mikrovalna pećnica, which literally means microwave oven.

• mikrovalna pećnica = full form
• mikrovalna = very common short form in speech

This works because mikrovalna is an adjective meaning microwave, but in context it gets used like a noun, just as English sometimes shortens expressions too.

So in this sentence, Mikrovalna ne radi simply means The microwave isn’t working.

Yes, raditi can mean to work in more than one sense:

• radim u školi = I work at a school
• perilica radi = the dishwasher is working / functioning

With machines and appliances, raditi very commonly means to function, to be operating.

So:

• Mikrovalna ne radi = The microwave isn’t working
• Perilica posuđa radi = The dishwasher works / is working

Because Croatian normally negates present-tense verbs by putting ne directly in front of the verb.

So:

• radi = works / is working
• ne radi = doesn’t work / isn’t working

You do not use nije here, because nije is the negative form of je (is), not the negative of radi.

Compare:

• On je umoran. = He is tired.
• On nije umoran. = He isn’t tired.

But:

• Uređaj radi. = The device works.
• Uređaj ne radi. = The device doesn’t work.

Perilica posuđa literally means washer of dishes, which is the standard Croatian way to say dishwasher.

Breakdown:

• perilica = washer / washing machine / device for washing
• posuđe = dishes, tableware
• posuđa = genitive form of posuđe

The genitive is used here because Croatian often forms compound expressions like this:

• čaša vode = a glass of water
• perilica rublja = washing machine (literally washer of laundry)
• perilica posuđa = dishwasher (literally washer of dishes)

So posuđa is there because the phrase means a machine for washing dishes.

Posuđa is genitive singular of posuđe.

Even though posuđe refers to dishes collectively, grammatically it is usually treated as a singular mass noun. That is why the genitive form is posuđa, not a plural form.

It is genitive because Croatian commonly uses the genitive after a noun to show purpose or relationship, especially in names of appliances or containers:

• boca vina = bottle of wine
• vrećica šećera = bag of sugar
• perilica posuđa = dishwasher

So the genitive here is part of a standard noun + genitive pattern.

Konačno means finally, at last, or for once at last, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• danas konačno radi = today it finally works

It suggests that the dishwasher probably had not been working properly before, and now, at last, it is working.

So konačno adds a feeling of relief or long-awaited success.

Yes, the word order could change, because Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order.

Here:

• danas = today
• konačno = finally
• radi = works

The original order:

• perilica posuđa danas konačno radi bez problema

This sounds natural and emphasizes that today, finally, the dishwasher is working without problems.

Other possible orders include:

• Perilica posuđa konačno danas radi bez problema.
• Danas perilica posuđa konačno radi bez problema.

These are all possible, but they shift emphasis slightly. Croatian often moves words around to highlight what is most important.

In this sentence, repeating radi is completely natural and usually preferred:

• Mikrovalna ne radi, ali perilica posuđa danas konačno radi bez problema.

The repetition makes the contrast clear:

• the microwave doesn’t work
• the dishwasher does work

Could it be omitted? In some contexts, Croatian can omit repeated material, but here keeping radi sounds clearer and more natural, especially because the second clause also adds danas konačno and bez problema.

So the repetition is not strange at all—it helps the contrast after ali (but).

Bez problema means without problems or, more naturally in English here, without any problems.

• bez = without
• problema = genitive form of problem

The preposition bez always takes the genitive case.

Examples:

• bez šećera = without sugar
• bez vode = without water
• bez problema = without problems

So problema is in the genitive because it follows bez.

Because after bez, Croatian requires the genitive, not the nominative.

Compare:

• problemi = nominative plural = problems
• bez problema = genitive plural = without problems

This is a very common pattern. Many prepositions force a specific case, and bez always goes with genitive.

So bez problemi would be incorrect.

Because ali means but, and in Croatian it normally introduces a new clause, so a comma is used before it.

Here the sentence has two coordinated parts:

• Mikrovalna ne radi
• ali perilica posuđa danas konačno radi bez problema

So the comma marks the contrast between the two ideas.

This is very similar to English punctuation with but.

Because Croatian does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So:

• mikrovalna can mean the microwave or a microwave
• perilica posuđa can mean the dishwasher or a dishwasher

Which meaning is intended depends on context. In this sentence, English would naturally translate them as the microwave and the dishwasher, but Croatian does not need separate words for that.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• Mikrovalna ne radi.
• Mikrovalna pećnica ne radi.

The longer version is more explicit and formal. The shorter version is more everyday and conversational.

A native speaker would very often use just mikrovalna.

Yes, radi is 3rd person singular present tense of raditi.

It can mean either:

• works
• is working

Croatian present tense often covers both the simple present and the present continuous that English distinguishes.

So:

• Mikrovalna ne radi can mean The microwave doesn’t work or The microwave isn’t working
• Perilica posuđa danas konačno radi bez problema can mean The dishwasher finally works without problems today or more naturally The dishwasher is finally working without problems today

The exact English version depends on context.

Because both nouns are grammatically singular, and radi is the 3rd person singular form.

• mikrovalna = singular
• perilica = singular
• therefore: radi

Also, both are feminine nouns, but in the present tense Croatian verbs do not change form for gender. Gender matters more with adjectives and past tense forms.

So in the present tense:

• mikrovalna radi
• perilica radi

Both correctly use radi because they are singular subjects.