Mogu prevesti svaku riječ, ali cijeli izraz ipak zvuči čudno.

After modal verbs like moći (can / be able to), Croatian normally uses the infinitive of the main verb.

So:

• mogu = I can
• prevesti = to translate

Together, mogu prevesti means I can translate.

Unlike English, Croatian does not use to here. You just put the modal verb and the infinitive together.

This is a question of aspect, which is very important in Croatian.

• prevesti = perfective
  Focuses on completing the translation, getting it done.
• prevoditi = imperfective
  Focuses on the process, repetition, or general activity of translating.

In this sentence, the speaker means I am able to translate each word successfully, so prevesti fits better.

Compare:

• Mogu prevesti svaku riječ. = I can translate each word.
• Mogu prevoditi satima. = I can translate for hours.

Because svaku riječ is the direct object of prevesti, so it must be in the accusative case.

• dictionary form: svaka riječ = every word
• accusative form: svaku riječ

Here is the agreement:

• svaka → svaku because it is feminine singular accusative
• riječ stays riječ in the accusative singular

So:

• svaka riječ = every word
• prevesti svaku riječ = to translate every word

That is a very common question. Not all Croatian nouns change visibly in every case.

Riječ is a feminine noun, but unlike many feminine nouns ending in -a, it ends in a consonant. In the singular, its nominative and accusative forms are the same:

• nominative: riječ
• accusative: riječ

The adjective shows the case clearly:

• svaka riječ = nominative
• svaku riječ = accusative

So even though riječ looks unchanged, the phrase is definitely accusative because of svaku and because it is the object of the verb.

Because cijeli izraz is the subject of the second clause, so it is in the nominative case.

• cijeli = whole / entire
• izraz = expression / phrase

Since izraz is masculine singular, the adjective agrees with it:

• cijeli izraz = the whole expression

If it were in another case, the form would change. But here it is the subject of zvuči, so nominative is correct.

Ipak means something like:

• still
• nevertheless
• all the same
• even so

It adds the idea of contrast:

• I can translate every word,
• but even so, the whole expression sounds strange.

So ipak strengthens the contrast already introduced by ali.

A natural English translation might be:

• I can translate every word, but the whole expression still sounds strange.
• I can translate every word, but the whole expression nevertheless sounds odd.

A little, yes—but in a very natural way.

• ali introduces the contrast: but
• ipak adds: still / even so

So the sentence has a structure like:

• but still...
• but even so...

Croatian often uses both together for emphasis. It does not sound redundant; it sounds natural and expressive.

This is one of the most useful things to notice in Croatian.

With zvučati (to sound), Croatian usually uses an adverb, not an adjective:

• zvuči čudno = sounds strange / sounds odd
• zvuči dobro = sounds good
• zvuči loše = sounds bad

So:

• čudno is an adverb
• čudan is an adjective

If you use biti (to be), then you use the adjective:

• Izraz je čudan. = The expression is strange.
• Izraz zvuči čudno. = The expression sounds strange.

That is the key difference.

Because its subject is cijeli izraz (the whole expression), which is singular.

So the verb agrees with the subject:

• izraz zvuči = the expression sounds
• izrazi zvuče = the expressions sound

Here:

• cijeli izraz ipak zvuči čudno = the whole expression still sounds strange

Not completely. Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but different orders can sound more or less natural or change emphasis.

The given version is very natural:

• Mogu prevesti svaku riječ, ali cijeli izraz ipak zvuči čudno.

You may also hear:

• Mogu prevesti svaku riječ, ali ipak cijeli izraz zvuči čudno.

Both work. The position of ipak can shift depending on rhythm and emphasis.

The original version puts the focus nicely on cijeli izraz first, and then adds ipak as a contrastive comment.

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

So Croatian simply says:

• riječ = word / the word / a word
• izraz = expression / the expression / an expression

Context tells you what is meant.

In this sentence:

• svaku riječ naturally means every word
• cijeli izraz naturally means the whole expression or the entire expression

English needs an article, but Croatian does not.

The sentence is contrasting two levels of meaning:

• riječ = a single word
• izraz = an expression, phrase, or set phrase

The idea is:

• You can understand and translate the individual words,
• but the phrase as a whole still sounds odd.

This is a very common situation in language learning, especially with idioms and fixed expressions.

It can suggest both ideas, and in many contexts the difference is very small.

• svaku riječ literally has a distributive feel: each/every word
• In natural English, every word is usually the best translation

So here the meaning is:

• I can translate every single word individually

That is exactly why the second part matters: knowing all the words does not automatically make the whole expression sound natural.

Yes, very much so.

Zvuči čudno often means:

• it sounds odd
• it sounds unnatural
• it sounds off
• it does not sound like something a native speaker would normally say

So the sentence does not necessarily mean the expression is wrong in a strict grammatical sense. It can simply mean that a word-for-word translation does not produce natural Croatian.

It has two clauses joined by ali (but):

1. Mogu prevesti svaku riječ
   = I can translate every word

2. ali cijeli izraz ipak zvuči čudno
   = but the whole expression still sounds strange

So the overall pattern is:

• statement
• contrast

This is a very common and useful sentence pattern in Croatian.