Ako nema ljepila, možeš upotrijebiti selotejp.

Because after nema in this kind of there is no / there isn’t any meaning, Croatian normally uses the genitive case.

• ljepilo = glue (nominative)
• ljepila = of glue / any glue (genitive singular)

So:

• Ima ljepila. = There is some glue.
• Nema ljepila. = There is no glue.

This is very common in Croatian:

• Ima vremena. = There is time.
• Nema vremena. = There is no time.

Nema is the 3rd person singular present form of nemati / the negative of imati in this existential use.

In everyday Croatian, ima and nema often mean:

• ima = there is / there are
• nema = there isn’t / there aren’t

So Ako nema ljepila literally works like If there isn’t any glue.

This is slightly different from English, because Croatian often uses ima / nema where English uses there is / there isn’t.

Možeš is the 2nd person singular of moći = can / be able to.

So it is talking directly to one person in an informal way:

• možeš = you can

If you were speaking formally to one person, or to more than one person, you would usually say:

• možete upotrijebiti selotejp

So the sentence is addressed to you in an informal singular sense.

Because after moći (can), Croatian uses the infinitive of the main verb.

So:

• možeš upotrijebiti = you can use

This is parallel to English in a broad sense:

• you can use but Croatian does it with a plain infinitive form:
• možeš + infinitive

Other examples:

• Možeš doći. = You can come.
• Možeš čekati. = You can wait.

A learner might notice a few possible verbs for to use.

1. upotrijebiti

This is a correct and common perfective verb meaning to use, often for a specific action.

2. upotrebiti

This is also correct. It is a closely related variant and is often interchangeable with upotrijebiti.

3. koristiti

This also means to use, but it is usually imperfective, so it can sound a bit more general or ongoing.

In this sentence, upotrijebiti sounds natural because it refers to a single practical action:

• if there’s no glue, you can use tape instead

So all of these can be possible in some contexts, but upotrijebiti fits well here.

Selotejp is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object of upotrijebiti.

The dictionary form is:

• selotejp (nominative)

Since it is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular:

• Nominative: selotejp
• Accusative: selotejp

So:

• upotrijebiti selotejp = to use tape

This is normal for masculine inanimate nouns in Croatian.

Selotejp means sticky tape / Sellotape / Scotch tape, depending on the variety of English you speak.

It comes from a brand name, just like some brand names become generic words in everyday speech.

So in Croatian, selotejp is often used as the ordinary word for adhesive tape.

Croatian often does not need a separate word for some / any when English does.

So:

• nema ljepila naturally means there is no glue / there isn’t any glue

The genitive after nema already gives that indefinite quantity idea.

English often needs:

• no glue
• any glue
• some glue

Croatian often expresses that without an extra word.

Usually, yes. Ako is the normal word for if in conditional sentences.

So:

• Ako nema ljepila... = If there is no glue...

It introduces the condition.

Other examples:

• Ako dođe, reci mi. = If he comes, tell me.
• Ako želiš, možeš sjesti. = If you want, you can sit down.

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The original sentence:

• Ako nema ljepila, možeš upotrijebiti selotejp.

You could also say:

• Možeš upotrijebiti selotejp ako nema ljepila.

Both are natural. The original version puts the condition first, which is very common:

• If there’s no glue, ...

So the chosen word order is natural and neutral, but not the only possible one.

Because Croatian does not have articles.

So nouns like ljepilo and selotejp appear without words corresponding to a / an / the.

That means Croatian learners of English have to learn articles, but English speakers learning Croatian have to get used to not using them.

Context tells you whether something is:

• glue
• the glue
• some glue

In this sentence:

• ljepila = glue / any glue
• selotejp = tape / some tape

It is informal singular, because of možeš.

Croatian distinguishes between:

• ti form: informal singular
• vi form: formal singular or plural

So:

• možeš upotrijebiti = you can use (informal, one person)
• možete upotrijebiti = you can use (formal one person, or more than one person)

If you were giving polite instructions, you would probably use možete.

The lj in Croatian is a single sound, not just a plain English l plus j.

It is similar to the lli sound in some pronunciations of:

• million
• William though it is not exactly the same in all accents.

So ljepila begins with a soft palatal lj sound.

A rough guide:

• ljepila ≈ lyepila

But remember that lj is treated as its own distinct Croatian sound.

A rough English-style approximation is:

AH-koh NEH-mah LYEH-pee-lah, MOH-zhesh oo-poh-TRYEH-bee-tee seh-loh-TAYP

A few notes:

• č / ć are not in this sentence
• ž in možeš sounds like the s in measure
• lj in ljepila is a soft ly-like sound
• Croatian stress is less predictable than in Spanish or Italian, so approximations are only guides

Yes, absolutely. That would also be natural.

The difference is mostly about aspect and style:

• koristiti = imperfective, more general to use
• upotrijebiti = perfective, often a more concrete to use (for a particular purpose/action)

In this sentence, both work well.
upotrijebiti sounds slightly more like use it as a solution in this situation.

Here it behaves like an uncountable substance noun, like glue in English.

That is why nema ljepila means:

• there is no glue
• there isn’t any glue

You are talking about the substance in general, not about one separate object.

If needed, Croatian can also make it more specific with context, for example a bottle or type of glue, but here it just means glue as a material.