Ako je zahtjev potpun, službenica će ga odmah odobriti.

In Croatian, after ako for a real, possible condition, you normally use the present tense, not the future.

So:

• Ako je zahtjev potpun... = If the application/request is complete...

This is the normal pattern for a real condition:

• Ako pada kiša, ostat ćemo doma. = If it rains, we’ll stay home.
• Ako ima vremena, doći će. = If he/she has time, he/she will come.

Using a future form in the ako clause would usually sound unnatural here. Croatian handles this much like English does in sentences such as If it is ready, we will send it rather than If it will be ready...

Zahtjev is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the clause:

• Ako je zahtjev potpun...
• zahtjev = the thing that is complete

You can tell it is the subject because it is the thing being described by potpun.

Here potpun is a predicate adjective, meaning it comes after the verb je and describes the subject.

It must agree with zahtjev, which is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So the correct form is:

• zahtjev je potpun

Compare:

• zahtjev je potpun — the request is complete
• molba je potpuna — the request/application is complete, with a feminine noun
• pismo je potpuno — the letter is complete, with a neuter noun

Potpuni would usually be the form used before a noun in certain contexts, like potpuni zahtjev, but after je you need potpun.

Službenica is a feminine noun meaning a female clerk/official/officer/employee, depending on context.

Croatian often marks the person’s gender directly in the noun:

• službenik = male official/clerk
• službenica = female official/clerk

So this sentence specifically refers to a woman. If the person were male, you would say:

• službenik će ga odmah odobriti

This is the Croatian future I tense.

It is formed with:

• the auxiliary htjeti in a short clitic form: ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će
• plus the infinitive

Here:

• će odobriti = will approve

So:

• službenica će odobriti = the clerk will approve

In this sentence, other clitics are inserted as well, which is why you see:

• službenica će ga odmah odobriti

Ga is the short unstressed pronoun meaning him/it in the accusative singular.

Here it refers back to zahtjev:

• zahtjev = request/application
• odobriti ga = approve it

So in the second clause, instead of repeating zahtjev, Croatian uses the pronoun:

• službenica će ga odmah odobriti
• literally: the clerk will approve it immediately

This is very natural and avoids repetition.

This is because će and ga are clitics in Croatian. Clitics are short unstressed words that usually go near the beginning of the clause, typically in second position.

So in:

• službenica će ga odmah odobriti

the first full word is službenica, and then the clitics come:

• će
• ga

After that comes odmah, and then the main infinitive odobriti.

This kind of ordering is very typical in Croatian. English speakers often want to place words more freely, but clitic position is one of the important things to get used to.

That would sound unnatural in standard Croatian.

The short pronoun ga normally stays with the other clitics near the beginning of the clause:

• Službenica će ga odmah odobriti. ✔

Putting ga later like odmah ga is usually not the standard choice in a neutral sentence of this kind.

So the safest pattern is:

• subject + clitics + other adverbs + infinitive

Odobriti is perfective. It refers to a completed action: approving something once, successfully.

That fits this sentence well, because the meaning is:

• if the request is complete, the clerk will approve it as a completed event

By contrast, odobravati is imperfective, and it usually refers to repeated, ongoing, habitual, or process-like approving.

So:

• odobriti = to approve, to grant, to complete the approval
• odobravati = to be approving / to approve repeatedly or habitually

In a one-time result sentence like this, odobriti is the natural choice.

Yes, the comma is standard here because the sentence begins with a subordinate if-clause:

• Ako je zahtjev potpun, službenica će ga odmah odobriti.

Croatian normally separates that introductory conditional clause from the main clause with a comma.

Yes, but then you would normally repeat the noun:

• Ako je zahtjev potpun, službenica će odmah odobriti zahtjev.

That is grammatically possible, but it sounds more repetitive. Using ga is more natural because the noun has already been mentioned.

So:

• with repetition = correct, but less elegant
• with ga = more natural

It depends on context. Zahtjev can mean several related things in English, such as:

• request
• application
• claim
• demand

In administrative or bureaucratic contexts, it often means application or formal request.

So in this sentence, if the context is paperwork or administration, a learner will often see it translated as:

• application or
• request

Both can work, depending on the exact situation.

This word is often tricky for English speakers because of the consonant cluster.

A rough guide:

• zahtjev ≈ ZAH-htyev

Notes:

• zah sounds like zah
• tj is a tight cluster, somewhat like ty in tune for many speakers
• ev is short

You do not pronounce it as if there were extra vowels between all the consonants. Croatian allows tighter consonant clusters than English often does, so this word may take practice.