Možeš li probati juhu i reći mi treba li još soli?

Možeš li is a very common way to form a yes/no question in Croatian.

• možeš = you can
• li = a question particle

So Možeš li... ? literally looks like Can you... ?

This pattern is extremely common:

• Možeš li doći? = Can you come?
• Znaš li ovo? = Do you know this?
• Imaš li vremena? = Do you have time?

A useful thing to notice is that li usually comes right after the verb.

Because Croatian usually does not use subject pronouns unless they are needed for emphasis or contrast.

The ending -eš in možeš already tells you the subject is you (singular), so ti is normally omitted.

• Možeš li probati juhu? = normal
• Ti možeš li probati juhu? = unusual in neutral speech

You might use ti only for emphasis, for example:

• Možeš li ti probati juhu? = Can you try the soup?
  (maybe as opposed to someone else)

Here probati juhu means to try the soup in the sense of taste it to see what it’s like.

In Croatian, probati can mean:

1. to try / attempt

   • Probat ću otvoriti vrata. = I’ll try to open the door.

2. to try / taste / test

   • Probaj juhu. = Try the soup. / Taste the soup.

So in this sentence, the food context makes it clear that it means taste.

A close alternative is kušati, which also means to taste:

• Možeš li kušati juhu...?

But probati is very common and natural.

Because juha is the direct object of probati, so it goes into the accusative case.

• nominative: juha = soup
• accusative: juhu

So:

• Juha je vruća. = The soup is hot.
  (juha = subject, nominative)

• Probaj juhu. = Try the soup.
  (juhu = direct object, accusative)

This is a very common pattern with feminine nouns ending in -a:

• kava → kavu
• voda → vodu
• salata → salatu

Mi here means to me.

So:

• reći = to say / tell
• mi = to me

Together:

• reći mi = tell me

This mi is the dative form of ja (I / me).

Compare:

• daj mi = give me
• reci mi = tell me
• pošalji mi poruku = send me a message

In this sentence, the speaker is asking someone to taste the soup and tell them whether it needs more salt.

Because mi is an unstressed clitic pronoun, and Croatian has special word-order rules for clitics.

In this sentence, reći mi is the natural order inside the infinitive phrase.

You will often see clitics like mi, ti, mu, je, se in fixed positions, usually near the beginning of a clause or attached in standard patterns. For a learner, the safest thing is to learn combinations like these as chunks:

• reci mi
• možeš li mi reći
• želim ti reći

So here, just think of reći mi as the normal way to say tell me after the infinitive.

Because treba li introduces another yes/no idea, this time inside the sentence.

The structure is:

• Možeš li... = Can you...?
• reći mi treba li... = tell me whether it needs...

So the second li works like whether / if in English.

Compare:

• Ne znam dolazi li. = I don’t know whether he/she is coming.
• Pitaj ga ima li vremena. = Ask him whether he has time.
• Reci mi treba li još soli. = Tell me whether it needs more salt.

So the sentence contains:

1. a main question: Can you...?
2. an embedded yes/no clause: whether it needs more salt

Here treba means needs in an impersonal Croatian structure.

English says:

• it needs more salt

Croatian often says:

• treba još soli
• literally something like more salt is needed

So there is no explicit word for "it" here. Croatian does not need to state it.

This is very natural with trebati:

• Treba vremena. = Time is needed.
• Treba još šećera. = More sugar is needed.
• Treba li još soli? = Does it need more salt? / Is more salt needed?

So although English uses it, Croatian often simply uses treba without a subject.

Because soli is the genitive singular of sol, and Croatian often uses the genitive after expressions involving an unspecified amount or more/some of something.

• sol = salt
• soli = of salt

So još soli literally means more of salt, which is the natural Croatian way to say more salt.

You’ll see this pattern a lot:

• još vode = more water
• malo kruha = a little bread
• puno šećera = a lot of sugar
• treba soli = salt is needed / it needs salt

This is sometimes called the partitive genitive.

Here još means more / additional.

So:

• još soli = more salt

But još is a very flexible word and can also mean things like still or yet, depending on context:

• Još čekam. = I’m still waiting.
• Još nije došao. = He hasn’t come yet.
• Treba li još soli? = Does it need more salt?

So in this sentence, the meaning is clearly more.

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

So:

• juha can mean soup or the soup, depending on context
• juhu can mean soup or the soup as an object

In this sentence, the context makes it clear that it means the soup being discussed or served.

This is a major difference from English:

• English must often choose between a soup and the soup
• Croatian usually leaves that to context

Yes. I means and, and it is connecting two infinitives:

• probati = to try/taste
• reći = to say/tell

So:

• Možeš li probati juhu i reći mi... ?
• Can you try the soup and tell me... ?

This is completely normal in Croatian, just like in English:

• Želim sjesti i odmoriti se. = I want to sit down and rest.
• Možeš doći i pomoći mi? = Can you come and help me?

It is informal, because it uses možeš, the 2nd person singular form, used with ti.

• možeš = you can (informal singular)

If you wanted to say it politely or formally to one person, you would use možete:

• Možete li probati juhu i reći mi treba li još soli?

That is the polite/formal version.

So:

• možeš li = informal, to one person you address as ti
• možete li = formal, or plural you

Yes. Kušati is a good alternative and means to taste.

• Možeš li probati juhu...?
• Možeš li kušati juhu...?

Both are understandable and natural. Very roughly:

• probati is broader and very common in everyday speech
• kušati is a bit more specifically about tasting food or drink

In many situations, probati juhu is the most common everyday phrasing.

A very literal translation would be something like:

• is more salt needed?

Natural English usually says:

• does it need more salt?

So the Croatian structure is a little different from English, but the meaning is the same.

Breaking it down:

• treba = is needed / needs
• li = question particle
• još soli = more salt

So:

• treba li još soli?
• literally: is more salt needed?
• naturally: does it need more salt?

Yes, very natural. It sounds like something someone would say while cooking or serving food.

It is polite but casual, and the grammar is very idiomatic:

• Možeš li... = Can you...
• probati juhu = taste the soup
• reći mi = tell me
• treba li još soli = whether it needs more salt

A native speaker would find this completely normal.