Film počinje za deset minuta.

Croatian does not have articles like the or a/an.

So film can mean:

• the film
• a film
• sometimes just film in a general sense

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, English will usually translate it as The film starts in ten minutes because the context normally makes it clear which film is meant.

Počinje is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb počinjati, meaning to begin / to be starting.

It matches film because film is singular:

• film počinje = the film starts / is starting

So grammatically, the structure is:

• Film = subject
• počinje = verb
• za deset minuta = time expression

Croatian often uses the present tense for a future event when it is:

• scheduled
• expected
• happening soon

This is very similar to English:

• The film starts in ten minutes
• The train leaves at six

So Film počinje za deset minuta is perfectly natural Croatian.

A more explicitly future version is also possible:

• Film će početi za deset minuta

Both are correct, but počinje sounds very natural for a scheduled event.

In this sentence, za means in, in the sense of after this amount of time.

So:

• za deset minuta = in ten minutes

This is a very common Croatian pattern:

• Vraćam se za pet minuta. = I’ll be back in five minutes.
• Autobus dolazi za sat vremena. = The bus arrives in an hour.

So when something will happen after a certain amount of time, Croatian often uses za + time expression.

After numbers, Croatian changes the form of the noun.

With 1, you get a singular form:

• jedna minuta

With 2, 3, 4, you usually get:

• dvije minute
• tri minute
• četiri minute

With 5 and above, Croatian usually uses a form that looks like the genitive plural:

• pet minuta
• deset minuta
• dvadeset minuta

So deset minuta is the correct form.

This is one of the most important number patterns to learn in Croatian.

In simple learner terms, it is best to think of minuta here as the form used after numbers like pet, deset, dvadeset, and so on.

More traditionally, this looks like the genitive plural form of minuta:

• singular: minuta
• plural: minute
• genitive plural: minuta

That is why it may look surprising: the genitive plural form happens to look the same as the singular dictionary form.

So even though it looks like singular, in deset minuta it is functioning as the correct plural-type form after deset.

Yes. That is also correct.

The difference is roughly this:

• Film počinje za deset minuta = present tense used for a scheduled/expected future event
• Film će početi za deset minuta = standard future tense, more explicitly future

In many everyday situations, both are natural. The version with počinje often sounds especially natural for timetables, programs, or events that are about to happen.

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English.

The neutral order here is:

• Film počinje za deset minuta.

But you could also say:

• Za deset minuta film počinje.
• Za deset minuta počinje film.

These alternatives may shift the emphasis slightly:

• starting with za deset minuta puts more focus on when
• starting with film is a neutral, straightforward statement

English usually has less freedom here than Croatian.

A rough guide is po-CHIN-yeh, though no English spelling matches it perfectly.

Two useful sound points:

• č sounds like ch in church
• nj sounds like ny in canyon or like Spanish ñ

So počinje has that -nje sound at the end:

• po-či-nje

If you say it smoothly, it will sound something like:

• po-chin-ye

In Croatian, film is the normal everyday word for a film or movie.

So in this sentence, film simply means the movie/film that is about to start.

Croatian also uses:

• film for a movie in general
• sometimes more specific words depending on context, but film is the standard basic word

So for learners, it is safe to understand film here as movie or film.