Ovaj kolač miriše na limun.

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

So kolač can mean cake, a cake, or the cake, depending on context. In this sentence, ovaj already helps make it specific: this cake.

Because ovaj has to agree with kolač in:

• gender: masculine
• number: singular
• case: nominative

Kolač is a masculine singular noun here, so the correct form is ovaj.

Compare:

• ovaj kolač = this cake
• ova torta = this cake/torte-style cake
• ovo pecivo = this pastry

So the form changes depending on the noun it goes with.

It is in the nominative singular.

That is because kolač is the subject of the sentence — the thing doing the action of miriše.

So:

• ovaj kolač = the subject
• therefore both words stay in the nominative

Miriše is the 3rd person singular present tense form of mirisati.

It matches the subject ovaj kolač, which is he/she/it in grammatical terms:

• ja mirišem = I smell
• ti mirišeš = you smell
• on/ona/ono miriše = he/she/it smells

Since kolač is singular, Croatian uses miriše.

In this sentence, it means giving off a smell.

So ovaj kolač miriše na limun means the cake has a lemon smell.

This is a useful point because English smell can mean two things:

• The cake smells nice = it gives off a smell
• I smell the cake = I notice the smell / sniff it

Here Croatian clearly uses the first idea: the cake is the source of the smell.

Because Croatian commonly uses the pattern:

mirisati na + accusative

This means to smell like / to smell of something.

So:

• miriše na limun = smells like lemon
• miriše na vaniliju = smells like vanilla
• miriše na dim = smells like smoke

This is just the normal construction with this verb in this meaning.

Not really. Although na often means on, prepositions in Croatian have several meanings depending on context.

Here, in miriše na limun, na is part of a fixed pattern meaning something like:

• like
• of
• resembling in smell

So it is better to learn mirisati na + accusative as a whole expression, rather than translating na word-for-word.

It is in the accusative, but for many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks exactly the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: limun
• accusative: limun

That is why you do not see a change.

Compare with a noun where the change is visible:

• miriše na naranču = smells like orange

Here naranča becomes naranču in the accusative.

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

The neutral, most straightforward order is:

• Ovaj kolač miriše na limun.

But you could also say:

• Na limun miriše ovaj kolač.

That version puts more emphasis on na limun.

So the original sentence is the most natural default order, but other orders are possible for emphasis or style.

A good approximation is:

• č = like ch in church
• š = like sh in shoe

So:

• kolač sounds roughly like ko-lach
• miriše sounds roughly like mi-ri-she

If you are learning pronunciation, it is also useful to remember that Croatian spelling is very regular, so letters usually represent the same sound each time.