Dječak je već pospan, dok djevojčica još želi slušati bajku.

Yes.

• dječak = boy
• djevojčica = girl / little girl

Both are singular nouns:

• dječak is masculine
• djevojčica is feminine

In this sentence, both are in the nominative case because they are the subjects of their clauses:

• Dječak je već pospan
• djevojčica još želi slušati bajku

Je is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb biti = to be.

So:

• Dječak je pospan = The boy is sleepy

Croatian often uses forms of biti just like English uses is / am / are.

Pospan means sleepy / drowsy.

So:

• Dječak je pospan = The boy is sleepy

Croatian does not need a separate becoming here. Depending on context, je pospan can simply describe his current state, and with već it often suggests that he is already sleepy now.

Also notice agreement:

• masculine singular: pospan
• feminine singular: pospana
• neuter singular: pospano

Because dječak is masculine, the adjective is pospan.

Već usually means already.

So:

• Dječak je već pospan = The boy is already sleepy

It shows that this state has started earlier than expected or earlier than some other point in the situation.

Yes, here dok means while, and it contrasts the two parts of the sentence:

• Dječak je već pospan
• dok djevojčica još želi slušati bajku

So the idea is:

• The boy is already sleepy, while the girl still wants to listen to a fairy tale.

In other contexts, dok can also mean until, so learners should always read it in context.

Još here means still.

So:

• djevojčica još želi... = the girl still wants...

Very common meanings of još include:

• still
• yet
• more / another, depending on context

In this sentence, still is the natural meaning.

Because Croatian often uses a conjugated verb plus an infinitive, just like English.

• želi = wants
• slušati = to listen

So:

• želi slušati = wants to listen

Here:

• djevojčica još želi slušati bajku = the girl still wants to listen to a fairy tale

This is a very common pattern:

• želim jesti = I want to eat
• voli čitati = he/she likes to read
• mora ići = he/she must go

Because bajka is the direct object of slušati, so it goes into the accusative case.

Dictionary form:

• bajka = fairy tale

Accusative singular:

• bajku

So:

• slušati bajku = to listen to a fairy tale

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

• nominative: knjiga

• accusative: knjigu

• nominative: priča

• accusative: priču

• nominative: bajka
• accusative: bajku

Because Croatian and English structure verbs differently.

In English, you say:

• listen to a fairy tale

In Croatian, slušati usually takes a direct object:

• slušati bajku
• literally: listen a fairy tale
• natural English translation: listen to a fairy tale

So even though English needs to, Croatian does not use a preposition here.

Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order, because cases show grammatical roles.

The neutral word order here is very natural:

• Dječak je već pospan, dok djevojčica još želi slušati bajku.

But some elements could move for emphasis, especially već and još.

For example:

• Dječak je pospan već...
• Djevojčica želi još slušati bajku...

However, not every rearrangement sounds equally natural. The original sentence is a good standard model.

One important point: je is a clitic, so it tends to appear in second position in its clause:

• Dječak je već pospan

That placement is very typical in Croatian.

Because forms like je are clitics in Croatian. Clitics are short unstressed words that usually appear near the beginning of the clause, often in second position.

So:

• Dječak je već pospan sounds natural

This second-position tendency is a key feature of Croatian grammar.

Other common clitics include:

• sam, si, je, smo, ste, su
• short object pronouns like ga, je, mu, mi

Learners often need time to get used to this.

Approximate pronunciation:

• dječak ≈ dyeh-chak
• djevojčica ≈ dye-VOY-chee-tsa
• bajku ≈ BYE-koo

A few sound notes:

• dj / đ is a soft sound, somewhat like the j in duke in some English accents, or a soft dy
• č sounds like ch in church
• c sounds like ts
• j sounds like English y

Croatian spelling is quite regular, so once you learn the letter sounds, pronunciation becomes much easier.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• bajka = fairy tale
• priča = story

So:

• slušati bajku = listen to a fairy tale
• slušati priču = listen to a story

Both are grammatically correct. The original sentence specifically uses bajku, which gives the sense of a bedtime or children’s fairy tale.

It has two clauses joined by dok:

1. Dječak je već pospan

   • subject: dječak
   • verb: je
   • predicate adjective: pospan
   • adverb: već

2. djevojčica još želi slušati bajku

   • subject: djevojčica
   • adverb: još
   • finite verb: želi
   • infinitive: slušati
   • object in accusative: bajku

So it is a very useful sentence for seeing:

• to be + adjective
• already / still
• while
• verb + infinitive
• accusative object