Potraga još traje.

Potraga means search, hunt, or sometimes manhunt, depending on context.

It is:

• feminine
• singular
• here used in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence

So in Potraga još traje, potraga is the search / the search operation.

It is in the nominative because it is the thing that does the verb in the sentence—the grammatical subject.

In:

• Potraga još traje. = The search is still going on.

the subject is potraga, and the verb is traje.

Croatian uses the nominative for the subject, just like dictionary forms of nouns.

Here, još means still.

So:

• još traje = is still continuing / still lasts

Be careful, because još can also mean other things in different contexts, such as:

• more
• another
• yet

But in this sentence, the natural translation is definitely still.

Traje is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb trajati.

So the verb pattern is:

• ja trajem = I last / I continue
• ti traješ = you last
• on/ona/ono traje = he/she/it lasts

Since potraga is singular, the verb must also be singular:

• potraga traje

In English, we often say:

• The search is still ongoing
• The search is still underway

Croatian often expresses this idea with the full verb trajati = to last / to continue.

So instead of literally saying is ongoing, Croatian says:

• Potraga još traje. Literally: The search still lasts/continues.

This is a very natural Croatian way to express an ongoing situation.

Croatian has no articles like a or the.

So potraga can mean:

• a search
• the search

The exact meaning depends on context.

In a sentence like Potraga još traje, English usually needs the:

• The search is still ongoing.

But Croatian does not mark that with an article.

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

You can say:

• Potraga još traje.
• Još traje potraga.

Both are natural.

The difference is mostly about focus or style:

• Potraga još traje. puts the topic potraga first.
• Još traje potraga. emphasizes the fact that it is still ongoing.

For a learner, the original version is a very neutral and useful pattern.

Yes. That is completely correct.

• još = still
• još uvijek = still / still now / still at this point

So:

• Potraga još traje.
• Potraga još uvijek traje.

Both mean essentially the same thing.
The version with još uvijek can sound a little more explicit.

Yes, trajati is an imperfective verb.

That matters because this sentence describes an action or situation that is ongoing, not completed:

• the search is still continuing

Croatian typically uses an imperfective verb for:

• duration
• repetition
• ongoing situations

So traje is exactly what you would expect here.

Yes. Potraga can be used both literally and figuratively.

It can refer to:

• a police search
• a rescue search
• a manhunt
• a search for something abstract, such as truth or meaning

So the sentence could fit many contexts:

• Potraga za nestalom osobom još traje. = The search for the missing person is still ongoing.
• Potraga za odgovorima još traje. = The search for answers is still ongoing.

You negate the verb:

• Potraga još traje. = The search is still ongoing.
• Potraga više ne traje. = The search is no longer ongoing.

You could also say:

• Potraga ne traje više.

But više ne is a very common and natural way to say no longer.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• Potraga ≈ POH-trah-gah
• još ≈ yosh
• traje ≈ TRAH-yeh

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

POH-trah-gah yosh TRAH-yeh

The letter j in Croatian is pronounced like English y in yes.
The letter š is pronounced like sh in shoe.