Šteta što je bicikl ukraden.

Here Šteta means It's a pity or What a shame.

That can be confusing because šteta can also mean damage or loss in other contexts. In this sentence, though, it is the common expression Šteta što... = It's a pity that...

Because Croatian often uses Šteta by itself as a complete expression meaning It's a pity / That's a shame.

So:

• Šteta. = What a pity.
• Šteta što je bicikl ukraden. = It's a pity that the bicycle was stolen.

English needs a dummy subject it, but Croatian does not.

Here što means that.

It introduces the clause explaining what is a pity:

• Šteta što... = It's a pity that...

This is not the same as što meaning what in a question or relative clause. In this sentence, it is a conjunction.

Je is the 3rd person singular present form of biti (to be).

It combines with ukraden to form the passive predicate:

• je ukraden = was stolen / has been stolen

So the second part of the sentence literally looks like:

• bicikl je ukraden = the bicycle is/was stolen

In natural English, this is usually translated as was stolen in this context.

Ukraden is a past passive participle of the verb ukrasti (to steal).

It means stolen.

It agrees with bicikl in gender, number, and case:

• bicikl is masculine singular
• so the participle is ukraden (masculine singular)

Compare:

• bicikl je ukraden = the bicycle was stolen
• knjiga je ukradena = the book was stolen
• auta su ukradena = the cars were stolen

Because bicikl is the subject of the passive clause, so it is in the nominative.

Compare the active and passive versions:

• Netko je ukrao bicikl. = Someone stole the bicycle.
  
  • Here bicikl is the object.
• Bicikl je ukraden. = The bicycle was stolen.
  
  • Here bicikl becomes the subject.

So in your sentence, bicikl is nominative because the structure is passive.

Yes. The part je bicikl ukraden is passive.

Active version:

• Netko je ukrao bicikl. = Someone stole the bicycle.

Passive version:

• Bicikl je ukraden. = The bicycle was stolen.

Croatian uses this passive structure quite naturally, especially when the doer is unknown or unimportant.

Because Croatian has no articles like a/an/the.

So bicikl can mean:

• a bicycle
• the bicycle
• sometimes just bicycle/bike, depending on context

In this sentence, English usually says the bicycle because it sounds like a specific bike is meant, but Croatian does not need a separate word for that.

Yes, both are possible depending on context.

• was stolen is the most natural translation in many cases
• has been stolen can also work if the recent result matters

Croatian does not match the English past/simple past vs. present perfect distinction exactly here, so translation depends on context more than on a strict one-to-one tense rule.

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but Šteta što je bicikl ukraden is the most neutral and natural order here.

You may also hear variations, but changing the order usually changes the focus or emphasis. For a learner, the safest pattern is:

• Šteta što je + subject + passive participle

So this sentence is a very good model to remember.

Usually Šteta što je bicikl ukraden is the normal choice.

Using što after šteta is the standard way to mean it's a pity that...

A sentence with da may appear in some contexts or regional usage, but for most learners, Šteta što... is the form to learn and use.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• Šteta ≈ SHTEH-ta
• što ≈ shto
• je ≈ ye
• bicikl ≈ BEE-tsi-kl
• ukraden ≈ oo-KRA-den

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

SHTEH-ta shto ye BEE-tsi-kl oo-KRA-den

Not exact English pronunciation, of course, but close enough to help you say it.