Svakako provjerite rok trajanja.

Svakako means something like definitely, certainly, in any case, or be sure to.

In this sentence, the most natural English feeling is:

• be sure to
• make sure you
• definitely

So Svakako provjerite rok trajanja. has the tone of Be sure to check the expiration date.

Provjerite is the imperative form, meaning it is used to give an instruction, recommendation, or command.

It comes from the verb provjeriti = to check / to verify.

So provjerite means:

• check! when speaking to more than one person
• check! when speaking politely to one person

This is a very common form in instructions, notices, advertisements, and official language.

It can be either:

• 2nd person plural: you all, check
• polite singular: you, sir/ma’am, check

Croatian uses the same form for both.

So without context, provjerite could mean:

• Check, everyone
• Please check (formal/polite, to one person)

In a general instruction like this, it often feels like a neutral instruction to the reader.

This is about verb aspect, which is very important in Croatian.

• provjeriti = perfective → to check once, successfully, as a complete action
• provjeravati = imperfective → to be checking, to check repeatedly/habitually

In this sentence, the idea is do this check as a single complete action, so provjerite is the natural choice.

Using provjeravajte would suggest something more like:

• keep checking
• check regularly
• check from time to time

That is not the main idea here.

It is the direct object of provjerite, so it is in the accusative.

However, rok is a masculine inanimate noun, and in Croatian the accusative singular of masculine inanimate nouns is the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: rok
• accusative: rok

That is why the form does not change.

Rok trajanja is a fixed expression.

Literally:

• rok = term, deadline, period, limit
• trajanja = of duration / of lasting (genitive form of trajanje)

Together, rok trajanja means the period until something is no longer valid or usable, and in everyday English it is usually translated as:

• expiration date
• expiry date
• sometimes shelf life, depending on context

So learners should treat rok trajanja as a common set phrase.

Trajanja is the genitive singular form of the noun trajanje.

The noun rok often takes another noun in the genitive to specify what kind of term/deadline/period it is.

So:

• rok trajanja = period/deadline of duration, idiomatically expiration date / shelf life

This structure is common in Croatian, where one noun modifies another through the genitive instead of using a preposition like English often does.

Yes. Datum isteka is another common expression.

Very roughly:

• rok trajanja = shelf life / expiry period / expiration date
• datum isteka = expiration date in a more literal date of expiry sense

In many everyday contexts, they overlap a lot.

You may also see other packaging expressions such as:

• upotrijebiti do = use by
• najbolje upotrijebiti do = best before

So rok trajanja is very natural, but it is not the only way to express the idea.

Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order, and the beginning of the sentence is often used for emphasis.

Putting svakako first gives the sentence the feeling:

• Above all, make sure you check...
• Definitely check...

You could rearrange the sentence, but Svakako provjerite rok trajanja. sounds very natural and emphatic.

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

So Croatian simply says:

• provjerite rok trajanja

Whether English should use the, an, or no article at all depends on the translation and context. In this sentence, English naturally uses the:

• Check the expiration date.

But Croatian does not need a separate word for that.

No. In Croatian, the imperative is very normal in:

• instructions
• warnings
• notices
• recipes
• advertisements
• packaging

So this sounds like a standard practical instruction, not a rude command.

If you wanted to sound softer in conversation, you could add something like molim or rephrase it, but in this kind of sentence the imperative is completely normal.

You would use the singular informal imperative:

• Svakako provjeri rok trajanja.

Compare:

• provjeri = check! (to one friend, informal)
• provjerite = check! (to several people, or to one person politely)

So the original sentence is not the casual singular form.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

SVA-ka-ko pro-VYE-ri-te rok tra-YA-nya

A few helpful notes:

• j is pronounced like English y
• nj in trajanja sounds like the ny in canyon
• je in provjerite is roughly vye

So trajanja sounds approximately like tra-YA-nya.