Većina ljudi ima telefon.

Većina means the majority or most.

In Croatian, it is a noun, not just an adverb-like word. So the sentence is structured more like:

The majority of people has a phone
rather than directly word-for-word Most people have a phone.

That is why većina acts as the grammatical subject of the sentence.

Because the grammatical subject is većina, and većina is singular.

So even though ljudi means people and refers to many individuals, the verb agrees with većina, not with ljudi:

• Većina ljudi ima telefon. = Most people have a phone.

This is similar to English expressions like the majority of people has/have..., where agreement can feel tricky. In standard Croatian, with većina, singular verb agreement is normal.

Ljudi means people. It is the common plural form referring to human beings in general.

After većina, Croatian usually uses the genitive form to mean of ..., so:

• većina ljudi = the majority of people

So ljudi here is functioning like of people.

It is in the genitive plural.

That is because većina normally takes a noun in the genitive:

• većina ljudi = most people / the majority of people
• literally: majority of people

This is a very common pattern in Croatian.

Because čovjek means man or human being, but in this kind of general statement Croatian usually uses ljudi for people.

Also, after većina, you need the genitive plural. The genitive plural of čovjek is not the normal choice here anyway. The natural expression is:

• većina ljudi

That is the standard and idiomatic way to say most people.

Because telefon is the direct object of ima, and here it is in the accusative singular.

For masculine nouns that refer to non-living things, the accusative singular usually looks the same as the nominative singular:

• nominative: telefon
• accusative: telefon

So:

• ima telefon = has a phone

Because each individual person is understood to have a phone. Croatian often uses the singular in this type of sentence, just as English does:

• Most people have a phone
• Većina ljudi ima telefon

You could also see plural objects in other contexts, but here singular is the normal general statement.

Croatian does not have articles like English a, an, and the.

So telefon can mean:

• a phone
• the phone

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, the natural English translation is a phone.

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, although Većina ljudi ima telefon is the most neutral and natural order.

You might also hear variations for emphasis, but they can sound marked depending on context. For a learner, the safest version is:

• Većina ljudi ima telefon.

That is the standard, neutral way to say it.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

• VEH-chee-na LYOO-dee EE-ma teh-leh-FON

A few notes:

• ć is a soft ch-like sound
• lj is pronounced together, somewhat like a soft ly
• stress can vary by dialect, but the above approximation is good enough for learners

In modern everyday Croatian, telefon often means phone in a general sense and can absolutely refer to a mobile phone, depending on context.

If someone wants to be more specific, they might say:

• mobitel = mobile phone / cell phone

But in a broad sentence like Većina ljudi ima telefon, telefon is perfectly natural.

Yes. It is grammatical and natural.

That said, in modern everyday speech, if the intended meaning is specifically Most people have a mobile phone, many speakers might more naturally say:

• Većina ljudi ima mobitel.

But Većina ljudi ima telefon. is still correct and easy to understand.

The pattern is:

• većina + genitive plural noun + singular verb + object

So here:

• većina = majority
• ljudi = of people
• ima = has
• telefon = phone

A useful model to remember is:

• Većina učenika uči. = Most students study.
• Većina žena radi. = Most women work.
• Većina ljudi ima telefon. = Most people have a phone.