Podnositelj zahtjeva sada čeka u redu.

Because zahtjeva is the genitive singular form of zahtjev.

In this phrase, podnositelj commonly takes a genitive complement:

• podnositelj čega? = submitter/applicant of what?
• podnositelj zahtjeva = applicant / submitter of an application-request

So this is a normal Croatian pattern. If zahtjev were the direct object of a verb, you would usually see zahtjev, for example:

• Podnosi zahtjev. = He/She is submitting the application/request.

Yes, very much so. It is a common formal / administrative / legal expression.

You will often see phrases like:

• podnositelj zahtjeva
• nositelj zahtjeva
• zahtjev podnosi podnositelj

In everyday speech, people might use something simpler depending on context, but in official language this phrase sounds very normal.

Grammatically, podnositelj is a masculine noun. In official Croatian, masculine forms are often used in a generic way, so it can refer to a person of any gender unless the text specifically chooses a feminine form.

If you want to make it explicitly feminine, you may see:

• podnositeljica zahtjeva

But in forms, laws, and instructions, the masculine form is often used generically.

Čeka is the 3rd person singular present tense of čekati.

So it matches a singular subject:

• podnositelj zahtjeva čeka = the applicant is waiting

Other present-tense forms are:

• čekam = I wait / I am waiting
• čekaš = you wait
• čeka = he/she/it waits
• čekamo = we wait
• čekate = you plural/formal wait
• čekaju = they wait

Čekati is an imperfective verb, which is what Croatian normally uses for an ongoing action like waiting.

That makes it the natural choice here, because the sentence describes a current situation. In Croatian, imperfective verbs are very common for actions in progress.

A perfective form would usually not work the same way in a plain present-time statement like this.

Here u redu means in line / in the queue, and redu is locative singular of red.

After u, Croatian uses:

• locative for location: u redu = in the line
• accusative for movement into something

So:

• čeka u redu = waits in line
• stane u red = gets into line / lines up

That location-vs-movement distinction is very important in Croatian.

Yes. U redu can also mean okay / all right / fine.

Examples:

• Sve je u redu. = Everything is okay.
• U redu, idemo. = Okay, let’s go.

In your sentence, though, the meaning is clearly in line because of the verb čeka and the overall context.

So Croatian learners need to get used to the fact that u redu has more than one meaning depending on context.

Because Croatian does not have articles like English a and the.

So podnositelj zahtjeva can mean things like:

• the applicant
• an applicant

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is very normal in Croatian. Learners often want to insert something like English the, but Croatian simply does not do that.

Yes. Sada and sad both mean now.

• sada is the fuller form
• sad is very common in everyday speech

So both are possible:

• Podnositelj zahtjeva sada čeka u redu.
• Podnositelj zahtjeva sad čeka u redu.

The version with sada can sound a bit more neutral or slightly more formal in some contexts.

No, Croatian word order is fairly flexible.

Your sentence is natural, but other orders are also possible, for example:

• Sada podnositelj zahtjeva čeka u redu.
• Podnositelj zahtjeva čeka sada u redu.

These all mean basically the same thing, but the emphasis can shift slightly.

The given order sounds neutral and natural:

• subject first
• then the adverb sada
• then the verb
• then the prepositional phrase u redu

It sounds quite formal, mainly because of podnositelj zahtjeva.

The rest of the sentence is straightforward, but that noun phrase belongs to administrative or official language.

A more everyday sentence would usually name the person more simply if the context allowed it. For example, in casual speech people often avoid long official noun phrases unless they are speaking in a bureaucratic or legal setting.

Yes, a few:

• č in čeka sounds roughly like ch in church
• ž in zahtjeva sounds like the s in measure
• lj in podnositelj is a single sound, roughly like lli in million for many English speakers

Also, Croatian normally pronounces consonants clearly, so do not drop sounds that English speakers might reduce.

A rough pronunciation guide would be:

• podnositelj ≈ pod-no-see-tely
• zahtjeva ≈ zah-tye-va
• čeka ≈ cheh-ka
• u redu ≈ oo reh-doo

These are only approximations, but they can help at the start.