Šaljem pozdrav cijeloj posadi.

Literally, it means I am sending a greeting to the whole crew.

In natural English, you might also translate it as:

• I send my regards to the whole crew
• Sending greetings to the entire crew
• Best regards to the whole crew

The exact English version depends on context.

In Croatian, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

Here, šaljem means I send / I am sending, so ja (I) is not necessary.

You could say Ja šaljem pozdrav cijeloj posadi, but that sounds more emphatic, like:

• I am the one sending greetings
• I send greetings

Most of the time, just Šaljem... is perfectly normal.

Šaljem is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb slati, which means to send.

So:

• slati = to send
• šaljem = I send / I am sending

This verb changes stem in the present tense, so it is not formed in a completely predictable way from the infinitive.

Some present-tense forms are:

• šaljem = I send
• šalješ = you send
• šalje = he/she/it sends
• šaljemo = we send
• šaljete = you plural/formal send
• šalju = they send

Here, pozdrav is singular and means a greeting or regards.

Croatian often uses the singular in places where English may prefer something broader like:

• greetings
• regards

So šaljem pozdrav is a very natural expression.

You could also hear šaljem pozdrave, which means I send greetings in the plural. Both are possible, but šaljem pozdrav is a common, idiomatic phrase.

Pozdrav is in the accusative singular.

That is because it is the direct object of šaljem:

• What am I sending? → pozdrav

For masculine nouns like pozdrav that are inanimate, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular:

• nominative: pozdrav
• accusative: pozdrav

So even though the form does not change, its role in the sentence is accusative.

Cijeloj posadi is in the dative singular, because it shows the recipient of what is being sent.

With slati (to send), Croatian often works like this:

• thing being sent = accusative
• person/group receiving it = dative

So:

• pozdrav = what is being sent
• cijeloj posadi = to the whole crew

In English we use to the whole crew, but Croatian usually marks that relationship through the dative ending instead of a separate word like to.

Because cijeloj has to agree with posadi.

The noun posada is:

• feminine
• singular
• here in the dative

So the adjective cijela (whole, entire) must match it:

• nominative feminine singular: cijela posada = the whole crew
• dative feminine singular: cijeloj posadi = to the whole crew

This kind of adjective-noun agreement is very important in Croatian.

Posada means crew, especially a crew of a ship, aircraft, spacecraft, or another vehicle/team operating together.

It is a feminine singular noun.

Even though it refers to multiple people, grammatically it behaves like a singular noun, just like English crew does.

For example:

• Posada je spremna. = The crew is ready.

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

The neutral order here is:

• Šaljem pozdrav cijeloj posadi.

But you could also hear:

• Cijeloj posadi šaljem pozdrav.
• Pozdrav šaljem cijeloj posadi.

These versions shift emphasis slightly:

• Cijeloj posadi... emphasizes to the whole crew
• Pozdrav... emphasizes the greeting

Even so, the original sentence sounds natural and neutral.

It can be both, but it is especially common in messages, letters, radio-style communication, or public greetings.

It sounds a bit more formal or set-phrase-like than everyday casual conversation.

In very casual speech, a speaker might say something like:

• Pozdravi cijelu posadu! = Say hi to the whole crew!
• Šaljem vam pozdrav. = I’m sending you my regards.

So the sentence is perfectly natural, but it has a slightly polished or communicative tone.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

SHAH-lyem POHZ-drahv TSYE-loy poh-SAH-dee

A few useful notes:

• š sounds like sh in shoe
• lj is a soft sound, roughly like lli in million for many English speakers
• c is pronounced ts
• j is pronounced like English y
• č and ć do not appear in this sentence, but cijeloj begins with plain c, so it starts with a ts sound

The stress pattern can vary a bit by dialect, but the above will be understandable.

Because posadi is the dative singular form of posada.

The basic dictionary form is:

• posada = crew

But in this sentence, it means to the crew, so the form changes:

• posada → posadi

That change tells you the noun is functioning as the recipient.

So:

• cijela posada = the whole crew
• šaljem pozdrav cijeloj posadi = I send greetings to the whole crew