Grammar

All nouns in Croatian belong to one of the three genders: masculine, feminine, or neuter, regardless of animacy. For nouns that refer to things, the gender of a noun has nothing to do with the meaning of the word. Gender for inanimate nouns is only a grammatical category; it is related to how the word ends in its basic (or “dictionary”) form. Figuring out the gender of most nouns will not be difficult.

| Masculine Gender

Generally, when the dictionary form of the noun ends in “zero-ending” (i.e., it ends in a consonant) then the noun is masculine. The majority of masculine nouns end in a consonant, and when they are pluralized, they get the ending -i (automobil → automobili). For a more detailed breakdown of masculine nouns, look at the charts below. (a) The most frequent ending forms for masculine gender nouns ending in a consonant

	Inanimate (for things)		Animate (for living beings)
	singular	plural	singular	plural
N.	mobitel	mobitel-i	profesor	profesor-i
G.	mobitel-a	mobitel-a	profesor-a	profesor-a
D.	mobitel-u	mobitel-ima	profesor-u	profesor-ima
A.	mobitel	mobitel-e	profesor-a	profesor-e
V.	mobitel-e	mobitel-i	profesor-e	profesor-i
L.	mobitel-u	mobitel-ima	profesor-u	profesor-ima
I.	mobitel-om	mobitel-ima	profesor-om	profesor-ima

(b) Masculine gender nouns ending in a palatal

	singular	plural
N.	prijatelj	prijatelj-i
G.	prijatelj-a	prijatelj-a
D.	prijatelj-u	prijatelj-ima
A.	prijatelj-a	prijatelj-e
V.	prijatelj-u	prijatelj-i
L.	prijatelj-u	prijatelj-ima
I.	prijatelj-em	prijatelj-ima

(c) One-syllable masculine nouns (these nouns can be animate or inanimate nouns)

	singular	plural	singular	plural
N.	most	most-ov-i	puž	puž-ev-i
G.	most-a	most-ov-a	puž-a	puž-ev-a
D.	most-u	most-ov-ima	puž-u	puž-ev-ima
A.	most	most-ov-e	puž-a	puž-ev-e
V.	most-e	most-ov-i	puž-u	puž-ev-i
L.	most-u	most-ov-ima	puž-u	puž-ev-ima
I.	most-om	most-ov-ima	puž-em	puž-ev-ima

(d) Sound changes with different cases for masculine nouns Pay special attention to singular masculine nouns that end in -k or -h. A certain sound change occurs when a noun is declined (i.e., a different case form).

	singular	plural	singular	plural
N.	otok	oto-c-i	orah	ora-s-i
G.	otok-a	otok-a	orah-a	orah-a
D.	otok-u	oto-c-ima	orah-u	ora-s-ima
A.	otok	otok-e	orah	orah-e
V.	oto-č-e	oto-c-i	ora-š-e	ora-s-i
L.	otok-u	oto-c-ima	orah-u	ora-s-ima
I.	otok-om	oto-c--ima	orah-om	ora-s-ima

This is a general rule that you need to have in mind.

• • K+E = /ČE/

For example N.sing. otok → V.sing. otoče

• • H+E = /ŠE/

For example N.sing. orah → V.sing. oraše

• • K+I = /CI/

For example N.sing. otok → N.pl. otoci

• • H+I = /SI/

For example N.sing. orah → N.pl. orasi

	singular	plural	singular	plural
N.	stric	stri-č-ev-i	pas	ps-i
G.	stric-a	stri-č-ev-a	ps-a	pas-a
D.	stric-u	stri-č-ev-ima	ps -u	ps-ima
A.	stric-a	stri-č-ev-e	ps-a	ps-e
V.	stri-č-e	stri-č-ev-i	ps-u	ps-i
L.	stric-u	stri-č-ev-ima	ps-u	ps-ima
I.	stric-em	stri-č-ev-ima	ps-om	ps-ima

This is a general rule you need to have in mind.

• • C+E = /ČE/

For example N.sing. stric → V.sing. striče

• • FLEETING “a”

For example N.sing. pas → N.pl. psi (e) Suppletion / Different stems for singular and plural forms for some masculine nouns

	singular	plural	singular	plural
N.	brat	brać-a	čovjek	ljud-i
G.	brat-a	brać-e	čovjek-a	ljud-i
D.	brat -u	brać-i	čovjek-u	ljud-ima
A.	brat-a	brać-u	čovjek-a	ljud-e
V.	brat-e	brać-o	čovječ-e	ljud-i
L.	brat-u	brać-i	čovjek-u	ljud-ima
I.	brat-om	brać-om	čovjek-om	ljud-ima

An example of a masculine noun that ends in –a.

• brat (brother) – follows the pattern of masculine animate nouns
• braća (brothers) – follows the pattern of feminine singular nouns

An example of a masculine noun that has a regular singular form and irregular plural form.

• čovjek (human being/man) – follows the pattern of masculine animate nouns
• ljudi (people) – completely different stem from the singular

(f) Masculine nouns that do NOT end in a consonant (two examples) Noun posao (even though it ends in -o) is a masculine noun. It follows the pattern of:

• masculine inanimate noun
• one-syllable noun
• has a sound change with a fleeting “a”

	singular	plural
N.	posa-o	posl-ov-i
G.	posl-a	posl-ov-a
D.	posl -u	posl-ov-ima
A.	posao	posl-ov-e
V.	posl-e	posl-ov-i
L.	posl-u	posl-ov-ima
I.	posl-om	posl-ov-ima

Noun tata. Grammatical gender of the noun is feminine and thus will follow the feminine ending pattern. However, everything describing this noun has to be masculine. Example: Ovo je moj tata.

	singular	plural
N.	tat-a	tat-e
G.	tat-e	tat-a
D.	tat-i	tat-ama
A.	tat-u	tat-e
V.	tat-o	tat-e
L.	tat-i	tat-ama
I.	tat-om	tat-ama

| Feminine Gender

Generally, when the dictionary form of a singular noun ends in “-a”, the noun is feminine. Feminine nouns that end in -a in the singular form, when pluralized, will take the ending -e (knjiga → knjige). (a) The most frequent ending forms for feminine gender nouns ending in -a

	singular	plural
N.	žen-a	žen-e
G.	žen-e	žen-a
D.	žen-i	žen-ama
A.	žen-u	žen-e
V.	žen-o	žen-e
L.	žen-i	žen-ama
I.	žen-om	žen-ama

(b) Nouns ending in -ad or -ost

	singular	plural	singular	plural
N.	momč-ad	momč-ad-i	rad-ost	radost-i
G.	momč-ad-i	momč-ad-i	radost-i	radost-i
D.	momč-ad-i	momč-ad-ima	radost-i	radost-ima
A.	momčad	momč-ad-i	radost	radost-i
V.	momč-ad-i	momč-ad-i	radost-i	radost-i
L.	momč-ad-i	momč-ad-ima	radost-i	radost-ima
I.	momč-ad-i	momč-ad-ima	radost-i	radost-ima

(c) Irregular feminine nouns (two examples)

	singular	plural	singular	plural
N.	kći	kćeri	misao	misli
G.	kćeri	kćeri	misli	misli
D.	kćeri	kćerima	misli	mislima
A.	kćer	kćeri	misao	misli
V.	kćeri	kćeri	misli	misli
L.	kćeri	kćerima	misli	mislima
I.	kćeri	kćerima	misli	mislima

| Neuter Gender

Generally, when the dictionary form of a singular noun ends in “-o” or “-e”, the noun is neuter. Neuter nouns that have the ending -o or -e in their singular form get the ending -a when pluralized (ogledalo → ogledala; polje → polja). (a) The most frequent ending forms for neuter gender nouns ending in -o or -e

	singular	plural	singular	plural
N.	sel-o	sel-a	polj-e	polj-a
G.	sel-a	sel-a	polj-a	polj-a
D.	sel-u	sel-ima	polj-u	polj-ima
A.	sel-o	sel-a	polj-e	polj-a
V.	sel-o	sel-a	polj-e	polj-a
L.	sel-u	sel-ima	polj-u	polj-ima
I.	sel-om	sel-ima	polj-em	polj-ima

(b) Irregularities/differences between singular and plural forms

	singular	plural
N.	dijet-e	djec-a
G.	djetet-a	djec-e
D.	djetet-u	djec-i
A.	dijet-e	djec-u
V.	dijet-e	djec-o
L.	djetet-u	djec-i
I.	djetet-om	djec-om

Remember:

• dijete (child) = follows the regular pattern for neuter nouns with spelling differences between the Nominative case and other case forms. Pay close attention to this!
• djeca (children) = follows the pattern of feminine singular nouns. Be careful with spelling the plural forms of “djeca.”

Note: In ekavian form (Serbian), it’s dete (sing.) and deca (pl.)

| Auxiliary Verbs

The verb ‘biti’ is the most used verb in Croatian. In the present tense it has two forms, a stressed and unstressed form. The verb ‘htjeti’ is the second auxiliary verb in Croatian. Similarly to ‘biti,’ in the present tense, it has two forms, a stressed and unstressed form.

	BITI		HTJETI
	stressed form	unstressed form	stressed form	unstressed form
ja	jesam	sam	hoću	ću
ti	jesi	si	hoćeš	ćeš
on-ona-ono	jest	je	hoće	će
mi	jesmo	smo	hoćemo	ćemo
vi	jeste	ste	hoćete	ćete
oni-one-ona	jesu	su	hoće	će

| Modal Verbs Modal verbs are used with other verbs to express ability, obligation, possibility, and so on. Modal verbs (listed below) can be combined with other verbs in their infinitive form to make sentences. Example: Ja želim posjetiti katedralu. / Što trebam vidjeti? / Što moram posjetiti?

	MORATI	SMJETI	MOĆI	TREBATI
ja	moram	smijem	mogu	trebam
ti	moraš	smiješ	možeš	trebaš
on-ona-ono	mora	smije	može	treba
mi	moramo	smijemo	možemo	trebamo
vi	morate	smijete	možete	trebate
oni-one-ona	moraju	smiju	mogu	trebaju

Two possible ways of using the modal verbs For the purposes of explanation, we will refer here to the Croatian and Serbian forms as there is a major distinction. Croatian structure: modal verb + infinitive form of another verb. Example:

• Moram kupiti sladoled.
• Smijem jesti kolače.
• Mogu kupiti knjigu.
• Trebam pojesti doručak.

Serbian structure: modal verb + da + Present Tense of another verb. Example:

• Moram da kupim sladoled.
• Smem da jedem kolače.
• Mogu da kupim knjigu.
• Treba da pojedem doručak.

Note: The verb trebati (in the function of a modal verb) will always have the form treba da + present tense.

| Verbs that end in -ti

The majority of the verbs in their infinitive form end in -ti. Look at the following sections for a more detailed breakdown of these verbs. (a) Regular verbs ending in -ati

	SLUŠ-A-TI	GLED-A-TI	IGR-A-TI	SLUŠ-A-TI
ja	sluš-am	gled-am	igr-am	sluš-am
ti	sluš-aš	gled-aš	igr-aš	sluš-aš
on-ona-ono	sluš-a	gled-a	igr-a	sluš-a
mi	sluš-amo	gled-amo	igr-amo	sluš-amo
vi	sluš-ate	gled-ate	igr-ate	sluš-ate
oni-one-ona	sluš-aju	gled-aju	igr-aju	sluš-aju

(b) Verbs ending in -sti or -nuti

	JE-STI	PROVE-STI	PA-STI*	MAK-NUTI
ja	je-d-em	prove-d-em	pa-d-n-em	makn-em
ti	je-d-eš	prove-d-eš	pa-d-n-eš	makn-eš
on-ona-ono	je-d-e	prove-d-e	pa-d-n-e	makn-e
mi	je-d-emo	prove-d-emo	pa-d-n-emo	makn-emo
vi	je-d-ete	prove-d-ete	pa-d-n-ete	makn-ete
oni-one-ona	je-d-u	prove-d-u	pa-d-n-u	makn-u

*One-syllable infinitive stem, thus -n- has to be added before the ending.   (c) Verbs ending in -iti or -(j)eti

	MISL-ITI	ŽIV-(J)ETI
ja	misl-im	živ-im
ti	misl-iš	živ-iš
on-ona-ono	misl-i	živ-i
mi	misl-imo	živ-imo
vi	misl-ite	živ-ite
oni-one-ona	misl-e	živ-e

(d) Verbs ending in -ovati, -evati, or -ivati

	PUT-OVATI	KRALJ-EVATI	IZNAJMLJ-IVATI
ja	put-u-jem	kralj-u-jem	iznajmlj-u-jem
ti	put-u-ješ	kralj-u-ješ	iznajmlj-u-ješ
on-ona-ono	put-u-je	kralj-u-je	iznajmlj-u-je
mi	put-u-jemo	kralj-u-jemo	iznajmlj-u-jemo
vi	put-u-jete	kralj-u-jete	iznajmlj-u-jete
oni-one-ona	put-u-ju	kralj-u-ju	iznajmlj-u-ju

(e) Stem changes among verbs ending in -ati

	ZV-ATI	PR-ATI
ja	z-o-v-em	p-e-r-em
ti	z-o-v-eš	p-e-r-eš
on-ona-ono	z-o-v-e	p-e-r-e
mi	z-o-v-emo	p-e-r-emo
vi	z-o-v-ete	p-e-r-ete
oni-one-ona	z-o-v-u	p-e-r-u

	PIS-ATI	VIK-ATI
ja	pi-š-em	vi-č-em
ti	pi-š-eš	vi-č-eš
on-ona-ono	pi-š-e	vi-č-e
mi	pi-š-emo	vi-č-emo
vi	pi-š-ete	vi-č-ete
oni-one-ona	pi-š-u	vi-č-u

	TRČ-ATI	DRŽ-ATI
ja	trč-im	drž-im
ti	trč-iš	drž-iš
on-ona-ono	trč-i	drž-i
mi	trč-imo	drž-imo
vi	trč-ite	drž-ite
oni-one-ona	trč-e	drž-e

| Verbs that end in -ći

Verbs that end in -ći have irregular forms in B/C/M/S and you will need to learn them as we go through each unit. Look at the following sections for a more detailed breakdown of these verbs. (a) Present tense of -ći verbs with -d- / -đ-

	I-ĆI	DO-ĆI	PO-ĆI
ja	i-d-em	do-đ-em	po-đ-em
ti	i-d-eš	do-đ-eš	po -đ-eš
on-ona-ono	i-d-e	do-đ-e	po -đ-e
mi	i-d-emo	do-đ-emo	po -đ-emo
vi	i-d-ete	do-đ-ete	po -đ-ete
oni-one-ona	i-d-u	do-đ-u	po -đ-u

(b) Present tense of -ći verbs with -č- / -k-

	RE-ĆI	RE-ĆI	PE-ĆI
ja	re-k-n-em	re-č-em	pe-č-em
ti	re-k-n-eš	re-č-eš	pe-č-eš
on-ona-ono	re-k-n-e	re-č-e	pe-č-e
mi	re-k-n-emo	re-č-emo	pe-č-emo
vi	re-k-n-ete	re-č-ete	pe-č-ete
oni-one-ona	re-k-n-u	re-k-u	pe-k-u

(c) Present tense of -ći verbs with -ž- / -g-

	LE-ĆI	LE-ĆI	STRI-ĆI
ja	le-g-n-em	le-ž-em	stri-ž-em
ti	le-g-n-eš	le-ž-eš	stri-ž-eš
on-ona-ono	le-g-n-e	le-ž-e	stri-ž-e
mi	le-g-n-emo	le-ž-emo	stri-ž-emo
vi	le-g-n-ete	le-ž-ete	stri-ž-ete
oni-one-ona	le-g-n-u	le-g-u	stri-g-u

| Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs are verbs that indicate that the subject performs an action on itself. They are characterized by the use of the pronouns "se." For example, in the verb "umiti se" (to wash one’s face), the "se" shows that the subject is performing the action on themselves. Reflexive verbs are an essential part of B/C/M/S grammar, helping to convey actions that are directed back at the subject.

With personal pronoun, GLEDATI SE	Without personal pronoun, GLEDATI SE
ja se gledam	gledam se
ti se gledaš	gledaš se
on/ona/on se gleda	gleda se
mi se gledamo	gledamo se
vi se gledate	gledate se
oni/one/ona se gledaju	gledaju se

| Past Tense

Generally, the Past Tense consists of two parts: 1) the unstressed present tense form (the short form) of the auxiliary verb biti (to be) 2) active participle of the verb. To form the active participle of a verb, start with the infinitive form of the verb, remove the final –TI or ĆI, and add the required ending to make the gender and number agree with the subject of the sentence.

	singular	plural
masculine gender	-o	-li
feminine gender	-la	-le
neuter gender	-lo	-la

For more detailed information on how to form the active participle, look at the sections below. It will give you the regular and irregular forms of active participles. (a) Past tense of -ati verbs

SLUŠATI	ZVATI	TRČATI	PUTOVATI
ja sam sluša-o/-la	ja sam zva-o/-la	ja sam trča-o/-la	ja sam putova-o/-la
ti si sluša-o/-la	ti si zva-o/-la	ti si trča-o/-la	ti si putova-o/-la
on je sluša-o	on je zva-o	on je trča-o	on je putova-o
ona je sluša-la	ona je zva-la	ona je trča-la	ona je putova-la
ono* je sluša-lo	ono je zva-lo	ono je trča-lo	ono je putova-lo
mi smo sluša-li/-le	mi smo zva-li/-le	mi smo trča-li/-le	mi smo putovali/-le
vi ste sluša-li/-le	vi ste zva-li/-le	vi ste trča-li/-le	vi ste putova-li/-le
oni su sluša-li	oni su zva-li	oni su trča-li	oni su putova-li
one su sluša-le	one su zva-le	one su trča-le	one su putova-le
ona* su sluša-la	ona su zva-la	ona su trča-la	ona su putova-la

* In the past tense, for neuter gender, most likely you will not hear a pronoun. Rather, you will hear a noun of neuter gender. Examples are: D(ij)ete je slušalo/zvalo/trčalo/putovalo. D(j)eca su slušala/zvala/trčala/putovala… (b) Past tense of -iti and -(j)eti verbs

MISL-ITI	ŽIV-JETI (-jeti form), Cro.	ŽIV-ETI (-eti form), Sr.
ja sam misli-o/-la	ja sam živi-o/-la	ja sam žive-o/-la
ti si misli-o/-la	ti si živi-o/-la	ti si žive-o/-la
on je misli-o	on je živi-o	on je žive-o
ona je misli-la	ona je živje-la	ona je žive-la
ono je misli-lo	ono je živjel-o	ono je žive-lo
mi smo misli-li/-le	mi smo živje-li/-le	mi smo žive-li/-le
vi ste misli-li/-le	vi ste živje-li/-le	vi ste žive-li/-le
oni su misli-li	oni su živje-li	oni su žive-li
one su misli-le	one su živje-le	one su žive-le
ona su misli-la	ona su živje-la	ona su žive-la

(c) Past tense of -sti or -nuti verbs

JE-STI	PROVE-STI	MAK-NUTI
ja sam je-o/-la	ja sam prove-o/-la	ja sam maknu-o/-la
ti si je-o/-la	ti si prove-o/-la	ti si maknu-o/-la
on je je-o	on je prove-o	on je maknu-o
ona je je-la	ona je prove-la	ona je maknu-la
ono je jel-o	ono je prove-lo	ono je maknu-lo
mi smo je-li/-le	mi smo prove-li/-le	mi smo maknu-li/-le
vi ste je-li/-le	vi ste prove-li/-le	vi ste maknu-li/-le
oni su je-li	oni su prove-li	oni su maknu-li
one su je-le	one su prove-le	one su maknu-le
ona su je-la	ona su prove-la	ona su maknu-la

(d) Past tense of -ći verbs, related to the verb ići (motion verbs) Most of the verbs that are related to motion end in -ći, and will behave in this way. In other words, when forming the past tense of ići, for example, the -ć- will change to -š- to which we need to add the appropriate ending (masculine/feminine/neuter) and number (singular/plural).

I-ĆI	DO-ĆI	PO-ĆI
ja sam iša-o/-la	ja sam doša-o/-la	ja sam poša-o/-la
ti si iša-o/-la	ti si doša-o/-la	ti si poša-o/-la
on je iša-o	on je doša-o	on je poša-o
ona je iš-la	ona je doš-la	ona je poš-la
ono je iš-lo	ono je doš-lo	ono je poš-lo
mi smo išli/-le	mi smo doš-li/-le	mi smo poš-li/-le
vi ste iš-li/-le	vi ste doš-li/-le	vi ste pošli/-le
oni su iš-li	oni su doš-li	oni su pošli
one su iš-le	one su doš-le	one su pošle
ona su iš-la	ona su doš-la	ona su pošla

(e) Past tense of other -ći verbs

PE-ĆI	LE-ĆI	RE-ĆI
ja sam peka-o/-la	ja sam lega-o/-la	ja sam reka-o/-la
ti si peka-o/-la	ti si lega-o/-la	ti si reka-o/-la
on je peka-o	on je lega-o	on je reka-o
ona je pek-la	ona je leg-la	ona je rek-la
ono je pek-lo	ono je leg-lo	ono je rek-lo
mi smo pek-li/-le	mi smo pelegk-li/-le	mi smo rek-li/-le
vi ste pek-li/le	vi ste leg-li/le	vi ste rek-li/-le
oni su pek-li	oni su leg-li	oni su rek-li
one su pek-le	one su leg-le	one su rek-le
ona su pek-la	ona su leg-la	ona su rek-la

(f) Past tense of reflexive verbs The cluster verb biti + reflexive pronoun se will always stay in that order. The cluster verb biti + reflexive pronoun se will change its place, depending on whether or not we use a personal name or a pronoun as the subject. The reflexive pronoun se will always be in the second place.

With personal pronoun, GLEDATI SE	Without personal pronoun, GLEDATI SE
ja sam se gleda-o/-la	gleda-o/-la sam se
ti se se gleda-o/-la	gleda-o/-la si se
on se gleda-o	gleda-o  se
ona se gleda-la	gleda-la se
ono se gleda-lo	gleda-lo se
mi smo se gleda-li/-le	gleda-li/-le smo se
vi ste se gleda-li/-le	gleda-li/-le su se
oni su se glada-li	glada-li su se
one su se gleda-le	glada-le su se
ona su se glada-la	glada-la su se

| Future Tense

(a) Future tense of -ti verbs The most common structure of creating the future tense is: Subject (pronoun or noun) + unstressed form of htjeti + infinitive form of a verb. However, when we know who the subject of the sentence is, in everyday conversation, speakers will often omit the subject. This results in differences in writing between Croatian and Serbian. See examples below.

With personal pronoun	Without personal pronoun
Croatian and Serbian	Croatian	Serbian
ja ću gledati	gladat ću	gledaću
ti ćeš gledati	gledat ćeš	gledaćeš
on-ona-ono će gladati	gledat će	gledaće
mi ćemo gledati	gledat ćemo	gledaćemo
vi ćete gledati	gledat ćete	gledaćete
oni-one-ona će gledati	gledat će	gledaće

(b) Future tense of -ći verbs

With personal pronoun	Without personal pronoun
ja ću ići	ići ću
ti ćeš ići	ići ćeš
on-ona-ono će ići	ići će
mi ćemo ići	ići ćemo
vi ćete ići	ići ćete
oni-one-ona će ići	ići će

| Adjectives

An adjective is a word that gives additional, descriptive information about a noun (big table, smart girl). Adjective endings change according to the gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) and the number (singular or plural) of the noun they modify, or describe. In order to form adjectives correctly, start with the dictionary form of the adjective, which is always given in the masculine singular form. The masculine form is the base form, or stem, to which other gendered endings are added. Be careful, sometimes when forming feminine and neuter adjectives, the spelling of the stem may change a little bit. For example, dob-ar and pamet-an are both masculine adjective forms, but dobra/pametna and dobro/pametno are the feminine and neuter forms. Note how the vowel in the masculine forms disappear for feminine and neuter.

| Definite Adjectives

(a) General endings for adjectives in SINGULAR forms

	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	visok-i	visok-a	visok-o
G.	visok-og	visok-e	visok-og
D.	visok-om	visok-oj	visok-om
A.	visok-i / visok-og*	visok-u	visok-o
V.	visok-i	visok-a	visok-o
L.	visok-om	visok-oj	visok-om
I.	visok-im	visok-om	visok-im

* inanimate vs. animate (b) General endings for adjectives in PLURAL forms

	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	visok-i	visok-e	visok-a
G.	visok-ih	visok-ih	visok-ih
D.	visok-im	visok-im	visok-im
A.	visok-e	visok-e	visok-a
V.	visok-i	visok-e	visok-a
L.	visok-im	visok-im	visok-im
I.	visok-im	visok-im	visok-im

(c) Adjectives in masculine and neuter singular forms when the stem of an adjective ends in one of the palatals

	masculine	neuter
N.	vruć-i	vruć-e
G.	vruć-eg	vruć-eg
D.	vruć-em	vruć-em
A.	vruć-i / vruć-eg*	vruć-e
V.	vruć-i	vruć-e
L.	vruć-em	vruć-em
I.	vruć-im	vruć-im

* inanimate vs. animate (vrući for inanimate, vrućeg for animate) (d) Adjectives in masculine and neuter plural forms when the stem of an adjective ends in one of the palatals

	masculine	neuter
N.	vruć-i	vruć-a
G.	vruć-ih	vruć-ih
D.	vruć-im	vruć-im
A.	vruć-e	vruć-a
V.	vruć-i	vruć-a
L.	vruć-im	vruć-im
I.	vruć-im	vruć-im

(e) Irregular adjective forms in SINGULAR. Example of topao (warm)

	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	topa-o	topl-a	topa-o
G.	topl-og	topl-e	topl-og
D.	topl-om	topl-oj	topl-om
A.	topl-i / topl-og*	topl-u	topl-o
V.	topl-i	topl-a	topl-o
L.	topl-om	topl-oj	topl-om
I.	topl-im	topl-om	topl-im

(f) Irregular adjective forms in PLURAL. Example of topao

	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	topl-i	topl-e	topl-a
G.	topl-ih	topl-ih	topl-ih
D.	topl-im	topl-im	topl-im
A.	topl-e	topl-e	topl-a
V.	topl-i	topl-e	topl-a
L.	topl-im	topl-im	topl-im
I.	topl-im	topl -im	topl-im

(g) Irregular adjective forms in SINGULAR. Example of vreo (boiling hot)

	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	vre-o	vrel-a	vrel-o
G.	vrel-og	vrel-e	vrel-og
D.	vrel-om	vrel-oj	vrel-om
A.	vrel-i / vrel-og*	vrel-u	vrel-o
V.	vrel-i	vrel-a	vrel-o
L.	vrel-om	vrel-oj	vrel-om
I.	vrel-im	vrel-om	vrel-im

(h) Irregular adjective forms in PLURAL. Example of vreo 

	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	vrel-i	vrel-e	vrel-a
G.	vrel-ih	vrel-ih	vrel-ih
D.	vrel-im	vrel-im	vrel-im
A.	vrel-e	vrel-e	vrel-a
V.	vrel-i	vrel-e	vrel-a
L.	vrel-im	vrel-im	vrel-im
I.	vrel-im	vrel-im	vrel-im

| Pronouns

Pronouns are words that replace nouns to avoid repetition and make sentences clearer and more concise. Pronouns can refer to people, animals, things, or ideas, and they agree in gender, number, and case with the nouns they replace. There are several types of pronouns in B/C/M/S, such as personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, reflexive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, etc. Here you will find only those that you encounter within the ten units of the textbook. You will learn more about different types of pronouns as you continue studying the language.

| Personal Pronouns

Just like in English, Croatian has personal pronouns indicating a specific person or a group of people. Singular forms

N.	ja	ti	on	ona	ono
G.	mene / me	tebe / te	njega / ga	nje / je	njega / ga
D.	meni / mi	tebi / ti	njemu / mu	njoj / joj	njemu / mu
A.	mene / me	tebe / te	njega / ga	nju / je / ju	njega / ga
V.	---	ti	---	---	---
L.	meni	tebi	njemu	njoj	njemu
I.	mnom	tobom	njim	njom	njim

Plural forms

N.	mi	vi	oni	one	ona
G.	nas	vas	njih / ih
D.	nama / nam	vama / vam	njima / im
A.	nas	vas	njih / ih
V.	---	vi	---	---	---
L.	nama	vama	njima
I.	nama	vama	njima

The difference between the stressed and unstressed forms of personal pronouns Personal pronouns have stressed and unstressed forms. The unstressed form will always be placed between the verb and direct object. For example: Pripremam joj juhu. (I am preparing a soup for her.) The stressed form will be placed at the beginning or at the end of the sentence. It serves to emphasize the information. For example: Njoj ću pokloniti knjigu. (I will give her a book.) Few more examples:

• Tebi govorim.
• Govorim ti istinu.
• Vidio sam je. / Vidio sam ju.
• Vidio ju je.
• Nju je vidio. / Vidio je nju.

| Possessive Pronouns

Most likely, when you want to answer a question such as - Whose is this? - you will use a possessive pronoun (my, your, his, her, etc.) or someone’s name in your answer. Remember that each possessive pronoun has to be the same gender of the thing it refers to. Regardless of the gender of the speaker, or the person to whom something belongs, the possessive pronoun has to have the same grammatical gender of the thing it describes or refers to.   

	SINGULAR			PLURAL
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	moj	moja	moje	moji	moje	moja
G.	mojeg/mog	moje	mojeg/mog	mojih	mojih	mojih
D.	mojem/mom	mojoj	mojem/mom	mojim	mojim	mojim
A.	mojeg/ mog moj*	moju	moje	moje	moje	moja
V.	moj	moja	moje	moji	moje	moja
L.	mojem.mom	mojoj	mojem/mom	mojim	mojim	mojim
I.	mojim	mojom	mojim	mojim	mojim	mojim

  * mojeg/mog (animate noun) / moj (inanimate) The same pattern is used for tvoj – tvoja – tvoje – tvoji – tvoje – tvoja   

	SINGULAR			PLURAL
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	njegov	njegova	njegovo	njegovi	njegove	njegova
G.	njegovog	njegove	njegovog / njegova	njegovih	njegovih	njegovih
D.	njegovom	njegovoj	njegovom	njegovim	njegovim	njegovim
A.	njegovog / njegov*	njegovu	njegovo	njegove	njegove	njegova
V.	njegov	njegova	njegovo	njegovi	njegove	njegova
L.	njegovom / njegovu	njegovoj	njegovom	njegovim	njegovim	njegovim
I.	njegovim	njegovom	njegovim	njegovim	njegovim	njegovim

  * njegovog (animate noun) / njegov (inanimate)  

	SINGULAR			PLURAL
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	njen	njena	njeno	njeni	njene	njena
G.	njenog	njene	njenog	njenih	njenih	njenih
D.	njenom	njenoj	njenom / njenu	njenim	njenim	njenim
A.	njenog / njen	njenu	njeno	njene	njene	njena
V.	njen	njena	njeno	njeni	njene	njena
L.	njenom	njenoj	njenom	njenim	njenim	njenim
I.	njenim	njenom	njenim	njenim	njenim	njenim

  To express that something belongs to her, you can use njezin or njen (in a correct gender form) * njenog (animate noun) / njen (inanimate)  

	SINGULAR			PLURAL
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	naš	naša	naše	naši	naše	naša
G.	našeg	naše	našeg	naših	naših	naših
D.	našem	našoj	našem	našim	našim	našim
A.	nešeg / naš	našu	naše	naše	naše	naša
V.	naš	naša	naše	naši	naše	naša
L.	našem	našoj	našem	našim	našim	našim
I.	našim	našom	našim	našim	našim	našim

  * našeg (animate noun) / naš (inanimate) The same pattern is used for vaš – vaša – vaše – vaši – vaše – vaša 

| Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used when we want to specify something or someone, and they are very often used with the question tko (Tko je ovo?) or što (Što je ovo?).   The usage of the demonstrative pronoun depends on where the thing that we are referring to is located. In other words, if the thing that we are referring to is closer to a speaker (a person asking a question) we need to use ovo. If the thing we are referring to is closer to a listener (a person answering the question), we need to use to. If the thing we are referring to is equally far away from both speaker and a listener, we need to use ono.    This = ovo That = to That over there = ono   Below you will find demonstrative pronouns only in their Nominative form.   

	SINGULAR			PLURAL
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	ovaj	ova	ovo	ovi	ove	ova
	taj	ta	to	ti	te	ta
	onaj	ona	ono	oni	one	ona

  Note: there are other demonstrative pronouns, but you will encounter them at later stages of your studies.   

| Interrogative and Relative Pronouns

  Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. They help in gathering information about people, things, places, and other aspects, and like other pronouns, they can decline for case. Relative pronouns are used to introduce relative clauses, which provide additional information about a noun mentioned previously. They connect the main clause to the subordinate clause.   Below you will find these pronouns only in their Nominative form.   

	SINGULAR			PLURAL
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
N.	koji	koja	koje	koji	koje	koja
	čiji	čija	čije	čiji	čije	čija
	kakav	kakva	kakvo	kakvi	kakve	kakva

Two other pronouns in this category that you encountered throughout all ten units are tko (ko) and što (šta).