Compilation of class notes: Professor Filip Gabrić

Bibliography:
- Basic Croatian Language Course Book for Spanish Speakers, Andres
Rajević Bezmalinović, La Prensa Austral Impresos, Punta Arenas,
Chile, 2002.
- Internet notes.
Teacher: Filip Gabrić
Student: Emilio Nemarić
Santiago, Čile.

Croatian Language Notebook 2020 (in development)

1. Alphabet1 :

The standard Croatian alphabet consists of 30 phonemes: 25 consonants

and 5 vowels:
ABC Č Ć D DŽ Đ EFGHIJKL LJ MN NJ OPRS Š TUVZ Ž.

Three phonemes are represented by two signs (digraphs): DŽ LJ NJ

The vowels are aeiou, just like in Spanish.

The phoneme r when found between two consonants is vocalized, that is,
it has the function of a vowel, for example: Vrt (orchard), Hrvat
(Croatian).

The same thing happens when it is found at the beginning of a word and
is followed by another consonant: rt (cape, geographical term) rđa
(mold, corrosion)

If the consonant that follows is j, the initial r is not realized as a

vowel: Rjećnik (dictionary).

Consonants

B: Bilabial explosive (plosive) sound. (Just like pronouncing the P).

1
Basic Croatian Language Course for Spanish Speakers, Andres Rajević Beymalinović, La Prensa Austral
Impresos, Punta Arenas, Chile, 2002.
C: tys together for example car (tsar) – emperor, gledalac (gledalats) –
spectator, cipele (tsipele) – shoes.
Č: Pronounced approximately like CH in Spanish. But it is differentiated
by the position that the language adopts. To articulate the Č, the
lingual apex is raised towards the palate, for example Čekati (wait).
The palate is used in its articulation.
Ć: Pronounced approximately like CH in Spanish. But it is differentiated
by the position that the language adopts. The apex of the tongue rests
on the inner surface of the lower incisors: Kuća (house). The palate is
used in its articulation.
- The difference between Č and Ć is quite weak, most Croatians
do not distinguish the difference.
DŽ: Pronounced approximately like the J in the English words Jhon,
Jimmy. To pronounce dž the tongue adopts the same position as in the
letter č. The palate is used in its articulation.
Đ: Pronounced like the letters G in Italian words Gina, giorno. To
pronounce đ, the tongue adopts the same position as in the letter ć. The
palate is used in its articulation.
G: It is always pronounced like the Spanish letter g in the word cat. I
never eat the g in the Spanish word gente.
H: Represents the sound that in Spanish is written with the letter J
(soap) or as the g followed by the eoi in (tour, people).
J: It is pronounced approximately like the Spanish i in the diphthong
ie. For example jedan (one).
K: It is pronounced like the co qu in the Spanish words house or cheese.
For example kuća (house), krevet (bed)
LJ: It represents a sound very similar to ll in Spanish, it is obtained
by pronouncing the consonants l and j together. For example: Ljeto
(summer), ljubav (love). The palate is used in its articulation.
NJ: This digraph represents the sound that in Spanish is written with
the sign ñ. For example: oganj, read ógañ (fire), konj, read koñ
(horse), knjiga, read kñiga (book), njegov, read ñegov (his his). The
palate is used in its articulation.
Š: It is pronounced like the sh in the English words shell, show, wash.
For example škola (school), kiša (rain), šuma (forest), slušati
(listen), vaš (yours, yours). The palate is used in its articulation.
Z: It is pronounced like the s in the Italian words rosa, isola, casa.
Its sound also resembles the hum of small bees. For example zid (wall),
zvati (call), izvoz (export), zima (winter), vaza (vase).
Ž: It is pronounced like the g in the French words Georges or like the j
in the words jour, Jaques, Jean of the same language. For example: žut
(yellow), vježba (exercise), žena (woman), život (life), želja (desire).
Its sound also resembles a hum but faster than the previous phoneme. The
palate is used in its articulation.
The other consonants are pronounced and written the same as in Spanish.

2. The noun in Croatian.

In Croatian there are no articles of any kind.

There are three grammatical genders: Masculine, Feminine, Neutral.
For example:
mladić (m) – the young man; žena (f) – the woman; more (n) – the sea

General rule:
How to recognize the gender of a noun in Croatian?

Masculine nouns end in a consonant.

Ex.: poljubac (m) - kiss
Feminine nouns end in -a.
Ex.: knjiga (f) - book
Neuter nouns end in -e/-o.
Ex.: dicete (n) – child; meso (n) - meat
But there are exceptions to this rule. We have to learn them.

The plural in Croatian:

Rules for the construction of the plural in

Croatian

Singular Plural

Masculine consonant -Yo

nouns
potpis potpisi
(signature) (signatures)

feminine nouns -to -and

žena (woman) žene (women)

Nouns -e/-o -to

neutral
 pivo (beer) piva (beers)

Exceptions in the formation of the masculine plural:

Ending in g, h, k: This final consonant varies when placing the -i
following the following rules:
g → zi (Ex.: suprug – supruzi; spouse – spouses)
h → si (Ex.: tepih – tepisi; carpet – rugs)
k → ci (Ex.: jezik – jezici; language - languages)

- Some monosyllabic masculine nouns: the plural is constructed with -

ovi.
Ex.: grad – gradvi (city – cities)
- Some masculine nouns with more than one syllable: the plural is
constructed with -ovi.
Ex.: pramen – pramenovi (skein – skeins)
- Monosyllabic masculine nouns, ending in a soft consonant: the
plural is constructed with -evi.
Ex.: čaj – čajevi (dt. tea - teas)
- Some masculine nouns with more than one syllable: the plural is
constructed with -evi.
Ex.: tečaj – tečajevi (course - courses)
- The root of the noun loses the „a“.
Ex.: tjedan – tjedni (week - weeks)

Exceptions in the formation of the feminine plural:

When a feminine noun – contrary to the general rule – ends in a
consonant, it behaves like a masculine noun in the plural formation and
receives an -i at the end.
Ex.: bolest – bolesti (disease – diseases), stvar – stvari (thing –
things)

Exceptions in the formation of the neuter plural:

Some mono- and disyllabic neuter nouns form their plural with -na.
Ex.: ime – imena (name - names)
 3. The cases of the Croatian Language.

Nominative-Nominativ
Questions: Tko? (Who?) for an animated noun / Što? (What?) for an
inanimate noun.

Nouns:
- Nominative feminine singular ending in –a (with the exception of
feminine words ending in a consonant, check the page http://hjp.znanje.hr/
).
- Masculine singular nominative ends in a consonant.
- Nominative singular neuter ending in –o and –e.
- Feminine plural nominatives have the ending –e.
- Nominative masculine plural has the ending –i.
- Nominative plural neuter have the ending –a.
The grammatical subject of a sentence is in the nominative case.
To decline we take the nominative singular.
Ex: Petar poklanja svojoj prijateljici Ani cvijeće.
Petar gives flowers to his girlfriend Ana.

Accusative-Akusativ
Questions: Koga? (To whom?) / Što? (that?)
The direct object in a sentence in Croatian is in the accusative case.
Animated masculine nouns in the singular have the ending –a, while
inanimate nouns, like all neuter nouns (without distinction between
animate and inanimate) have in this case the same form as in the
nominative case, that is, they do not undergo changes.

Feminine nouns (animated and inanimate) have in the accusative singular

case the unique ending –u that is added to the noun after deleting the
ending –a.
The accusative plural of masc nouns. fem. they share the common ending
e-
It can be seen that the feminine nominative and plural accusative have
the ending –e.
The plural neuter accusative has the ending a- (with some exceptions,
for example: dicete-dijecu
The Direct Object (term on which the verbal action is executed, that is,
which represents the object of the action of the verb) is expressed
through the accusative.
The accusative is found in verbs that indicate movement or transitives.
Ex.: baciti, donijeti, juriti, voziti se, pitati, pripremati, imati,
vidjeti.
Most of the transitive verbs in Croatian are also transitive in Spanish,
but there are exceptions, for example: pitati (ask – Pitam brata).
Some prepositions with accusative: kroz, među, na, nad, niz, o, po, pod,
pred, u, za
Ex: Petar poklanja svojoj prijateljici Ani cvijeće.
Petar gives flowers to his girlfriend Ana.

Dative-Dativ
Questions: Komu? (To whom?) / Čemu? (for whom?)
Masculine and neuter nouns have the ending –u in the dative singular
case.
Feminine nouns have the ending –i in the dative singular case.
Masculine and neuter nouns have the ending –ima in the dative plural
case.
Feminine nouns have the ending -ama in the dative plural case.
The indirect object in a sentence in Croatian is in the dative. The main
function of the dative case is to indicate the term that receives the
benefit or harm of a verbal action; In other words, in the dative is the
term to which the action of the verb is directed or intended. Therefore,
in a sentence the dative acts as an indirect object, which in Spanish is
expressed through the prepositions a and para.
Some verbs with dative: dati, darovati, reći, kupiti, napisati, poslati,
požaliti se
Prepositions with dative: k, ka, nadomak, nasuprot, prema, unatoč,
uprkos
Ex: Petar poklanja svojoj prijateljici Ani cvijeće.
Petar gives flowers to his girlfriend Ana.

Genitive-Genitiv
Questions: Koga? (Whose?) / Čega? (Whose?)
The genitive expresses relationships: possession relationships, temporal
relationships or distances in space. The genitive also appears when
indicating quantities. The genitive describes the origin of a person or
thing. To indicate some times we also find the genitive.
Certain prepositions require the genitive. Examples: bez, do, ispod, iz,
iza, iznad, kod, od, po, pored, preko, prije, protiv.
The genitive singular of masculine and neuter nouns is formed with the
ending –a.
The genitive singular of feminine nouns ends –e.
The plural genitive of feminine, masculine and neuter nouns has the
ending –a.

Ex: Ovo je cvijeće Anine sestre. - These are Ana's sister's flowers.
Ona živi razdvojeno od obitelji. -She lives separated from her family.

Summary of cases
Ženski(f) Srednji(n) Muški(m) animated inanimate muški

Jednina(s) Množina(p) Jednina Množina Jednina Množina Jednina Množina

N TO AND E, O TO Cnsnte. Yo Cnsnte. Yo

T OR AND N/V TO TO AND N/V AND

O
d Yo LOVE OR IMA OR IMA OR IMA

g AND TO TO TO TO TO TO TO

N/V : does not vary with respect to the nominative singular.

Ženski rod (ž) ending in a

Jednina Množina
consonant.
Nominativ povijes t povijest i

Akusativ povijes t povijest i

Dativ povijest i povijest i ma

genitiv povijest i povijest i

Exceptions must be seen on a case-by-case basis.

 nominativ - tko? , this? - ( Tko je trčao? )

 akuzativ - koga? , this? - (vidim; Koga (ili što) starac gleda? )
 dativ - komu? čemu ? - (prilazim; Komu prilazi? )
 genitiv - koga? čega ? - (nema; Koga (ili čega) nema? )
 lokativ - or kom? , or čem? [2] ( u kom ?, u čem? )
 instrumental - (s)kim? , (s) čim?
 vokativ - oj! eh! - (dozivanje)

4. Verbs

Croatian infinitive verbs end in -ći or -ti.

Ex.: biti – be; pitati – ask

The verbal root:

If the verb ends in -ti: this ending is removed.
The verbal root of the infinitive = root of the present.

There are 4 groups of verbs: a-/e-/je-/i- (look at the 3rd person

singular)

Formation of the present:

Formation of the present

to- and- heh- Yo-

1. gledam skrenem putujem govorim

Pers.
Sg.

2. gledas skreneš putuješ govoriš

Pers.
Sg.

3. gleda skrene putuje govori

Pers.
Sg.

1. gledamo skrenemo putujemo govorimo

Pers.
Pl.

2. gledate skrenete putujete govorite

Pers.
Pl.

3. gledaju skrenu putuju govore

Pers.
Pl.

Verb: BITI
Be. Be.
 - Complete Present
Ha : sam
You : Yeah
On, ona, ono : heh
My : Saint
Saw : ste ( second person plural, courtesy, you are, you are )
Oni, one, ona: his

- Negative form
Ha - Nisam
You - Nisi
On, ona, ono - Nije
My - Nism
Saw - Niste - ( it's not, you're not there. They're not, you're
not there. )
Oni, one, ona - Nisu

- Long accented shapes

Jesam
Jesi
Jest
Jesmo
Jeste
Jesus

(Can be used for affirmative answers).

jesi li kod kuce? – jessam.

- This present is used for the construction of interrogative forms.

Jesam li? - am? I'm?

Jesi li? - are you? Are?
Je li? - is? this?
Jesmo li? - are? we are?
Jeste li? - is? this? you and are? Are you.
Jesu li? - are? are?

Affirmative Negative Ask short Example

statement
Ha Sam Ha nisam Jesam li? Jesam
(I am/I am) (I am I am?)
You yes You nisi Jesi li? Jesi Jesi li
(you are/are) (are you?/are you?) Franca? Da,
Jesam
On je (he is/is) On nije Je li on? Jest Je li on,
Ona je (she Ona nije Is? This? Luis? Da,
is/is) Ono nije Jeli on? Jest
Ono je (neutral, (is he?)
he/she)
Same My nism Jesmo li? Jesmo
(We are/we are) (is it us?)
Dresses Did you come Jeste li vi? Jeste Jeste li Kod
(You are/are) For plural (is you?/ is you?) For Kuce? (Are
For plural and and singular plural and singular you at
singular (you) (you) (you) home?)
Did I see
this kod
kuce?
Oni su (they are) Oni nisu Jesu li? Jesus
One su (they are) (they are (are these?)
Ona su (neutral: not) Jesu li?
they/them) One nisu (are they/they?/are
(they are they?)
not)
Ona nisu
(neutral)
Present singular of the auxiliary verb BITI (SER)

Irregular verb HTJETI

The irregular and auxiliary verb htjeti (to want) expresses only the
will, that is, it is not synonymous with the verb –to love- as in
Spanish. Your present is:
Ha : Hocu Short form Ću
You : Hoćes Short form Ćes
On Ona, Ono : Hoće Short form EC
My : Hoćemo Short form Ćemo
Saw : hoćete Short form Ćete
Oni, One, Ona : hoće Short form EC

With the short form the negative present of this verb is constructed.
NE – short form. For example ne ću – I don't want to.

Future
The future is a compound tense, it is formed with the short form of the
verb htjeti plus the infinitive of the verb whose future we wish to
construct.

- Biti
Ja ću biti - I will be I will be.
- Imati
Ja ću imati - I will have.

If there are no other words before the short form, they must be moved
immediately after the infinitive, for example.
- Biti – bit ću – I will be, I will be
- Imati - imat ću - I will have.

Verbs whose infinitive ends in ći always retain the full form of the
infinitive, for example:
- ja cu ići – ići ću - I will go.

The negative form is constructed through the negation ne that is placed

before the short form of htjeti, for example:

- Biti
Ne ću biti – I will not be, I will not be.
Ne ćemo biti – we will not be, we will not be.
- Imati
Ne ću imati – I will not have
Ne ćes imati – you will not have
Etc.

The negation can also be written together with the short form for
example neću, nećes, neće.

The interrogative form of the future tense.

It is constructed through the present tense of the verb htjeti in its
long form: hoću hoćes hoće hoćemo hoćete hoće.

- Biti
Hoću li biti – will I be?, will I be?
Hoće li biti – will it be?, will it be?
- Imati
Hoću li imati – will I have?
Etc.

If the question contains a question word such as TKO, GDJE, KAMO, KOGA,
KOMU, ČEGA, ČEMU ETC) the short form of the verb htjeti is used. For
example:
Tko će se kupati? – Who will bathe? future
Gdje ćemo jesti? – where will we eat? future

When you want to express your will, you must use the long present form
of the verb htjeti.

Sto hoćete jesti? What do they want to eat – will

Sto ćete jesti? What are they going to eat – future

Koga hoćes vidjeti? Who you want to see? Willpower

What are you doing? Who will you see? Future

Tko se hoće kupati? Who wants to bathe? Willpower

Tko se će kupati? Who will bathe? Future

The infinitive does not have to come immediately after the auxiliary
htjeti, other words can go, for example: Marija će sutra poslije podne
poci na more. Maria will go to the sea tomorrow afternoon.
When it comes to the interrogative form, the enclitic SE should be
placed immediately after the word LI, for example: hoces li se odmarati?
Will you rest?

LEN.