eurolinguiste

SPANISH
PRESENTS

100+ USEFUL
VOCABULARY
CONVERSATIONAL
PHRASES & WORDS
for
IN CROATIAN
GOING OUT TO EAT

BYBySHANNON
Shannon Kennedy
KENNEDY

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 15

 “
Are you thinking about learning Croatian but find yourself struggling to find resources that
help you start speaking? When I started out, I certainly did.

Many of the tools that I found

when I started learning Croatian
If you talk to a man in a lan-
were grammar-heavy textbook guage he understands, that goes to his
style resources and they didn’t
head. If you talk to him in his language,
offer me a lot in terms of day-
to-day conversation. Rather that goes to his heart.
than learning how to say “what
did you do last weekend?” I had - nelson mandela
memorized a bunch of rules in-
volving cases and I was no where near conversing with my fellow Croatian speakers.

So I decided to put something together on my own so that I could feel more confident en-
gaging in language exchanges. And today, I’d like to share it with you.

In this guide you’ll find 100+ conversational phrases in Croatian to help get you started.
Happy Croatian language learning!

Regards,

Shannon

---

© 2015 Eurolinguiste & Shannon Kennedy

The information contained in this guide is for informational purposes only.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or
by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the
prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews
and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. All trademarks and registered trademarks
appearing in this guide are the property of their respective owners. For permission requests, please contact
the author at shannonk@shannon-kennedy.com.

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 16

greetings
Zdravo! Let’s get started with a few basic greetings and salutations. Please note that
we’ve included both the familiar (fam.) and formal (form.) forms of each of these phrases.
The formal forms are also the plural forms, so they can also be used if you’re speaking
with groups.

Croatian English

Bok! Hi!

Hej! Hey!

Zdravo! Hello!

Bok, prijatelju! Hi friend!

Dobro jutro! Good morning!

Dobar dan! Good day!

Dobra večer! Good evening!

Govoriš li hrvatski/engleski? (fam.) Govorite li

Do you speak Croatian/English?
hrvatski/engleski? (form.)

Da, (nešto) malo govorim hrvatski. Yes, I speak a little Croatian.

Možeš razgovarati sa mnom na hrvatskom. (fam.)

Speak to me in Croatian.
Možete razgovarati sa mnom na hrvatskom. (form)

Kako si? (fam.) Kako ste? (form.) How are you?

Dobro, hvala. Good, thanks.

Tako-tako. I’m okay.

A ti? (fam.) A vi? (form.) And you?

Dugo se nismo vidjeli. Long time no see.

Kako se zoveš? (fam.) Kako se zovete? (form.) What’s your name?

Zovem se... My name is...

Odakle si? (fam.) Odakle ste? (form.) Where are you from?

Ja sam iz... I’m from...

Što ima? What’s up?

Kako stoje stvari? How are things?

Jedan jezik nikad nije dovoljan. One language is never enough.

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 17

the basics & polite expressions
Being friendly and polite can go a long way when meeting new people. Here are a few po-
lite expressions and phrases to help you make a good first impression.

Croatian English

Oprostite Excuse me

Ispričavam se Excuse me

Molim te (fam.) Molim vas (form.) Please

Pardon Excuse me (begging pardon)

Žao mi je I’m sorry

Hvala Thank you

Hvala lijepa Thank you so much

Nema na čemu You’re welcome

Izvoli. (fam.) Izvolite. (form.) This (gift) is for you.

Vrlo si ljubazan (m.) / ljubazna (f.). (fam.) Vrol ste

ljubazni (m.) / ljubazne (f.regular plural) / ljubazni You are too kind!
(form.). (form.)

Nazdravlje Bless you (when sneezing)

Da Yes

Ne No

Možda Maybe

Ne baš. / Baš i ne. Not really.

Zahvaljujem na tvojem vremenu.(fam.) Zahvaljujem

Thank you for your time.
na vašem vremenu. (form.)

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 18

get the conversation rolling
Now that you’ve introduced yourself and have learned some basic etiquette-oriented
phrases, let’s really get the conversation started with a few of the below prompts and
phrases.

Croatian English

Šta ima novo? What’s new?

Ništa (novo). Nothing much.

Kakvi su tvoji planovi za vikend? (fam.) Kakvi su vam

What are your plans this weekend?
planovi za vikend? (form.)

Što radiš u životu? (fam.) Što radite u životu? (form.) What do you do for a living?

Što to radiš? (fam.) Što to radite? (form.) What are you doing?

Što se to događa? What is going on? (at this moment)

Kako je? How is it?

Ne znam. I don’t know.

Kakvo je vrijeme? How’s the weather?

Danas je hladno. It’s cold.

Za svaki slučaj. Just in case.

Kako je tvoja obitelj? (fam.) Kako je vaša obitelj?

How is your family?
(form.)

Kaži mi što misliš. (fam.) Kaži mi što mislite. (form.) Tell me what you think.

Cuo sam da... I heard that...

Imaš li neki hobi? (fam.) Imate li neki hobi? (form.) Do you have any hobbies?

Što radiš u slobodno vrijeme? (fam.) Što radite u

What do you do in your free time?
slobodno vrijeme? (form.)

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 19

getting a bit of clarification

Now that you’ve initiated the conversation, there may be a few things that your fellow con-
versation partner may say that you didn’t quite understand. Let’s work on a few phrases to
help you get a bit of clarification.

Croatian English

Molim te da zapišeš? (fam.) Molim vas da zapišete?

Could you write that down?
(form.)

Molim te, možeš li mi to zapisati? (fam.) Molim Vas,

Could you please write that down for me?
možete li mi to zapisati? (form.)

Možeš li ponoviti? (fam.) Možete li ponoviti? (form.) Could you say that again?

Možeš li pričati sporije? (fam.) Možete li pričati

Could you say that slowly?
sporije? (form.)

Ne razumijem! I don’t understand!

Razumijem. I understand.

Kako se to kaže na Hrvatskom? What is that in Croatian?

Što znači ______ na Engleskom? What does ______ mean in English?

Kako se kaže ______ na Hrvatskom? How do you say ______ in Croatian?

Što je ovo? What is this?

Što je to bilo? What was that? (referring to an object)

Ne znam. I don’t know.

Moj Hrvatski je loš. My Croatian is bad.

Trebam još učiti Hrvatski. I need to practice my Croatian.

Žao mi je (nisam čuo (m.) / čula (f.)) I’m sorry, (I missed what you said.)

Molim te daj mi. (fam.) Molim Vas dajte mi (form.) Please give me...

O čemu govoriš? (fam.) O čemu govorite? (form.) What are you talking about?

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 20

just how often?
Two of the things that I find often mentioned in conversation is either 1) when something
took place or will take place and 2) how often it happens. And the words that indicate ei-
ther of the above two things are often those that catch me off guard when I’m conversing
in Croatian (or any other language). Here’s a helpful list of words so that you don’t share
my experience!

Croatian English

Danas Today

Sutra Tomorrow

Jučer Yesterday

Svaki Dan Every day

Sada Now

Kasnije Later

Prije Before

Nakon After

Često Often

Obično Usually

Ponekad Sometimes

Rijetko Not very often, rarely

Stalno All the time

Opet / Ponovo / Ponovno Again

Prvi put For the first time

Manje Less

Više More

Malo A bit

Jako (fam.) Vrlo (form.) Very

Prilično Considerably

Dosta Plenty

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exclamations & transition words that
bring your speaking to the next level
Now it’s time to really level up your speaking with these fun exclamations, interjections
and transition words.

Croatian English

Stvarno? Really?

Zaista? Really?

Sigurno For sure

Vjerojatno Probably

Očito Obviously

To je to That’s it

Na primjer For example

Nije važno. Nevermind

Misliš? (fam.) Mislite? (form.) You think so?

Ne brini! Don’t worry!

Odlična. Excellent.

Nije moguće! Impossible!

Slušaj... (fam.) Slušajte... (form.) Listen...

Gledaj... (fam.) Gledajte... (form.) Look...

Požuri (fam.) Požurite (form.) Hurry up

Kojeg li užasa! How horrible!

Što? Gdje? What? Where?

Nema problema! No problem.

To je dobro. That’s good.

Vrlo rado. Gladly.

Joj! Wow!

Točno Exactly

To je dobro pitanje. That’s a good question.

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 Croatian English

Sretno Good luck

Živjeli! Cheers!

Uzdravlje! Cheers!

Čestitam! Congrats!

Čestitam ti! (fam.) Čestitam vam! (form.) Way to go!

Dobar početak! Good start!

Nemoj zadirkivati. Quit joking around.

Imaš pravo. (fam.) Imate pravo. (form.) You’re right.

Naravno. Of course.

Svakako Sure

Kakva slučajnost / Kakva konicidencija! What a coincidence!

Svijet je malen. It’s a small world.

To je besmisleno. That’s silly.

Baš šteta Too bad

Fantastično Fantastic

Nezaboravno Unforgettable

Pa to je divno. Awesome.

Ne mogu vjerovati. Unbelievable.

Ukratko... In short...

Zvuči sjajno. That sounds nice.

Ni gorova. Of course not.

Dobro sam pretpostavio... I supposed...

Odlična ideja. What a good idea.

Kapu dolje. Hat’s off.

Samo trenutak. One moment.

Teško mi je reći. It’s difficult to say.

Solidno Solid

Super je. That’s super.

Krasna. Great.

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 Croatian English

Zabor avila sam. I forgot.

Nemam pojma. No idea.

Ma ništato. Nothing like that.

Valjda I suppose

Mislim I think

Pa da Seriously, yes of course

Ovisi That depends

To vjerojatno Probably

Daj šuti Shhh!

Njami Yum

To je fakat Yeah right

Zapravo Actually

Nažalost Unfortunately

Nego By the way

I tako dalje And so on

conversation closers
Finally, let’s close with just a few conversation closers and goodbyes.

Croatian English

Uživao sam govoriti s tobom. (fam.) Uživao sam 

I enjoyed speaking with you.
govoriti s vama. (form.)

Drago mi je. A pleasure to meet you

Vidimo se kasnije! See you later!

Moram krenuti. / Moram ići. I have to get going.

Ostanimo u vezi. Keep in touch.

Dobar tek / Prijatan obrok. Have a good meal.

Lijep ti dan želim! (fam,) Lijep Vam dan želim! (form.) Have a nice day!

Brzo se vraćam! I’ll be right back!

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 Croatian English

Zbogom Goodbye

Doviđenja Goodbye

Laku noć Good night

Vidimo se See you

Čujemo se See you (but over the phone)

Pozdrav Bye

Thank you all so much for checking out this guide! I hope you’ve found it helpful in improv-
ing your Croatian language conversations.

If you come across any mistakes, or if you would like to suggest an addition/improvement,
feel free to get in touch with me. I look forward to hearing from you!

I’d like to take this time to mention that if you’ve enjoyed this guide, we have several more
available in a variety of languages. You can gain access to them by signing up for my mail-
ing list using the button below.

Get Access to the Free Guides

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about the author
Hello! It’s a pleasure to meet you – I am glad you’re here! My
name is Shannon and I am the blogger/language lover/
adventurer behind Eurolinguiste.

I started Eurolinguiste while trekking through West France

and Northern Ireland as I finished up my Master’s degree in
Music/Ethnomusicology from Queen’s University,
Belfast. My dissertation was on the various dynamics be-
tween music and language, and it was what really inspired
me to delve into languages wholeheartedly.

Since, Eurolinguiste has become the place where I share my journey in language learn-
ing with others interested in pursuing something similar. It’s here that I document the tools
I use, my personal methodologies and progress, and tips for tackling a new language for
fellow language learners.

It’s also where I like to share my adventures, some of my favorite recipes, and the little bits
I learn about the cultures and histories behind the languages that I’m learning.

When I’m not studying language, I am a musician and a composer, I love to compose and
perform. And I love that my career often provides me with the opportunity to travel. Shame-
less plug: I have a few CDs out with my music. I also love to take photos, practice martial
arts, make jewelry, experiment with classic recipes, and scuba dive (something I haven’t
done in several years, but wish I still had time to do).

I speak French and English fluently (and constantly confuse the two), have dabbled in Ger-
man, Italian, and Arabic to various degrees, and I am currently working my way towards
communicating in Mandarin Chinese and Croatian.

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