Language Tips!

There's no getting away from it, Croatian - like any language from the Balkan/Eastern European region - is going to be pretty tough to master for the average tourist. It's probably fair to say you won't have grasped enough to be talking politics with the natives any time soon! As seems to be the case in most former Communist countries, young people show an unflinching determination to catch up with their western European counterparts with their grasp of foreign languages - and, as such, youíll probably get by just fine with your ëpleasesí and ëthank yousí in the majority of places.

However, you never know where a few words of the native lingo will get you, whether it be the ace in the hole, as you bargain with the old lady selling handmade ties, or the golden words to unlock your Croatian beautyís heartÖ It's never a bad idea to learn a few words or phrases and we at Zagreb Life are on hand to help.

There are a whole range of Croatian words which look pretty similar to their English equivalents, so signs such as POLICJA, RESTORAN, HOTEL and TAXI are hardly going to tax most travellers, but here are a handful of others that may be useful:

bus station - autobusna stanica
train station - glavni kolodvor
tram station - tramvajska stanica
airport - aerodrom
street - ulica
square - trg

If however, youíre looking to meet the guy/girl of your dreams, you may want to follow up your phoney request for assistance with one of these pearlsÖ

I love you - volim te
I don't like you - mrzim te
beautiful eyes - dobra guza
dance with me - ajmo plesat
hold my hand - drû' me čvrsto

Luckily for your good selves, the Croatian language is completely phonetic ñ that is to say words are pronounced exactly as they are written. Thatís the easy part. The more difficult part comes with the 8 characters you wonít find in the English Language and how they should be pronounced. Donít worry, weíve done out best to provide you with all the vocab essentials as well as well as a quick introduction on how to pronounce these alien characters. Here comes the bonus round...

č is pronounced as ch in chocolate
ć is pronounced as ć in Viönjić
dû is pronounced as j in Jack
đ is pronounced as j in Jesus
lj is pronounced in a way you'll never learn
nj is pronounced....see above
ö is pronounced as sh in shaman
û is pronounced as su in leisure

Click to listen

Yes
Please
How much does this cost?
Do you speak English?
How much does beer cost?

No
How are you?
Cheers!
Two beers please!
I lost my passport - can you help me?

Hello
Goodbye
Thank you
Do you have a sister?
Drop by tonight and I'll show you my stamp collection


Zagreb language tips

Jos nesto! sa "BOK" se prijatelji medjusobno pozdravljaju.Starije i nepoznate osobe pozdravljaju se sa "dobro jutro", "dobar dan" ili "dobra vecer" uz dodatak naslova gospodjice,mladi gospodine,gospodjo ili gospodine.
Pozdrav na rastanku moze glasi do vidjenja,Bog s Vama ili sto slicno.
S pitanjem "kako se zoves?"mladi medju sobom,a starije i nepoznate osobe pitanje glasi:"kako se zovete? time se iskazuje postovanje prema toj osobi, koja moze zamoliti da se prijedje na "ti".
Hrvatski se rece DOBRA VECER. DOBRO VECE je srpski oblik.
Bilo bi pametno da si kupite i proucite HRVATSKI PRAVOPIS autora Babic-Finka-Mogus i GRAMATIKU HRVATSKOGA JEZIKA Tezak-Babica.
BOG BIO S VAMA

reviewed by dRAGICA from United States on Sep.03.2010

Dobar dan, tko je odgovoran za rijecnik?
Hrvatski se RECE OPROSTITE STO STE REKLI? A NE A!
HRVATSKI SE RECE OPROSTITE, A NE SORI.
HRVATSKI SE RECE KAVA, A NE KAFA(TO JE SRPSKI)

reviewed by Dragica from United States on Sep.03.2010

maybe there are people that can pronounce...give tips not comments and be more helpful not everyone is stupid like you

reviewed by from United States on Apr.06.2010

Well a right comedian assisted with the 'helpful' Croatian phrases. Rest assured, "dobra guza" (nice bum) does not mean "beautiful eyes" (lijepe oci). The resident comedian is setting up foreigners for a slap in the face! Naughty, but funny.

reviewed by Iva from Australia on Dec.03.2009

beautiful eyes - dobra guza .. hehehe ... so incorrect, i'm sorry.

reviewed by anna from Iceland on May.11.2008

Are you kidding? This page is brilliant! Borderline genius!

reviewed by Brilliant from United States on Sep.27.2007

Guza means ass! The Croatian word for eyes is oci (with c as in CHocolate)!
I live in LA and really miss Zagreb :(

reviewed by Sonja D from United States on Aug.10.2007

kafa is not right and...dobro vocĕ is wrong too

reviewed by senamian-girl from Canada on Jun.11.2007

Everything is fine except for cofee and good evening. Words you have listed are from serbian language. Croatian for cofee is: "kava" and for good evening is "dobra veËer".

reviewed by Ivan from Canada on Apr.19.2007

hey!
i learn croatian!:)

reviewed by TÕmea G·bor from Hungary on Feb.28.2007

K Pivovari
reviewed on Jan.14.2012
"Service is good, food is delicious but prices are not as same as written on..."
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