Colloquial Croatian

Taught Serbian and Croatian, language and literature, at the University of London (School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London), 1971-2002, where my research was on literature with a particular focus on contemporary women's writing. Now working freelance as translator and language consultant.

Map of Croatia Learning Croatian Alphabet and pronunciation 1 Na putu On the way The verb biti (to be); personal pronouns: I, you, etc.; basic word order; formation of questions; introducing yourself; nationalities 2 Razgovor o putovanju Conversation about traveling Main conjugations of verbs; verbal aspect; reflexive verbs; adverbs 3 Dolazak u Zagreb Arrival in Zagreb Nouns: the nominative case, the vocative case; simple letters; adjectives from proper nouns; double negatives 4 Svatko ide na svoju stranu Each goes his own way Accusative case, accusative after certain prepositions; genitive case; questions and answers; sentence building with the genitive; prepositions 5 Dolazak u hotel Arrival at the hotel The dative case, the locative case; the instrumental case, a telephone conversation 6 Razgovor o stanu Conversation about a flat Adjectives; nominative case of adjectives; vocabulary about flats and furniture 7 Na popti At the post office Cardinal numbers 1, 2, 3, etc; use of verbs with numbers; telephone conversations 8 U restoranu In the restaurant Ordering meals; adjectives: genitive case, accusative case; food and drink 9 Na ulici In the street Street directions; adjectives: dative and instrumental; prepositions; reflexive verbs 10 Posjet prijateljima Visit to friends The past tense; word order; past tense questions; negative past tense; emphatic use of pronouns; use of verbs with numbers 11 Obiteljski odnosi Family relationships Personal pronoun declensions; vocabulary of family relationships; word order (3); use of pronouns 12 Putni planovi Travel plans The future tense; using the long form of the future auxiliary; structures with the future tense 13 U kazalip t u At the theatre Ordinal numbers: first, second, etc.; periods of time; dates; days of the week; time of day 14 Pakiranje Packing Comparative of adjectives; comparative of adverbs; structures with the comparative; the superlative; clothes, colours 15 Polazak Departure Demonstrative pronouns: 'this', 'that'; possessive adjectives; preparing for a car journey; driving, route planning 16 U kvaru Breakdown Possessive pronouns: my, your, etc.; future perfect tense; parts of a car 17 U kupnji Shopping Interrogative pronouns: 'who', 'what', etc.; relative pronouns: 'who', 'which', etc.; shopping for food; aspect 2; lost items, visiting a police station 18 Prometna nesreAea Road accident Imperative, negative imperatives; adjective phrases expressed by verbs; aspect 3; parts of the body 19 Razgovor o svakodnevnom a i v ot u Conversation about everyday life Conditional: 'I would', etc.; conditional clauses; reflexive phrases 20 Kraj The end Participles: 'being', 'having been', etc; verbal nouns Grammar summary Key to main exercises Translations of main texts Croatian-English glossary English-Croatian glossary Subject index