Croatian Language

 

Many of the Croatian people that you will come across will have a reasonable understanding of English, particularly in shops and restaurants, learning a few phrases will be courteous if not necessary and very much appreciated and considered good manners. 

 

Helpful phrases

    English     Croatian     Pronunciation

Hello (Informal)

Bok

bohk

Good Morning

Dobro jutro

DOH-broh YOO-troh

Good Evening

Dobar dan 

DOH-bahr dahn

How are you? (Informal)

Kako si?

KAH-koh see?

Good night 

Laku noć 

LAH-koo notch

Goodbye (Informal)

 Doviđenja or Bok

doh-vee-JEH-nyah or bok

Yes

da

da

No

Ne

ne

What?

Što>

SH-toh

How?

Kako

KAH-koh

Who?

tko

T'koh

Please

Molim

MOH-leem

I'm sorry

Žao mi je 

>szhow mee yeh

Thank you

Hvala

HVAH-lah

You're welcome

Nema na čemu

NEH-mah na CHEH-moo

I want a beer please

Želim pivo molim

ZHEH-leem PEE-vah Moh-leem   

Tea

Čaja

chaia

Coffee

Kave

KAH-veh

Red/White Wine

Crnog/Bijelog vina

TSER-nohg/BYEH-lohg VEE-nah

Water

Vode

VOH-deh

Bus

Autobus

OW-toh-boos  

Taxi

Taksi

TAHK-see

 

     Croatian Alphabet and Numbers

 Vowels;

A - like 'u' in "sun"

Elike 'e' in "their"

İlike 'ee' in "free"

Olike 'o' in "orb"

Uapproximately like 'oo' in "soon"

 Consonants;

Blike 'b' in "bed"

C -  like 'ts' in "bets"

Č -  like 'ch' in "child"

Ć -  like 't' in "mature"

D - like 'd' in "dog"

ĐŽ -  like 'dg' in "fudge"

Đ -  like 'd' in American English "schedule"

Flike 'f' in "for"

G - like 'g' in "go

H - like 'h' in "help" [usually aspirated]

J - like 'y' in "yell"

 - like 'k' in "king" [unaspirated]

L  - like 'l' in "love"

LJ -  like 'li' in "million"

 - like 'm' in "mother"

NJ - like 'ñ' in Spanish "señor" or 'ny' in "canyon"

N - like 'n' in "nice"

Plike 'p' in "pig" [unaspirated]

Q  - like 'q' in "quest" (only in foreign words)

Rtrilled 'r' as in the Spanish "roca"

Slike 's' in "sock"

Š  - like 'sh' in "cash"

Tlike 't' in "top" [unaspirated]

Vlike 'v' in "victory"

W -   like 'v' in "victor" (only in foreign words)

Xlike 'cks' in "kicks" or 'gs' in "legs"(only in foreign words)

Z -  like 'z' in "zebra" 

Ž like 'su' in "measure"

 

    Number     Greek     Pronunciation

1

Jedan

YEH-dahn

2

DVA

dvah

3

Tri

tree

4

Četiri

CHEH-tee-ree

5

Pet

peht

6

Šest

shehst

7

Sedam

SEH-dahm

8

Osam

OH-sahm

9

Devet

DEH-veht

10

Deset

DEH-seht

  

When ordering food it is helpful to know what your options are on the menu! Some menus outside may be purely in Greek, and the following words can be very useful;

 

    English     Greek     Pronunciation

Chicken

Piletina

   PEE-leh-tee-nah

Fish

Riba

REE-bah

Egg

Jaja

   YAH-yah

Beef

Govedina

   GOH-veh-dee-nah

Ham

Šunka

   SHOON-kah

Sugar

Šećer

   SHEH-tcher

Salt

Soli

 SOH-lee

Bread

Kruh

  krooh

Hot

Vruće

   Veh-ru-TCHEH

Cold

Hladno

   Ha-Lad-no

Ice cream

Sladoled

  SLAD-oh-led

Traditional Dalmatian dish of  slow-cooked beef prepared in a rich red sweet and sour plum sauce.

Pašticada

   PASH-tee-cah-dah