Croatia is a popular holiday destinations so it’s good to know some basic Croatian phrases. Local residents will be much friendlier if you can talk to them, even in their broken native language.
Croatian phrases will also be useful when we come across people who do not speak any other language. It can happen that you get to somewhat more remote places, where the inhabitants are only elderly people, and in their case it is difficult to speak English or German.
Several learned phrases and words will allow you to communicate or even make a mini conversation with Croats. A few sentences in Croatian can help in settling the matter, getting along when renting a place or ordering dinner in a restaurant.
The most popular words and phrases in Croatian are presented below.
Let’s start with the fact that Croatian is a phonetic language, i.e. we read as the given word is written. It is only worth knowing the pronunciation of typical Croatian letters: č – we read as ch in check, š – like sh in ship, and ž – like ʐ in French voyage.
And that’s it.
Basic Croatian phrases
At the beginning of the greeting in Croatian:
- Good morning – dobro jutro (until 10 am) / dobar dan
- Hi – bok
- Welcome – dobrodošli
- Good afternoon – dobra večer
- Goodbye – doviđenja
- See you later – vidimo se
- Good night – laku noć
- Have a nice day – ugodan dan
Courtesy phrases in Croatian:
- Yes – da
- No – ne
- Thank you – hvala
- Please – izvoli(te) (when giving something) or molim (when asking)
- Sorry – oprostite
- Howdy! – kako ste?
- Good – dobro
- Very good – vrlo dobro
- Bon apetit! – dobar tek
- Bless you! – Živjeli
- Greeetings – pozdravi
Croatian phrasebook in a shop and restaurant:
- How much does it cost? – koliko košta?
- One/Half a kilo, please. – molim kilo / pola kilo
- How much do I pay?– koliko plaćam?
- Can I get a menu? – mogu li pogledati jelovnik?
- I’m a vegetarian. – ja sam vegetarijanac
- No sugar please. – bez šećera
- Dry/Sweet (wine) – suho / slatko
- White/Red wine – vino crno / bijelo
- Take away – odnijeti
- Receipt – račun
- Can I use a credit card? – može li se platiti kreditnom karticom?
- Delicious – bilo je u kusno
- Shop – dućan
- Currency exchange – mjenjačnica
- Pharmacy – ljekarna
Useful words in Croatian on vacation
- day – danas
- tomorrow – sutra
- week – tjedan
- near – blizu
- far – daleko
- holidays – odmor
- sea – more
- town – grad
- centre– centar
- aeroport – aerodrom
- hospital – bolnica
- consulate – konzulata
- ticket – ulaznica
- no parking – nema parking
- highway – autocesta
- home – kuća
- vacancies – slobodnih soba/ slobodnih apartmani
- bathroom – kupaonica
- shower – tuš
- agreement- ugovor
- Croatia – Hrvatska
- My name is… – Zovem se…
Finally, numbers:
- 1 – jedan
- 2 – dva/dvije
- 3 – tri
- 4 – četiri
- 5 – pet
- 6 – šest
- 7 – sedam
- 8 – osam
- 9 – devet
- 10 – deset
- 11 – jedanaest
- 12 – dvanaest
- 13 – trinaest
- 14 – četrnaest
- 15 – petnaest
- 16 – šesnaest
- 17 – sedamnaest
- 18 – osamnaest
- 19 – devetnaest
- 20 – dvadeset
- 30 – trideset
- 40 – četrdeset
- 50 – pedeset
- 60 – šezdeset
- 70 – sedamdeset
- 80 – osamdeset
- 90 – devedeset
- 100 – sto
- 200 – dve stotine
- 300 – trista
- 500 – petsto
- 1000 – tisuću
- 1000000 – milijun
The basic Croatian phrases that we have mentioned in our conversations will be useful in situations that can meet you every day at a gas station, at gates on highways or in shops and restaurants. Even when you talk to the owner of your apartment.
And by the way … what words should not be used in Croatia? ? Do you know such? If so, comment.