Skip to main content

Books-and-films in Croatian

Books & Films

Culture talk is where B1 earns its badge — and it runs on one small word: koji, the relative pronoun that stitches sentences together. Add a plot verb and a verdict adjective, and you're reviewing films over kava with the natives.

koji — the Workhorse Relative

koji/koja/koje agrees with the noun it describes, like any adjective:

Croatian
film koji sam gledao
English
the film (that) I watched
Croatian
knjiga koja mi se sviđa
English
the book (that) I like
Croatian
čovjek koji radi s Petrom
English
the man who works with Petra

For now, nominative and accusative uses carry you; koji through the whole case system is a Mastering Croatian topic.

Talking Plots

Croatian
Film govori o ratu.
English
The film is about the war. (o + locative)
Croatian
glavni lik
English
the main character
Croatian
radnja
English
the plot
Croatian
kraj
English
the ending

Radnja je spora, ali kraj je odličan.

The plot is slow, but the ending is excellent.

Note: A complete film review in eight words.

Recommending

Croatian
Preporučujem ti ovu knjigu.
English
I recommend this book to you.
Croatian
Vrijedi pogledati!
English
Worth watching!
Croatian
Svidio mi se film.
English
I liked the film. (masculine svidio)
Croatian
Svidjela mi se knjiga.
English
I liked the book. (feminine svidjela — ije→je!)

The Verdict Vocabulary

Croatian
odličan
English
excellent
Croatian
dosadan
English
boring
Croatian
smiješan
English
funny
Croatian
tužan
English
sad
Croatian
predvidljiv
English
predictable

💬 The kava review

A

Jesi li gledala film koji sam ti preporučio?

Did you watch the film I recommended?

B

Jesam! Svidio mi se — glavni lik je odličan.

I did! I liked it — the main character is excellent.

A

A kraj?

And the ending?

B

Malo predvidljiv. Ali vrijedi pogledati.

A bit predictable. But worth watching.