How to Use Adjectives: Agreement and Declension in Croatian

Understanding Adjective Agreement in Croatian

In Croatian, adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in gender, number, and case. This means that the form of the adjective changes depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter, singular or plural, and which grammatical case it is in.

Gender Agreement

Croatian has three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Adjectives change their endings to match the gender of the noun they modify. For example, the adjective "dobar" (good) changes as follows:

• Masculine singular: dobar
• Feminine singular: dobra
• Neuter singular: dobro

Number Agreement

Adjectives also change depending on whether the noun is singular or plural. Using the same adjective "dobar":

• Masculine plural: dobri
• Feminine plural: dobre
• Neuter plural: dobra

Case Agreement

Croatian has seven cases, and adjectives decline accordingly. The ending of the adjective changes to reflect the case of the noun it describes. For example, the masculine singular adjective "dobar" in the nominative case is "dobar", but in the genitive case it becomes "dobrog".

Declension of Adjectives in Croatian

Declension refers to the way adjectives change their endings to reflect gender, number, and case. There are two main types of adjective declension in Croatian: hard and soft declensions, depending on the adjective's stem ending.

Hard Declension Example

The adjective "dobar" (good) follows hard declension patterns. Here is its declension in masculine singular:

1. Nominative: dobar
2. Genitive: dobrog
3. Dative: dobrom
4. Accusative: dobrog (animate) / dobar (inanimate)
5. Vocative: dobri
6. Locative: dobrom
7. Instrumental: dobrim

Soft Declension Example

Adjectives like "mlad" (young) follow soft declension patterns. For masculine singular:

1. Nominative: mlad
2. Genitive: mladog
3. Dative: mladom
4. Accusative: mladog (animate) / mlad (inanimate)
5. Vocative: mladi
6. Locative: mladom
7. Instrumental: mladim

Important Notes on Adjective Agreement and Declension

• Adjectives always agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
• Animate masculine nouns have different accusative forms, which affect adjective endings.
• Neuter plural adjectives often have the same form as feminine singular in nominative and accusative.
• Practice with different cases is essential to master adjective declension.