Ways to say it
| Croatian | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| sretan put | /srêtan pûːt/ (word by word) | Latin |
| srećan put | /srêt͡ɕan pûːt/ (word by word) | Latin |
You use these phrases to wish someone a good journey or a safe trip. While sretan put is the standard way to say "bon voyage", you might also say Lijep put to mean "have a nice trip" or Uživaj u putu to mean "enjoy your journey". Neka ti je sretan put translates to "may your journey be happy".
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase sretan put is composed of the adjective sretan (happy/lucky) and the noun put (journey/way).
Which one should you use?
sretan put is the standard Croatian form, whereas srećan put is a variant used primarily in Bosnian and Serbian.
How does it change in a sentence?
In the phrase sretan put, the adjective sretan is in the masculine singular nominative form to agree with the masculine noun put.
How do you pronounce it?
/srêtan pûːt/
When do people say it?
When someone wishes you sretan put, a common and natural way to respond is Hvala, vidimo se! (Thanks, see you!).
Did you know?
- The word put has a double meaning and is used to count occurrences. For example, tri puta means 'three times' rather than 'three journeys'.
- The Croatian word put is inherited from the Proto-Indo-European root *póntoh₁s, making it a distant linguistic relative of the English word 'path'.
- The adjective sretan translates to 'happy' but also means 'lucky'. When saying sretan put, you are effectively wishing the traveler a stroke of good fortune.
Examples in context
- Sretan put, draga!Have a good journey, dear!
- Želim ti sretan put.I wish you a good journey.
Example conversation
Mia is seeing Luka off at the airport.
- MiaSretan put, Luka!Have a good journey, Luka!
- LukaHvala ti, Mia.Thank you, Mia.
- MiaJavi se kad stigneš.Call me when you arrive.
- LukaNaravno, čujemo se.Of course, we'll talk soon.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bon voyage” translations and entries sretan put, srećan put, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (sretan, put, srećan) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries put, CC BY-SA 4.0.
