hrvatski
Latin, masculine
hrvatski is the Croatian word for the English phrase 'croatian'.
hrvatski refers to the standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian or can be used as an adjective meaning 'croatian'. You may also see the phrase Naš jezik, which translates to 'our language'.
Meaning: the standardized variety of Serbo-Croatian (name)
Which one should you use?
It is important to distinguish between the language and the people. While hrvatski refers to the language or the adjective 'croatian', the word Hrvat refers to a Croatian person (a Croat).
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The word hrvatski changes its ending when used in different grammatical cases, such as hrvatskom for the instrumental or locative case. Regarding the noun for a Croatian person, Hrvat is the singular form, while Hrvati is the plural form for 'Croats'.
Did you know?
- The Croatian language is known for its 'pitch accent', where the rise or fall of a tone can change the meaning of a word, even if the consonants and vowels are identical.
- In Croatian, adjectives like hrvatski are not capitalized unless they start a sentence. However, the noun Hrvat for a person is always capitalized.
- In many historical contexts, the distinction between the term for the people, Hrvat, and the language, hrvatski, has been a sensitive political and cultural marker.
Examples in context
- Volim hrvatski!I love Croatian!This sentence expresses a feeling of affection for the Croatian language using hrvatski.Tatoeba #13693379 by mervert1, translation #13693377 by mervert1
- Govorim hrvatski.I speak Croatian.This sentence is used to state that one speaks the Croatian language using hrvatski.Tatoeba #13994053 by mervert1, translation #11664268 by Adelpa
- EU ima 24 službena jezika: engleski, bugarski, češki, danski, estonski, finski, francuski, grčki, nizozemski, hrvatski, irski, litavski, latvijski, mađarski, malteški, njemački, poljski, portugalski, rumunjski, slovački, slovenski, španiolski, švedski i talianski.The EU has 24 official languages: English, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Greek, Dutch, Croatian, Irish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Hungarian, Maltese, German, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and Italian.This sentence lists Croatian as one of the official languages of the EU using hrvatski.Tatoeba #12603573 by Adelpa, translation #12603522 by Adelpa
Example conversation
Ivan and Ana are discussing language courses at a cafe.
- IvanUčiš li trenutno hrvatski?Are you learning Croatian currently?
- AnaDa, hrvatski je jako zanimljiv.Yes, Croatian is very interesting.
- IvanJe li hrvatski težak?Is Croatian difficult?
- AnaMalo je težak, ali zabavan je.It is a little difficult, but it is fun.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “croatian” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
