dobrodošli
/dobrodǒʃli/Latin
The English word "welcome" is translated into Croatian as dobrodošli.
dobrodošli is a greeting used when someone arrives. To say "welcome to [a place]", the preposition you choose depends on the destination: use u (in/into) for enclosed spaces and na (on/to) for open areas or events. For example, you would say dobrodošli u kuću (welcome to the house) but dobrodošli na koncert (welcome to the concert).
Meaning: greeting given upon someone's arrival (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is a compound of dobro (well) and došli (come/arrived), literally meaning "well come".
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The form dobrodošli is the plural or formal version. If you are welcoming a single male, use dobrodošao. If you are welcoming a single female, use dobrodošla. If you are welcoming a group consisting only of females, use dobrodošle. Related adjectives such as željan, željna and željni can be used to describe someone whose arrival is a cause of joy (welcome/desirable).
How do you pronounce it?
/dobrodǒʃli/
When do people say it?
You can express a more heartfelt greeting by saying Srdačno dobrodošli, which translates to "heartily welcome".
Did you know?
- In Croatian, the word for 'welcome' as a greeting is entirely different from the word used to say 'you are welcome' after someone says 'thank you', which is molim.
- The phrase dobrodošli is a fossilized form of the second-person plural, meaning it functions as a frozen grammatical snapshot of an older way of addressing a group.
- While dobrodošli is the standard greeting, a guest might respond with hvala ('thank you') or simply a smile, as there is no single 'you are welcome' phrase that functions as a direct reply to a greeting.
Examples in context
- Dobrodošli na Tatoeba.Welcome to Tatoeba!Tatoeba #3957190 by krofna, translation #1205289 by bart
- dobrodošli u džunglu!Welcome to the jungle!
- Dobrodošli u naš predivan hotel!Welcome to our beautiful hotel!
- Srdačno dobrodošli na svečanost!Heartily welcome to the ceremony!
- Dobrodošao nazad, prijatelju!Welcome back, my friend!
- Dobro ti došla, sestro!Welcome, sister!
- Dobrodošli u našu novu kuću.Welcome to our new house.
Example conversation
Ivan welcomes Mia to his new home.
- IvanHej Mia, dobrodošli u moj novi stan!Hey Mia, welcome to my new apartment!
- MiaHvala ti, Ivane. Baš je lijepo ovdje.Thank you, Ivan. It is really nice here.
- IvanDrago mi je da ti se sviđa.I am glad that you like it.
- MiaSve izgleda odlično.Everything looks great.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “welcome” translations and entries dobrodošli, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries dobrodošli, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR, Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
