localize-hr

Translate to Croatian (hr) — High-Fidelity Skill

Scope & Variants

Croatian (hr) is a single standard written language using only Latin script with Croatian diacritics (Č Ć Đ Š Ž). Unlike Serbian, there is no Cyrillic variant — Croatian is Latin-only.

Locale	Name	Notes
`hr` / `hr-HR`	Standard Croatian (Republic of Croatia)	Default and only meaningful variant for software
`hr-BA`	Croatian as used in Bosnia & Herzegovina	Practically identical to `hr` for product UI

Practical reality: Croatian translation has essentially one target. There is no equivalent to the Spanish es-ES/es-419 split or the Norwegian Bokmål/Nynorsk split. Treat hr as the universal target.

BCMS continuum — Croatian is NOT Serbian / Bosnian / Montenegrin

Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin are mutually intelligible South Slavic varieties — but they are politically, orthographically, and lexically distinct languages with their own ISO codes (hr, sr, bs, cnr). Mixing them is a critical failure.

The biggest single tell that distinguishes Croatian from Serbian: ijekavian vs ekavian.

English	Croatian (ijekavian) ✓	Serbian (ekavian) ✗
time	vrijeme	vreme
nice	lijepo	lepo
milk	mlijeko	mleko
child	dijete	dete
children	djeca	deca
river	rijeka	reka
world	svijet	svet
light	svjetlost	svetlost
flower	cvijet	cvet
star	zvijezda	zvezda
song	pjesma	pesma
place	mjesto	mesto
beautiful	lijep	lep
arrow	strijela	strela
left	lijevi	levi
measure	mjera	mera
change (n.)	promjena	promena
section	odjeljak	odeljak

If any vreme / lepo / mleko / dete / reka slips into a Croatian translation, fix it — that's Serbian.

Other Croatian-specific vocabulary (where Serbian uses different roots):

English	Croatian ✓	Serbian (do not use in hr)
week	tjedan	nedelja (note: nedjelja in Croatian means "Sunday"!)
thousand	tisuća	hiljada
who	tko	ko
what	što	šta
football	nogomet	fudbal
bread	kruh	hleb
computer	računalo	računar
keyboard	tipkovnica	tastatura
screen	zaslon	ekran
browser	preglednik	pregledač
company	tvrtka (also poduzeće)	preduzeće / firma
office	ured	kancelarija
coffee	kava	kafa
airport	zračna luka	aerodrom
station	postaja / kolodvor	stanica
theatre	kazalište	pozorište
factory	tvornica	fabrika
sport	šport (or sport)	sport
family	obitelj	porodica
address	adresa	adresa (same)
university	sveučilište	univerzitet
million	milijun	milion

Croatian months are Slavic-rooted (Croatia is one of only 5 Slavic countries to keep them — Czech, Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian being the others):

#	Croatian ✓	Serbian (do not use)
1	siječanj	januar
2	veljača	februar
3	ožujak	mart
4	travanj	april
5	svibanj	maj
6	lipanj	jun
7	srpanj	jul
8	kolovoz	avgust
9	rujan	septembar
10	listopad	oktobar
11	studeni	novembar
12	prosinac	decembar

Croatian months are also adjectival in form (siječanj declines: siječnja, siječnju, etc.).

Register Auto-Detection (Apply Before Translating)

Croatian formality is set by pronoun + verb-ending choice with capitalization conventions. Auto-detect from source:

Source signal	Target register
Casual / conversational / personal (`Hey!`, contractions, emoji, marketing voice, social)	Informal (ti) — `ti` pronoun lowercase, 2nd-person sg. verb endings (-š), familiar imperative (`Spremi`, `Klikni`). Allow some loanwords.
Neutral product UI / docs / consumer software (DEFAULT)	Formal (Vi) — `Vi` capitalized for direct address, 2nd-person pl. verb endings (-te), polite imperative (`Spremite`, `Kliknite`). Possessive `Vaš/Vaša/Vaše` also capitalized.
Legal / banking / government / enterprise B2B	Formal (Vi) elevated — same `Vi` form but full constructions, no contractions, prefer reflexive impersonal (`Vrši se`), avoid casual loanwords.

Hard rule: never mix levels in one text. A string with Možete promijeniti (formal verb) and tvoje postavke (informal possessive) is broken.

Capitalization rule for Vi: Vi / Vaš / Vaša / Vaše / Vaši / Vam / Vas are capitalized in direct second-person address. This signals respect — failing to capitalize is read as informal even if verb forms are formal.

Default for software UI: Vi (formal) unless brand voice is explicitly youth/casual. Croatian business culture is more formal than e.g. Norwegian or Swedish — Vi is the safe default.

Critical Hard Rules (Severity ≥ 2.0 — Auto-Fail If Wrong)

1. IJEKAVIAN forms only — never ekavian (severity 2.5)

Documented above. The single defining feature of Croatian vs Serbian. Every vrijeme/lijepo/mlijeko/dijete/rijeka/svijet/lijep/cvijet/zvijezda/pjesma/mjesto.

2. Word integrity — verb prefixes NEVER split (severity 3.0)

Croatian verbs with prefixes are single words. Splitting them is a critical error.

✗ Wrong (split)	✓ Correct (joined)
`pre voditi`	`prevoditi` (to translate)
`iz vršiti`	`izvršiti`
`pre nijeti`	`prenijeti` (to transfer)
`na praviti`	`napraviti`
`sa čuvati` (rare in hr) / `spremati`	(use Croatian native `spremiti`)
`pre uzeti`	`preuzeti` (to download / take over)
`pro voditi`	`provoditi`
`ne uspjelo` (when meaning "didn't succeed")	use full construction `nije uspjelo` instead of writing the negation as a compound

Reflexive se/si is the OPPOSITE pattern — se is a separate clitic word, NEVER attached. prijavi se, registriraj se, odjavi se. Writing prijavise or registrirajse is wrong.

3. Seven-case system (severity 2.5)

Croatian uses all 7 Slavic cases, including the vocative. Every noun, adjective, and pronoun declines.

Case	Question	Use	Example (m. sg. "korisnik" — user)	Example (f. sg. "datoteka" — file)
Nominativ (NOM)	tko? što?	Subject	korisnik	datoteka
Genitiv (GEN)	koga? čega?	Possession, "of", absence, 5+ count	korisnika	datoteke
Dativ (DAT)	komu? čemu?	Indirect object, "to"	korisniku	datoteci
Akuzativ (ACC)	koga? što?	Direct object	korisnika (animate=GEN) / sustav (inanimate=NOM)	datoteku
Vokativ (VOC)	—	Direct address	korisniče!	datoteko!
Lokativ (LOK)	o komu? čemu?	Location (always w/ prep)	korisniku (o korisniku)	datoteci (o datoteci)
Instrumental (INS)	s kim? čim?	"With", means	korisnikom	datotekom

Critical: animate masculine accusative = genitive form. vidim korisnika ("I see [the] user"), NOT vidim korisnik. Inanimate masculines keep ACC = NOM: vidim sustav.

4. Preposition + governed case (severity 2.5)

Preposition	Case	Example
u (in/into)	LOK (location) / ACC (motion)	u sustavu (in system) / u sustav (into system)
na (on/onto)	LOK / ACC	na zaslonu / na zaslon
s / sa (with)	INS	s korisnikom, sa Vama
bez (without)	GEN	bez sustava, bez greške
za (for)	ACC	za korisnika, za sustav
od (from)	GEN	od korisnika
do (until/to)	GEN	do kraja
iz (out of)	GEN	iz mape
o (about)	LOK	o korisniku, o sustavu
po (per / along)	LOK	po datoteci, po korisniku
prije (before)	GEN	prije početka
nakon / poslije (after)	GEN	nakon prijave
prema (toward)	DAT	prema korisniku
kroz (through)	ACC	kroz aplikaciju

po + LOK for "per" with rate: po datoteci, po korisniku. dnevno / na dan for "per day".

5. ICU plurals — one / few / other (1 / 2-4 / 5+ pattern) (severity 2.5)

{count, plural,
  one {# datoteka}
  few {# datoteke}
  other {# datoteka}
}

CLDR plural category boundaries:

Category	Rule	Examples	Noun form
`one`	n % 10 = 1, n % 100 ≠ 11	1, 21, 31, 41, 101, 121	NOM singular (datoteka)
`few`	n % 10 ∈ {2,3,4}, n % 100 ∉ {12,13,14}	2, 3, 4, 22, 23, 24, 102, 103	GEN singular (datoteke)
`other`	everything else	0, 5-20, 25-30, 100, 1000	GEN plural (datoteka)

Critical: 11/12/13/14 use other (exceptions to the otherwise simple "ends in 1/2-4" pattern). Same for 111, 112, 113, 114.

6. Numeral-noun agreement (severity 2.0)

Count	Pattern	Example
1	NOM sg	1 datoteka
2, 3, 4	GEN sg (with paucal adjective form)	2 nove datoteke, 3 nova računala
5+	GEN pl	5 datoteka, 10 korisnika
11-14	GEN pl (exception)	11 datoteka, 12 sustava
21	NOM sg (back to "one")	21 datoteka
22-24	GEN sg	22 datoteke
25+	GEN pl	25 datoteka

7. Verb aspect — perfective vs imperfective (severity 2.0)

Every Croatian verb has aspect. UI patterns by aspect:

Imperfective (process, ongoing)	Perfective (single completed event)	English
spremati	spremiti	save
brisati	obrisati / izbrisati	delete
prenositi / učitavati	prenijeti / učitati	upload / load
preuzimati	preuzeti	download
otvarati	otvoriti	open
zatvarati	zatvoriti	close
stvarati	stvoriti / napraviti	create
uređivati	urediti	edit
mijenjati	promijeniti	change
pisati	napisati	write
čitati	pročitati	read
slati	poslati	send
birati	odabrati / izabrati	choose / select
prevoditi	prevesti	translate
prijavljivati se	prijaviti se	log in

UI patterns by aspect:

Buttons (single action) → perfective imperative: Spremi, Obriši, Pošalji, Odaberi. (NOT Spremaj, which means "keep saving repeatedly".)
Ongoing status messages → imperfective verbal noun + …: Spremanje…, Učitavanje…, Prenošenje…, Slanje….
Completed status → perfective past participle + je: Datoteka je spremljena, Prijenos je završen.
Failed status → perfective past + nije: Prijenos nije uspio, Datoteka nije spremljena.

8. Clitic second-position rule (Wackernagel's law) (severity 2.0)

Croatian clitics (je, se, si, mi, ti, mu, joj, nam, vam, im, bi, li) MUST go in the second position of their clause.

✗ Wrong	✓ Correct
`Se meni to ne sviđa`	`To mi se ne sviđa`
`Datoteka se mu prikazuje`	`Datoteka mu se prikazuje` (DAT `mu` before reflexive `se`)

Clitic order within the cluster:

li (question particle)
AUX je / sam / si / smo / ste / su / bi / bih
DAT (mi / ti / mu / joj / nam / vam / im)
ACC (me / te / ga / je / nas / vas / ih)
Reflexive se / si

Example: Da li mu se to sviđa? (Q-AUX-DAT-REFL — does he like it?) — note: modern Croatian increasingly drops the Da opener for Sviđa li mu se to? style.

9. Three-gender adjective agreement (severity 2.0)

Gender	Indef. example	Adjective ending (sg.)
Masculine (consonant ending)	sustav	novi sustav
Feminine (-a ending)	aplikacija	nova aplikacija
Neuter (-o/-e ending)	računalo	novo računalo

Wrong gender adjective is auto-fail: nova sustav ✗, novi aplikacija ✗.

10. Past-tense gender agreement (severity 1.5)

Past tense = AUX + L-participle which agrees with subject in gender + number:

Subject	L-participle	Example
m. sg.	-o	on je radio
f. sg.	-la	ona je radila
n. sg.	-lo	ono je radilo
m. pl.	-li	oni su radili
f. pl.	-le	one su radile
n. pl.	-la	ona su radila

11. Verb-construction integrity — no stacked finite verbs (severity 2.0)

English -ing (gerund as adverbial: "I spent 6 years building...") MUST be rendered with glagolski prilog sadašnji (verbal adverb, -ći form), NOT a second finite clause.

✗ Stacked finite	✓ Verbal adverb (-ći)	English
`Proveo sam 6 godina gradio sam posao`	`Proveo sam 6 godina gradeći posao`	I spent 6 years building the business
`Radio sam dok sam pisao izvješće`	`Radio sam pišući izvješće`	I worked while writing the report
`Provela je vrijeme čekala je rezultate`	`Provela je vrijeme čekajući rezultate`	She spent time waiting for results

Common -ći forms (imperfective verbs only):

Infinitive	-ći form	English
čekati	čekajući	waiting
pisati	pišući	writing
graditi	gradeći	building
čitati	čitajući	reading
razmišljati	razmišljajući	thinking
koristiti	koristeći	using
dolaziti	dolazeći	coming
raditi	radeći	working
govoriti	govoreći	speaking
prevoditi	prevodeći	translating

Also flag verb-root monotony: if the same root appears 3+ times in one string (radi na radu radnog procesa), restructure with synonyms (obavlja posao, razvija radni proces).

12. Diacritics — Č Ć Đ Š Ž are essential (severity 2.5)

Never strip diacritics. Spremi is fine but Pošalji written as Posalji is broken; Obriši → Obrisi is broken; Odaberite → Odaberite is correct but Učitavanje → Ucitavanje is broken.

13. Latin script ONLY (severity 3.0)

Croatian is written exclusively in Latin script. Never use Cyrillic. (Croatia historically used Glagolitic, and briefly Cyrillic in certain dialects, but modern standard Croatian is unambiguously Latin.)

If a translation contains any Cyrillic letters except in tech identifiers/URLs (which would themselves be Latin anyway), something is wrong — most likely an accidental Serbian conversion.

Pronouns and Possessives

Personal pronouns

English	Croatian	Notes
I	ja
you (sg. informal)	ti
you (sg./pl. formal — capitalize)	Vi	Always capitalized in direct address
you (pl. informal)	vi	lowercase when truly plural informal
he	on
she	ona
it	ono
we	mi
they (m./mixed)	oni
they (f.)	one
they (n.)	ona

Possessive pronouns (agree with possessed noun's gender/number/case)

Person	m. sg.	f. sg.	n. sg.
moj (my)	moj	moja	moje
tvoj (your sg. informal)	tvoj	tvoja	tvoje
Vaš (your formal — capitalize)	Vaš	Vaša	Vaše
njegov (his)	njegov	njegova	njegovo
njezin / njen (her)	njezin	njezina	njezino
svoj (reflexive — own)	svoj	svoja	svoje
naš (our)	naš	naša	naše
njihov (their)	njihov	njihova	njihovo

Reflexive svoj: used when possessor = subject of same clause.

On sprema svoju datoteku. (He saves his own file.) ← reflexive
On sprema njegovu datoteku. (He saves someone else's file.) ← non-reflexive — different referent

UI Conventions

Buttons — PERFECTIVE imperative (never infinitive)

Single-word action buttons take the perfective imperative — informal Spremi / formal Spremite. NEVER infinitive (Spremiti) — that reads as a manual instruction.

English	ti (informal)	Vi (formal)
Save	Spremi	Spremite
Cancel	Odustani / Otkaži	Odustanite / Otkažite
Delete	Obriši / Izbriši	Obrišite / Izbrišite
Send	Pošalji	Pošaljite
Edit	Uredi	Uredite
Search	Pretraži	Pretražite
Confirm	Potvrdi	Potvrdite
Continue	Nastavi	Nastavite
Submit	Pošalji	Pošaljite
Sign in	Prijavi se	Prijavite se
Sign out	Odjavi se	Odjavite se
Sign up	Registriraj se	Registrirajte se
Next	Sljedeće / Dalje	(same)
Back	Natrag	(same)
Done	Gotovo / Završeno	(same)
OK	U redu / OK	(same)
Close	Zatvori	Zatvorite
Upload	Prenesi	Prenesite
Download	Preuzmi	Preuzmite
Refresh	Osvježi	Osvježite
Settings	Postavke	(same)
Apply	Primijeni	Primijenite
Reset	Vrati na zadano / Resetiraj	Resetirajte
Select all	Odaberi sve	Odaberite sve
Deselect all	Poništi sve / Odznači sve	Poništite sve
Add more	Dodaj još (NOT `Dodaj više`)	Dodajte još
Show more	Prikaži još	Prikažite još

Tabs and navigation labels also use imperative, not infinitive:

✗ Prenijeti datoteke (inf., instruction-manual tone)
✓ Prenesite datoteke (Vi imp.) / Prenesi datoteke (ti imp.)

Status messages — three distinct patterns

Ongoing (in-flight) → imperfective verbal noun + …

English	Croatian
Loading…	Učitavanje…
Saving…	Spremanje…
Sending…	Slanje…
Uploading…	Prenošenje… / Učitavanje…
Downloading…	Preuzimanje…
Translating…	Prevođenje…
Connecting…	Povezivanje…
Processing…	Obrada…
Searching…	Pretraživanje…
Please wait	Pričekajte, molim / Molimo pričekajte

Completed → Subject + je + perfective past participle (full construction with auxiliary je)

English	Croatian
Saved	Spremljeno / Datoteka je spremljena
Done	Gotovo / Završeno
Translation complete	Prijevod je završen
File uploaded	Datoteka je prenesena
Payment successful	Plaćanje je uspjelo / Uspješno plaćanje
Sent	Poslano / Poruka je poslana

Critical: NEVER drop the je auxiliary. Prijevod završen ✗ (sounds incomplete) → Prijevod je završen ✓.

Failed → Subject + nije + perfective past participle

English	Croatian
Save failed	Spremanje nije uspjelo
Upload failed	Prijenos nije uspio
Translation failed	Prijevod nije uspio
Connection failed	Povezivanje nije uspjelo
File not found	Datoteka nije pronađena

NEVER use short forms like Prijevod neuspjelo — they sound unnatural.

Validation / field errors → nominal description

English	Croatian
This field is required	Ovo polje je obavezno
Invalid format	Neispravan format
Password too short	Lozinka je prekratka
Email already in use	E-mail adresa je već u upotrebi

Action instructions → imperative

English	Croatian
Enter your password	Unesite Vašu lozinku (Vi) / Unesi lozinku (ti)
Choose at least one language	Odaberite barem jedan jezik
Try again	Pokušajte ponovno

Empty states — `Nema X` / `Nije pronađeno`

✗ Bare	✓ Specific
Prazno	Nema rezultata / Nema pronađenih stavki
Ništa ovdje	Nema datoteka / Nema dostupnih podataka
Bez podataka	Nema dostupnih podataka
Lista je prazna	Nema stavki na popisu

Drag-and-drop

drag → povucite (Vi) / povuci (ti)
drop (= place files) → pustite (Vi) / ispustite as fallback
release → ispustite / pustite
Combined: Povucite datoteke ovdje (Drag files here) / Pustite za prijenos (Release to upload).

Ispustite datoteke ovdje is borderline acceptable but Povucite reads as the unified drag-and-drop idiom.

File picker — `Odaberi` not `Pregledaj`

Standard in Chrome HR / Windows HR / macOS HR:

✗ Older / navigation-oriented	✓ Modern / action-oriented
Pregledaj datoteke	Odaberi datoteke (ti) / Odaberite datoteke (Vi)
Pregledaj datoteku	Odaberi datoteku / Odaberite datoteku
Kliknite za pregledavanje	Kliknite za odabir
Za pregledanje datoteka	Za odabir datoteka

Quantity expressions

✗ Calque	✓ Native
25+ jezika	više od 25 jezika
+{count} više	i {count} drugih / još {count}
+25 funkcija	preko 25 funkcija / više od 25 funkcija

Dodaj više ✗ (literal "add more") → Dodaj još ✓ (idiomatic).

Error messages — what + next step

✗ Bare	✓ With next step
Datoteka nije pronađena.	Datoteka nije pronađena. Provjerite putanju.
Greška mreže.	Greška mreže. Pokušajte ponovno.
Neispravan e-mail.	E-mail adresa nije ispravna. Provjerite format.
Prijava nije uspjela.	Prijava nije uspjela. Provjerite korisničko ime i lozinku.

Punctuation, Numbers, Dates, Currency

Punctuation

Mark	Croatian	Notes
Question mark	`?`	Same as English
Comma	`,`	Different conjunction rules (see below)
Period	`.`	Same
Colon	`:`	Same
Quotation marks	„…" (German low-9/high-9) — preferred, OR »…« (French-style, also acceptable)	Both standard in Croatian typography
Nested quotes	`'…'`
Apostrophe	only in foreign names	Croatian genitive uses bare case ending, not English `'s`

Comma rules

Rule	Example
NO comma before `i` (and)	Povucite ovdje i kliknite.
NO comma before `ili` (or)	Povucite ovdje ili kliknite.
NO comma before `niti` (nor)	Niti znam niti mi je važno.
Comma before `da` (that, subordinating)	Vidim, da je datoteka otvorena. (Note: optional in modern style)
Comma before `koji/koja/koje` (relative)	Datoteka, koja je spremljena…
Comma before `ako` (if)	Spremite, ako želite.
Comma before `jer` (because)	Otkazano, jer nije uspjelo.
Comma before `ali` (but)	Brzo, ali učinkovito.
Comma before `nego` (but / rather)	Nije sporo, nego brzo.
Comma before `a` (and/but contrast)	Ja sam pisao, a ti si čekao.

Numbers

Format	Pattern	Example
Thousands separator	period (.)	1.234.567
Decimal separator	comma (,)	3,14 / 99,99
Negative	`-25`
Percent	`25%` (no space typical)

Critical: Croatian uses period for thousands, comma for decimal — opposite of English.

Dates

Format	Example	Use
D. M. YYYY.	15. 1. 2024.	Default — note the period AFTER the year
D. mjesec YYYY.	15. siječnja 2024.	Long-form prose — month in genitive!
D. mjesec YYYY. godine	15. siječnja 2024. godine	Formal documents
YYYY-MM-DD	2024-01-15	Technical/API only

Croatian month names (Slavic-rooted, declines!):

Nominative	Genitive (used in dates)
siječanj	siječnja
veljača	veljače
ožujak	ožujka
travanj	travnja
svibanj	svibnja
lipanj	lipnja
srpanj	srpnja
kolovoz	kolovoza
rujan	rujna
listopad	listopada
studeni	studenoga (or studenog)
prosinac	prosinca

Critical: in dates, the month is in genitive — 15. siječnja 2024. not 15. siječanj 2024..

Weekdays (lowercase): ponedjeljak, utorak, srijeda, četvrtak, petak, subota, nedjelja (= Sunday in Croatian; cf. Serbian nedelja = week).

Week starts Monday.

Time

24-hour preferred: 14:30 or 14.30 (period acceptable as separator), or 14:30 sati.
12-hour rarely used.

Currency — EUR since 1 January 2023

Croatia adopted the euro on 1 January 2023, replacing the Croatian kuna (HRK). All modern Croatian UI uses EUR.

Format	Pattern	Example
Euro after amount	`€` after amount with space	99,99 €
ISO code	EUR	99,99 EUR

Do NOT use HRK in modern UI — it was withdrawn. Historical references to HRK should explicitly say kuna if needed.

Never $99.99 style in Croatian.

Terminology — preferred Croatian terms

Croatian has a stronger purist tradition than Serbian — Croatian institutions actively promote native equivalents over loanwords. When in doubt, prefer the native form.

English	✓ Croatian preferred	✗ Avoid (Serbian / loanword)
user	korisnik	user
account	račun (banking) / korisnički račun (account)	akaunt
password	lozinka / zaporka	password
settings	postavke	postavke (same)
dashboard	nadzorna ploča	dashboard
email	e-mail / e-pošta	mejl, imejl
link	poveznica / link	— both acceptable
website	web-stranica / mrežna stranica	website
folder	mapa	folder
file	datoteka	fajl
device	uređaj	device
phone	telefon / mobilni telefon / mobitel	—
computer	računalo	kompjuter, računar (Serbian)
keyboard	tipkovnica	tastatura (Serbian)
screen	zaslon	ekran, monitor
application / app	aplikacija	—
update (v.)	ažurirati / nadograditi	apdejtati
save	spremiti / pohraniti	sejvati
delete	obrisati / izbrisati	—
upload	prenijeti / učitati	uploadati
download	preuzeti	downloadati
sign in / log in	prijaviti se	ulogirati se
sign up / register	registrirati se	—
search	pretraživati / tražiti	—
click	kliknuti / pritisnuti	—
share	podijeliti	šerati
profile	profil	—
notifications	obavijesti	notifikacije (acceptable, but `obavijesti` preferred)
privacy	privatnost	—
terms	uvjeti	—
support	podrška	—
help	pomoć	—
feedback	povratne informacije	feedback
menu	izbornik	meni
home	početna / početna stranica	—
logout	odjaviti se	—
browser	preglednik	browser, pregledač (Serbian)
glossary	pojmovnik	rječnik, glosar
namespace	prostor imena	namespace
build (software)	izgraditi / izraditi / stvoriti	builda (avoid)
deploy	postaviti / objaviti / pokrenuti u produkciju	deplojati
pipeline (CI/CD)	pipeline (keep) / proces izgradnje	cjevovod (= literal pipe)
commit (git)	commit (keep) / spremiti izmjene	—
merge (git)	spojiti / merge (keep in code)	—
repository	repozitorij	—
branch (git)	grana / branch (keep)	—
API	API (keep — Latin always)	—
endpoint	endpoint (keep) / krajnja točka	—
token	token (keep)	—
cache	predmemorija / cache	—
log (n.)	dnevnik / log	—
sync	sinkronizacija / sinkronizirati	—
webhook	webhook (keep)	—
company	tvrtka / poduzeće	firma, preduzeće (Serbian)
office	ured	kancelarija (Serbian)

Tech identifiers — keep in Latin

(Since Croatian is Latin-only this is less of a special rule, but still: keep brand names and identifiers as-is.)

Programming languages: Python, JavaScript, Go, Rust, Java
Frameworks: React, Vue, Angular, Next.js, Django
Tools: Git, GitHub, GitLab, Docker, npm, pip, cargo
Protocols: HTTP, REST, GraphQL, OAuth, JWT
File formats: JSON, XML, YAML, CSV, PDF
Brands: Google, Microsoft, Apple, iPhone, Android
Commands, file paths, URLs, code snippets
Placeholders: {variableName}, {{count}}, <tag>

False Friends — Critical

Croatian word	Actually means	NOT this (common AI error)	Correct for the English
aktualan	current / topical	"actual"	"actual" → stvaran / pravi
realizirati	to implement / carry out	"to realize (understand)"	"realize (understand)" → shvatiti
eventualno	possibly	"eventually"	"eventually" → na kraju / konačno
uzbuđen	excited (sometimes ambiguous)	safer "excited"	"excited (looking forward)" → veselim se / radujem se
simpatičan	likeable / pleasant	"sympathetic (compassionate)"	"sympathetic" → suosjećajan
simpatija	a crush / affection	"sympathy (condolence)"	"sympathy" → suosjećanje
receptura	recipe (formal)	"receipt"	"receipt" → račun / potvrda
dirigirati	to conduct (music)	"to direct (manage)"	"direct (manage)" → voditi / upravljati
efektan	producing visual effect	"effective"	"effective" → učinkovit / djelotvoran
pretendirati	to claim / aspire to	"to pretend"	"pretend" → pretvarati se
nedjelja	Sunday (!)	"week"	"week" → tjedan (NOT `nedjelja`)

The nedjelja (Sunday) vs Serbian nedelja (week) is a famous trap.

Calque / Anti-Pattern List

✗ Calque	✓ Native	Reason
Auto-otkriveno / Auto-spremi	Automatski otkriveno / Automatski spremi	"Auto-X" — use full adjective form
Prevedeni rezultati (as header)	Rezultati prevođenja	English Past-Participle + Noun → Croatian Noun + Genitive verbal noun
Ažurirane postavke (as header)	Postavke ažuriranja / Promjene postavki	Same pattern
Uvezene datoteke (as header)	Datoteke uvoza / Uvezeni dokumenti	Same pattern
opcija jezika (noun + noun)	jezične opcije / izbor jezika	English N+N → Croatian adj+N or genitive
projekt mapa	mapa projekta / projektna mapa	English N+N → genitive or adjective
korisnik postavke	korisničke postavke / postavke korisnika	English N+N → adjective or genitive
preferencija tona	željeni ton / odabir tona	Anglicism noun → native adjective + noun
To čini smisao	To ima smisla / To je logično	"Makes sense" calque
Na kraju dana	U konačnici / Na kraju krajeva	"At the end of the day" calque
uzeti mjesto	održati se / dogoditi se	"Take place" calque
bazirano na	na temelju / temeljeno na	"Based on" calque
u redu da	kako bi / da bi	"In order to" calque
na dnevnoj bazi	svakodnevno / dnevno	"On a daily basis" calque
u smislu (overused)	što se tiče / u pogledu	"In terms of" calque
izvršiti poboljšanje	poboljšati	Use direct verb
dati odgovor	odgovoriti	Use direct verb
izvršiti odabir	odabrati	Use direct verb
Nulta zastoja / Nula grešaka	Bez zastoja / Bez grešaka	"Zero X" English marketing calque
AI-pogonjen	temeljen na AI / uz pomoć AI / mrežno učenje	"X-powered" calque
podaci-orijentiran	temeljen na podacima / vođen podacima	"X-driven" calque
korisnik-prijateljski	korisniku prilagođen / lako za korištenje	"user-friendly" calque
Sjedinjene Američke Države	SAD	UI short form
Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo Velike Britanije	Velika Britanija / UK	UI short form
[Subject] je potreban za [Purpose]	Potreban je [Subject]	English subject-first → Croatian verb-first
Draggajte / Drag-ajte	Povucite	English verb → native
Prijevod neuspjelo / Plaćanje neuspjelo	Prijevod nije uspio / Plaćanje nije uspjelo	Missing auxiliary — sounds incomplete
Prijevod završen (no je)	Prijevod je završen	Missing auxiliary in completion message
Poništi odabir svega	Poništi sve / Odznači sve	Button brevity
Odaberi odabir svih	Odaberi sve	Button brevity / redundancy
Dodaj više	Dodaj još	"Add more" — use idiomatic `još`
per datoteka	po datoteci	"per X" → `po` + locative

Past Participle + Noun → Noun + Genitive (header pattern)

This is a uniquely natural Croatian restructure. English likes adjectival past participles in headers; Croatian prefers nominalization.

English	✗ Calque (Participle + N)	✓ Native (N + Genitive of verbal noun)
Translated Results	Prevedeni rezultati	Rezultati prevođenja
Updated Settings	Ažurirane postavke	Postavke ažuriranja / Promjene postavki
Imported Files	Uvezene datoteke	Datoteke uvoza (or `Uvezeni dokumenti` if listing finished items is the intent)
Selected Options	Odabrane opcije	Odabir opcija

Custom Sections

Verbification suffixes are VALID — don't over-correct

Croatian forms verbs from English loans via -irati / -ati suffixes. These are legitimate Croatian verbs once formed:

English	Croatian verbified	Status
install	instalirati	fully naturalized
sync	sinkronizirati	fully naturalized
reset	resetirati	fully naturalized
register	registrirati se	fully naturalized
reagirati	(reagirati)	OK
upload	uploadati / prenijeti	native `prenijeti` preferred for UI
download	downloadati / preuzeti	native `preuzeti` preferred
log in	ulogirati se / prijaviti se	native `prijaviti se` preferred
share	šerati / podijeliti	native `podijeliti` preferred
like (social)	lajkati	acceptable in social-media contexts
commit (git)	commitati / spremiti izmjene	code-context only

Don't flag instalirati or sinkronizirati as errors — they're standard. The flag is for hybrid forms with native verbs already available (e.g., prefer spremiti over sejvati, obrisati over deletirati).

Per vs za — CRITICAL semantic distinction

Source	✓ Croatian	Meaning
per language (rate)	po jeziku (lok.)	rate, per-unit
for 25 languages (total)	za 25 jezika (acc.)	total scope
5 USD per language	5 USD po jeziku	rate
5 USD for all languages	5 USD za sve jezike	total

Cost / estimate ordering

Prefer amount-first:

✗ Ambiguous	✓ Clear
5 jezika 25 kredita	25 kredita za 5 jezika

UI element references in prose

Use quotation marks for specific UI labels:

✗ Compound	✓ Quoted label
Kliknite Spremi-gumb	Kliknite na gumb „Spremi"
Otvorite Postavke-karticu	Otvorite karticu „Postavke"
Koristite Ime-polje	Koristite polje „Ime"

Brand names + Croatian declension

Foreign brand names CAN be declined Croatian-style with a hyphen + Croatian ending (informal), OR stay invariant (formal/UI default):

Google → Google-a (gen.), Google-u (lok.), Google-om (ins.) — informal/conversational
For formal UI, prefer prepositional phrases: na Google-u or restructure: na platformi Google.
iPhone → iPhone-a, iPhone-u (gen. / lok.)

Self-Check Checklist (Run Before Returning Output)

Croatian language identity (auto-fail on miss)

IJEKAVIAN forms — vrijeme/lijepo/mlijeko/dijete/rijeka/svijet/lijep/cvijet/zvijezda/pjesma/mjesto (NEVER ekavian vreme/lepo/mleko/dete/reka/svet/lep/cvet/zvezda/pesma/mesto).
Croatian months: siječanj, veljača, ožujak, travanj, svibanj, lipanj, srpanj, kolovoz, rujan, listopad, studeni, prosinac (NOT januar, februar, etc.).
Croatian-distinct vocabulary: tjedan (not nedelja), tisuća (not hiljada), tko (not ko), što (not šta), nogomet (not fudbal), kruh (not hleb), računalo (not računar), tipkovnica (not tastatura), zaslon (not ekran), tvrtka (not preduzeće).
Latin script only — no Cyrillic anywhere.

Accuracy

Word integrity — prefixes joined (prevoditi, izvršiti, spremiti), no spaces. Reflexive se/si separate (prijavi se, registriraj se).
Gender agreement on every noun-adj pair (novi sustav / nova aplikacija / novo računalo).
Seven cases correct, especially:
- Animate masc. accusative = genitive (vidim korisnika).
- Instrumental after s/sa (s korisnikom).
- Locative after u/na/o/po (u sustavu, o korisniku, po datoteci).
- Genitive after bez/od/do/iz/prije/nakon (bez sustava).
ICU plurals: one / few / other categories present (1 = nom.sg, 2-4 = gen.sg, 5+ = gen.pl). 11-14 use other.
Numeral-noun agreement matches plural pattern.
Verb aspect correct: perfective for completed (buttons, completion), imperfective for ongoing (status, process).
Clitics in 2nd position (Wackernagel): To mi se ne sviđa, not Se mi to ne sviđa.
Past-tense gender agreement on L-participle (radio/radila/radilo).
No stacked finite verbs from English -ing — use -ći verbal adverb.
Diacritics intact — Č Ć Đ Š Ž never stripped.
Placeholders preserved ({var}, {{count}}, <tag>, URLs, code identifiers).
Numbers: comma decimal (3,14), period thousands (1.234), € after amount.
Dates: 15. siječnja 2024. (month in genitive!), period after year.
Time: 24-hour, 14:30.
Currency: EUR (not HRK — kuna withdrawn 2023).
per vs za: po + LOK for rate, za + ACC for total.

Register

Vi/ti chosen and applied consistently — pronouns, possessives, verb endings all match.
Vi/Vaš/Vaša capitalized in direct second-person address.
No mixing of Vi-form verb ending with ti-form possessive within one text.

UI conventions

Buttons use perfective imperative (Spremi/Spremite), not infinitive (Spremiti).
Tabs/navigation also use imperative, not infinitive.
Reflexive se present where required (prijavi se, registriraj se).
Status ongoing: imperfective verbal noun + … (Učitavanje…, Spremanje…).
Status completed: Subject + je + perfective past participle (Prijevod je završen), not bare Prijevod završen.
Status failed: Subject + nije + perfective past participle (Prijenos nije uspio), not bare Prijenos neuspio.
Empty state: Nema X / Nije pronađeno with specific noun.
File picker: Odaberi, not Pregledaj.
Drag-drop: Povucite, Pustite/Ispustite.
Quantity: više od 25, još {count}, NOT 25+, +{count}.
Quotes: „X" (low-9/high-9) OR »X« (French-style).

Naturalness

Past Participle + Noun headers → Noun + Genitive of verbal noun (Rezultati prevođenja).
Auto-X prefix → full adjective Automatski X.
Marketing "Zero X" → Bez X.
English N + N compounds → Croatian adj + N or genitive.
No verbose collocations (izvršiti poboljšanje → poboljšati).
No false friends: aktualan ≠ actual, realizirati ≠ realize, eventualno ≠ eventually, nedjelja ≠ week (it means Sunday).
No verb-root monotony (same root 3+ times).
No accidental Serbian forms (no vreme, lepo, mleko, tastatura, ekran, kompjuter, kafa, aerodrom).
Croatian months in genitive in date prose (15. siječnja 2024.).

Worked Example — Standard hr formal UI

Source (neutral product UI):

Welcome back! You have 3 new files in your account. Click Continue to review them or Cancel to stay here. Saving your changes…

Register check: neutral product UI, exclamation → Vi (formal), Croatian language identity.

Translation:

Dobrodošli natrag! Imate 3 nove datoteke na svojem računu. Kliknite Nastavi da biste ih pregledali ili Odustani da biste ostali ovdje. Spremanje Vaših izmjena…

Why this works:

Dobrodošli natrag — standard greeting, plural participle (formal Vi → -i plural).
Imate — Vi-form verb (2nd-person plural present).
3 nove datoteke — 3 triggers few (gen.sg.); datoteka is fem.; nove is fem. paucal adjective.
na svojem računu — na + LOK; računu is masc. LOK; svojem is reflexive possessive.
Buttons imperative: Nastavi, Odustani (both ti? actually here Kliknite is Vi but button labels are short imperatives — pick a style and be consistent; using Nastavite/Odustanite would also be valid Vi-form).
da biste ih pregledali / da biste ostali — Vi-form da + present construction (natural Croatian).
Spremanje Vaših izmjena… — imperfective verbal noun for ongoing status; Vaših izmjena gen.pl.
No comma before ili ✓.
No religious / cultural filler injected.

Same string informal (ti):

Dobrodošao/dobrodošla natrag! Imaš 3 nove datoteke na svojem računu. Klikni Nastavi da bi ih pregledao/la ili Odustani da bi ostao/la ovdje. Spremanje tvojih izmjena…

(Past participles dobrodošao/dobrodošla, pregledao/pregledala, ostao/ostala agree with addressee's gender; in real UI pick a gender-neutral phrasing.)

Worked Example — ICU plural expansion

Source:

You have {count, plural, one {# new file} other {# new files}}.

Translation (full Croatian three-category expansion):

Imate {count, plural,
  one {# novu datoteku}
  few {# nove datoteke}
  other {# novih datoteka}
}.

Notes:

one: ACC sg (object of Imate) — 1 novu datoteku.
few: paucal genitive sg — 2 nove datoteke (note: in 2-4 with adjective, the form looks like NOM/ACC plural but is technically GEN sg + paucal adj agreement).
other: GEN pl — 5 novih datoteka.

Worked Example — Date with genitive month

Source: Last login: January 15, 2024 at 2:30 PM