Language/Croatian/Grammar/Adjectives-and-Adverbs

Croatian → Grammar → 0 to A1 Course → Adjectives and Adverbs

Welcome to today's lesson on Croatian Adjectives and Adverbs! Understanding adjectives and adverbs is crucial for any language learner, as they add depth and detail to your descriptions. In Croatian, just like in English, these parts of speech help us articulate our thoughts and feelings more vividly. So, whether you're describing a beautiful sunset, a delicious meal, or how quickly you can run, mastering adjectives and adverbs will make your Croatian richer and more expressive.

In this lesson, we will explore the following key points:

• What are adjectives and adverbs in Croatian?

• The gender and number of adjectives.

• How to form comparative and superlative adjectives.

• The role of adverbs in sentences and their formation.

By the end of this lesson, you'll have a solid understanding of how to use adjectives and adverbs, complete with practical exercises to test your knowledge.

What are Adjectives and Adverbs?

In Croatian, adjectives are words that describe nouns, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They help us provide more information about how something is done or to what extent something has a quality.

• Adjective (pridjev): Describes a noun.

• Adverb (prilog): Describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

For example:

• The beautiful woman (prelijepa žena) – "beautiful" is an adjective describing "woman."

• She runs quickly (trči brzo) – "quickly" is an adverb describing how she runs.

Adjectives: Gender and Number

In Croatian, adjectives change form based on the gender and number of the noun they describe. Croatian nouns can be either masculine, feminine, or neuter.

To illustrate this, let's look at the following table of common adjectives in their base forms:

Croatian	Pronunciation	English
lijep	lijep	beautiful
pametan	pametan	smart
brz	brz	fast
velik	velik	big
mali	mali	small

Now, let's see how these adjectives change based on gender and number:

• Masculine Singular: lijep

• Feminine Singular: lijepa

• Neuter Singular: lijepo

• Masculine Plural: lijepi

• Feminine Plural: lijepe

• Neuter Plural: lijepa (for a group of neuter nouns)

Here's another table to clarify how adjectives change:

Gender/Number	Lijep (Beautiful)	Pametan (Smart)	Brz (Fast)	Velik (Big)	Mali (Small)
Masculine Singular	lijep	pametan	brz	velik	mali
Feminine Singular	lijepa	pametna	brza	velika	mala
Neuter Singular	lijepo	pametno	brzo	veliko	malo
Masculine Plural	lijepi	pametni	brzi	veliki	mali
Feminine Plural	lijepe	pametne	brze	velike	male
Neuter Plural	lijepa	pametna	brza	velika	mala

It's important to remember that adjectives must agree in gender and number with the nouns they describe.

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Comparative and superlative forms allow us to compare things. In Croatian, forming these is quite systematic.

• Comparative: To form the comparative, we typically add the suffix -iji for masculine, -ija for feminine, and -ije for neuter.

• Superlative: The superlative is often formed by combining the word naj (most) with the adjective.

Here’s a table of examples:

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
lijep (beautiful)	ljepši (more beautiful)	najljepši (the most beautiful)
pametan (smart)	pametniji (smarter)	najpametniji (the smartest)
brz (fast)	brži (faster)	najbrži (the fastest)
velik (big)	veći (bigger)	najveći (the biggest)
mali (small)	manji (smaller)	najmanji (the smallest)

Remember to pay attention to gender when using comparatives and superlatives, as they must match the noun they refer to.

Adverbs: Formation and Usage

Adverbs in Croatian are often formed from adjectives by adding the suffix -o or -e. They describe how actions are performed and can provide detail about manner, time, place, frequency, and degree.

Here are some common adverbs and their corresponding adjectives:

Adjective	Adverb	English
brz (fast)	brzo	fast
lijep (beautiful)	lijepo	beautifully
pametan (smart)	pametno	smartly
dobar (good)	dobro	well
loš (bad)	loše	badly

Adverbs can be placed at various points in a sentence, but commonly they appear after the verb. For example:

• On trči brzo. (He runs fast.)

• Ona pjeva lijepo. (She sings beautifully.)

Practice Exercises

Now that we've gone through the basics of adjectives and adverbs, let's put your knowledge to the test! Here are 10 exercises to help you practice.

Exercise 1: Identify the Gender and Number of Adjectives

Identify the gender and number of the adjective in the following sentences:

1. Ona je lijepa.

2. To je malo dijete.

3. Oni su brzi.

4. Ova knjiga je velika.

Solution:

1. Feminine Singular

2. Neuter Singular

3. Masculine Plural

4. Feminine Singular

Exercise 2: Change the Adjective to the Correct Form

Change the adjectives in the following sentences to agree with the nouns:

1. On je (mali) pas.

2. One su (lijep) djevojke.

3. To je (velik) grad.

4. Oni su (brz) trkači.

Solution:

1. mali → mali

2. lijepe → lijepe

3. velik → velik

4. brzi → brzi

Exercise 3: Form the Comparative and Superlative

Form the comparative and superlative of the following adjectives:

1. dobar (good)

2. skup (expensive)

3. mlad (young)

Solution:

1. bolji (better), najbolji (the best)

2. skuplji (more expensive), najskuplji (the most expensive)

3. mlađi (younger), najbolji (the youngest)

Exercise 4: Create Sentences with Adverbs

Use the following adverbs in sentences:

1. brzo (fast)

2. lijepo (beautifully)

3. dobro (well)

Sample Solution:

1. On trči brzo. (He runs fast.)

2. Ona pleše lijepo. (She dances beautifully.)

3. Pjeva dobro. (He sings well.)

Exercise 5: Match the Adjective with its Adverb

Match the adjective with its corresponding adverb:

1. pametan

2. dobar

3. loš

Solution:

1. pametan - pametno

2. dobar - dobro

3. loš - loše

Exercise 6: Fill in the Blanks with the Correct Form of the Adjective

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the adjective:

1. Ona je ___________ (lijep).

2. Oni su ___________ (brz).

3. To je ___________ (mali).

Solution:

1. lijepa

2. brzi

3. malo

Exercise 7: Identify Adverbs in Sentences

Identify the adverbs in the following sentences:

1. Trči brzo.

2. Ona pjeva lijepo.

3. On često ide na more.

Solution:

1. brzo

2. lijepo

3. često

Exercise 8: Formulate Comparative Sentences

Create sentences using the comparative forms of the following adjectives:

1. dobar

2. skup

3. brz

Sample Solution:

1. Ovaj kolač je bolji od onog. (This cake is better than that one.)

2. Ova haljina je skuplja od druge. (This dress is more expensive than the other.)

3. On trči brže od mene. (He runs faster than I do.)

Exercise 9: Transform Adjectives into Adverbs

Transform the following adjectives into adverbs:

1. lijep

2. brz

3. pametan

Solution:

1. lijepo

2. brzo

3. pametno

Exercise 10: Create Your Own Sentences

Create your own sentences using at least three adjectives and three adverbs.

Sample Solution:

1. Ona je lijepa i pametna djevojka koja pleše brzo. (She is a beautiful and smart girl who dances fast.)

2. Ovaj pas je mali, ali trči jako brzo. (This dog is small, but runs very fast.)

Congratulations on completing this lesson on Croatian adjectives and adverbs! Remember, practice makes perfect, so don’t hesitate to revisit these exercises or create new sentences on your own. Keep expanding your vocabulary and using these descriptive words to enhance your conversations in Croatian.

Table of Contents - Croatian Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Greetings and Introductions

• Basic Greetings
• Introducing Yourself

  ---

Nouns and Pronouns

• Nouns: Gender and Number
• Personal Pronouns

  ---

Numbers and Time

• Numbers 1-100
• Telling Time

  ---

Verbs and Tenses

• Present Tense of Regular Verbs
• Present Tense of Irregular Verbs

  ---

Daily Activities

• Common Activities
• Hobbies and Interests

  ---

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Adjectives: Gender and Number
• Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

  ---

Food and Drink

• Common Foods
• Eating Out

  ---

Croatian Culture and Traditions

• Holidays and Celebrations
• Traditional Music and Dance

Sources

• The Croatian psycholinguistic database: Estimates for 6000 nouns ...
• Serbo-Croatian grammar - Wikipedia
• Which types of words change their endings in the Croatian language ...

Other Lessons

• Questions
• How to Use Have
• Advanced Noun and Adjective Declension
• Advanced Verb Tenses
• Verbs and Tenses
• Pronouns
• Word Order and Sentence Structure
• Participles and Gerunds
• Future Tense
• Nouns