A1 الصفات 1 min read متوسط

Adjective Agreement: Gender, Number, Case

وضع علامة كمكتسب
تدرّب عليها

Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds

In Croatian, adjectives must mirror the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe.

  • Masculine nouns take -i (e.g., 'dobar čovjek').
  • Feminine nouns take -a (e.g., 'dobra žena').
  • Neuter nouns take -o (e.g., 'dobro dijete').
Adjective Ending + Noun = Perfect Agreement

Nominative Singular Adjective Endings

Gender Ending Example (Stem: lijep-)
Masculine
-i
lijepi
Feminine
-a
lijepa
Neuter
-o
lijepo

Meanings

Adjective agreement ensures that the descriptive word matches the noun it modifies in gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), number (singular, plural), and case (the grammatical role in the sentence).

1

Nominative Case Agreement

Using adjectives to describe the subject of a sentence.

“Mali pas spava.”

“Stara knjiga je ovdje.”

Reference Table

Reference table for Adjective Agreement: Gender, Number, Case
Form Structure Example
Affirmative
Adj + Noun
Lijep pas
Negative
Nije + Adj + Noun
Nije lijep pas
Question
Je li + Adj + Noun?
Je li lijep pas?
Plural
Adj-i + Noun-i
Lijepi psi

طيف الرسمية

رسمي
Kuća je lijepa.

Kuća je lijepa. (Describing property)

محايد
Kuća je lijepa.

Kuća je lijepa. (Describing property)

غير رسمي
Kuća je baš lijepa.

Kuća je baš lijepa. (Describing property)

عامية
Kuća je top.

Kuća je top. (Describing property)

Adjective Agreement Map

Adjective

Gender

  • Muški Masculine
  • Ženski Feminine
  • Srednji Neuter
سجّل مجاناً لقراءة الشرح الكامل

أمثلة حسب المستوى

1

Mali pas je brz.

The small dog is fast.

2

Lijepa kuća je ovdje.

The beautiful house is here.

3

Novo auto je plavo.

The new car is blue.

4

Dobar čovjek radi.

The good man is working.

1

Mali psi trče.

The small dogs are running.

2

Lijepe kuće su skupe.

The beautiful houses are expensive.

3

Nova auta su brza.

The new cars are fast.

4

Dobri ljudi pomažu.

Good people help.

1

Vidim malog psa.

I see the small dog.

2

Kupio sam lijepu kuću.

I bought a beautiful house.

3

Govorim o novom autu.

I am talking about the new car.

4

Tražim dobrog čovjeka.

I am looking for a good man.

1

To je kuća velikog arhitekta.

That is the house of a great architect.

2

Sviđa mi se taj lijepi grad.

I like that beautiful city.

3

Ovo je djelo poznatog pisca.

This is the work of a famous writer.

4

Našao sam staru, vrijednu knjigu.

I found an old, valuable book.

1

Bila je to iznimno teška odluka.

It was an extremely difficult decision.

2

Njegov je stil bio posve jedinstven.

His style was completely unique.

3

Svi su bili duboko potreseni viješću.

Everyone was deeply shaken by the news.

4

Ovo je pitanje od presudne važnosti.

This is a question of crucial importance.

1

Ta se pojava čini posve neobjašnjivom.

That phenomenon seems completely inexplicable.

2

Bijaše to doba velikih previranja.

It was a time of great turmoil.

3

Njegova je duša ostala vječno mladom.

His soul remained eternally young.

4

Sve su te priče postale općepoznatima.

All those stories became widely known.

سهل الخلط

Adjective Agreement: Gender, Number, Case مقابل Adjective vs Adverb

Learners mix up 'dobar' (good) and 'dobro' (well).

Adjective Agreement: Gender, Number, Case مقابل Nominative vs Accusative

Learners use Nominative for direct objects.

Adjective Agreement: Gender, Number, Case مقابل Gender of 'auto'

Learners think 'auto' is masculine.

أخطاء شائعة

✗

lijep žena

✓

lijepa žena

Feminine nouns need -a.
✗

dobro pas

✓

dobar pas

Masculine nouns need -i or -ar.
✗

velika auto

✓

veliko auto

Neuter nouns need -o.
✗

lijepi kuća

✓

lijepa kuća

Agreement must match gender.
✗

dobri kuća

✓

dobre kuće

Plural agreement is different.
✗

lijepa psi

✓

lijepi psi

Plural masculine.
✗

novo ljudi

✓

novi ljudi

Plural agreement.
✗

vidim lijep kuća

✓

vidim lijepu kuću

Accusative case.
✗

o dobar čovjek

✓

o dobrom čovjeku

Locative case.
✗

s lijep žena

✓

s lijepom ženom

Instrumental case.
✗

to je od lijep čovjek

✓

to je od lijepog čovjeka

Genitive case.
✗

dajem lijep čovjek

✓

dajem lijepom čovjeku

Dative case.
✗

vidim lijepu žene

✓

vidim lijepe žene

Accusative plural.
✗

govorim o lijepi ljudi

✓

govorim o lijepim ljudima

Locative plural.

أنماط الجُمل

___ je ___.

Imam ___ ___.

Ovo je ___ ___.

___ su ___.

Real World Usage

Social Media constant

Super dan!

Texting constant

Gdje si?

Job Interview common

Ja sam marljiv.

Travel common

Lijep grad.

Food Delivery common

Hladna piva.

Email common

Poštovani gospodine.

سجّل مجاناً لرؤية جميع الأمثلة
💡

Check the Noun

Always look at the noun first. It tells you what the adjective should be.
⚠️

Don't Guess

If you don't know the gender, look it up. Guessing leads to bad habits.
🎯

Learn in Pairs

Learn nouns with their adjectives to memorize the agreement naturally.
💬

Listen to Locals

Listen to how they speak. They use agreement naturally.

Smart Tips

Identify the noun's gender first.

Lijep žena. → Lijepa žena.

Use the plural ending -i for masculine.

Mali pas. → Mali psi.

Change the ending for the Accusative.

Vidim lijep pas. → Vidim lijepog psa.

Ensure all adjectives match.

To je dobar odluka. → To je dobra odluka.

النطق

li-je-pa

Vowel length

Longer vowels change meaning.

Declarative

Kuća je lijepa ↓

Statement of fact

احفظها

وسيلة تذكّر

Remember 'I-A-O' for Masculine-Feminine-Neuter.

ربط بصري

Imagine a man wearing an 'i' hat, a woman holding an 'a' bag, and a child playing with an 'o' ball.

Rhyme

Masculine is I, Feminine is A, Neuter is O, that's the Croatian way!

Story

A tall man (visoki čovjek) walked into a store. He saw a beautiful woman (lijepa žena) holding a small child (malo dijete). They were all happy.

Word Web

dobarlijepvelikmalinovstar

تحدٍّ

Label 5 objects in your room with an adjective on a sticky note.

ملاحظات ثقافية

They often drop endings in casual speech.

Standard Croatian is used in media.

More traditional, full endings.

Croatian adjectives evolved from Proto-Slavic inflections.

بدايات محادثة

“

Kakav je tvoj auto?

“

Tko je dobar čovjek?

“

Kakva je ova knjiga?

“

Što misliš o novom filmu?

مواضيع للكتابة اليومية

Describe your best friend.
Describe your dream house.
Write about a movie you saw.
Reflect on a difficult decision.

أخطاء شائعة

Incorrect

صحيح

Incorrect

صحيح

Incorrect

صحيح

Incorrect

صحيح

Sign up free to see all tips

Test Yourself

Fill in the blank.

Pas je ___ (mali).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: mali
Masculine noun.
Choose the correct form. اختيار متعدد

___ žena (lijep).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Lijepa
Feminine noun.
Fix the error. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Novo pas.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Novi pas
Masculine noun.
Make plural. Sentence Transformation

Mali pas.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Mali psi
Plural masculine.
Complete the dialogue. Dialogue Completion

A: Kakav je auto? B: Auto je ___ (nov).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: novo
Neuter noun.
Match noun to adjective. Match Pairs

Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Mali, Mala, Malo
Gender matching.
Build a sentence. Sentence Building

lijepa / kuća / je

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Kuća je lijepa.
Correct word order.
Conjugate 'dobar'. Conjugation Drill

___ čovjek.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Dobar
Masculine singular.

Score: /8

تمارين تطبيقية

8 exercises
Fill in the blank.

Pas je ___ (mali).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: mali
Masculine noun.
Choose the correct form. اختيار متعدد

___ žena (lijep).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Lijepa
Feminine noun.
Fix the error. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Novo pas.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Novi pas
Masculine noun.
Make plural. Sentence Transformation

Mali pas.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Mali psi
Plural masculine.
Complete the dialogue. Dialogue Completion

A: Kakav je auto? B: Auto je ___ (nov).

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: novo
Neuter noun.
Match noun to adjective. Match Pairs

Match: Pas, Žena, Dijete

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Mali, Mala, Malo
Gender matching.
Build a sentence. Sentence Building

lijepa / kuća / je

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Kuća je lijepa.
Correct word order.
Conjugate 'dobar'. Conjugation Drill

___ čovjek.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Dobar
Masculine singular.

Score: /8

الأسئلة الشائعة (8)

To show agreement with the noun's gender, number, and case.

It takes practice, but it's logical.

Use the masculine form as a last resort, but try to learn the others.

Yes, some nouns have irregular genders.

Use flashcards and label items.

Yes, it shows you know the language.

Plural has its own set of endings.

No, you must translate them.

Scaffolded Practice

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

Mastery Progress

Needs Practice

Improving

Strong

Mastered

سجّل مجاناً للتدريب

In Other Languages

Spanish moderate

Adjetivos

Croatian has case agreement.

French partial

Adjectifs

French is mostly invariant in speech.

German high

Adjektive

German case system is smaller.

Japanese none

Keiyōshi

Japanese has no gender.

Arabic moderate

Sifa

Arabic uses definite articles.

Chinese none

Xíngróngcí

Chinese is analytic.

Learning Path

Prerequisites

Next
Long vs. Short Form Adjectives (Definite/Indefinite)

Related Grammar Rules

A1

Adjectives of Origin (e.g., hrvatski)
A1

Using Demonstratives as Adjectives
A1

Declension of Adjectives (All Genders)
A1

Accusative Adjective Agreement
A1

Nominative Case for Adjectives: Agreement with Nouns
Was this helpful?

التعليقات (0)

تسجيل الدخول للتعليق
لا توجد تعليقات بعد. كن أول من يشارك أفكاره!