Possessive Adjectives

01

The Basic Set

• moj (my), tvoj (your, informal), naš (our), vaš (your, plural / polite)
• njegov (his), njezin / njen (her), njihov (their)

• Ovo je moja prijateljica.

  This is my friend.

• Tvoje računalo je tamo.

  Your computer is over there.

• Njegov prijatelj je također učitelj.

  His friend is also a teacher.

02

They Agree with the Thing Owned

The important habit to build: a possessive agrees with the thing possessed, not with the owner. moj changes its ending for the noun that follows it.

• moj auto

  my car (m)

• moja knjiga

  my book (f)

• moje računalo

  my computer (n)

• moji roditelji

  my parents (plural)

03

'his' and 'her' Are Fixed by the Owner

njegov (his) and njezin (her) are chosen by the owner's sex, and then still decline for the thing owned. So "his house" and "her house" differ in the first word, yet both end in -a to match kuća.

• Njegova kuća je velika.

  His house is big.

• Njezin muž se zove David.

  Her husband is called David.

• Njihova djeca su bučna.

  Their children are noisy.

04

They Decline Through the Cases

Like any adjective, a possessive takes case endings.

• Moj otac je kupio poklon mojoj majci.

  My father bought a present for my mother. (dative: moj-oj majc-i)

• Izgledat će sjajno u mojoj sobi.

  It will look great in my room. (locative)

In the first sentence the owner is me while the subject is my father, and that is why moj is right there. When the owner and the subject are the same person, Croatian swaps in svoj instead - the next section.

05

The Reflexive Possessive 'svoj'

When the owner is the same as the subject of the sentence, Croatian prefers the special reflexive possessive svoj (one's own). It has its own topic; in brief, "she walks with her own dog" uses svoj.

• Ta žena šeta sa svojim psom.

  That woman walks with her own dog.

06

Often Dropped When Obvious

As with the subject pronoun, a possessive is frequently left out when the owner is obvious - especially with parts of the body.

• Perem zube.

  I am brushing my teeth.

• Ruke me bole.

  My hands hurt.

There is also a second way to say whose, without a possessive at all: a short dative pronoun beside the verb. Croatian does not say "he cuts my hair" but "he cuts the hair to me", and the dative mi carries the whole of "my".

• On mi šiša kosu.

  He cuts my hair.

• mi to me - not moju, which would also be correct but is not what a Croatian speaker reaches for here

07

More Everyday Examples

The possessive sits in front of its noun and matches it, whether the noun is the subject or not, and whether it is singular or plural.

• Naš sin nema posao.

  Our son doesn't have a job. (masculine singular)

• Moji roditelji rade u banci.

  My parents work in a bank. (masculine plural)

• Vaše torbe su teške.

  Your bags are heavy. (feminine plural)

08

Asking 'whose'

The question word for possession is čiji (whose), which also agrees with the noun it asks about.

• Čiji je ovo pas?

  Whose dog is this?