Croatian Language Accents

Pronunciation & Writing

Pronunciation is key to clear communication, and Croatian accents play a big role in how words are spoken. With four different accent types—short and long, rising and falling—mastering them helps improve both understanding and fluency. In this guide, you’ll learn the basics of Croatian word stress and intonation to sound more natural when speaking.

Accents

As with any language, the best way to learn the correct pronunciation and intonation is to listen to native speakers speaking. You can search the internet and find plenty of videos in Croatian and made by Croatians, or movies for you or your children.

In the meantime, here are some rules to help you understand the basics!

Types of accent

Each vowel can be either kratak (short) or dug (long) and there are two types of stress, uzlazni (rising) and silazni (falling). The accent is a combination of length and stress. Because of this, there are four standard types of accents in the Croatian language: short falling, short rising, long falling and long raising.

Accents

Generally, these accents aren’t marked when writing Croatian, but in this guide we will use the markings explicitly to help depict the difference between them:

Examples of different accents

Typeshortlong
falling

mač (sword) → mȁč

naš (our) → nȁš

brat (brother) → brȁt

kuća (house) → kȕća

čist (clean) → čȉst

put (path) → pȗt

ključ (key) → kljȗč

moj (my) → mȏj

glup (stupid) → glȗp

jak (strong) → jȃk

rising

noga (leg) → nòga

kišovit (rainy) → kišòvit

otvoriti (to open) → otvòriti

danas (today) → dànas

ljepota (beauty) → ljepòta

tužan (sad) → túžan

majoneza (mayonnaise) → majonéza

napisati (to write) → napísati

svirati (to play and instrument) → svírati

čokolada (chocolate) → čokoláda

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As in many other countries and with many other languages, each Croatian region has its own unique rules/exceptions for pronouncing words – for Croatians it’s easy to immediately guess where someone’s from as soon as he or she starts to speak.

Five basic rules on word accentuation

1) A word can have only one type of accent. This is applicable even to very long words such as otorinolaringològija (otorhinolaryngology) or prijestolonásljednik (heir to the throne).

2) Single-syllable words always have falling accents, either long or short.

moć (power) → mȏć → long falling

mač (sword) → mȁč → short falling

trg (square) → tȑg → short falling

stol (table) → stȏl → long falling

3) If the accent is on the first syllable, it can be any of the four accents.

žena (woman) → žèna → short rising

kuća (house) → kȕća → short falling

baka (grandma) → báka → long rising

meso (meat) → mȇso → long falling

4) If the accent is on an inner syllable (i.e. any syllable apart from the first or the last), it can only be a rising accent.

razmišljati (to think) → razmíšljati → long rising

inteligentan (intelligent) → inteligèntan → short rising

prijestolonasljednik (heir to the throne) → prijestolonásljednik → long rising

otorinolaringologija (otorhinolaryngology) → otorinolaringològija → short rising

5) There is never an accent on the last syllable, with the exception of a few exclamations such as ohȏ (an exclamation expressing surprise).


Language guide

Explore grammar and learning tips in our Croatian language guide.

  • Croatian Diminutive Nouns

    Love & Relationships

    Add warmth to your speech with Croatian diminutives – learn how to form affectionate and cute versions of nouns.

  • Croatian Imperative

    Grammar Essentials

    Want to give a command or make a polite request? This guide teaches how to use and soften the imperative in Croatian.

  • Croatian Noun Gender: Masculine, Feminine & Neuter Explained

    Grammar Essentials

    Every noun in Croatian has a gender – learn to recognize masculine, feminine, and neuter forms with helpful patterns.

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