The basics
The vocative case (vokativ) is used for nouns when these are addressed directly. Most commonly it is seen with people’s names when these are being spoken to. For example, in the sentence “Tko je Ivan?” (“Who is Ivan?”) Ivan is the predicate noun, but in the sentence “Tko je, Ivane?” (“Who is it, Ivan?”), Ivan is being directly addressed.
Luckily, for adjectives and pronouns the vocative form is the same as nominative. What’s more, a lot of people rarely use the vocative, using the nominative instead.
Vocative endings for masculine nouns
| Masculine nouns | Examples |
|---|---|
| Regular nouns receive the suffix –e in the vocative case |
sin – son → sine |
| For nouns ending in –k or -c, the word ending changes to –če |
rođak – relative → rođače |
|
For nouns ending in –g or –z, |
vrag – devil → vraže |
|
For nouns ending in –h or –s, |
duh – ghost → duše |
If the word ends in a palatal consonant |
muž – husband → mužu |
Vocative endings for feminine nouns
| Feminine nouns | Examples |
|---|---|
|
For regular feminine nouns (ending in –a) |
žena – woman, wife → ženo |
|
For nouns with more than two | sestrica – little sister → sestrice |
What happens with first names?
| First names | Examples |
|---|---|
|
Male names commonly receive the suffix –e in the vocative case |
Marin → Marine |
|
Names that end in a vowel and foreign names remain unchanged |
Luka → Luka |
|
Female names no longer change in the vocative in spoken language |
Iva → Iva |
| For female names which end in –ica the word ending changes to –e | Janica → Janice |
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A note on writing in the vocative
The name or the noun describing who we’re addressing must always be separated by a comma in Croatian:
- Bok, Ivane! – Hello Ivan!
- Kako si, Ana? – How are you Ana?
- Profesore, sretan rođendan! – Happy birthday professor!
Exercise: Can you put these words into the vocative case?
Let’s Learn Croatian Insider Tip
profesorica – teacher/professor – profesorice
polaznik – participant – polazniče
Harry! (name) – Harry!
gospodin – mister – gospodine
gospođa – lady – gospođo
vuk – wolf – vuče
Bog – God – Bože
susjed – neighbor (male) – susjede
susjeda – neighbor (female) – susjedo
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