Croatian (Croatia) style guide¶
Use this page with the house guide and localization review. Examples illustrate wording, not current product behavior. Check actual labels, supported actions and resource values before using them.
Voice and address¶
Write natural standard Croatian for the task and audience. Technical help can be friendly while retaining precise terminology. Marketing can be more playful when the claim supports it; errors and loss warnings need clear facts and useful next steps. Do not impose one informal voice on every surface or choose words by syllable count.
Translate the intended meaning, retaining facts, conditions and uncertainty. Literal wording can be right when it is natural and accurate. Split or combine sentences when that clarifies their relationship, but do not change an additional option into an exclusive alternative or a cause into a contrast.
Use the agreed term for the actual object. Disk can translate a drive that is a disk; it is not a replacement for every use of “drive.” Aplikacija, računalo and tablet can be concise without artificial English-style abbreviations. Choose video or videozapis in context and preserve the term’s meaning when inflection is needed. Nema podataka. reports missing data; it does not establish that the reader failed to enter them.
Address the reader with the formal plural in help: Otvorite datoteku. Use lowercase vi and vaš in general interface prose. A letter to a named individual can use the respectful capital; do not describe that convention as an error. Omit explicit pronouns when the verb makes the addressee clear, but keep them when they identify or contrast an actor.
Formal address uses masculine plural predicate agreement even when addressing one woman: Jeste li spremili datoteku? A singular gendered form is not the standard written pattern. See the institute’s personal-pronoun guidance. Task-focused wording such as Prijava je dovršena. can avoid unnecessary personal reference.
A button and a help instruction can use different forms: Spremi is a command label; Spremite datoteku. addresses the reader. First-person preference wording, such as Upozori me, is appropriate only when the control really expresses the reader’s choice. Do not make an impersonal system action sound as though a human team performed it merely to add warmth.
Preserve the task¶
Check the action, actor, object, scope and timing after every rewrite. These distinctions are easy to lose in an otherwise fluent sentence:
- Save is not Close. Najprije spremite svoj dokument, a zatim onaj na udaljenom poslužitelju. preserves saving, order and the contrast between the two documents.
- Newer and older versions are opposites. Nije moguće otvoriti datoteke stvorene novijim verzijama programa. preserves a restriction concerning later versions.
- A failed key operation does not prove an invalid key. Taj ključ proizvoda nije bilo moguće upotrijebiti. Provjerite ga i pokušajte ponovno. retains the failure and recovery without inventing its cause.
- Case sensitivity is not a requirement to mix cases. U lozinkama je važna razlika između velikih i malih slova. explains the comparison without adding a password-composition rule.
- Cancel does not itself save. For a verified Odustani button, Odaberite Odustani, dovršite uređivanje i spremite svoj rad. keeps the three actions separate.
- Preserve an inclusive limit. Najveća dopuštena veličina datoteke iznosi 100 MB. does not ask for a value strictly below 100 MB when the limit includes it.
- “Without leaving the app” does not mean “without closing the app.” Bez napuštanja aplikacije describes remaining in it; closing is a different action.
Keep prerequisites attached to their result. Automatic movement after correcting invalid or missing properties must not become immediate movement or manual transfer. A required restart does not by itself say who initiates it. A possible-loss warning must retain both the reader and other affected people, as well as the uncertainty.
Preserve permission scope and ownership. Permission to personalize content using a computer’s name is not permission to use the reader’s personal name. Osoba s odgovarajućim ovlastima može postavljati lozinke drugih korisnika. retains both the required authority and the affected accounts.
A message about one or more missing files includes the one-file case. Nije pronađena barem jedna potrebna datoteka. preserves that lower bound without claiming that several files are missing. Do not blindly replace “one or more” with a plural-only phrase.
Rework an idiom only after preserving its claim. Avoid turning “quickly” into a guaranteed record speed, or a supplier’s example into a supported FontLab feature. In warnings, name the failure instead of adding a theatrical introduction. In gesture instructions, keep watching the demonstration distinct from performing the gestures.
Inclusive and accessible wording¶
Use a known person’s stated name and form of address. Do not infer gender from a username or substitute another personal category to fit a sentence. Croatian has grammatical gender; a noun’s grammatical form does not establish a person’s identity.
A role can use its appropriate feminine or masculine form, or a neutral description when the person is unspecified. Osoba can help avoid an unnecessary gendered reference. Keep the original number and responsibility: changing one author to a collective or deleting a possessive can change the event being described.
Mention disability when relevant and use precise, respectful wording. Osoba s invaliditetom and osoba bez invaliditeta distinguish the relevant condition without presenting one group as “normal.” Follow a known person’s preference where applicable. Do not substitute a different diagnosis or import an English word ban without checking Croatian meaning.
Use descriptive links, informative headings and instructions that identify controls by their labels. Avoid relying on color or location alone. Odaberite can cover multiple input methods, while a procedure specifically teaching mouse input may need kliknite. Accessibility does not make all action verbs interchangeable.
Explain unfamiliar notation and test assistive output. A two-verb sentence limit or a blanket ban on the plus sign is not a Croatian grammar rule. Preserve a mathematical operation or literal symbol when it is necessary, and provide an understandable explanation. Follow the shared accessible-content guidance.
Grammar, possession and counts¶
Agree adjectives with the noun’s gender, number and case: novi dokument, nova datoteka, novo okno. A standalone Novo label can be appropriate for a general New action, but neuter is not a universal fallback for an unknown noun. Obtain the context or write a complete label.
Choose the relationship intended by a phrase: korisničko ime and smjer tablice do not follow one mechanical English noun-to-adjective recipe. Preserve names by inflecting a descriptor: u programu FontLab, postavke programa FontLab. Grammatical gender follows that descriptor, not the English spelling of a brand.
Use svoj for possession by the sentence’s subject: Spremite svoju datoteku. Use another possessive when the possessor differs: Poslužitelj je odbio vaše korisničko ime. Omit a possessive only if the same reference remains clear. See the institute’s reflexive-possessive guidance.
Prepositions, cases and relative clauses express relationships. Uz and pomoću are not universal replacements for each other. Keep a relative clause when it identifies the intended object or preserves a condition. Repetition can be shortened only when the remaining pronoun has an unambiguous antecedent. A conjunction should express the actual relation; a fixed list of sentence-opening bans is not a substitute for reading the passage.
| Standalone count | Croatian example |
|---|---|
| One | 1 datoteka |
| Two, three or four | 2 datoteke; 3 datoteke; 4 datoteke |
| Zero or five | 0 datoteka; 5 datoteka |
| Eleven through fourteen | 11 datoteka; 12 datoteka; 14 datoteka |
| Twenty-one or twenty-two | 21 datoteka; 22 datoteke |
Identical spelling does not prove identical grammar. The form datoteka serves different grammatical roles in these counts. Whole sentences still need agreement: Jedna je datoteka spremljena. Dvije su datoteke spremljene. Spremljeno je pet datoteka. Do not import Slovenian dual verb forms into Croatian.
Case depends on the sentence, not merely the number. S dvjema datotekama uses an instrumental form, while a standalone label uses dvije datoteke. The institute’s number guidance distinguishes forms of one, two, three and four.
Use the project’s locale-aware message mechanism. CLDR 48’s Croatian cardinal rules have one, few and other categories. Integer endings in 1 and 2–4 exclude 11 and 12–14 respectively; decimal digits affect selection too. Test 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 14, 21 and 22, plus supported decimals and visible trailing zeros. Categories select variants; they do not supply a complete case-correct sentence. Do not construct plurals by appending one of three suffixes to an arbitrary noun.
Interface wording and message states¶
Choose the form for the surface and action. Preserve an established label when it accurately describes the control. An ellipsis can signal further interaction, but it does not automatically turn an imperative into a progress noun.
| Purpose | Croatian example |
|---|---|
| Command | Spremi datoteku |
| Instruction | Spremite datoteku. |
| Activity title | Spremanje datoteke |
| In progress | Datoteka se sprema. |
| Completed | Datoteka je spremljena. |
| Attempt failed | Spremanje datoteke nije uspjelo. |
| Currently unavailable | Datoteku nije moguće spremiti. |
Keep a failed past attempt distinct from present unavailability. Datoteku nije bilo moguće otvoriti. and Datoteku nije moguće otvoriti. are not interchangeable merely because the English phrases look similar. Keep future tense when the event has not happened. An action noun can be concise, but replacing every verb with one can hide who acts and when.
Distinguish selecting an option, marking text and checking a box. Odaberite stavku., Označite tekst. and Potvrdite okvir. describe different operations. Use the verb that matches the control and the intended input method.
Give a known problem and a supported next step. Nema dovoljno memorije. is not a disk-space message. Nije dostupno does not necessarily mean an object is absent or permanently unsupported. Do not add a restart, a diagnosis or blame without evidence.
Keep placeholders, delimiters and formatting syntax unchanged. Establish the replacement type first: a character is not necessarily a letter, and a string is not necessarily a filename. For a known filename, Nije moguće otvoriti datoteku „{filename}”. gives the literal value a grammatical descriptor. Do not change Find into Open while demonstrating a placeholder.
Use sentence case for labels and headings, with exact product and control names preserved. Short labels usually omit final punctuation; complete explanatory sentences can take periods. Literal paths and identifiers retain their case. Do not uppercase a path because an old example happened to use capitals. Preserve version punctuation such as 4.2, without claiming every version scheme uses a period. Translate legal or copyright wording according to the approved text, not an automatic rule that rewrites all version strings.
Typography and notation¶
Preserve č, ć, đ, š, ž and Č, Ć, Đ, Š, Ž. They are distinct letters, not optional decoration. Test capitals and small text in the actual font.
For ordinary double quotations, this guide uses „{filename}”: U+201E opens and U+201D closes. »{filename}« is also supported by Hrvatski pravopis. Use one style consistently. Single quotation marks ‘…’ have legitimate nested-quotation and meaning-marking uses. Do not replace code quotes with typographic ones or use the same opening glyph at both ends as a supposed fallback.
Use house emphasis for exact interface labels; a descriptor can identify the control without inflecting its name. Quotation marks can still clarify a literal value or title. Punctuation belongs according to whether it completes the quoted sentence or the surrounding one.
A preceding condition normally takes a comma, as in the institute’s guidance on ako: Ako želite nastaviti, spremite datoteku. The following purpose clause does not need one in Spremite datoteku da biste nastavili. Do not apply a universal “comma before every subordinate clause” rule. A short introductory prepositional phrase is not itself a reason for a comma. Use a colon for an explanation or list; preserve conditions when shortening parentheses or repeated phrases.
Use a hyphen for compounds such as e-pošta, 8-bitni and 50-postotni. Use a spaced dash for a general range: 10 – 15 stranica. The dash rule distinguishes that convention from unspaced bibliographic page ranges. Mathematical minus is a separate character: −18 °C. Keep literal code operators unchanged.
An ordinary trailing ellipsis attaches to the preceding word: Spremanje…. An editorial omission has a different role. Preserve the actual label’s ellipsis; do not add a fourth period at the end of a sentence. List punctuation and sentence fragments should fit their function rather than follow a blanket requirement to use full sentences or fragments everywhere.
Use decimal commas and appropriate grouping in prose: 12 345,67. Financial notation may use a grouping period. Keep a nonbreaking space between a value and its symbol: 50 %, 12,5 mm, 123,45 €, 100 USD. A nonbreaking space is a space character; a degree-like mark is only one editor’s possible display of hidden formatting. See the spacing rules.
For time, 14:15 and 14.15 are supported notations; follow the product’s consistent locale format. Dates and ordinals retain periods where required, as in 13. 9. 2026. and u 3. dijelu. Machine-readable dates retain their required syntax.
Expand unfamiliar abbreviations where space allows. Npr. has a period; m, km and kg are unit symbols. Verify ambiguous day initials in calendars instead of assuming a one-letter abbreviation identifies every weekday uniquely.
Acronym endings depend on pronunciation and established treatment: XML-u, PC-ja, PC-ju. The acronym rules also identify indeclinable exceptions and lexicalized forms. Before a noun, an acronym can remain unchanged: HTML datoteka. Do not apply one suffix algorithm to all names. Use lowercase internet in ordinary prose, following the capitalization rules, and keep the web distinct from the wider internet.
Keyboard, speech and review¶
Check access keys, key tips and shortcuts in the current product on supported Croatian keyboard layouts. They are different mechanisms with platform-specific resource syntax. Do not assign duplicate keys as a universal fallback or import an old supplier shortcut table unchanged.
Distinguish a held combination, Alt+Esc, from a sequence, Alt, F. Preserve actual key labels and identify the numeric keypad when the operation requires it. Test focus order, arrow-key navigation and escape routes rather than assuming every control group behaves alike.
For speech, use natural standard Croatian and verify unfamiliar product names and acronyms individually. Do not impose one Croatian substitute for every English sound or trust an inherited phonetic transcription without checking it. Read numbers and technical characters so the listener can recover the intended value.
Keep needed protocol, path and punctuation when reading a literal address. Omitting a dot may change what the listener types. Align narration, captions and demonstrated actions, with pace and length suited to the medium. A fixed ten-second introduction or a ban on recaps is not a language rule.
Have a proficient Croatian reviewer check terminology and complete substituted messages, including case, counts, agreement and literal values. Verify narrow layouts, character copying, keyboard access and assistive output separately from grammatical review.
Sources¶
Adapted from Microsoft’s Croatian localization guidance and Mozilla-derived shared localization-review material, with source notices and adaptation terms recorded in credits. The adaptation consolidates advice, corrects changed meanings and unsupported absolutes, and applies house context. Linked institute references and CLDR support selected factual checks. See credits for shared attribution.