* Before starting, please check our Platform Guidelines.
2.3.1. Active voice vs. passive voice
2.6.1. Possessive-reflexive pronoun “svoj”
4.1. How to use punctuation marks
6.2. Names of organizations, brands and products
6.3. Acronyms and abbreviations
6.4. Software lexicon and expressions
6.11. Flexibility and word-for-word translation
7.0 Tricky cases and most frequent errors
1. Post-edition at Unbabel
At Unbabel we have a unique approach to translation: each text submitted by a customer is translated by our Machine Translation system, and then corrected by our community of editors in an online platform. By editing the output of the software, the editors ensure the quality of the translations and confirm that the message is accurate (i.e., has the same meaning as the original), fluent (i.e., can be easily understood and sounds natural) and is in line with the style requested by the clients (i.e. respects their register and terminology). In order to help editors do the best job possible, we provide various types of information:
- Customer instructions, which include the identification of the client and his requests to personalize the translation, such as the register that must be used to address the recipient of the message. Following these instructions is vital to deliver translations that match the client’s expectations.
- Glossaries, which correspond to specific vocabulary and expressions used by the client, and that must be respected by the editors.
- Translation Memories, which correspond to stored segments (expressions, sentences or paragraphs) that have previously been translated and accepted for customer usage. They are useful for ensuring consistency across translations.
We also have Smartcheck, which is an application that checks the grammar, morphology, orthography and style of the translations while being edited. By using a large set of rules, Smartcheck flags words or groups of words that may present some kind of issue.
Finally, in order to deliver the best possible translation, we also provide these guidelines about your language specifications. Please, read them carefully and always follow these instructions in your editions.
2. Grammar
2.1. Position of enclitics
Enclitics are short, unstressed verb forms of the verb “biti” (to be) or “htjeti” (to want). Long, stressed forms of these verbs are: jesam, jesi, jest… hoću, hoćeš, hoće…., as well as short forms of personal pronouns (please see section 2.4), the interrogative particle “li” and the reflexive particle “se”.
Enclitics cannot be placed first in a sentence or clause - they must be placed immediately after the verb or the first stressed word or phrase in a sentence or clause. Since there are several combinations, there are also several correct ways to place these: they can come either after the first stressed word in the sentence or immediately after the verb (please note: never place the enclitic before the verb).
Examples
Source text: The price of the device has been lowered.
✘ Cijena uređaja je snižena.
✓ Cijena uređaja snižena je.
✓ Cijena je uređaja snižena.
Source text: Similar decisions are also important in other areas.
✘ Slične odluke su važne i u ostalim područjima.
✓ Slične odluke važne su i u ostalim područjima.
✓ Slične su odluke važne i u ostalim područjima.
When forming the future tense in Croatian, the infinitive of the verb and the short version (enclitic) of the present of the verb “htjeti” is used. This future auxiliary particle may precede or follow the main verb, depending on whether the pronoun is used or not.
If the pronoun is used, and it is used to emphasize the subject, (please see section 2.4 on personal pronouns, the word order in the future tense is: subject + enclitic + infinitive, but if the pronoun is omitted, the structure is changed to infinitive + enclitic.
Example
Source text: He will come.
✘ On će doć.
✘ Doć će.
✓ On će doći.
✓ Doći će.
If the infinitive form of the verb ends in “-ti”, “i” is omitted.
Example
Source text: You will sleep.
✘ Spavati ćeš.
✓ Spavat ćeš.
2.2. Agreement
2.1.1. Subject-verb agreement
Subject and predicate must agree in number, person and gender. Pay special attention to constructions when there is no overt subject in the clause, and the verb must agree with the subject from another clause.
Example
Source text: She left the house and fell.
✘ Izašla je iz kuće i pao.
✓ Izašla je iz kuće i pala.
In sentences without a subject, the third person is used.
Example
Source text: It rained all night.
✘ Kišila je cijelu noć.
✓ Kišilo je cijelu noć.
If the subject consists of multiple noun phrases, the subject is usually a plural subject. If the subject consists of multiple noun phrases of different genders in singular form, the verb is most commonly in plural masculine form.
Example
Source text: These days pride and glory meant a lot.
✘ Tih su dana mnogo značile ponos i slava.
✓ Tih su dana mnogo značili ponos i slava.
If all the subjects are different genders and in plural form, the verb agrees with the gender of the closest noun.
Example
Source text: Media, writers and fans, all wrote about our team.
✘ O našoj su reprezentaciji pisali medijske kuće, pisci i navijači.
✓ O našoj su reprezentaciji pisale medijske kuće, pisci i navijači.
If all subjects are different in gender and in number, the verb is most commonly used in plural masculine form.
Example
Source text: Players were welcomed by the Croatian army and the fans.
✘ Igrače su dočekale Hrvatska vojska i navijači.
✓ Igrače su dočekali Hrvatska vojska i navijači.
2.1.2. Collective plural
The collective plural of a noun represents members of the plural set, but they are all presented as one set, i.e. with the verb in singular form.
Example
Source text: The leaves fell off trees.
✘ S drveća su otpali lišće.
✘ S drveća su otpali listovi.
✓ S drveća je otpalo lišće.
Be aware that in this example the plural “listovi” is also grammatically correct, but semantically it has a different meaning, which depends on the context of the usage of the word “list” (“list” being either a leaf or a page of paper).
2.3. Verbs
2.3.1. Active voice vs. passive voice
The passive voice is commonly used in English, whereas in Croatian this is not the case. In Croatian, use of the active voice is preferred. The expression “od strane” should be avoided if the subject of the action is known.
Example
Source text: This option is already changed by the user XY.
✘ Ova je mogućnost već promijenjena od strane korisnika XY.
✓ Ovu je mogućnost već promijenio korisnik XY.
If possible, use the neutral form with the reflexive particle “se”.
Example
Source text: Information will not be given
✘ Informacije neće biti dane
✓ Informacije se neće dati
Verbs in Croatian can be either continuous or finite, but some verbs can be both (many verbs ending in “-irati”). These verbs don’t need prefixes to create their finite version (“ispoštovati”, “prokomentirati”, etc.)
Example
Source text: He commented on this topic.
✘ Prokomentirao je ovu temu.
✓ Komentirao je ovu temu.
2.3.2. Use of the gerund
In Croatian, better clarity can be achieved by creating either gerunds or nouns out of verbs.
Example
Source text: Each time you open a file, check if it has been changed since the last time you’ve opened it.
✘ Svaki put kada otvorite datoteku, provjerite je li mijenjana od zadnjega otvaranja.
✓ Pri svakom otvaranju datoteke provjerite je li mijenjana od zadnjeg otvaranja.
Grammatically, both versions are correct („svaki put kada otvorite“ is in the present tense; „pri svakom otvaranju“ is in gerund form) and both versions convey the same information, but the preferred style is shorter, clearer and more fluent.
2.4. Personal pronouns
In Croatian there is no need to explicitly state pronouns; the grammatical person is visible from the form of the verb. In fact, Croatian sentences flow better when pronouns are omitted unless it's necessary to emphasize them.
Example
Source text: We are hungry.
✓ Mi smo gladni. (✘ if the emphasis is not needed)
✓ Gladni smo.
The meaning here is identical, except that the use of the personal pronoun tends to make the sentence more emphatic.
All pronouns change form depending on case and number. Personal pronouns in the genitive, dative and accusative cases can have long or short forms (i.e. mene/me, tebi/ti, njezinog/njenog). While both forms are correct, the shorter version is commonly used in an informal tone, while the longer version is preferred in the formal tone of voice.
Pronouns must be placed in a strict order: the dative precedes the accusative or genitive.
Example
Source text: This is a gift; I am giving it to you.
✘ Ovo je poklon, dajem ga ti.
✓ Ovo je poklon, dajem ti ga.
Where short forms of pronouns occur in the same sentence as short forms of verbs, the verbal forms precede the pronouns, and the reflexive particle “se” follows last.
Examples
Source text: I gave it to you.
✘ Dao ga sam ti.
✓ Dao sam ti ga.
Source text: We remembered her fondly.
✘ Rado smo se je sjećali.
✓ Rado smo je se sjećali.
2.5. Relative pronouns
Special consideration must be taken for the accusative case of the pronoun “koji” (which) which has different forms for animate (living) and inanimate (non-living) objects.
Examples:
Source text: This is the man I met yesterday.
✘ Ovo je čovjek koji sam jučer upoznao.
✓ Ovo je čovjek kojeg sam jučer upoznao.
Source text: This is the example to be followed.
✘ To je primjer kojeg treba slijediti.
✓ To je primjer koji treba slijediti.
2.6. Possessives
Possessive pronouns are used to convey ownership or the belonging of a subject to somebody or something.
To indicate possession of the 3rd person singular or plural, endings in “-ov” (masculine) / “-ovo” (feminine) and “-in” (masculine) / “-ina” (feminine) are added to the object which exerts ownership. Please avoid use of the preposition “od” when expressing ownership.
Example
Source text: It's Ivan's car.
✘ To je auto od Ivana.
✓ To je Ivanov auto.
2.6.1. Possessive-reflexive pronoun “svoj”
There is only one possessive-reflexive pronoun: “svoj“, and it can roughly be translated as “one's own”. “Svoj” is used to express that something belongs to the subject – and, as such, replaces any possessive pronoun.
Examples:
Source text: I gave her my pen.
✘ Dao sam joj moju olovku.
✓ Dao sam joj svoju olovku.
Source text: Turn off your computer.
✘ Isključite vaše računalo.
✓ Isključite svoje računalo.
The main purpose of the reflexive possessive pronoun “svoj” is to distinguish between two or more possible owners in a sentence – it always points to the subject:
Ana is returning her (= Ana’s) key to Ivana. -> Ana vraća Ivani svoj ključ.
Ana is returning her (= Ivana’s) key to Ivana. -> Ana vraća Ivani njen ključ.
2.7. Prepositions
Croatian prepositions link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. The object’s case is dependent on the preposition. There are only two cases that are never used with prepositions: they are the nominative and the vocative. Only one case always makes use of prepositions, that is the locative. All other cases are preposition-friendly, and can be used with them or without them.
Please take care with the preposition “s/sa” in instrumental form: the longer form (“sa”) is used when the noun begins with s, š, z and ž.
Example
Source text: We have the course with students all over the world.
✘ Imamo tečaj s studentima iz cijelog svijeta.
✓ Imamo tečaj sa studentima iz cijelog svijeta
If this noun in the instrumental form is used to express means or agency, the preposition is omitted.
Example
Source text: They all came with a car.
✘ Svi su došli s autom.
✓ Svi su došli autom.
In this example, the preposition changes the meaning of the sentence completely. The car in this sentence is a means of achieving a goal, but if we used the preposition, it would mean that “they all came, together with the car”.
2.6. Adjectives
An adjective describing a noun needs to be in the same case, number and gender as the noun It describes. This applies across parts of sentences as well as across full sentences. In English, the adjective often comes after the noun, which is not the case in Croatian.
Example
Source text: See the number of pages completed
✘ Pogledajte broj stranica dovršenih
✓ Pogledajte broj dovršenih stranica
In some cases, you will come across adjectives as standalone strings. It is impossible to edit or translate an adjective correctly without knowing the context. If the context requires the adjective in masculine, feminine and neuter at the same time (i.e. in software menus), we recommend translating the adjective in neutral form.
Examples
Source text: New
✘ Nov
✓ Novo
Source text: Unknown
✘ Nepoznat
✓ Nepoznato
3. Orthography
3.1. Croatian alphabet
The Croatian alphabet consists of 30 characters in latin script, three of which are digraphs (dž, lj and nj) and five palatals (č, ć, đ, š and ž).
The Croatian alphabet does not contain the letters q, Q, w, W, x, X, y, Y, but these foreign characters are used on occasion (i.e. in product/company names that are not translated).
Example
Source text: Extreme Digital
✘ Ekstremni digital
✓ Extreme Digital
3.2. Apostrophe
The apostrophe only used in Croatian in informal speech, when it replaces a part of speech that’s left out: “Drž’te ga!” (instead of “Držite ga!” – “Get him!”).
Example
Source text: Hold him!
✘ Dr’žte ga!
✘ Držt’e ga!
✓ Drž’te ga!
✓ Držite ga!
3.3. Capitalization
In English, it is a general practice to capitalize the first character of each word in titles, names, etc. This is not the case in Croatian. Names of days, months, languages, or adjectives derived from country names are not capitalized.
Example
Source text: I can’t, I have an English class on Tuesday.
✘ Ne mogu, imam sat Engleskog jezika u Utorak.
✓ Ne mogu, imam sat engleskog jezika u utorak.
In email messages, do not capitalize the first word in the new line after the greeting if there is a comma at the end of the first line.
Example:
Source text:
Hello,
A request was made to update your XY account username
✘ Dobar dan,
Zatraženo je ažuriranje korisničkog imena vašeg računa za XY
✓ Dobar dan,
zatraženo je ažuriranje korisničkog imena vašeg računa za XY
Do not capitalize the first letter after the colon.
Example:
Source text: Warning: If you close this menu, all unsaved changes will be lost.
✘ Upozorenje: Ako zatvorite ovaj izbornik, izgubit će se sve nespremljene promjene.
✓ Upozorenje: ako zatvorite ovaj izbornik, izgubit će se sve nespremljene promjene.
Furthermore, in expressions where two or more common nouns are separated by a slash, the second noun should not be capitalized in Croatian.
Example:
Source text: Problem/Solution
✘ Problem/Rješenje
✓ Problem/rješenje
3.4. Compounds
Compound words in Croatian are put together either as a one word or with a hyphen without a whitespace:
Examples
Source text: overcurent protection
✘ nad-strujna zaštita
✓ nadstrujna zaštita
Source text: 23” screen
✘ 23inčni zaslon
✓ 23-inčni zaslon
Detailed rules on writing compound words in Croatian can be found here
3.5. Foreign words
Whenever possible, follow the client-specific guidelines and glossary regarding foreign words.
Foreign words in Croatian are written differently depending on their level of adoption in Croatian, so if these words are not phonetized (like “džez”, “solfeđo”, “inč”, “džul”, “sangrija”, etc.) they are written as the original: pizza, buffet, catering, gadget, etc.
They are modified from case to case by adding case suffixes, without a hyphen: cateringa, cateringu, pizze, pizzi…
Example
Source text: There is no catering at this event
✘ Na ovom događaju nema kejteringa
✘ Na ovom događaju nema catering
✓ Na ovom događaju nema cateringa
3.6. Special symbols
Special symbols @, # and & are not used in Croatian text. Instead, the use of translated or shortened words is preferred, unless these symbols are part of the name (i.e. brand or company name) or another non-translatable expression.
Examples
Source text: Meeting @ the main square
✘ Sastanak @ glavnom trgu
✓ Sastanak na glavnom trgu
Source text: Procter & Gamble
✘ Procter i Gamble
✓ Procter & Gamble
4. Punctuation
4.1. How to use punctuation marks
- Comma
The comma in Croatian is used to separate words, parts of the sentence and subordinate clauses when creating a list. It is followed by the whitespace. The last comma in the list, before the word “i” (and) is omitted. A comma is also omitted before the acronym “itd.” (etc), but is written before the acronym “tj.” (i.e.) and “npr.” (e.g.).
Examples
Source text: I see people, houses, fields, and mountains.
✘ Vidim ljude, kuće, polja, i planine.
✓ Vidim ljude, kuće, polja i planine.
Source text: I don’t like Japanese food, e.g., sushi or ramen.
✘ Ne volim japansku hranu npr. sushi ili ramen.
✓ Ne volim japansku hranu, npr. sushi ili ramen.
A comma is also used to separate the inserted subordinate clause in the sentence. Please be careful when placing commas, as they can completely change the meaning of a sentence
Example
Source text: We didn’t pick apples that were green.
✘ Jabuke, koje su bile zelene, nismo brali.
✘ Nismo brali jabuke, koje su bile zelene.
✓ Nismo brali jabuke koje su bile zelene.
In this example, the first sentence states that we didn’t pick apples, because all of them were green. The second sentence states the same thing: we didn’t pick apples which were green. The third sentence is the correct one in this case: we were picking apples, just not the green ones.
Source text: This is our first uncomfortable experience with them.
✘ To je naše prvo, neugodno iskustvo s njima.
✓ To je naše prvo neugodno iskustvo s njima.
The first sentence means that “this was our first experience with them, and this was also uncomfortable”, and the second one that “we’ve had experiences with them so far, but this was the first uncomfortable one”.
A good explanation on usage of commas in Croatian can be found here
- Semicolon
The semicolon is written when the separation is more emphatic than a comma and yet still weaker than a full stop, and when listing parts that may already contain a comma. It is followed by a whitespace.
Example
Source text: His body temperature was rising: 36.7, 37.2, 38.1
✘ Njegova je tjelesna temperatura rasla: 36,7, 37,2, 38,1
✓ Njegova je tjelesna temperatura rasla: 36,7; 37,2; 38,1
- Colon
The colon is written before listings, citations and explanations. It is followed by a whitespace.
Example
Source text: Method of application: dissolve one pill in your mouth
✘ Način primjene, otopite jednu tabletu u ustima.
✓ Način primjene: otopite jednu tabletu u ustima.
- Full stop, exclamation point, question mark
These symbols mark the end of a sentence. While the full stop is used for declarative sentences, the question mark is used for questions and the exclamation mark expresses surprise, commands or urgent wishes. These marks are followed by a whitespace and the following word is capitalized.
- Brackets
Brackets mark additions that are not integrated into the sentence or text structure. Generally, the text within brackets is rated as a minor or secondary point by the writer. They can be used as an alternative to commas and Em dashes. The initial bracket is preceded by a whitespace, but not followed by a whitespace. The opposite is true for the final bracket.
- Hyphen
The hyphen is used when connecting words in a compound word, when breaking and transferring parts of words onto another line of text and in names written with a hyphen. It is written without white spaces.
Example
Source text: e-mail
✘ e - pošta
✓ e-pošta
Source text: Coca-Cola
✘ Coca – Cola
✓ Coca-Cola
- En dash
The En-dash is used for vertical lists, quotations, to relate two terms, in phrases like “from – to” (od – do) and is preceded and followed by a whitespace.
Example
Source text: highway Split - Zagreb
✘ autocesta Split-Zagreb
✘ autocesta Split - Zagreb
✘ autocesta Split–Zagreb
✓ autocesta Split – Zagreb
- Quotation marks
Quote marks are used to mark direct speech, for citations or to emphasize specific parts of the text. The initial mark is preceded by a whitespace, but not followed by a whitespace. The opposite is true for the final quote mark.
Croatian uses two types of double quotation marks: „ and “ (ALT+0132 and ALT+0148), and the pair » and «.
Quotation marks are used when quoting from another source and for direct speech.
In translation we now tend to omit quotation marks for software functions, fields, tasks, menus, buttons and process names and use capitalization instead.
Example
Source text: Use the Save command
✘ Upotrijebite naredbu “Spremi”
✘ Upotrijebite naredbu „Spremi”
✓ Upotrijebite naredbu Spremi
5. Register
Register refers to the level of formality used in the text. It marks how clients address their customers and contributes to the voice of the brand itself. Register may vary depending on the company, the brand, the service they offer, the customers, and the target language.
Register is divided into formal and informal, as shown below.
The final target language should have the "look and feel" of a product originally written in Croatian, using idiomatic syntax and terminology, maintaining terminological consistency.
5.1. Formal register
The strict formal register (using the 2nd person plural with the pronoun Vi and possessive pronoun Vaš written in capital letters) is used only when addressing one particular person in a formal tone. When addressing the general public, users and readers, the formal register is also expressed with the 2nd person plural pronoun vi/vaš, but written in small caps.
- Use of “please”
Omit the translation of the word “please”. Translate such expressions with the imperative form.
Source text: Please close this menu.
✘ Molim vas, zatvorite ovaj izbornik.
✓ Zatvorite ovaj izbornik.
This tone of voice is used in general marketing texts and in software messages addressing the user.
|
Category |
Examples |
Type of Register |
|
Personal pronouns |
Vi, vi |
Grammatical |
|
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb) |
Second person plural |
Grammatical |
|
Possessive pronouns |
Vaš, vaš
|
Grammatical
|
|
Greetings
|
Poštovani gospodine / Poštovana gospođo Poštovani/Poštovana (male/female form) |
Lexical |
|
Closings |
S poštovanjem Lijep pozdrav Srdačan pozdrav |
Lexical |
5.2. Informal register
|
Category |
Examples |
Type of Register |
|
Personal pronouns |
ti |
Grammatical |
|
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb) |
Second person singular |
Grammatical |
|
Possessive pronouns |
tvoj
|
Grammatical
|
|
Greetings
|
Dragi/draga (male/female form) Dobar dan Pozdrav
|
Lexical |
|
Closings |
Čitamo se Vidimo se Pozdrav |
Lexical |
6. Localization challenges
Most of these challenges refer to unique entities, such as persons, places, organizations, brands or the specific format of dates, addresses and so on. Languages adopt different rules regarding whether those units should be translated, reformatted or kept in the original language. When editing a text, please follow your language's rules for the different types of units listed below.
However, please note that where a glossary has been provided, you should apply glossary items.
6.1. Personal names
Names are not translated, even if there is an equivalent name available in Croatian. However, names are provided with a Latin alphabet conversion if the name is originally written in another alphabet.
Example
Source text: Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
✘ Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
✓ Fjodor Mihajlovič Dostojevski
Grammatically, they are adapted to the person’s gender, which is reflected in pronouns and inflection.
Example
Source text: This is Mary’s house.
✘ To je Marijina kuća
✘ To je kuća od Mary.
✓ To je Maryna kuća.
6.2. Names of organizations, brands and products
Product and company names should be left in English. In order to apply case logic, please add a descriptor (its noun modifier), rather than changing the name throughout the various cases.
Examples
Source text: Apple’s new product
✘ Appleov novi proizvod
✓ Novi proizvod tvrtke Apple
Source text: In Windows
✘ U Windowsima
✓ U sustavu Windows
Exceptions to this rule are generally well-known product names that are in common use and are inflective (i.e. it would be correct to write “u Excelu”, instead of the longer version with a modifier “u programu Excel”).
As a general rule of thumb, and where possible, follow client guidelines concerning the handling of names.
When a noun is used as a modifier in English, you can reverse the order of the head of the noun phrase and its modifier in the translation.
Example:
Source text: Linux system
✘ Linux sustav
✓ sustav Linux
6.3. Acronyms and abbreviations
Abbreviated words for personal, academic or professional titles: “dr.” (doktor – doctor), “ing.” (inženjer – engineer); “g.” (gospodin - Mr.); or other general abbreviated words: “st.” (stoljeće – century), slov. (slovenski – Slovenian), etc.). are followed by a full stop with a whitespace and are not changed from case to case.
Example:
Source text: I have an appointment with dr. Jokić.
✘ Imam zakazani termin kod dra. Jokića.
✘ Imam zakazani termin kod dr-a Jokića.
✓ Imam zakazani termin kod dr. Jokića.
Exceptions to this rule are abbreviations “gđica” (Miss) and “gđa” (Ms.) which are written without a period and are changed from case to case.
Example
Source text: When will you be back, Ms. Poljak?
✘ Kada se vraćate, gđo. Poljak?
✘ Kada se vraćate, gđa Poljak?
✘ Kada se vračate, gđa. Poljak?
✓ Kada se vraćate, gđo Poljak?
If the abbreviations are placed at the end of a sentence, do not double the full stop.
Example
Source text: This happened in the 18th century.
✘ To se dogodilo u 18. st..
✓ To se dogodilo u 18. st.
A list of the most commonly used abbreviations can be found here
Acronyms are written in capitals without any spaces, and no full stops are used.
Example
Source text: The U.S.A. and the U.K., the U.N. adopted a new strategy.
✘ S.A.D., U.K. i U.N. usvojili su novu strategiju
✓ SAD, UK i UN usvojili su novu strategiju
Acronyms are changed from case to case by adding case suffixes with a hyphen, with no white space between them.
Example:
Source text: UNESCO rules
✘ UNESCova pravila
✘ UNESCOVA pravila
✘ UNESC - ova pravila
✓ UNESCO-va pravila
With acronyms ending phonetically in “i”, the letter “j” is inserted in front of the suffix. If acronyms ending in “i” in writing, but not phonetically, the letter “j” is not added.
Examples
Source: It was a BBC show.
✘ Bila je to BBC-eva emisija,
✓ Bila je to BBC-jeva emisija.
Source: FBI agent was involved in the incident.
✘ U incident je bio umiješan FBI-jev agent.
✘ U incident je bio umiješan agent FBI-ja.
✓ U incident je bio umiješan FBI-ev agent.
✓ U incident je bio umiješan agent FBI-a.
6.4. Software lexicon and expressions
English forms often don't distinguish between various uses of verbs in software content (such as a command, function name, or the description of an ongoing process). Try try to find out what is the ultimate purpose of the translated string, and edit accordingly. For commands and menu items, use the personal imperative form (second-person singular) only when it’s a direct software command. Otherwise, if it's an indirect command, followed by an ellipsis "…", use nouns, verbal nouns, or impersonal forms. Interactive commands, where the user participates in their execution, are also translated with the use of nouns or verbal nouns.
Examples
Source text: Cancel Refresh
✘ Odustajanje od osvježavanja
✓ Odustani od osvježavanja
Source text: Save
✘ Spremanje
✓ Spremi
Source text Save…
✘ Spremi…
✓ Spremanje…
When users are addressing the system (such as in programs and wizards), apart from referring to themselves as “I,” they address the system in the second-person singular form (“ti,” informal form—“Spremi moje postavke”).
Generally, field names should start with a capital. Button labels, menu items, tooltips and actions should be in imperative mode, addressing the system. Page/window names should be nominative clauses.
6.5. Numeric expressions
Regarding numeral formats (written in numbers or words), you should always respect the source text. If they are written as digits in the source text, this should be maintained in the translation; on the other hand, if they are written as words, they should be translated as such to the target language.
English uses a period to indicate the decimal place, but Croatian uses a comma.
Example
Source text: The value of π is 3.14.
✘ Vrijednost broja π jednaka je 3.14.
✓ Vrijednost broja π jednaka je 3,14.
The percent sign (%) should be separated from the numeral with a whitespace.
In English, the digit grouping symbol (used every three decimal places in numbers of four or more digits) is a comma. In Croatian, we can use a whitespace or a period to indicate a digit group of thousand, but only after the number 9999. Usage of a period is preferred in administrative texts dealing with currency.
The decimal separator is a comma, as opposed to a period in English.
Example
Source text: It weighs around 3,500 kilograms.
✘ Teži oko 3,500 kilograma.
✓ Teži oko 3500 kilograma.
Source text: It weighs around 11,500 kilograms.
✘ Teži oko 11,500 kilograma.
✓ Teži oko 11 500 kilograma.
Source text: The total sum: 11,320,100.50 HRK.
✘ Ukupna suma: 11,320,100.50 HRK.
✓ Ukupna suma: 11.320.100,50 HRK.
Please pay particular attention to the translation of “billions” in English. it should not be translated as “bilijun”, or “bilijarda”,, but as “milijarda”.
Example
Source text: The glass broke into billions of pieces.
✘ Staklo se rasulo u bilijun komadića.
✓ Staklo se rasulo u milijardu komadića.
6.6. Time expressions
Croatian uses a 24 hour format. The format can be hh.mm or hh:mm. The format can be followed by a whitespace and the unit hour (h).
Example
Source text: We’ll meet at 4 PM
✘ Sastat ćemo se u 4 pm.
✓ Sastat ćemo se u 16.00 h.
✓ Sastat ćemo se u 16:00 sati.
6.7. Date expressions
The Croatian format for date is dd. mm. yyyy., with whitespaces after periods. In some software applications, the whitespace after the period is omitted to save space.
Example
Source text: The meeting is on 11/14/2022.
✘ Sastanak je 11.14.2022.
✘ Sastanak je 11.14.2022.
✓ Sastanak je 14. 11. 2022.
Please note that when writing long formats of dates: month names are not written in the nominative, but rather in the genitive case.
Example
Source text: May 16th, 2022.
✘ 16. svibanj 2022.
✓ 16. svibnja 2022.
6.8. Currency
The currency symbol follows the currency value with a whitespace between the currency value and the currency symbol (kn, €, $, £, etc.). The same is true for currency initials (HRK, USD, GBP, RUB, INR, DKK, NOK, etc.).
Example
Source text: $128
✘ $ 128
✘ 128$
✓ 128 $
6.9. Measures
Measures should always keep the format of the source text and should never be converted. You should only translate them when they have an equivalent term in the target language.
Measures (such as inches, feet, miles, etc.) should be translated if there is an equivalent term in Croatian. However, note that abbreviations should be kept (e.g. 2 ft, 20 cm). There should be a whitespace as a separator after the number.
Examples
Source text: He is 5 feet tall.
✘ Visok je 5 feet.
✓ Visok je 5 stopa.
Source text: He runs 8km every day.
✘ Svaki dan trči 8km.
✓ Svaki dan trči 8 km.
6.10. Placeholders
When translating sentences that contain placeholders, the sentence should be grammatically correct when the placeholder is replaced with a word or phrase. Placeholders can stand for dates and numbers, but also for i.e. lists of actions, days of the week, months, names, etc.
It is a good practice to investigate placeholders in text and see what are possible values. This is important because then you can place a descriptor in front of the placeholder and modify the descriptor.
Examples
Source text: Replace the copied%s (where the placeholder %s is replaced with a file name (file.doc))
✘ Zamijenite kopiranu %s
✓ Zamijenite kopiranu datoteku %s
Placeholders containing numbers are a challenge, since Croatian has different forms for nouns and adjectives connected with numbers 0, for 1 (or numbers ending on 1, such as 21, 31, etc.), 2-4 (or ending in numbers 2-4), and 5+.
In order to maintain readability, please change the word order and add modifiers describing placeholders, which are then easy to inflect.
Example:
Source text: You will delete more than [x] messages. Are you sure you want to continue?
✘ Izbrisat ćete više od [X] poruka. Jeste li sigurni da želite nastaviti?
✓ Izbrisat ćete više od sljedećeg broja poruka: [X]. Jeste li sigurni da želite nastaviti?
6.11. Flexibility and word-for-word translation
Be mindful of overly literal translations. While accuracy and consistency are important in technical texts, in most marketing texts idioms and phrases need to be adjusted to a Croatian audience.
Examples
Source text: Drum roll…
✘ Bubnjevi…
✓ A sada, samo za vas…
Source text: Something bad happened!
✘ Desilo se nešto loše!
✓ Loše vijesti!
To achieve a fluent translation, and avoid loss of meaning from a word-for-word translation, The text can be split into different sentences for simplicity.
Examples
Source text: Make sure that the printer is on.
✘ Pobrinite se da je pisač uključen.
✓ Provjerite je li pisač uključen.
Source text: If you close this menu, you will not be able to change colors.
✘ Ako zatvorite ovaj izbornik, nećete imati mogućnosti za mijenjanje boja.
✘ Ako zatvorite ovaj izbornik, nećete biti u mogućnosti mijenjati boje.
✓ Ako zatvorite ovaj izbornik, nećete moći mijenjati boje.
Source text: provide help
✘ ukazati pomoć
✓ pomoći
7. Tricky cases and frequent errors
- Prepositions “zbog/radi”
“Radi” (for the purpose of) is a preposition that denotes intention and the goal of the action, and “zbog” (because of) is used when referring to the cause of the action.
Examples
Source text: I came to check my balance.
✘ Došao sam zbog provjere stanja računa.
✓ Došao sam radi provjere stanja računa.
Source text: They went to Canada because they were poor.
✘ Otišli su u Kanadu radi neimaštine.
✓ Otišli su u Kanadu zbog neimaštine.
- Verb “korisiti” (to use)
A common mistake occurs with the verb “koristiti”. This verb is a reflexive verb and should be used only with the reflexive particle “se” with the instrumental case, and not with the accusative and without the reflexive particle.
Example
Source text: Use the supplied cable.
✘ Koristite isporučeni kabel.
✓ Koristite se isporučenim kabelom.
✓ Upotrijebite isporučeni kabel.
- Verb “kontaktirati” (to make contact with)
Another frequent error arises with the use of the verb “kontaktirati”. The correct usage of this verb would be with the instrumental case, but recently this verb has started to appear with the accusative case. This is not correct and should be avoided. Try finding other solutions instead of this specific verb if the instrumental case does not fit the translation.
Example
Source text: I will contact him.
✘ Kontaktirat ću ga.
✓ Kontaktirat ću se s njim.
✓ Obratit ću mu se.
- Conditional conjunctions “ako” and “ukoliko” (if)
The conjunction “ukoliko” can only be used with “utoliko”, in all other cases we should use “ako”
Example
Source text: If you wear pink, you will look younger.
✘ Ukoliko nosite ružičastu odjeću, izgledat ćete mlađe.
✓ Ako nosite ružičastu odjeću, izgledat ćete mlađe.
8. Useful online resources
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN-HR/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32003L0088&from=EN
9. References
https://www.academia.edu/51812155/Translation_Style_Guide_for_European_Union_Member_States
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