The Croatian alphabet & pronunciation
Croatian has 30 letters, and every letter always makes the same sound. Learn them once and you can read any Croatian word aloud — even words you do not know yet.
Three rules that make Croatian easy to read
- One letter, one sound. There are no silent letters and no spelling surprises: kava is read “KAH-vah”, exactly as written.
- Every vowel is pronounced. Croatian has five clean vowels — a, e, i, o, u — and none of them change like English vowels do.
- Some sounds are written with two letters. dž, lj and nj each count as one letter in the alphabet.
All 30 letters
Tap ▶ to hear each example word. The Arabic hints help Arabic speakers find the closest familiar sound.
like “a” in “father”
auto — car
مثل الفتحة الطويلة «آ»
like “b” in “bed”
brat — brother
مثل «ب»
like “ts” in “cats” — never like “k” or “s”
cijena — price
مثل «تس» معًا
like “ch” in “church”, hard
čaj — tea
مثل «تش» قوية
a softer “ch”, like “t” in “nature” said quickly
kuća — house
«تش» ناعمة
like “d” in “dog”
dan — day
مثل «د»
like “j” in “jungle”, hard
džep — pocket
مثل «ج» قوية
a softer “j”, like “d” in “duke” said quickly
Doviđenja — goodbye
«ج» ناعمة
like “e” in “bed”
euro — euro
مثل الكسرة المفتوحة «إ»
like “f” in “fish”
film — film
مثل «ف»
always hard, like “g” in “go”
grah — beans
مثل «ج» المصرية (g)
like “ch” in Scottish “loch”, softer
hvala — thank you
قريبة من «خ» خفيفة
like “ee” in “see”
ime — name
مثل الياء الممدودة «ي»
like “y” in “yes”
jabuka — apple
مثل «ي» في «يد»
like “k” in “kite”
kava — coffee
مثل «ك»
like “l” in “lamp”
luk — onion
مثل «ل»
like “lli” in “million”
ljeto — summer
مثل «لي» معًا
like “m” in “mother”
majka — mother
مثل «م»
like “n” in “no”
noga — leg
مثل «ن»
like “ny” in “canyon”
njegov — his
مثل «ني» معًا
like “o” in “more”
otac — father
مثل الضمة المفتوحة «أو»
like “p” in “pen”
pivo — beer
صوت P كما في الإنجليزية (ليس «ب»)
rolled, like Spanish “r”; can even be a vowel, as in “prst”
riba — fish
مثل «ر» العربية المكررة
always like “s” in “sun”
sir — cheese
مثل «س»
like “sh” in “ship”
škola — school
مثل «ش»
like “t” in “top”
tata — dad
مثل «ت»
like “oo” in “food”
ulaz — entrance
مثل الواو الممدودة «و»
like “v” in “very”
voda — water
صوت V (مثل «ف» مع اهتزاز)
like “z” in “zoo”
zima — winter
مثل «ز»
like “s” in “pleasure”
žena — woman
مثل «ج» الشامية الناعمة (ژ)
The tricky pairs: č and ć, dž and đ
These are the sounds learners worry about most. č and dž are “hard”: the tongue is pulled back, like English “church” and “jungle”. ć and đ are “soft”: the tongue touches the front of the mouth, closer to the teeth. Many Croatians from some regions barely distinguish them in fast speech, so do not worry if you mix them up at first — you will still be understood.
Where is the stress?
In words of two or more syllables, the stress is never on the last syllable, and most often on the first: JA-bu-ka (apple), PRI-ja-telj (friend). The pronunciation hints on our phrase pages show the stressed syllable in capitals.
Letters Croatian does not use
The letters q, w, x and y are not part of the Croatian alphabet. They only appear in foreign names and words, such as “wifi” or “taxi” (which Croatians usually write as taksi).
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