How to ask how someone is doing in Croatian (in Dubrovnik, Istria, Split, and Zagreb)
Croatia’s culture is all about socializing. Croatians find a way to connect with each other daily, whether over a long coffee, during a brief chat on the plac (market), or in passing while running errands.
Any conversation with a Croatian always starts with asking how each other is doing, just like a conversation with anybody in the world. Asking how someone is doing is the best way to connect with the Croatians in your community. It’s also an easy way to become more comfortable with speaking Croatian.
Even if your language skills are not ready for a full conversation and you don’t know a person well or at all, you should still start with the basic step of asking them how they are doing. Baby steps.
In this post, we cover various ways to ask how someone is doing, both formal and informal, including variations for Croatian dialects in Istria, Split, Dubrovnik, and Zagreb.
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How to ask how someone is doing in Croatian
How to ask how someone is doing in all of Croatia
Croatian: Ima li što novo(ga)?
English: Is there anything new?
Croatian: Je li sve dobro? Je sve dobro?
English: Is everything fine?
Croatian: Je li sve u redu? Je sve u redu? Sve u redu?
English: Is everything okay?
Croatian: Jesi li dobro? Jesi dobro? Si dobro? (informal)
English: Are you okay?
Croatian: Jeste li dobro? Jeste dobro? Vi dobro? Jeste li Vi dobro? (formal)
English: Are you okay?
Croatian: Kako ide? Kak ide?
English: How’s it going?
Croatian: Kako je? Kak je?
English: How is it?
Croatian: Kako si? Kak si? Kako si ti? (informal)
English: How are you?
Croatian: Kako ste? Kako ste Vi? (formal)
English: How are you?
Croatian: Kako život? Kak život?
English: How is life?
Croatian: Što ima?
English: What’s up?
Croatian: Što ima novo(ga)?
English: What’s new?
Croatian: Što ima novog(a) kod tebe?
English: What’s new with you?
Croatian: Što ima s tobom?
English: What’s new with you?
Croatian: Sve dobro?
English: All good?
How to ask how someone is doing in Istria, Croatia
Croatian: Ča ima?
English: What’s up?
Croatian: Ča ima novoga/novega?
English: What’s new?
Croatian: Ča ima novog(a) kod tebe?
English: What’s new with you?
Croatian: Ča ima s tobom?
English: What’s new with you?
Croatian: Ima li ča novega?
English: Is there anything new?
How to ask how someone is doing in Split and Dubrovnik, Croatia
Croatian: Ima li šta novo(ga)?
English: Is there anything new?
Croatian: Šta ima?
English: What’s up?
Croatian: Šta ima novo?
English: What’s new?
Croatian: Šta ima novo s tobon?
English: What’s new with you?
Croatian: Šta ima novo(ga)?
English: What’s new?
Croatian: Šta ima novog(a) kod tebe?
English: What’s new with you?
Croatian: Šta ima s tobom?
English: What’s new with you?
Croatian: Šta ima s tobon?
English: What’s new with you?
How to ask how someone is doing in Zagreb, Croatia
Croatian: Ima li kaj novo(ga)?
English: Is there anything new?
Croatian: Kaj ima?
English: What’s up?
Croatian: Kaj ima novo(ga)?
English: What’s new?
Croatian: Kaj ima s tobom?
English: What’s new with you?
If you’re interested in more Croatian language learning, view our other posts here.
View our other Croatian vocabulary posts
- 14 Croatian words that change around the country
- All the ways to say “Hi” and “Bye“ in Croatian
- Basic Croatian words and phrases to get through life in Croatia
- Croatian places with the suffix “-ica”
- Croatian vocabulary you might need at a restaurant or cafe in Croatia
- Exclamations for when you need to shout
- Holiday words and phrases
- How to ask where the toilet is in Croatian (and how to find public toilets throughout Croatia)
- How to tell time (in Zagreb, Split, Istria, and Dubrovnik)
- Immigration words and phrases
- Sledding and winter vocabulary
Please note: Information provided by Expat in Croatia is only for the purposes of guidance. It does not constitute legal or financial advice in any form. Croatian laws and bureaucratic rules often change, and each personal case is individual, so different rules may apply. For legal advice, contact us to consult with a licensed Croatian lawyer. For financial advice, contact us to consult with a licensed Croatian tax advisor or accountant.
