Locale Hr 001

Reference data for the Croatian locale — endonym Hrvatski, written in the Latin script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

• BCP 47 tag: hr-001
• ISO 639-1: hr
• ISO 639-3: hrv
• Script: Latn (Latin)
• Region: 001 (World)
• Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

• L1 (native): 5,100,000
• L2 (additional): 1,400,000
• L1+L2 (total): 6,500,000

Regional variants

This is the base/macro locale for Croatian. Region-specific variants in this dataset:

• Locale Hr Ba (Croatian (Bosnia and Herzegovina))
• Locale Hr Hr (Croatian (Croatia))

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, few, other (3 forms).

• one — v = 0 and i % 10 = 1 and i % 100 != 11 or f % 10 = 1 and f % 100 != 11 (e.g. 1, 21, 31, 41, …)
• few — v = 0 and i % 10 = 2..4 and i % 100 != 12..14 or f % 10 = 2..4 and f % 100 != 12..14 (e.g. 2~4, 22~24, 32~34, 42~44, …)
• other — everything else (e.g. 0, 5~19, 100, 1000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Croatian is a South Slavic language written in the Latin script (with č, ć, đ, š, ž and the digraphs dž, lj, nj). It uses ijekavian forms in the standard. The Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics (Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje) maintains the norm. See Locale Hr Hr and Locale Hr Ba.

Translate ideas, not words.

• Croatian is highly inflected, with seven cases and three genders. Restructure English sentences.
• Prefer Croatian vocabulary to Serbian or loan forms: tisuća (not hiljada), zrakoplov, vlak, glazba, kolodvor, točno. Month names are Croatian: siječanj, veljača, ožujak, travanj, svibanj, lipanj, srpanj, kolovoz, rujan, listopad, studeni, prosinac.
• The future tense uses ću plus infinitive (Spremit ću), and the standard prefers the infinitive over da plus present.
• Re-express idioms by meaning.

Grammar that trips translators.

• Plurals: one, few, and other categories (1 datoteka, 2 datoteke, 5 datoteka). See Unicode Messageformat.
• Clitics occupy second position in the clause (Datoteka je spremljena).
• Adjectives and nouns agree in gender, number, and case.

Register.

• "Ti" is informal and "Vi" is formal (capitalized in letters to one person); UI and public text commonly use "Vi" or an impersonal style, though consumer apps increasingly use "ti". Do not mix.
• UI commands use the imperative (Spremite) or the infinitive (Spremi).

Orthography and typography.

• Croatian orthography is phonemic and morphological: ije/je follows the jat reflex (lijepo, mlijeko, rijeka, vrijeme).
• Quotation marks „…“; dates 17. listopada 2026. (periods after the day and year); decimal comma; period or space for thousands; the euro (12,50 €) is the currency since 1 January 2023.
• Use Croatian terminology from the Institute's Hrvatski jezični portal (HJP) and Jezični savjetnik.

Common pitfalls

• Using Serbian forms (ekavian, hiljada, šta) in Croatian text.
• Using da plus present where the infinitive is standard.
• Using the kuna for current prices (the euro replaced it in 2023).
• Dropping the period in ordinal dates.

Learn more

• Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
• Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
• Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje, Hrvatski jezični portal (https://hjp.znanje.hr)
• Microsoft Localization Style Guide, Croatian (https://aka.ms/croatian-styleguide)