Like all Slavic languages, Croatian is known for its rich morphology and a pronunciation which is extremely difficult for non-Slavic foreigners. In order to help you with the latter, we have prepared a list of the largest Croatian cities and most important tourist destinations, followed by the approximate English pronunciation of their names. The syllable preceded by the apostrophe is the stressed one. Hope this will come in handy! 🙂
| NAME | THE APPROXIMATE ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION |
| Zagreb | `zah-greb |
| Split | split (as in English “split”) |
| Rijeka | ree-`yeh-kah |
| Osijek | `oh-see-yeck |
| Zadar | `zah-dur |
| Šibenik | `shee-ben-ick |
| Dubrovnik | `doob-rov-nick (not “doob-`rov-nick”) |
| Pula | `poo-lah |
| Umag | `oo-mug |
| Rovinj | roh-`veeñ (ñ as in Spanish España) |
| Poreč | `poh-retch |
| Fažana | fah-`zhah-nah |
| Biograd | `bee-oh-graad |
| Vodice | `voh-dee-tseh |
| Primošten | `pree-mosh-ten |
| Rogoznica | `roh-goz-nitsa |
| Kaštela | `kaash-teh-lah (“a” as in “path”) |
| Trogir | troh-`geer |
| Sinj | seeñ |
| Omiš | `oh-meesh |
| Makarska | `mah-kur-skah |
| Plitvice | `plit-witseh |
| Cres | tsress |
| Krk | kirk |
| Lošinj | loh-`sheeñ |
| Rab | raab |
| Pag | paag |
| Zrće | `zir-tcheh |
| Novalja | `noh-vah-lyah |
| Brač | braatch |
| Hvar | hvaar |
| Korčula | `kor-choo-lah |
| Vis | vees |