dž / đ

The Sounds Dž and Đ

Level 1

Dž is written with two characters, while đ is a single letter. Standard Croatian keeps them distinct in spelling.

How It Works

The spelling dž usually represents one sound, not a separately released d followed by ž. The crossed letter đ represents a different consonant. Common anchors are džep and đumbir.

Do not replace đ with dž. Writing dj for đ may occur when someone lacks a suitable keyboard, but the normal Croatian spelling uses đ. A genuine sequence d + j in another word is not automatically the letter đ.

The same capitalization rule used for other digraphs applies to dž: Dž at the start of a normally capitalized word, DŽ when the entire word is capitalized. Regional pronunciation does not change the standard written form.

Examples (3)

  1. Džep je prazan.

    The pocket is empty.

    Džep starts with the digraph dž.

  2. Dodajem đumbir.

    I am adding ginger.

    Đumbir begins with the single letter đ.

  3. Sviđa mi se tvoj džemper.

    I like your sweater.

    Sviđa contains đ; džemper contains dž.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

dž / đLevel 1The Sounds Dž and Đ

Learn This First

Identify the relevant letters in the alphabet before studying the sound contrast or digraph.