lj / nj

The Sounds Lj and Nj

Level 1

Lj and nj usually represent palatal consonants. Learn them as units in words such as ljudi and knjiga.

How It Works

The digraphs lj and nj are letters in the Croatian alphabet. In words such as ljudi and knjiga, each pair represents a single consonant. Keep the two written characters together when identifying the letter.

At the beginning of a name, only the first character is capitalized in normal writing: Ljiljana, Njivice. Both become capitals when the whole word is in capitals.

A spelling sequence is not a universal pronunciation rule. Some borrowed words and morphological boundaries contain separate consonants rather than a digraph sound. Learn such words individually instead of treating every visible n followed by j as identical. The examples here use ordinary digraphs.

Examples (3)

  1. Ljudi čekaju.

    People are waiting.

    Lj forms the first consonant in ljudi.

  2. Knjiga je nova.

    The book is new.

    Nj is one consonant within knjiga.

  3. Njegova je kuća lijepa.

    His house is beautiful.

    The opening Nj is capitalized as a digraph.

How It Connects

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

lj / njLevel 1The Sounds Lj and Nj

Learn This First

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