kratak

Kratak is an adjective used in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian to denote that something is short in duration, length, or scope, or that it is concise. It is commonly used with nouns to describe physical length, time, or content, and it appears in a range of phrases such as kratak film (short film), kratko vrijeme (short time), and kratka verzija (short version).

In standard declension, kratak inflects for gender and number: masculine singular kratak; feminine singular kratka; neuter singular kratko; masculine plural kratki; feminine plural kratke; neuter plural kratka. It is typically used attributively before a noun, and in predicative position after the verb je: Film je kratak (The film is short). The adverbial form kratko is used to modify verbs or adjectives: on govori kratko (he speaks briefly).

Etymology is traced to a Proto-Slavic root related to brevity or cutting; exact reconstruction varies across sources. The term has cognates in other Slavic languages, such as Russian kratkiy, Polish krótki, Czech krátký, and Slovenian kratek, all meaning "short."