umjesto

Umjesto is a Croatian preposition meaning "in place of" or "instead of." It introduces a replacement, alternative, or substitution in a sentence. The standard construction is umjesto + genitive noun phrase, for example: umjesto kruha (instead of bread), umjesto šećera (instead of sugar), or umjesto posla (instead of work).

There is also a common construction with a subordinate clause: umjesto da + finite verb. This expresses doing something different from what is expected or planned, as in umjesto da radiš, igraš se (instead of working, you’re playing) or umjesto toga, odlučili smo nešto drugo (instead of that, we chose something else). The phrase umjesto toga functions as a fixed adverbial expression meaning "instead of that" or "as a substitute."

Usage notes and facts: umjesto takes the genitive case for the following noun phrase, and the clause with da often appears in both spoken and written Croatian. The form umjesto da is common in everyday language, while in formal writing writers may restructure sentences to avoid the da-clause, depending on style. A closely related expression in other South Slavic languages is namesto, used in Slovenian and some neighboring varieties.

Etymology: umjesto is formed from the preposition u (in) + mjesto (place), historically conveying “in place of.” It has cognates in related languages and is part of everyday Croatian syntax for indicating alternatives.