Croatian's case system requires particular attention at B2 because subtle distinctions carry large semantic weight. The rule of genitiv niječni (the genitive of negation) requires the genitive after negating verbs, as in 'Nema vremena.' Closely related is the partitivni genitiv (partitive genitive), used for indefinite quantities such as 'malo vode.' Two specialised uses of the dative deserve attention: the dativ posvojnosti (dative of possession), seen in phrases like 'Sin mi je student,' and the dativ interesa (dative of interest), which marks the affected party, as in 'Učini mi uslugu.' The lokativ appears after prepositions u, na, o, po, and pri ('Razgovaramo o knjizi'), while the instrumental frequently occurs with the preposition sa/s ('Idem s prijateljicom'). Finally, expressions of quantity such as 'puno' trigger the genitive, as in 'Puno ljudi je došlo.' Together, these uses let a learner express relationships that English handles only with prepositions.
B2 speakers also need a firm grasp of how verbs are made passive, impersonal, or nominal. The agentive passive is built with 'biti + trpni pridjev' — for example, 'Knjiga je napisana 1990.' The reflexive se-konstrukcija ('Tu se ne pije') is general-purpose and very common. Two participial forms enrich narrative writing: the glagolski prilog prošli (past active participle) used adverbially in 'Završivši posao, otišao je,' and the glagolski prilog sadašnji (present active participle) in 'Pjevajući, ulazi.' A verb can also be turned into a glagolska imenica (verbal noun) to discuss an activity abstractly: 'Pisanje je teško.' When using the se-passive, remember that it works best without a living agent — 'Govori se hrvatski' — a limitation you must observe in formal and journalistic Croatian.
Beyond cases, B2 grammar hinges on mood and subordination. The 'konjunktiv-like' construction 'da + prezent' expresses wish or uncertainty, as in 'Hoću da dođeš.' The kondicional drugi (second conditional) forms hypothetical sentences: 'Da sam znao, ne bih bio rekao.' Reported speech uses 'neupravni govor,' introduced by 'da': 'Rekla je da kasni.' Several conjunctions introduce subordinate clauses: 'kako' after verbs of perception ('Vidio sam kako trči'), 'dok' for simultaneous past actions, 'čim' for events immediately following one another, 'iako' for concession, and 'budući da' for cause. Comparatives combine with 'nego' when comparing quantities or qualities ('Veći je nego što sam mislio') and with 'od + genitiv' when comparing two distinct entities ('Stariji je od mene').
Finally, advanced fluency depends on rhythm, declension, and aspect. Topicalization shifts a sentence's focus: 'Sutra ću ja to napraviti' emphasises the speaker. Woven into this is the strict redoslijed klitika (clitic ordering rule) — li, je, sam, mu, ga, se — to remember in any sentence with multiple weak pronouns. Gender can often be predicted by suffix: nouns in -ica (such as učiteljica) are often feminine, those in -ost (sloboda, hrabrost) are reliably feminine, and those in -tor (direktor, mentor) are reliably masculine. Irregular stems still appear at B2: 'dijete' declines djeteta, djetetu, dijete, djetetom, djetetu; 'pas' yields psa, psu, psa, psom; and 'čovjek' forms the plural 'ljudi.' The perfective/imperfective opposition is central: 'pisati/napisati' and 'čitati/pročitati' pair a process with its completion. Motion verbs split between 'ići' (directed) and 'hodati' (undirected), with prefixes 'do-' (arrival), 'od-' (departure), 'pro-' (passage), and 'po-' (brief, completed) producing subtle differences. Imperatives typically use the perfective aspect ('Otvori prozor!'), and Croatian's three dialect bases — štokavski (the standard), čakavski (coastal), and kajkavski (northern) — continue to colour pronunciation and vocabulary in different regions.