Breakdown of Večeras vas zovem na večeru.
večeras
tonight
na
on, at / to, onto (with motion) / about (thinking about)
vas
you (accusative/genitive)
zvati
to invite
večera
dinner
Questions & Answers about Večeras vas zovem na večeru.
Who does vas refer to here?
vas is the accusative clitic pronoun for "you". It can refer to a group of people ("you all") or to a single person you are speaking to formally. Since it is the direct object of the verb zovem (I am inviting), it is in the accusative case.
Why is vas placed right after Večeras instead of after the verb?
vas is a clitic, which is a short, unstressed word. In Croatian, clitics strongly prefer to go in the second position in a sentence. Here, the first position is taken by the word Večeras (tonight), so the clitic vas must come immediately after it, before the verb.
I thought zovem means "I call". Why is it translated as "I am inviting"?
The verb zvati primarily means "to call". However, when paired with the preposition na (to) and an event like dinner, the phrase zvati na translates naturally as "to invite to".
Why is the word for dinner spelled večeru instead of večera?
It is in the accusative case. The preposition na followed by the accusative case is used to show direction toward a goal or event (like going to dinner). Because večera is a feminine noun ending in -a, its accusative form changes to end in -u.
Where is the word for "I" in this sentence?
Croatian often drops subject pronouns like ja (I) because the ending of the verb already tells you who is doing the action. The -em ending on zovem clearly means "I am calling or inviting", so ja is not needed unless you want to add special emphasis.
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