Breakdown of Idem s njima na natjecanje.
oni
they
na
on, at / to, onto (with motion) / about (thinking about)
ići
to go
s
with
Questions & Answers about Idem s njima na natjecanje.
Why do we use njima for "them" here?
Njima is the instrumental case of oni (they). Because the preposition s (with) requires the instrumental case to show company or association, "with them" becomes s njima.
Why is the preposition just s instead of sa?
The preposition "with" is usually just s. It only changes to sa when the next word starts with a similar sound (like s, z, š, ž) or a difficult consonant cluster (like in sa mnom). Since njima starts with nj, the short form s is perfectly easy to say.
Why do we say na natjecanje instead of u natjecanje for "to the competition"?
In Croatian, we use the preposition na (literally "on") for events, public gatherings, and activities. A competition is an event, so you go na natjecanje, just like you go na koncert (to a concert) or na posao (to work).
What case is the word natjecanje in this sentence?
It is in the accusative case. The preposition na can take the locative case for location, but here we have the verb idem (I am going), which shows motion towards a destination. For motion, na takes the accusative. Because natjecanje is a neuter noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its base dictionary form.