Breakdown of Nemoj dirati, vatra je vruća.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
vruć
hot
nemoj
do not (sg., pl. nemojte)
dirati
to touch
Questions & Answers about Nemoj dirati, vatra je vruća.
Why do we use nemoj here to say "don't"?
To give a negative command (telling someone not to do something), Croatian uses the helper word nemoj followed by the dictionary form (infinitive) of the verb. Here, that is nemoj + dirati (to touch).
How would I change this sentence to warn a group of people not to touch the fire?
You only need to change the helper word. The singular nemoj becomes nemojte for a group (or for formal "you"). The main verb stays exactly the same, so it becomes Nemojte dirati.
Why is the word for hot vruća instead of just vruć?
Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because vatra (fire) ends in -a, it is a feminine noun. Therefore, the adjective takes the feminine ending -a, becoming vruća.
In English we might say "Don't touch it". Can I just leave "it" out in Croatian?
Yes! If it is obvious from the context, you don't need to add a word for "it". If you wanted to specifically say "Don't touch that", you could add the pronoun to and say Nemoj to dirati.