Word
Ljeti se kupamo u moru.
Meaning
In the summer we swim in the sea.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Ljeti se kupamo u moru.
Why use the word ljeti instead of saying u ljetu for "in the summer"?
Ljeti is a fixed temporal adverb that specifically means "in the summer" or "during summer". While saying u ljetu is grammatically understandable, using the adverb ljeti is the most natural and standard way to express this in Croatian. You will see this same pattern with winter (zimi).
The English translation says "we swim", so why is the verb kupati se used instead of plivati?
Plivati refers to the physical, athletic act of swimming. Kupati se literally means "to bathe", but it is the standard verb Croatians use for going in the sea or a pool to relax, splash around, and swim for leisure.
Why is the case here u moru?
The preposition u is used here with the locative case because it describes a fixed location, which is where the action is happening. The noun is more, and its locative form is moru.
Why does the reflexive pronoun se come right after ljeti?
The word se is an enclitic, which is a short word that does not carry its own stress. In Croatian, enclitics strictly want to be in the second position of the sentence. Since the adverb Ljeti takes up the first position, se must immediately follow it before the main verb.