Learn Hardcore Croatian: Moji prijatelji uče engleski zajedno. - My friends are learning English together.

In Croatian, adjectives (including possessive adjectives) must agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case. Here:
• prijatelji is masculine animate, plural, nominative (subject form).
• moji is the masculine animate, plural, nominative form of the possessive adjective moj (“my”).
Together they form a grammatically coherent noun phrase: moji prijatelji (“my friends”) in the nominative case.

Why is uče used here, and what does it tell us about the subject?

uče is the third person plural present tense form of the verb učiti (“to learn” / “to study”). The full present tense conjugation is:
• ja učim
• ti učiš
• on/ona/ono uči
• mi učimo
• vi učite
• oni/one/ona uče
Since moji prijatelji refers to “they,” you use the oni/one/ona form uče to match the plural subject.

Why is engleski not in a different case, like the accusative, when it’s a direct object?

engleski (“English”) is a masculine inanimate noun. In Croatian, masculine inanimate nouns have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular. Because engleski is an inanimate direct object, it stays engleski.

Why is there no article before engleski (“the English”)? Does Croatian have articles?

Croatian does not use definite or indefinite articles (there is no equivalent of “a” or “the”). Nouns stand alone, and specificity is understood from context or other grammatical markers.

What part of speech is zajedno, and does its position in the sentence matter?

zajedno is an adverb meaning “together.”
• It can freely move in the sentence for emphasis:
– Moji prijatelji uče engleski zajedno.
– Moji prijatelji zajedno uče engleski.
– Zajedno moji prijatelji uče engleski. (less common, but possible)
The basic meaning doesn’t change, though word order can slightly shift the focus.

What’s the difference between učiti and naučiti, and why is učiti used here?

These are two aspects of “to learn”:
• učiti is imperfective, focusing on the ongoing action or process (“to be learning”).
• naučiti is perfective, focusing on the completion of the action (“to learn” in the sense of having learned something”).
Because the sentence describes an activity in progress rather than a completed event, the imperfective učiti is correct.

Does prijatelji refer only to male friends? How would you say “my (female) friends”?

prijatelji is masculine animate plural and can refer to:
• a group of male friends
• a mixed-gender group (at least one male)
For an exclusively female group, use the feminine form: prijateljice, and the possessive would be moje prijateljice.

Can you omit moji prijatelji and simply say “Uče engleski zajedno”? What changes?

Yes. Dropping the explicit subject still yields a grammatically correct sentence: Uče engleski zajedno.
• The verb ending -e signals a third person plural subject (“they”).
• You lose the specific information “my friends,” but the basic meaning (“They learn English together.”) remains clear.