Questions & Answers about Moji prijatelji dolaze večeras.
What does each word do grammatically?
- Moji: possessive adjective meaning my, masculine personal plural, nominative; agrees with the noun it modifies.
- prijatelji: noun meaning friends, nominative plural of prijatelj (masculine).
- dolaze: present tense, 3rd person plural of the imperfective verb dolaziti (to come).
- večeras: adverb meaning tonight/this evening.
Why is it present tense (dolaze) if it refers to the future?
Croatian often uses the present tense of an imperfective verb to talk about scheduled or near-future events when a time word is present. Večeras makes the time clear, so the present works naturally. It’s similar to English “My friends are coming tonight.”
Can I say “Moji prijatelji će doći večeras”? What’s the difference?
Yes. Moji prijatelji će doći večeras uses the future tense with the perfective verb doći. Nuance:
- Dolaze večeras (imperfective present): focuses on the process/plan; very natural for arrangements.
- Će doći večeras (future + perfective): emphasizes the single act of arriving in the future; slightly more formal/neutral as a future statement. Both are correct.
Why is it “moji” and not “moje” or “moja”?