Learn Hardcore Croatian: Poslije večere ponekad dijelimo desert. - After dinner we sometimes share a dessert.

It’s accusative singular as the direct object of the verb. For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is identical to the nominative singular, so it stays desert. (If it were animate, the accusative would look like the genitive, e.g., vidim psa vs. vidim stol.)

Do I need to say mi, or is it okay to leave the subject out?

You can (and usually do) leave it out. The verb ending -mo in dijelimo already tells you the subject is “we.” Use mi only for emphasis or contrast:

Neutral: Poslije večere ponekad dijelimo desert.
Emphatic: Mi poslije večere ponekad dijelimo desert.

Can I say nakon večere instead of poslije večere?

Yes. Nakon and poslije both take the genitive and are near-synonyms. Nakon can sound a bit more formal; poslije is very common in everyday speech. Note: posle is the Serbian/Ekavian form; standard Croatian uses poslije.

Where can I put ponekad in the sentence?

Flexible positions are possible; these are all natural:

Ponekad poslije večere dijelimo desert.
Poslije večere ponekad dijelimo desert.
Ponekad dijelimo desert poslije večere. Placing it at the end (e.g., Dijelimo desert poslije večere ponekad) is less typical.

Why is it dijelimo and not podijelimo?

Dijeliti is imperfective and fits habitual or repeated actions (signaled by ponekad, “sometimes”). Podijeliti is perfective and highlights a single, completed event:

Habitual: Ponekad dijelimo desert.
One time: Sinoć smo podijelili desert.

Does desert mean “dessert” or “desert,” and how do I pronounce it?

In Croatian, desert means “dessert” (the sweet course). “Desert” as in “sandy desert” is pustinja. Pronunciation: DEH-zert (with a voiced z).

How would I say “we share it” or “we share them”? Where do the pronouns go?

Use object clitics, which go in second position in the clause:

Masculine singular: Poslije večere ga ponekad dijelimo. (“we sometimes share it” = the dessert)
Feminine singular: … je ponekad dijelimo.
Plural: … ih ponekad dijelimo. Clitics typically come after the first stressed word or phrase (e.g., after Poslije večere or Ponekad).

Can I use večer instead of večera here?

No. Večer = “evening,” večera = “dinner.” You want the meal, so poslije večere (“after dinner”). Poslije večeri would mean “after the evening,” which isn’t what you mean here.

Do I need an article before desert (like “a/the”)?

Croatian has no articles. Just say desert. If you want to emphasize the number, you can say jedan desert (“one dessert”), but jedan is a numeral, not an article.

Can I front the object for emphasis, e.g., Desert ponekad dijelimo poslije večere?

Yes. Croatian word order is flexible for information structure. Fronting Desert makes it the topic/focus. It’s grammatical and can be used if you want to highlight “dessert.”

Is desert the only word for “dessert”? What about slastica or kolač?

desert = the dessert course in a meal (generic).
slastica = a sweet/pastry in general (category word; common in Croatia).
kolač = a cake/pastry item (a specific kind of slastica). In this sentence, desert is ideal because you’re talking about the course after dinner.

How do you conjugate dijeliti in the present?

Present tense:

ja dijelim
ti dijeliš
on/ona/ono dijeli
mi dijelimo
vi dijelite
oni/one/ona dijele Perfective counterpart: podijeliti (present usually refers to future or planned single completion). Example: Večeras ćemo podijeliti desert.