Breakdown of Moji roditelji dolaze u petak navečer.
moj
my
u
on
dolaziti
to come
navečer
in the evening
roditelj
parent
petak
Friday
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Questions & Answers about Moji roditelji dolaze u petak navečer.
Why is it moji roditelji and not moja/moje roditelji?
Because roditelji is masculine plural. The possessive moj agrees in gender and number:
- singular: moj (m), moja (f), moje (n)
- plural: moji (m), moje (f), moja (n) So you need moji roditelji.
What case is roditelji in?
Nominative plural. It’s the subject of the sentence. Singular is roditelj, plural roditelji. For example, in the accusative you’d say: Vidim svoje roditelje.
Why is it dolaze and not dolazi?
Subject–verb agreement. Moji roditelji = “they,” so the verb must be 3rd person plural present: dolaze. Dolazi is 3rd person singular.
Why is the present tense used to talk about the future?
Croatian often uses the present for scheduled or planned future events, especially near-term: Moji roditelji dolaze u petak navečer. You can also use the future: Moji roditelji će doći u petak navečer. Both are natural; the present feels a bit more immediate/scheduled.
What’s the difference between dolaziti, doći, and stići?
- dolaziti (imperfective): ongoing/repeated or scheduled arrival; present: dolaze.
- doći (perfective): a single, completed arrival; future: će doći, past: došli su.
- stići (perfective): “to arrive” (emphasizes the endpoint), similar to doći; past: stigli su.
Why is it u petak and not na petak?
Days of the week take u + accusative to mean “on [day]”: u ponedjeljak, u srijedu, u petak. Na petak doesn’t express time here.
Is petak accusative or nominative in u petak?
Accusative. For masculine inanimate nouns like petak, the accusative equals the nominative in form, so it looks the same. The preposition u signals the accusative here.
Do I need another u before navečer?
No. Navečer is an adverb (“in the evening”), so you say u petak navečer, not “u petak u navečer.”
Can I say uvečer or na večer instead of navečer?
- navečer and uvečer are both standard in Croatian.
- na večer is colloquial/nonstandard; avoid it in standard language. Also, don’t say u večer for this meaning; use the adverb.
What’s the difference between navečer and večeras?
- navečer = “in the evening” (of a given day), e.g., u petak navečer.
- večeras = “this evening/tonight” (today only), e.g., Roditelji dolaze večeras.
Can I change the word order?
Yes. Neutral is to put the time at the end: Moji roditelji dolaze u petak navečer.
To emphasize the time, you can front it: U petak navečer moji roditelji dolaze. Word order is flexible for emphasis, but the original is the most typical.
Can I drop moji?
If context makes it clear, you can say Roditelji dolaze u petak navečer. Without context, it’s ambiguous (could mean “the parents” in general). In personal conversation, Roditelji often implies “my parents,” but moji keeps it explicit.
Why isn’t petak capitalized?
In Croatian, days of the week are written in lowercase: ponedjeljak, utorak, srijeda, četvrtak, petak, subota, nedjelja.
Should there be su in this sentence?
No. Su (a form of “to be”) is used as an auxiliary in compound tenses (e.g., došli su = “they came”). In the simple present, you just use dolaze.
How do I pronounce the tricky letters?
- j = English “y” (as in “yes”): moji ≈ “moyee”
- lj = a palatal “ly” (like “million”): roditelji
- č = “ch” in “church”: navečer
How would I say “My parents come on Fridays” (habitually)?
Moji roditelji dolaze petkom. You can also say svakog petka (“every Friday”): Moji roditelji dolaze svakog petka.
Does u petak navečer mean “Friday evening” or “Friday night”?
It usually covers both “Friday evening” and the start of “Friday night.” For late-night emphasis, you can say u petak noću.