Learn Hardcore Croatian: Poslijepodne često idem pješice do škole. - In the afternoon I often go to school on foot.

It functions as an adverbial time expression meaning “in the afternoon,” so no preposition is needed. You can think of it as “afternoon-time.” It can also be a neuter noun, but in this sentence it behaves adverbially: Poslijepodne često idem…

Are “poslijepodne” and “popodne” the same?

Yes. Poslijepodne (more formal/standard) and popodne (shorter, very common) both mean “afternoon.” Both are standard in Croatian. Use whichever you prefer; you’ll hear popodne a lot in everyday speech.

How do I say “this afternoon” or “every afternoon”?

“This afternoon”: danas poslijepodne (or danas popodne)
“Every afternoon”: svako poslijepodne / svako popodne; you may also see the genitive with the noun sense: svakog poslijepodneva

Where should the adverb “često” (often) go?

Typically before the verb: Poslijepodne često idem…
Other correct options shift emphasis:

Često poslijepodne idem pješice do škole. (emphasis on frequency “often” first)
Poslijepodne idem često pješice do škole. (lighter emphasis on “often”) All are grammatical; Croatian word order is flexible for emphasis.

What verb is “idem” from, and how is it conjugated?

It’s from the irregular verb ići (“to go”). Present tense:

ja idem
ti ideš
on/ona/ono ide
mi idemo
vi idete
oni/one/ona idu

For repeated/habitual actions, use imperfective ići. The perfective “to go (once, set off)” is otići (e.g., Otišao/Otišla sam).

Why “idem pješice” rather than using a verb meaning “to walk”?

In Croatian, the idiomatic way to say “go on foot” is ići pješice.

ići pješice = go by walking, to a destination
hodati = walk (as an activity, pace around), not necessarily to a destination
šetati = stroll
So Idem pješice do škole is natural; Hodam do škole is possible but less idiomatic.

What does “pješice” mean exactly? Does it change form?

Pješice means “on foot.” It’s an adverb, so it does not change for gender/number/case. Examples: Idem pješice, Do posla idem pješice.

Is there a difference between “pješice” and “pješke”?

Both mean “on foot.” Pješice is fully standard; pješke is very common and also acceptable, often felt as a bit more colloquial. You can use either: Idem pješice / Idem pješke.

Why is it “do škole” and not “u školu”?

do + Genitive = up to/as far as a place (endpoint), not necessarily entering it: Idem do škole.
u + Accusative = into/going inside: Idem u školu.
So the sentence focuses on reaching the school, not on going inside.

What case does “do” take, and is that why it’s “škole”?

Yes. do always takes the genitive. škola (school) in the genitive singular is škole.
Singular forms of “škola”:

N škola, G škole, D školi, A školu, L školi, I školom
Examples: do škole, iz škole (from school), u školu (into school).

Why is there no article before “škole”? How would I make it specific?

Croatian has no articles at all. Context usually provides specificity. If you must specify, you can add a demonstrative: do te škole (to that school), do ove škole (to this school).

Can I include the subject pronoun “ja”?

You can, for emphasis: Ja poslijepodne često idem pješice do škole.
But Croatian is a pro-drop language, so the verb ending already shows the subject; the neutral version omits ja.

Do I need a comma after the fronted time phrase?

No. In neutral style, no comma: Poslijepodne često idem pješice do škole.
A comma may appear with longer or contrastive fronted elements, but it’s not needed here.

How do I negate this, and where does “ne” go?

Place ne before the verb:

Ne idem često pješice do škole. = I don’t often go on foot to school.
Često ne idem pješice do škole. = Often, I don’t go on foot to school. (Different emphasis)

Any quick pronunciation tips for the tricky letters?

č = “ch” in “chocolate” (harder than English “ch”) → često ≈ “CHEH-stoh”
š = “sh” in “shoe” → škole ≈ “SHKOH-leh”
j = “y” in “yes” → idem has no j, but in poslijepodne, lj is a palatal “ly” sound: “pos-LYE-pohd-neh”
Diacritics (č, ć, đ, š, ž) are distinct letters and should be written.

Is the word order largely fixed, or can I shuffle elements?

You can reorder for emphasis while keeping it natural:

Poslijepodne često idem pješice do škole. (neutral)
Često poslijepodne idem pješice do škole. (frequency first)
Idem pješice do škole poslijepodne. (time at the end) Avoid stacking too many elements in a way that breaks rhythm, but flexibility is normal in Croatian.

How would I say the same idea with other means of transport?

Use the instrumental case for transport:

Idem autobusom u školu. (by bus, into school)
Idem biciklom do škole. (by bike, up to the school) Note the preposition choice still matches the endpoint meaning: u školu (into), do škole (up to).