Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ne čitam ni novine ni vijesti ujutro. - I read neither newspapers nor the news in the morning.

It expresses neither … nor. So the sentence means: you do not read either newspapers or the news in the morning. In Croatian this is built with the negative particle ne before the verb plus ni before each excluded item: Ne [verb] ni X ni Y.

Do I have to use both ne and ni?

Yes. Croatian uses negative concord: the verb is negated with ne, and each item in the list is introduced by ni.

Correct: Ne čitam ni novine ni vijesti (ujutro).
Incorrect: Čitam ni novine ni vijesti… (you can’t drop ne)

Can I move words around, especially ujutro?

Yes; word order is flexible, with small changes in emphasis.

Ujutro ne čitam ni novine ni vijesti. (time is highlighted)
Ne čitam ujutro ni novine ni vijesti.
Ne čitam ni novine ni vijesti ujutro.
Fronting for strong focus: Ni novine ni vijesti ne čitam ujutro.
The ne still stays directly before the verb.

Why are novine and vijesti plural?

novine is a plural-only noun (pluralia tantum) meaning “newspaper(s).” You say čitam novine even for one newspaper.
vijesti is the plural of vijest (“a news item”), but in practice it corresponds to English “news.”

What grammatical case are novine and vijesti in?

Accusative plural, because they are direct objects of čitam. For many feminine nouns, nominative plural and accusative plural look the same, which is why you don’t see a change in form.

What’s the difference between novine and vijesti, and which verbs go with them?

novine = newspapers (printed or their online equivalents): typically čitam novine.
vijesti = news (bulletins, headlines, updates):
- čitam vijesti (read news online)
- gledam vijesti (watch the news on TV)
- slušam vijesti (listen on the radio)
- pratim vijesti (follow the news)

How would I say “either … or” or “both … and” instead?

Either … or: ili … ili
Example: Ujutro čitam ili novine ili vijesti.
Both … and: i … i
Example: Ujutro čitam i novine i vijesti.

Can I use niti instead of ni?

Yes. niti is a stylistic variant, often a bit more formal/emphatic. You can write: Ne čitam niti novine niti vijesti ujutro. You can also mix carefully in speech, but keeping them consistent looks cleaner.

Do I need commas between the ni items?

Typically no: Ne čitam ni novine ni vijesti.
With three or more items, many writers still omit commas, but you can add them for clarity in longer phrases:

Ne čitam ni novine ni vijesti ni časopise.
With optional commas for readability: Ne čitam ni novine, ni vijesti, ni časopise.

Can I drop the first ni and say “Ne čitam novine ni vijesti”?

You will hear both. The most balanced form repeats ni before each item: Ne čitam ni novine ni vijesti.
Colloquially, Ne čitam novine ni vijesti is also used and understood.

How do I say this in the past or future?

Past (masc./fem.): Jutros nisam čitao/čitala ni novine ni vijesti.
Future: Sutra ujutro neću čitati ni novine ni vijesti.

Why is it čitam and not a perfective like pročitam?

čitam (imperfective) expresses a general or habitual action (“I don’t read … (as a habit)”). A perfective like pročitati refers to completing a specific reading event:

One-time past: Nisam pročitao/pročitala ni novine ni vijesti.
One-time future: Neću pročitati ni novine ni vijesti.

Can I generalize it to “I don’t read anything in the morning”?

Yes: Ujutro ne čitam ništa.
In negatives, ne combines with words like ništa (nothing), nitko (nobody), nikad (never), etc.: Ujutro nikad ne čitam novine.

Is ujutro one word? What about ujutru or u jutro?

In standard Croatian it’s ujutro (one word).
ujutru is Serbian.
u jutro (two words) is not used for the time meaning “in the morning.”

How do I pronounce the sentence?

Approximation: “neh CHEE-tahm nee NOH-vee-neh nee VYEH-stee oo-YOO-troh.”
Notes:

č = “ch” in “church” (CHEE-tahm)
j = “y” in “yes”
vij ≈ “vyee”
Trill the r in ujutro lightly

Can I use singular novina to mean “a newspaper”?

No. novina means “novelty/new thing.” For “a newspaper,” Croatian uses the plural-only novine:

“I bought a newspaper”: Kupio/Kupila sam novine. To specify one copy, people often say jedan primjerak novina (“one copy of the newspaper”); you’ll also see jedne novine in some contexts.