Question 1

What does the structure ni … ni mean here?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 2

Do I have to use both ne and ni?

Accepted Answer

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)

Question 3

Can I move words around, especially ujutro?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 4

Why are novine and vijesti plural?

Accepted Answer

- 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.”

Question 5

What grammatical case are novine and vijesti in?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 6

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

Accepted Answer

- 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)

Question 7

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

Accepted Answer

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

Question 8

Can I use niti instead of ni?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 9

Do I need commas between the ni items?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 10

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

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 11

How do I say this in the past or future?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 12

Why is it čitam and not a perfective like pročitam?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 13

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

Accepted Answer

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

Question 14

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

Accepted Answer

- 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.”

Question 15

How do I pronounce the sentence?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 16

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

Accepted Answer

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.

Ne čitam ni novine ni vijesti ujutro.

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