Learn Hardcore Croatian: Volimo tortu, ali je ne jedemo svaku večer. - We like cake, but we don’t eat it every evening.

Here je is the unstressed object pronoun meaning it/her, referring back to tortu (feminine). It is not the verb je “is.” A quick check: if you wanted “is not,” Croatian would use nije, not je ne. So ali je ne jedemo = “but we don’t eat it.”

Why is je placed before ne jedemo?

Croatian object pronouns like je are clitics and prefer the “second position” in a clause—right after the first stressed element. In the second clause, the first element is ali, so the clitic goes right after it: ali je .... The negation ne sticks to the verb (ne jedemo), so you get ali je ne jedemo.

If there were no word or phrase before the verb, you would not put the clitic at the very start. Instead you’d say: Ne jedemo je (ju), not “Je ne jedemo.”

Is “Ne je jedemo” or “Je ne jedemo” ever correct?

No. Clitics like je cannot start a sentence, and ne wants to be directly in front of the verb. So:

✅ Ne jedemo je/ju.
❌ “Je ne jedemo.”
❌ “Ne je jedemo.”

Why is it tortu and not torta after volimo?

Because voljeti takes a direct object in the accusative case. Torta (fem.) becomes tortu in the accusative singular. So: Volimo tortu = “We love/like cake.”

What tense and person are volimo and jedemo?

Both are present tense, 1st person plural:

volimo (from voljeti) = “we love/like”
jedemo (from jesti) = “we eat”

Why is the subject mi omitted?

Croatian is a pro‑drop language. The verb ending -mo already shows “we,” so mi is optional and used mainly for emphasis: Mi volimo tortu…

Does volimo mean “love” or “like”? When would I use sviđa mi se?

Voljeti can mean “love” or strong “like,” and it’s fine for general preferences: Volimo tortu. For the English “like” (something appeals to someone), Croatian often uses the reflexive construction sviđati se:

Sviđa nam se torta, ali je ne jedemo svaku večer. (“We like the cake, but we don’t eat it every evening.”) Note the dative pronoun: nam = “to us.” With plurals: Sviđaju nam se torte.

Why is it svaku večer? What case is that, and could I say svake večeri?

Svaku večer is an adverbial accusative of time meaning “every evening.” Svaku is the feminine accusative singular of svaki, agreeing with večer (fem.). You can also say svake večeri (genitive of time). Both are correct; svaku večer may feel a touch more colloquial, svake večeri a bit more formal/bookish. Meaning is the same here.

Is večer always used in Croatian, or can I say veče?

Standard Croatian uses večer (fem.). Veče (neuter) and combinations like svako veče are standard in Serbian, not in Croatian. In Croatian say svaku večer / svake večeri.

Why is there a comma before ali?

Because ali connects two independent clauses. Croatian punctuation places a comma before ali in such cases: Volimo tortu, ali…

Can I move svaku večer earlier in the clause? Does it change the meaning?

Word order is flexible, but be careful with negation and focus:

Ne jedemo je svaku večer. = “We don’t eat it every evening” (natural for “not every evening”).
Svaku večer je ne jedemo. tends to read as “Every evening, we don’t eat it,” which can be understood as “we never eat it (on any evening).” That’s a different meaning. So keep the original order for “not every evening.”

Could I use pojedemo instead of jedemo?

Jesti is imperfective (ongoing/habitual). Pojesti is perfective (completed act, “eat up/finish”). With a frequency phrase, the imperfective is the neutral choice: ne jedemo svaku večer = we don’t (habitually) eat it every evening. Ne pojedemo je svake večeri would mean “we don’t finish it every evening” (we might eat some but not all).

Why je and not ju? Are both forms okay?

For the 3rd‑person feminine singular accusative clitic, both je and ju are standard. A good rule of thumb:

In the “second position” clitic slot (as in the sentence: Ali je ne jedemo), use je.
After the verb (not in second position), you’ll hear both: Ne jedemo je / Ne jedemo ju. Both are acceptable; usage varies by region and style.