Danas pada kiša, ali ne nosim kišobran.

Today it is raining, but I am not carrying an umbrella.

Breakdown of Danas pada kiša, ali ne nosim kišobran.

• ne: not
• danas: today
• ali: but
• kiša: rain
• nositi: to carry
• kišobran: umbrella
• padati: to rain

Questions & Answers about Danas pada kiša, ali ne nosim kišobran.

What does pada literally mean, and why is it used for “it’s raining”?

Pada is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb padati, which literally means “to fall”.

In weather expressions, Croatian uses padati for things that fall from the sky:

• Pada kiša. – Rain is falling. → It is raining.
• Pada snijeg. – Snow is falling. → It is snowing.
• Pada tuča. – Hail is falling. → It is hailing.

So Danas pada kiša is literally “Today rain is falling”, but the natural English equivalent is “It’s raining today.”

Where is the subject “it” in Danas pada kiša?

Croatian does not use a dummy subject like English “it” in weather expressions.

In this sentence, the subject is a real noun:

• kiša = rain (subject, nominative singular)
• pada = falls / is falling (3rd person singular verb that agrees with kiša)

So structurally it’s like:

• Kiša pada. – Rain is falling.

Sometimes Croatian can even drop the noun if it’s obvious:

• Pada. – It’s raining. (literally: “Is-falling.”)

There is no separate word for “it” here; English needs it, Croatian doesn’t.

Why does Croatian use just pada for both “it rains” and “it is raining”?

Croatian does not have a separate present continuous tense like English.
The same present-tense form pada can mean either:

• a general/habitual action:
  
  • U listopadu često pada kiša. – It often rains in October.
• an action happening right now / today:
  
  • Danas pada kiša. – It is raining today.

Context tells you whether to translate it as “rains” or “is raining”.

So pada covers both English present simple and present continuous.

Why is the word order Danas pada kiša, and can it be different?

Croatian word order is more flexible than English.

All of these are grammatically possible:

• Danas pada kiša. – neutral, very common
• Danas kiša pada. – more emphasis on kiša (“It’s rain that’s falling today.”)
• Kiša pada danas. – more emphasis on danas (“It’s today that it’s raining.”)

Typical “neutral” pattern here is:

• [Time] + [Verb] + [Subject]
  → Danas pada kiša.

As a learner, using Danas pada kiša is a safe, natural choice.

What are the grammatical roles and forms of kiša and kišobran in this sentence?

• kiša

  • meaning: rain
  • gender: feminine
  • case: nominative singular (subject of the verb pada)
  • role: the thing that is falling

• kišobran

  • meaning: umbrella
  • gender: masculine
  • case: accusative singular (direct object of nosim)
    
    • nominative: kišobran
    • accusative: kišobran (same form for inanimate masculine nouns)
  • role: the thing I am not carrying

So structurally:

• kiša (subject, nom.) → pada (verb)
• (ja) (subject, implied) → ne nosim (verb) → kišobran (object, acc.)

Why is it ne nosim kišobran and not nemam kišobran? Both translate as “I don’t have an umbrella,” right?

Both can be translated as “I don’t have an umbrella,” but they mean different things in Croatian:

• ne nosim kišobran

  • from nositi = to carry, to wear
  • means: “I am not carrying an umbrella / I’m not bringing an umbrella (with me).”
  • You might own an umbrella, but you don’t have it with you right now.

• nemam kišobran

  • from imati = to have, to possess
  • means: “I don’t have an umbrella (at all / available).”
  • Suggests you don’t own one or you don’t have access to any umbrella.

So in Danas pada kiša, ali ne nosim kišobran, the speaker is saying:
“It’s raining today, but I’m not carrying an umbrella (I’m walking in the rain without one).”

Where is the word “I” in ne nosim kišobran?

The subject “I” is built into the verb ending and usually omitted in Croatian.

• nosim = I carry / I am carrying
  
  • stem: nosi-
  • ending: -m → 1st person singular present

Croatian normally drops personal pronouns when they’re obvious from the verb:

• (Ja) nosim kišobran. – I carry an umbrella.
• Ne nosim kišobran. – I am not carrying an umbrella.

You only add ja for emphasis or contrast:

• Ja danas ne nosim kišobran, ali ti nosiš.
  – I am not carrying an umbrella today, but you are.

Why is there no word for “a” or “an” before kišobran or kiša?

Croatian has no articles – no equivalent of English a / an / the.

So:

• kišobran can mean “an umbrella” or “the umbrella”, depending on context.
• kiša can mean “rain”, “the rain”, etc.

In Danas pada kiša, ali ne nosim kišobran, natural translations are:

• Danas pada kiša – It’s raining today.
• ne nosim kišobran – I’m not carrying an umbrella.

The idea of “a” or “the” is understood from context, not from a separate word.

How does negation work in ne nosim kišobran?

Basic rule: ne (not) goes directly before the finite verb.

• affirmative: nosim kišobran – I carry an umbrella.
• negative: ne nosim kišobran – I do not carry / I am not carrying an umbrella.

Key points:

• ne precedes the verb: ne + nosim
• the object still follows the verb: ne nosim + kišobran

With some verbs like imati (to have) and biti (to be), ne merges into one word:

• imam → nemam (I have → I don’t have)
• jesam → nisam (I am → I am not)

But with nositi, it stays separate: ne nosim, not nnosim or similar.

How is the conjunction ali used here, and why is there a comma before it?

ali means “but” and is used very similarly to English but to show contrast.

In the sentence:

• Danas pada kiša, ali ne nosim kišobran.
  – It’s raining today, but I’m not carrying an umbrella.

you have two main clauses:

1. Danas pada kiša.
2. Ne nosim kišobran.

When ali connects two independent clauses, Croatian normally puts a comma before ali, just like English usually does before “but” in the same situation.

So the punctuation pattern ..., ali ... is perfectly standard.