Kad ona ode, u kući je tišina i nitko ne pjeva.

In Croatian, after certain time words like kad (when), čim (as soon as), dok (while), etc., you very often use the present tense of a perfective verb to talk about a future event.

• Kad ona ode literally looks like “When she goes”, but it really means “When she leaves” (in the future).
• Using otići će here (Kad ona će otići) would be ungrammatical.

So the rule you want to remember:

• Kad + perfective present = when (in the future) something happens once / is completed
  
  • Kad ona ode, ... = When she leaves, ...
• Kad + imperfective present = when (whenever) something happens regularly / habitually
  
  • Kad ona odlazi, ... = When(ever) she is leaving / When she leaves (as a repeated action)

In this sentence, ode (from otići) presents her departure as one complete event.

Kad and kada mean the same thing: when.

• Kad is the shorter, more informal form.
• Kada is slightly more formal or emphatic, and more common in careful writing, news, official speech, etc.

In your sentence, both are correct:

• Kad ona ode, u kući je tišina i nitko ne pjeva.
• Kada ona ode, u kući je tišina i nitko ne pjeva.

The choice usually doesn’t change the meaning; it’s mostly style and rhythm.

All of these are possible, but they differ in word order and focus.

1. U kući je tišina.

   • This is the neutral way to say “There is silence in the house.”
   • Croatian normally places short forms of biti (to be) like je in the second position in the clause (the “second-position clitic” rule):
     • [U kući] [je] [tišina].

2. Tišina je u kući.

   • Still correct.
   • Puts more emphasis on tišina as the topic (often translated with stress: “The silence is in the house.” or “As for the silence, it’s in the house”).
   • It can sound a bit more contrastive, depending on context.

3. U kući tišina.

   • This leaves out the verb je.
   • You’ll see this in headlines, notes, poetry, dramatic style: very short, telegraphic.
   • In normal neutral prose conversation, you keep je.

So u kući je tišina is the standard, neutral prose word order: place phrase u kući first, then the clitic je, then tišina.

Kući is in the locative singular of kuća (house).

• kuća (Nominative) – the house
• u kući (Locative) – in the house

The preposition u (“in”) can take locative or accusative, depending on meaning:

• u + locative = location (where something/someone is)
  
  • u kući = in the house (static location)
• u + accusative = movement into (where something/someone is going)
  
  • u kuću = into the house

In u kući je tišina, we are describing a state/location (“where is the silence?”), so we use locative: kući.

Yes, you can and often would drop ona.

• Kad ona ode, ...
• Kad ode, ...

Both are grammatical. Croatian is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb ending already shows the person and number.

You keep ona when you:

• want to emphasize that it is she in particular,
• contrast her with someone else (e.g. Kad ona ode, ali kad on dođe...),
• or when the context is not yet clear and you’re introducing who she is.

Here, without special emphasis, Kad ode, u kući je tišina... would sound very natural.

In English, double negatives usually cancel each other out.
In Croatian, multiple negatives are normal and required.

• nitko = nobody
• ne pjeva = does not sing

To express “nobody sings”, Croatian must use both:

• Nitko ne pjeva. = Nobody sings. / No one is singing.

If you said:

• Nitko pjeva.

that would sound wrong in standard Croatian; it suggests a contradiction (like “nobody is singing” and “somebody is singing” at the same time).

General rule: with negative pronouns and adverbs (nitko, ništa, nikad, nigdje, ni...), you also use ne with the verb:

• Nitko ne zna. – Nobody knows.
• Ništa ne razumijem. – I don’t understand anything.
• Nikad ne pijem kavu. – I never drink coffee.

This is about regional/standard variants.

1. nitko vs niko

   • nitko is the standard Croatian form for nobody.
   • niko is more typical of Serbian / Bosnian and some dialects.
   • In standard Croatian teaching materials, you’ll usually see nitko.

2. pjeva vs peva

   • pjeva is the ijekavian form (standard Croatian).
   • peva is the ekavian form (standard Serbian).
   • Both come from the same verb pjevati/pevati = to sing.

So for standard Croatian, you want:

• nitko ne pjeva.

This is about aspect: perfective vs imperfective.

• otići (present: odem, odeš, ode...) – perfective

  • focuses on the whole, completed action of leaving: the moment of departure.
  • used for single, complete events, often in future meaning after kad.

• odlaziti (present: odlazim, odlaziš, odlazi...) – imperfective

  • focuses on the process or repeated/habitual action of leaving.
  • used for ongoing or habitual actions in the present.

Compare:

• Kad ona ode, u kući je tišina.
  → When she (once she) leaves (that specific event), the house is quiet.

• Kad ona odlazi, u kući je tišina.
  → When(ever) she is leaving / when she leaves (as a repeated pattern), the house is quiet.
  This suggests a habitual situation, not one-time.

In your sentence, ode presents her departure as one complete event that triggers the silence.

Yes, you normally put a comma between a subordinate clause introduced by kad and the main clause, especially when the subordinate clause comes first.

• Kad ona ode, u kući je tišina i nitko ne pjeva.

Structure:

• Subordinate time clause: Kad ona ode,
• Main clause: u kući je tišina i nitko ne pjeva.

If the kad-clause comes after the main clause, you still usually use a comma:

• U kući je tišina i nitko ne pjeva, kad ona ode.

So: Yes, in standard writing, that comma is expected.

Yes, you can say:

• Kad ona ode, tišina je u kući i nitko ne pjeva.

It is still correct and means essentially the same thing.

Nuance:

• U kući je tišina is the most neutral, “descriptive” order.
• Tišina je u kući slightly shifts focus to tišina (“The silence is in the house”), often with more contrast or emphasis.

In many everyday contexts, listeners won’t feel a big difference, but if you are aiming for neutral style, u kući je tišina is the safest choice.

Pjeva is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb pjevati = to sing.

Present tense of pjevati:

• (ja) pjevam – I sing
• (ti) pjevaš – you sing (sg.)
• (on/ona/ono) pjeva – he/she/it sings
• (mi) pjevamo – we sing
• (vi) pjevate – you sing (pl. / formal)
• (oni/one/ona) pjevaju – they sing

So nitko ne pjeva literally: nobody does-not-sing → “nobody sings”.

Original:

• Kad ona ode, u kući je tišina i nitko ne pjeva.

Very literal breakdown:

• Kad – when
• ona – she
• ode – goes away / leaves (perfective present, future meaning here)
• u kući – in the house (locative)
• je – is (clitic form of biti)
• tišina – silence
• i – and
• nitko – nobody
• ne pjeva – does not sing / isn’t singing

Literal-ish English order:

• When she leaves, in the house is silence and nobody sings.

Natural English:

• When she leaves, the house is quiet and nobody sings.