Learn Hardcore Croatian: Kad ona ode, u kući je tišina i nitko ne pjeva. - When she leaves, it is quiet in the house and nobody sings.

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.

What is the difference between kad and kada? Can I use both?

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.

Why do we say u kući je tišina, not just u kući tišina or tišina je u kući? How flexible is the word order?

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

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].
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.
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.

What case is kući in, and why is it used with u here?

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.

Could we drop the pronoun ona and just say Kad ode, u kući je tišina i nitko ne pjeva?

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.

Why is the negative ne used together with nitko? Isn’t that a “double negative”?

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.

What is the difference between nitko and niko, and between pjeva and peva?

This is about regional/standard variants.

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.
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.

Why ode and not odlazi? What’s the nuance between otići and odlaziti?

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.

Why is there a comma after Kad ona ode? Is it always required?

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.

Can I change the order and say Kad ona ode, tišina je u kući i nitko ne pjeva? Does it sound different?

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.

What verb is pjeva from, and how is it conjugated?

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”.

What is the literal structure/word-by-word order of the sentence compared to English?

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.