Learn Hardcore Croatian: Volimo stvari kao što su knjige i filmovi.

In Croatian, subject pronouns (ja, ti, on, mi, vi, oni, etc.) are usually dropped because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Volimo stvari... = We like things...
If you said Mi volimo stvari..., it wouldn’t be wrong, but it would sound emphatic, like:
- “We (as opposed to others) like things such as books and movies.”

So the neutral, normal way is simply Volimo, without mi.

What exactly does stvari mean, and why that form?

Stvari is the plural of stvar (thing), so stvari = things.

Grammatically:

stvar – singular, nominative (a thing)
stvari – plural, nominative or accusative (things)

In this sentence, stvari is the direct object of volimo (we like things), so it’s in the accusative plural.
For this word, nominative plural and accusative plural look the same (stvari), so you recognize the case from the role in the sentence, not from the form.

What does the phrase kao što su mean, literally and functionally?

Kao što su literally breaks down as:

kao – as / like
što – what / that (here acting like a linker)
su – are, 3rd person plural of biti (to be)

Together, kao što su means something like:

“such as”, “like the ones that are”

So Volimo stvari kao što su knjige i filmovi is literally:

“We like things such as (those that are) books and movies.”

In everyday English we just say: “We like things such as books and movies.”

Why do we need su in kao što su knjige i filmovi? Could it be left out?

Su is the verb “to be” in the 3rd person plural (they are).
In kao što su knjige i filmovi, knjige i filmovi is a plural subject, so su is required for standard grammar.

kao što su knjige i filmovi = as (they) are books and movies

You cannot just say ✗ kao što knjige i filmovi, that would be incorrect.
There are other constructions without su (for example kao knjige i filmovi or poput knjiga i filmova), but in this exact phrase kao što su the su is needed.

Why is it knjige i filmovi, not knjige i filmove?

Knjige i filmovi here follow the verb su (are), so they are in the nominative plural, acting as the predicate noun:

(Te) stvari su knjige i filmovi. – Those things are books and movies.

Forms:

knjiga – book (sg. nominative)
knjige – books (pl. nominative or accusative)
film – film (sg. nominative)
filmovi – films (pl. nominative)
filmove – films (pl. accusative)

Because knjige i filmovi are what the things “are” (after su), they must be nominative, so knjige i filmovi, not ✗ knjige i filmove.

How can I tell that knjige i filmovi are in the nominative case here?

You can tell by:

The verb before them – they come right after su (are), which normally takes a nominative complement, not accusative.
Their forms:
- knjige could be nominative or accusative plural (same form).
- filmovi is clearly nominative plural (accusative plural would be filmove).

Since filmovi is nominative plural and the phrase follows su, you know knjige i filmovi are in nominative plural, functioning together as what those things are.

Could I say simply Volimo knjige i filmove instead? What’s the difference in meaning?

Yes, Volimo knjige i filmove is perfectly correct and very natural.
The difference is:

Volimo knjige i filmove.
= We like books and movies. (directly listing the things we like)
Volimo stvari kao što su knjige i filmovi.
= We like things such as books and movies. (books and movies are examples of a broader category “things we like”)

The original sentence sounds a bit more general, as if books and movies are representative examples from a larger group of similar things.

Can I change the word order to Volimo stvari kao što su filmovi i knjige?

Yes, you can. Croatian word order in lists is flexible:

Volimo stvari kao što su knjige i filmovi.
Volimo stvari kao što su filmovi i knjige.

Both are correct and mean the same.
The only difference is which item you mention first; there is no grammatical change.

Is voljeti more like “to like” or “to love” in English?

Voljeti can mean both “to love” and “to (really) like”, depending on context and tone.

Volim te. – I love you.
Volim čokoladu. – I love / really like chocolate.
Volimo stvari kao što su knjige i filmovi. – Contextually, this is often translated as
“We like things such as books and movies.” (or “We love things like…”)

For neutral “I like it”, Croatians also often use sviđati se:

Sviđaju nam se knjige i filmovi. – We like books and movies.

But in everyday speech, voljeti is very commonly used in the “like” sense, especially with food, hobbies, activities, etc.

Could I use kao alone instead of kao što su? For example: Volimo stvari kao knjige i filmovi?

You normally would not say ✗ Volimo stvari kao knjige i filmovi; it sounds wrong or at least very odd.

More natural alternatives are:

Volimo stvari kao što su knjige i filmovi. – We like things such as books and movies.
Volimo stvari kao što su knjige i filmovi, na primjer. – …for example.
Volimo knjige i filmove. – We like books and movies.
Volimo stvari poput knjiga i filmova. – We like things like books and movies.

So for the “such as” meaning, stick with kao što su or poput rather than bare kao here.

Why are there no articles like “the” or “some” in stvari, knjige, and filmovi?

Croatian does not have articles (no direct equivalent of English “a / an / the”).
Words like stvari, knjige, filmovi are bare nouns; their definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from context:

stvari – things / the things / some things
knjige – books / the books / some books
filmovi – films/movies / the films / some films

In this sentence, we understand from context that it means:

“We like things such as (some) books and (some) movies.”
but Croatian does not need any extra word for “some” or “the”.