Learn Hardcore Croatian: Moja baka se ne voli penjati stepenicama, pa uvijek čeka lift. - My grandmother does not like to climb the stairs, so she always waits for the elevator.

Se belongs to the verb penjati se. In Croatian, penjati se is a reflexive verb and is usually learned together as a pair, similar to to climb (up) in English.

penjati se = to climb (up), to go up (stairs, a hill, etc.)

The little word se is a reflexive pronoun. Many Croatian verbs are reflexive even though English uses a non‑reflexive verb:

smijati se – to laugh
bojati se – to be afraid
tuširati se – to take a shower

So se here is not connected with voli (she likes). It is part of penjati se (to climb). The sentence literally means:
My grandma does not like to-climb-herself by-the-stairs, so she always waits (for) the elevator.

Why is it ne voli se penjati and not ne voli penjati se?

Croatian has a special rule for little unstressed words like se called the clitic second-position rule. Words such as se, je, sam, mi, ga like to stand very early in the sentence, usually right after the first stressed word or phrase.

In this sentence, se wants to be as early as possible after the start of the clause, so it ends up after baka:

Moja baka se ne voli penjati… ✅ (natural)
Moja baka ne voli se penjati… ✅ (also possible, but less usual in this exact wording)
Moja baka ne voli penjati se… ❌ (sounds very foreign / wrong)

The safest pattern to remember is: keep se close to the beginning of the clause, before the main verb (voli here), not stuck onto the infinitive penjati at the end.

What exactly does penjati se mean here? Why not use something like ići or hodati?

Penjati se specifically means to go upwards, to climb (up). It implies movement against gravity, usually:

up stairs
up a hill
up a ladder

Some rough translations:

penjati se stepenicama – to climb the stairs / to go up by the stairs
penjati se na brdo – to climb a hill

Verbs like:

ići – to go (neutral direction)
hodati – to walk

do not express the idea of going upwards. If you said:

Moja baka se ne voli hodati stepenicama

it would sound odd because hodati focuses on walking, not on the fact that you are climbing up the stairs. Penjati se is the natural choice when talking about stairs vs. elevator.

What is the difference between penjati se and popeti se / uspinjati se?

These verbs are related but differ mainly in aspect and nuance:

penjati se – to climb, to be climbing (imperfective, general activity or repeated action)
- Ne voli se penjati stepenicama. – She doesn’t like climbing the stairs (in general).
popeti se – to climb up, to get up (once) (perfective, completed action)
- Popela se na treći kat. – She climbed (up) to the third floor (once, finished).
uspinjati se – also to go up, often a bit more formal / descriptive, used for roads, hills, and also metaphorically (a career, prices, etc.)
- Cesta se polako uspinje. – The road slowly goes uphill.

In the original sentence, we’re talking about a general habit (she does not like doing this in general), so the imperfective penjati se is the right choice.

Why is stepenicama used instead of stepenice?

Stepenicama is the instrumental plural form of stepenica (a step / stair).

Singular:

Nominative: stepenica – a step
Plural:
Nominative: stepenice – stairs
Instrumental: stepenicama

The instrumental case in Croatian is often used:

to show means or instrument (with something, by something), or
to show the path / route along which something happens.

So penjati se stepenicama literally means to climb by means of the stairs or to go up via the stairs.

That’s why it’s not penjati se stepenice (nominative); we need the instrumental here to express the idea of going by way of the stairs.

What case is stepenicama, and when is this case generally used?

Stepenicama is instrumental plural feminine.

For a regular feminine noun in -a, the instrumental plural is usually -ama:

knjiga → knjigama – with books
žena → ženama – with women
stepenica → stepenicama – with/by the stairs

The instrumental case is used:

With prepositions like s(a) (with), pred (in front of), nad (above), etc.:
- Sa bakom – with grandma
- Pred kućom – in front of the house
Without a preposition, to show means or route:
- Pisati olovkom – to write with a pencil
- Ići šumom – to go through the forest
- Penjati se stepenicama – to go up via the stairs

In this sentence we have the second type: instrument / route without a preposition.

Is there a singular form of stepenice, and could we use it here?

Yes. The singular is stepenica, meaning one step:

Jedna stepenica – one step
Dvije stepenice – two steps

But when we talk about stairs as a whole (a staircase), Croatian normally uses the plural stepenice, not the singular.

In this sentence, we mean the staircase in general, not a single step, so we use the plural:

Ne voli se penjati stepenicama. – She doesn’t like climbing (the) stairs.

Using the singular here (something like ne voli se penjati stepenicom) would sound as if we are talking about exactly one step, which is not what we want.

Why is ne voli used instead of ne želi or something like ne sviđa joj se?

These verbs express different kinds of “not liking”:

voljeti – to like / to love
- ne voli se penjati – she doesn’t like climbing (in general; it’s not her preference)
željeti – to want, to wish
- ne želi se penjati – she does not want to climb (she refuses / does not intend to do it)
sviđati se – to be pleasing to someone
- Stepenice joj se ne sviđaju. – She does not like the stairs (they are not to her taste)

So:

Ne voli se penjati stepenicama = This activity is not something she enjoys.
Ne želi se penjati stepenicama = She actively refuses or does not want to do it (stronger).
Stepenice joj se ne sviđaju = She doesn’t like the stairs themselves (maybe they’re steep, ugly, etc.).

In the original sentence, we want to describe a habitual dislike of the activity, so ne voli is the natural choice.

What does pa mean here, and how is it different from zato or tako da?

Pa is a very common little connector in Croatian. Here, it roughly means so or and so:

…ne voli penjati stepenicama, pa uvijek čeka lift.
– …she doesn’t like climbing the stairs, so she always waits for the elevator.

Compared to other connectives:

zato or zato što – because
- Uvijek čeka lift zato što se ne voli penjati stepenicama.
  – She always waits for the elevator because she doesn’t like climbing the stairs.
tako da – so that, so (often marking result)
- Ne voli se penjati stepenicama, tako da uvijek čeka lift.
  – She doesn’t like climbing the stairs, so she always waits for the elevator.

Pa is shorter, more colloquial, and very frequent in spoken Croatian. It can be a bit weaker and more casual than tako da, and it keeps the sentence sounding natural and conversational.

Where can uvijek go in the sentence? Is its position fixed?

Uvijek means always, and in Croatian adverbs like this are fairly flexible. In this sentence, the most natural places are:

…pa uvijek čeka lift. ✅ (very natural)
…pa čeka uvijek lift. ⚠️ possible but sounds unusual / emphasised
…pa čeka lift uvijek. ⚠️ sounds unnatural here in standard speech

The default position for uvijek is usually before the verb it modifies:

Uvijek čeka lift.
Uvijek kasni. – He is always late.
Uvijek pije kavu ujutro. – She always drinks coffee in the morning.

So for everyday use, stick with pa uvijek čeka lift as in the original sentence.

Can we leave out moja and just say Baka se ne voli penjati…?

Yes, you can say Baka se ne voli penjati stepenicama, pa uvijek čeka lift, and in many contexts it will be understood as My grandma… if it’s clear from context who you are talking about.

However:

Moja baka… explicitly tells the listener whose grandmother you mean.
Baka… alone can sometimes mean:
- grandma in a general / affectionate way, or
- the grandma in question that both speakers already know about.

Using moja is slightly more precise and is very natural when you first introduce the person in a conversation or in writing. So the original sentence with Moja baka is perfectly normal and a good model to copy.

Why do we say čeka lift and not čeka na lift?

In Croatian, the verb čekati normally takes a direct object in the accusative, without a preposition:

čekati autobus – to wait for the bus
čekati prijatelja – to wait for a friend
čekati lift – to wait for the elevator

So even though English says wait for something, Croatian simply uses čekati + accusative, without “na”.

There is a structure čekati na + accusative, but it has a more specific or idiomatic meaning, such as:

Čekati na red. – to wait for one’s turn
Čekati na odgovor. – to wait for an answer (more formal)

For ordinary, concrete things like a bus, a person, or an elevator, stick with čekati + accusative: čeka lift.

Does čeka mean she is waiting right now, or that she always does this?

The present tense čeka can mean either:

Right now – She is currently waiting.
Habitually – She regularly does this.

In this sentence, the adverb uvijek (always) and the context clarify that this is a habitual action:

…pa uvijek čeka lift.
– …so she always waits for the elevator (as a habit).

Croatian often uses the simple present with adverbs like uvijek, često, ponekad to express habits and general truths, just like English does.

Is lift the only word for “elevator” in Croatian? What about dizalo?

Both lift and dizalo are used and understood in Croatian.

lift – very common in everyday speech, especially in cities; international word, also used in Serbian and Bosnian.
dizalo – a more native Slavic word; used as well, sometimes more in technical or official language, or just as a neutral alternative.

In this kind of informal sentence about grandma and her habits, lift sounds completely natural and is probably more common than dizalo in everyday conversation.

So you could also say:

…pa uvijek čeka dizalo. ✅ (correct, just a slightly different lexical choice)

Why is it moja baka, not moj baka?

In Croatian, possessive adjectives like moj, tvoj, naš must agree in gender, number and case with the noun they describe.

baka is a feminine noun (grandmother).
The feminine nominative singular form of moj is moja.

So:

moja baka – my grandmother ✅
moj baka – ❌ incorrect (wrong gender agreement)

Compare:

moj brat – my brother (masculine)
moja sestra – my sister (feminine)
moje dijete – my child (neuter)

There are some masculine nouns that end in -a (for example muškarac doesn’t; but kolega is masculine). Those masculine -a nouns do take moj, not moja. But baka is a regular feminine noun, so it always takes moja.

Could we replace penjati se stepenicama with ići stepenicama or hodati stepenicama?

You can hear sentences like:

Ići stepenicama – to go by (using) the stairs
Silaziti stepenicama – to go down the stairs

However, they sound a bit more neutral and do not emphasise the climbing aspect as clearly as penjati se does.

penjati se stepenicama – emphasizes upward climbing (the effort)
ići stepenicama – just to go by stairs rather than some other route
hodati stepenicama – to walk on the stairs (sounds odd in this context)

In the context of a grandmother who prefers the elevator because of the effort, ne voli se penjati stepenicama is the most natural and expressive way to say that she doesn’t like climbing the stairs.