Vikendom nam je šetnja u parku važna.

On weekends a walk in the park is important to us.

Breakdown of Vikendom nam je šetnja u parku važna.

• biti: to be
• u: in
• nam: us
• važan: important
• park: park
• vikendom: on weekends
• šetnja: walk

Questions & Answers about Vikendom nam je šetnja u parku važna.

In this sentence, which word is the subject, and which word is the adjective that goes with it?

The subject of the sentence is šetnja (together with its phrase u parku).

• šetnja u parku = the walk in the park → this is the thing we are talking about.
• važna = important → this is the adjective that describes šetnja.

Because šetnja is feminine singular (nominative), the adjective also appears in feminine singular nominative: važna.
So the basic structure is:

• [Subject] šetnja u parku – walk in the park
• [Verb] je – is
• [Predicate adjective] važna – important

Why is važna used and not something like važno?

Adjectives in Croatian agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.

• šetnja is:
  • feminine
  • singular
  • nominative (subject form)

So važan/važno/važna (important) must match that:

• masculine: važan
• neuter: važno
• feminine: važna

Since šetnja is feminine, you must say šetnja je važna, not važno.

What case is u parku, and why is it used here?

u parku is in the locative case.

• park (nominative) → parku (locative singular)
• Preposition u
  • locative usually expresses location: in / inside something.

Here u parku means in the park as a location where the walk happens.

Compare:

• Idemo u park. – We are going to the park. (u
  • accusative → movement into somewhere.)
• Šetamo u parku. – We are walking in the park. (u
  • locative → being/acting in a place.)

In your sentence, šetnja u parku is a noun phrase: a walk in the park (located there), so locative is correct.

What is vikendom, and why does it end in -om?

Vikendom is the instrumental singular of vikend (weekend), used adverbially to mean on weekends / at weekends in general.

• vikend (nominative) → vikendom (instrumental singular)

Croatian often uses the instrumental like this to talk about repeated times:

• vikendom – on weekends
• ponedjeljkom – on Mondays
• zimi (from zima) – in (the) winter

So Vikendom at the start of the sentence means On weekends / At weekends and sets the time frame for the whole statement:
Vikendom nam je šetnja u parku važna. – On weekends, a walk in the park is important to us.

What is nam, and why is it used instead of nama?

nam is the short (clitic) dative form of mi (we), meaning to us / for us.

• long (stressed) form: nama
• short (clitic) form: nam

In most neutral sentences you use the short clitic forms without a preposition:

• nam (to us)
• vam (to you, pl.)
• mu (to him)
• joj (to her)

nama is used when you want to put special emphasis on us, or after a preposition, or in contrasts:

• Vikendom je šetnja u parku važna baš nama. – The walk in the park is important especially to us.
• Nije njima, nego nama važna. – It’s not important to them, but to us.

In your neutral sentence, nam is the normal, unstressed form:
Vikendom nam je šetnja u parku važna. – A walk in the park is important to us on weekends.

Why does nam come before je? Can I say Vikendom je nam šetnja u parku važna?

In Croatian, short pronouns like nam, mi, mu, joj (called clitics) have relatively fixed positions.

In this type of sentence, clitics normally come right after the first stressed element (here: Vikendom) and in a fairly fixed internal order. So:

• Vikendom nam je šetnja u parku važna. ✅ sounds natural
• Vikendom je nam šetnja u parku važna. ❌ sounds wrong/unnatural

More general pattern for sentences like this:

• [First word/phrase] + [clitic pronouns] + [auxiliary je/bi] + [rest of sentence]

So you should keep nam before je here.

Why is it šetnja and not a verb like šetati? Could I say Vikendom nam je šetati u parku važno?

In your sentence, šetnja is a noun (a walk, walking (as an activity)), not a verb. The sentence literally says:

• On weekends, the walk in the park is important to us.

Croatian often uses a noun for an activity in this way:

• Plivanje mi je važno. – Swimming is important to me.
• Dobra hrana nam je važna. – Good food is important to us.

You can theoretically use an infinitive:

• Vikendom nam je šetati u parku važno.

but this sounds more abstract or stylistically marked. The version with the noun (šetnja) is the most natural and common way to say this in everyday speech.

Are there other possible word orders, and do they change the meaning?

Yes, Croatian word order is flexible, and different orders change emphasis, not the basic meaning.

Examples (all grammatically correct):

1. Vikendom nam je šetnja u parku važna.
   – neutral: time first, then to us, then the walk.

2. Vikendom je šetnja u parku nama važna.
   – emphasizes nama (to us in particular).

3. Šetnja u parku nam je vikendom važna.
   – emphasizes the walk in the park more as the topic.

4. Šetnja u parku je vikendom važna nama.
   – extra emphasis on nama at the end.

The sentence you have is a natural, fairly neutral way to say it, with light emphasis on vikendom (when) and nam (to us).

Why is there no word for “the” in šetnja u parku? How do I know it’s “the walk in the park”, not “a walk in a park”?

Croatian has no articles (a, an, the). Nouns like šetnja and park are bare forms, and definiteness (a vs. the) comes from context, not from a specific word.

• šetnja u parku can be:
  • a walk in (the) park
  • the walk in the park

Usually, in a sentence like Vikendom nam je šetnja u parku važna, the natural English translation is:

• A walk in the park is important to us on weekends
  or
• Our walk in the park is important to us on weekends

Both are possible; the Croatian sentence itself is neutral about a/the.

What is the difference between vikendom, za vikend, and preko vikenda?

All three relate to the weekend, but with slightly different nuances:

• vikendom

  • usually means on weekends (in general, habitually)
  • Vikendom nam je šetnja u parku važna. → On weekends, in general, this is important.

• za vikend

  • often means this weekend / on a (particular) weekend
  • Za vikend nam je šetnja u parku važna. → This weekend (or on a given weekend), a walk in the park is important to us.

• preko vikenda

  • literally over the weekend, can mean throughout the weekend or during the weekend period
  • Preko vikenda nam je šetnja u parku važna. → During the weekend period, walking in the park is important to us.

In many situations vikendom and za vikend overlap, but vikendom sounds more habitual and general.