Danas nosim nove hlače i stare cipele.

Today I am wearing new pants and old shoes.

Breakdown of Danas nosim nove hlače i stare cipele.

• nov: new
• star: old
• i: and
• danas: today
• nositi: to wear
• hlače: pants
• cipela: shoe

Questions & Answers about Danas nosim nove hlače i stare cipele.

Why does the sentence start with Danas? Could I put danas somewhere else?

Croatian word order is flexible, and danas (today) does not have to be first.

All of these are grammatically correct and natural, with small differences in emphasis:

• Danas nosim nove hlače i stare cipele. – Neutral; sets the time frame first: As for today, I’m wearing…
• Nosim danas nove hlače i stare cipele. – Slight emphasis on danas, like: It’s today that I’m wearing…
• Nosim nove hlače i stare cipele danas. – Also possible; danas feels like an afterthought: …today.

In everyday speech, putting danas first or right after the verb is most common. The choice is about emphasis, not correctness.

Why is there no ja (I) in the sentence? Shouldn’t it be Ja danas nosim…?

Croatian usually omits subject pronouns because the verb ending shows who the subject is.

• nosim = I wear / I am wearing
• nosiš = you wear (singular)
• nosi = he/she/it wears
• nosimo = we wear
• nosite = you (plural/formal) wear
• nose = they wear

So Danas nosim… already clearly means Today I am wearing….

You can say Ja danas nosim nove hlače… if you want to emphasize I (as in I, not someone else), but in neutral speech it’s usually dropped.

What exactly does nosim mean here? Is it “wear,” “carry,” or something else?

The verb nositi has a few related meanings:

1. To wear (clothes, shoes, accessories) – like in your sentence:

   • Danas nosim nove hlače i stare cipele. – Today I am wearing…

2. To carry (in hands, on your back, etc.):

   • Nosim torbu. – I’m carrying a bag.

Context decides which meaning is intended. With clothing words (hlače, cipele, majica, kaput etc.), nositi is understood as to wear.

Note: nositi describes the state (wearing/carrying). The act of putting clothes on is usually obući (perfective) / oblačiti (imperfective).

Why is the present tense used for “Today I am wearing”? Shouldn’t there be some continuous form?

Croatian does not have a separate continuous tense like English I am wearing vs. I wear.

The same present tense form nosim covers both:

• I wear (in general)
• I am wearing (right now / today)

So:

• Danas nosim nove hlače.
  Can be understood as Today I’m wearing new trousers (current situation),
  and in some contexts as Today I (usually) wear new trousers (habit).

Context and time words like danas, sada, često, uvijek tell you whether it’s a current action or a habit.

Why are hlače and cipele plural in Croatian?

In Croatian, many items that come in pairs or have two “legs/parts” are grammatically plural, even when you mean just one item:

• hlače – trousers / pants (always plural in form)
• cipele – shoes (normally refers to a pair; also plural)
• naočale – glasses
• škare – scissors

So:

• nove hlače – literally new trousers (plural)
• stare cipele – old shoes (plural)

You do not normally say a singular hlača or cipela for one wearable item in standard usage; you still use the plural form and clarify with jedne (one pair) if needed:

• Nosim jedne nove hlače. – I’m wearing one pair of new trousers.
• Kupio sam nove cipele. – I bought new shoes / a new pair of shoes.

What grammatical case are nove hlače and stare cipele in?

They are in the accusative plural, because they are direct objects of the verb nositi.

• Verb: nosim – I wear / I am wearing
• Direct object (what I wear): nove hlače, stare cipele

For many feminine nouns ending in -e in the plural, nominative plural and accusative plural look the same:

• Nominative plural: hlače, cipele
• Accusative plural: hlače, cipele

Here we know they are accusative by their function in the sentence (objects of nosim), not by the ending.

How do the adjectives nove and stare agree with hlače and cipele?

In Croatian, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• hlače – feminine, plural, accusative
• cipele – feminine, plural, accusative

So the adjectives must also be:

• feminine + plural + accusative → nove, stare

That gives:

• nove hlače – new trousers
• stare cipele – old shoes

Formally:

• singular feminine: nova hlača, stara cipela
• plural feminine: nove hlače, stare cipele

In this sentence, all object phrases are feminine plural accusative:
nosim (koga/što?) nove hlače i stare cipele.

Why isn’t there a word for “the” or “a” in the Croatian sentence?

Croatian has no articles like English a/an or the.

• Danas nosim nove hlače i stare cipele.

Depending on context, this could mean:

• Today I’m wearing (some) new trousers and (some) old shoes.
• Today I’m wearing the new trousers and the old shoes.

Definiteness (whether it’s the or a) is inferred from:

• context (what you have already talked about)
• word order and emphasis
• sometimes demonstratives like ove (these), one (those).

For example:

• Danas nosim ove nove hlače. – Today I’m wearing these new trousers. (clearly specific)

Could this also be said in the past, like “Today I put on new trousers and old shoes”?

Yes, but you’d change the verb to one that expresses putting on, not wearing:

• Danas sam obukao nove hlače i stare cipele. (male speaker)
• Danas sam obukla nove hlače i stare cipele. (female speaker)

Here:

• obući (perf.) – to put on (once, completed action)
• sam … obukao / obukla – I put on (past)

So:

• Danas nosim… – Today I am wearing… (state now)
• Danas sam obukao / obukla… – Today I put on… (the action earlier today)

Why isn’t there a form of biti (to be), like sam, in this present tense sentence?

In Croatian, the present tense of normal verbs is formed without an extra to be:

• Nosim. – I am wearing.
• Čitam. – I am reading.
• Radim. – I am working.

The verb biti (sam, si, je, smo, ste, su) is used:

1. As a main verb:

   • Ja sam umoran. – I am tired.

2. As an auxiliary in compound tenses:

   • Nosio sam. – I was wearing / I wore.

But in a simple present like your sentence, you just use nosim without sam.

Is the word order of adjectives and nouns always like nove hlače, stare cipele (adjective before noun)?

Yes, the normal order is:

• adjective + noun

So:

• nove hlače, stare cipele, crvena majica, plava jakna.

Reversing it (hlače nove, cipele stare) is possible but usually sounds:

• poetic,
• very emphatic,
• or dialectal / non-standard in some contexts.

For everyday neutral speech: adjective first, noun second.

How do you pronounce hlače and cipele? What’s the difference between c, č, and ć?

Pronunciation:

• hlače: roughly HLA-che

  • hl together: a small h sound plus la
  • č – like ch in chocolate
  • stress is usually on the first syllable: HLA-če

• cipele: roughly TSI-pe-le

  • c – like ts in cats
  • each e is a clear eh sound

Key consonants:

• c = ts (like cats) → cipele
• č = hard ch (English ch in chair) → hlače
• ć = softer ch, somewhat between English t and ch; shorter and “sharper” than č

In this sentence you only have c and č, but it’s good to be aware of the three-way contrast.

Are there other common words for hlače and cipele in Croatian?

Yes, there are some variants and related words:

• hlače – standard for trousers / pants

  • You may also hear pantalone (borrowed from Italian); it’s common and understood, but hlače is more neutral/standard.
  • traperice – jeans (literally denims), a specific type of hlače.

• cipele – shoes (usually more formal/closed shoes)

  • tenisice – trainers / sneakers
  • čizme – boots
  • sandale – sandals
  • papuče – slippers

In your sentence, hlače and cipele are the basic, general words for trousers and shoes.