Learn Hardcore Croatian: Nemoj dodirnuti stol.

Both patterns exist in real life, but nemoj + infinitive is very common and is a “safe”, clearly correct form to learn first, especially in writing or more standard speech.

What exactly does nemoj mean?

Nemoj is basically the Croatian equivalent of English “don’t” when you’re talking to one person (informal “you”).

Formally:

It’s a special imperative form used only in the negative.
It is always (in full sentences) followed by an infinitive:
- Nemoj jesti. – Don’t eat.
- Nemoj pričati. – Don’t talk.
- Nemoj dodirnuti stol. – Don’t touch the table.

Plural / polite versions:

Nemojte dodirnuti stol. – Don’t touch the table. (to more than one person, or polite “you”)

Why is the verb dodirnuti in the infinitive and not conjugated, like dodirni?

Because of the construction with nemoj.

After nemoj, Croatian uses the infinitive:

Nemoj + infinitive
- Nemoj dodirnuti stol. – Don’t touch the table.
- Nemoj pisati. – Don’t write.
- Nemoj gledati. – Don’t look/watch.

If you don’t use nemoj, and instead make a direct positive command, you use the imperative form:

(Ti) dodirni stol. – Touch the table.
(Ti) piši. – Write.
(Ti) gledaj. – Look.

So:

Nemoj dodirnuti = Don’t + infinitive
Dodirni = Touch! (imperative form of dodirnuti)

What’s the difference between dodirnuti, dirati, and dodirivati?

All are about touching, but they differ in aspect and nuance:

dodirnuti – perfective, “to touch (once, as a complete act)”
- Focus on a single, completed action.
- In commands and prohibitions you’ll often see the perfective if it’s “don’t (even) touch it once”.
dirati – imperfective, “to touch / to be touching / to keep touching, to mess with”
- Often used in everyday speech for “don’t mess with / don’t handle / don’t keep touching”.
- Ne diraj stol. – Don’t touch / don’t mess with the table.
dodirivati – imperfective of dodirnuti, “to keep touching repeatedly”
- More literally “to touch repeatedly / continually”.
- Nemoj dodirivati stol. – Don’t keep touching the table / don’t keep putting your hands on the table.

In your sentence, Nemoj dodirnuti stol. is like saying:

“Don’t (even) touch the table (at all / even once).”

Why is there no word for “the” before stol? How do I know it means “the table”?

Croatian has no articles (no “a/an” or “the”).

stol by itself can mean “a table” or “the table”.
The exact meaning comes from context, not from a separate word.

In a situation where there is one specific table in front of you, Nemoj dodirnuti stol. will naturally be understood as:

“Don’t touch the table.”

In other contexts it could be “a table”, but the Croatian sentence itself doesn’t mark the difference.

What case is stol in, and why does it look like the basic form?

Stol here is in the accusative singular, because it is the direct object of the verb dodirnuti (“to touch what?” – the table).

For masculine, inanimate nouns like stol, the nominative singular and accusative singular often look identical:

Nominative: stol – The table is big. (Stol je velik.)
Accusative: stol – I see the table. (Vidim stol.)
In your sentence: Nemoj dodirnuti stol. – Don’t touch the table. (accusative)

So the form doesn’t change, but the function (subject vs object) is clear from word order and from the verb.

Could I say Nemoj stol dodirnuti instead? Is that correct?

Yes, Nemoj stol dodirnuti is grammatically possible, but:

The neutral word order in Croatian here is:
- Nemoj dodirnuti stol. – verb phrase first, then object.
Moving stol in front of dodirnuti (to Nemoj stol dodirnuti) gives extra emphasis to stol:
- Something like: “Don’t touch the table (as opposed to something else).”

So:

Nemoj dodirnuti stol. – normal, neutral.
Nemoj stol dodirnuti. – more marked, with focus on stol.

For everyday use and as a learner, stick with the neutral order you were given.

How would I say this to more than one person, or politely?

Change nemoj (2nd person singular) to nemojte (2nd person plural / polite):

Nemojte dodirnuti stol. – Don’t touch the table.
- to several people, or to one person politely (like vous in French, Sie in German).

Some variants you might hear:

Nemojte dirati stol. – Don’t touch / don’t mess with the table.
Molim vas, nemojte dodirivati stol. – Please don’t keep touching the table. (more polite and explicit)

Can nemoj stand alone, without a verb, like just saying “Don’t!”?

Yes, in real speech nemoj is often used by itself, when the verb is obvious from context:

Child reaches for the table, parent says simply: Nemoj!
(Full form would be Nemoj dodirnuti stol., but it’s understood.)

So:

Grammatically complete sentence: Nemoj dodirnuti stol.
Everyday shortened version in context: Nemoj! – Don’t (do that)!

Is stol always “table”? I’ve also seen sto meaning “table” in some materials.

In standard Croatian:

stol is the normal word for “table”.
sto primarily means “hundred” (100).

However:

In some regional speech in Croatia, and in some other standards of the language (e.g. Serbian, Bosnian), sto is commonly used for “table”.
In Croatian media and textbooks aimed at learners of Croatian, you’ll see stol for “table”.

So for Croatian:

Learn stol = table.
Be aware that sto can also mean “table” regionally / in other standards, but in Croatian class you’ll be safest using stol.