Learn Hardcore Croatian: Šetamo oko parka poslije posla. - We are walking around the park after work.

Because Croatian verb endings show person and number clearly, the subject pronoun (mi = we) is usually omitted unless you want to emphasize it (for contrast, for example: Mi šetamo, a oni voze. – We walk, and they drive).

Why is it oko parka and not oko park?

The preposition oko (around) always requires the genitive case.

The noun park (a park) is masculine. Its nominative singular is park, but the genitive singular is parka.

So:

Nominative: park (subject form)
Genitive: parka (used after oko)

Therefore:

oko parka = around the park
oko park is ungrammatical.

What exactly does oko mean here, and does it have other meanings?

In this sentence, oko means around in a spatial sense:

Šetamo oko parka. – We walk around the park (in a circle / surrounding it).

But oko has several other common uses:

around / about (time or quantity)
- Doći ću oko pet. – I’ll come around five (o’clock).
- Oko sto ljudi. – Around a hundred people.
about / regarding (topic, more formal or literary)
- Razgovaramo oko tog problema. – We’re talking about that problem.
As a noun, oko also means eye (different word, same spelling).

So the exact meaning comes from context and the words that follow it.

What is the difference between oko parka, u parku, po parku, and kroz park?

All can be translated with around/in/through the park depending on context, but they are not the same:

oko parka – around the park, outside it, going around its borders.
- Šetamo oko parka. – We walk around the outside of the park.
u parku – in the park, inside its area.
- Šetamo u parku. – We walk in the park.
po parku – around (within) the park, moving across different parts of it.
- Šetamo po parku. – We walk around (here and there) in the park.
kroz park – through the park, usually from one side to the other.
- Idemo kroz park. – We go through the park (using it as a shortcut, for example).

So oko parka suggests being outside and circling it, while u/po/kroz park describe movement inside the park.

Why is it poslije posla, not poslije posao?

The preposition poslije (after) also requires the genitive case.

The noun posao (work, job) has the nominative singular posao, but its genitive singular is posla:

Nominative: posao – (the) work, (the) job
Genitive: posla – of work / of the job (used after poslije)

So:

poslije posla – after work
poslije posao – incorrect, wrong case.

This is parallel to oko parka: both oko and poslije take the genitive.

Is there a difference between poslije and nakon? Could I say nakon posla instead of poslije posla?

Poslije and nakon both mean after and both take the genitive, so grammatically:

poslije posla – after work
nakon posla – after work

Both are correct and very common.

Nuances:

nakon can sound a bit more formal or neutral.
poslije is very everyday and colloquial, but still completely standard.

In most situations, you can freely switch:

Šetamo oko parka poslije posla.
Šetamo oko parka nakon posla.

Both are natural.

Can I change the word order, for example: Poslije posla šetamo oko parka? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the word order without changing the basic meaning. Possible variants include:

Šetamo oko parka poslije posla.
Poslije posla šetamo oko parka.
Oko parka šetamo poslije posla.

The core meaning (we walk around the park after work) stays the same.

Word order in Croatian is relatively flexible and is often used for emphasis or information structure:

Putting Poslije posla first (Poslije posla šetamo oko parka.) highlights the time (after work is what you want to stress).
Starting with Oko parka highlights the place.

Grammatically they are all fine; intonation and context determine nuance.

Is šetamo more like “we walk” (habit) or “we are walking” (right now)? How do aspect and tense work here?

Croatian doesn’t have a separate continuous tense like we are walking. The present tense can express both:

Šetamo oko parka poslije posla.
– We walk around the park after work. (habit)
– We are walking around the park after work. (present, if context makes it clear)

The verb šetati is imperfective, which is used for:

repeated or habitual actions
ongoing processes
actions without a clear endpoint

If you use the perfective prošetati in the present (prošetamo), it usually expresses a future-like meaning or a single, completed action (often as a plan):

Poslije posla prošetamo oko parka.
Often understood as: After work we’ll take a (single) walk around the park.

For a simple, neutral description of what you (regularly) do, šetamo (imperfective) is the natural choice.

How is šetati conjugated in the present tense? Are there similar verbs?

Šetati is a regular -ati verb. Present tense:

ja šetam – I walk
ti šetaš – you (sg.) walk
on/ona/ono šeta – he/she/it walks
mi šetamo – we walk
vi šetate – you (pl.) walk
oni/one/ona šetaju – they walk

Many common verbs follow the same pattern:

raditi > radim, radiš, radi… (slightly different type: -iti, but same idea of endings changing)
gledati > gledam, gledaš, gleda, gledamo, gledate, gledaju
pitati > pitam, pitaš, pita, pitamo, pitate, pitaju

Knowing one -ati verb helps you with many others.

In poslije posla, does posao mean “job” (a specific job) or “work” in general?

In poslije posla, posao is usually understood as work in general, specifically your working time / your shift / your workday, not one specific job offer or task.

So poslije posla most naturally means:

after work (when I finish for the day)

If you wanted to talk clearly about a specific job position, you would usually add more context:

Nakon ovog posla, tražit ću drugi. – After this job, I will look for another one.

But in everyday talk, when people say poslije posla, they almost always mean after (I finish) work for the day.