Breakdown of Voliš li šetati kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu?
Questions & Answers about Voliš li šetati kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu?
In Croatian, one standard way to form a yes/no question is to add the particle li right after the first stressed element of the clause, which is often the verb.
- Ti voliš šetati kroz šumu. – You like walking through the forest. (statement)
- Voliš li šetati kroz šumu? – Do you like walking through the forest? (question)
Key points:
- li is an enclitic: it cannot stand on its own and must attach to a word, usually the verb.
- You cannot put it at the end: ✗ Voliš šetati kroz šumu li? is wrong.
- In neutral yes/no questions, putting li after the verb is very common and sounds natural and standard.
Yes. Croatian also allows you to form a yes/no question only with rising intonation, just like in English.
- Voliš šetati kroz šumu?
Spoken with a clear rising tone at the end, this is understood as Do you like walking through the forest?
Differences:
- With li (Voliš li…) – more neutral/standard, good in writing and careful speech.
- Without li, using intonation (Voliš šetati…?) – more informal / conversational.
Both are correct; the sentence in your example uses the more explicit and standard li-question form.
Yes, that form exists and is widely used in everyday speech:
- Da li voliš šetati kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu?
However:
- In standard Croatian, especially in formal writing, plain li (as in Voliš li…) is preferred.
- Da li is common in colloquial speech and in some regional varieties, and it is fully understood everywhere.
So:
- More standard/neutral: Voliš li šetati…?
- Very common in speech: Da li voliš šetati…?
The verb voljeti (to like / to love) is very often followed by an infinitive:
- voljeti + infinitive
- Voliš šetati. – You like walking / to walk.
- Volim čitati. – I like reading.
Other possibilities:
- šetanje – a verbal noun (walking, strolling as an activity)
- Voliš šetanje. – Grammatically possible, but sounds unusual here; it feels more abstract.
- ići u šetnju – to go for a walk
- Voliš ići u šetnju? – Do you like going for a walk?
In everyday language, voljeti + infinitive (Voliš šetati…) is the most natural and direct way to say you like doing X.
Both verbs involve walking, but they are used differently:
- šetati – to stroll, to walk in a relaxed / recreational way
- Often implies enjoyment, free time, a walk in nature, a park, etc.
- hodati – to walk in general, to move on foot
- More neutral, can be about simple movement or ability (e.g. Ne može hodati. – He/She cannot walk.)
In your sentence:
- Voliš li šetati kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu?
emphasises a leisurely walk / stroll for pleasure.
If you said:
- Voliš li hodati kroz šumu…?
it would be understood, but sounds less natural; it loses a bit of the idea of strolling for enjoyment. Šetati is the better verb here.
Because the preposition kroz (through) always takes the accusative case in Croatian.
- šuma – nominative singular (dictionary form)
- šumu – accusative singular (used after kroz)
So:
- kroz šumu – through the forest (accusative)
- kroz šuma – incorrect form
General rule: kroz + accusative
- kroz park – through the park
- kroz tunel – through the tunnel
- kroz kuću – through the house
This is due to how Croatian cases work for different noun types.
šuma is a feminine noun ending in -a:
- nominative: šuma
- accusative: šumu
park is a masculine inanimate noun; for this group, nominative and accusative are the same form:
- nominative: park
- accusative: park
So:
- kroz šumu – accusative of šuma
- kroz park – accusative of park, which just happens to look like the nominative.
Even though park does not change in form, it is still in the accusative after kroz.
U gradu is in the locative case.
The preposition u can take two different cases with different meanings:
- u + accusative – movement into something
- Idem u grad. – I am going to the city / into the city.
- u + locative – location in something
- Sam u gradu. – I am in the city.
In your sentence:
- kroz park u gradu – through a park in the city (location)
→ so grad is in the locative: gradu.
u grad would mean into the city, which is not what is meant here.
As written:
- Voliš li šetati kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu?
the most natural interpretation is:
- šuma – some forest (not specifically said to be in the city)
- park u gradu – a park that is in the city
Because u gradu is placed right after park, it most naturally attaches to park only.
If you wanted to clearly say that both are in the city, you would typically repeat the phrase or move it earlier, for example:
- Voliš li šetati kroz šumu u gradu ili kroz park u gradu?
- Voliš li u gradu šetati kroz šumu ili kroz park?
In everyday conversation, context would often clarify what is meant.
Yes, you can drop the repeated preposition in Croatian:
- Voliš li šetati kroz šumu ili park u gradu?
Here, kroz is understood to apply to both šumu and park.
However:
- Keeping kroz before both (kroz šumu ili kroz park) is a bit clearer and more rhythmic, especially in a learning context.
- When there is extra material like u gradu, some speakers find kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu easier to process than kroz šumu ili park u gradu, which might momentarily feel a bit more ambiguous.
Both versions are grammatically correct.
Croatian is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns (like ja, ti, on, ona) are usually omitted because the verb ending shows the person:
- voliš – clearly means you (singular) like
So:
- (Ti) voliš šetati. – You like to walk.
The ti is normally omitted unless you want to emphasise it.
About Ti voliš li šetati…?:
- This is not a natural word order. If you include ti with a li-question, you would typically say:
- Ti li voliš šetati kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu? – This is possible but has a strong emphasis on you (as opposed to someone else) and sounds marked.
- In everyday, neutral speech, you would just say:
- Voliš li šetati kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu?
Both can be translated with English like, but they are used differently:
- voljeti (voliš) – to like / to love
- Used for activities, people, things.
- Voliš šetati. – You like walking.
- sviđati se – to be pleasing (to someone), literally to please someone
- The structure is X se sviđa (komu) – X is pleasing (to whom)
- Šetanje ti se sviđa. – Walking is pleasing to you / You like walking.
- Much less natural here than Voliš šetati.
In practice:
- For activities, voljeti + infinitive (Voliš šetati) is the usual, natural choice.
- Sviđa ti se is very common for things you see / hear / try:
- Sviđa li ti se ovaj park? – Do you like this park?
Yes. Croatian has a formal/polite second person plural vi (like French vous, German Sie). You change the verb to the 2nd person plural:
- Voliš li šetati kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu? – informal you (singular, ti)
- Volite li šetati kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu? – formal / polite you (singular Vi, or plural vi)
Everything else in the sentence stays the same.
Croatian word order is relatively flexible, but changes can affect emphasis and naturalness.
Some acceptable variants:
- Voliš li kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu šetati?
– Grammatically correct, but slightly marked; šetati is pushed to the end for emphasis. - Šetati voliš li kroz šumu ili kroz park u gradu?
– Grammatically possible, but sounds unusual and poetic / literary at best.
Most natural is to keep:
- Voliš li šetati [kroz šumu] [ili kroz park u gradu]?
Generally:
- The pattern verb + infinitive + complements (as in your sentence) is the most neutral in everyday speech.