Learn Hardcore Croatian: Trebalo bi češće sjediti u vrtu ili šumi, a manje sjediti ispred računala. - One should sit more often in the garden or forest, and sit less in front of the computer.

Together, trebalo bi here means “(one) should / it would be necessary to”, with no specific person mentioned. It’s similar to English “you should” or “one should”, but grammatically it’s more like “it would be necessary to…”.

So:

Trebalo bi češće sjediti… ≈ “One should sit more often…” / “It would be good to sit more often…”

Why is trebalo in the neuter form, not masculine or feminine?

In Croatian, impersonal constructions with trebati often use the neuter singular past participle, because there is no real subject.

If there were a clear subject, you’d match its gender and number:
- On bi trebao više sjediti. – He should sit more.
- Ona bi trebala više sjediti. – She should sit more.
- Mi bismo trebali više sjediti. – We should sit more.

But when you want a general, impersonal statement (“People in general should…”), you use the neuter:

Trebalo bi češće sjediti… – generic “one should” / “it would be good to”.

Neuter is the “default” agreement when there is no specific subject.

Could you rewrite this sentence with a clear subject instead of the impersonal trebalo bi?

Yes. A few possibilities, depending on nuance:

Ljudi bi trebali češće sjediti u vrtu ili šumi, a manje sjediti ispred računala.
– People should sit in the garden or forest more often, and sit in front of the computer less.
Mi bismo trebali češće sjediti u vrtu ili šumi, a manje sjediti ispred računala.
– We should sit…
Ti bi trebao / trebala češće sjediti… (masc./fem.)
– You should sit…

The original Trebalo bi… is more general and less personal, like advice meant for everyone.

Why is the verb sjediti used, and not sjesti?

Sjediti and sjesti are different verbs:

sjediti – to sit (to be in a sitting position; a state, ongoing)
sjesti – to sit down (the action of moving into a sitting position; a single completed event)

In this sentence, the idea is about spending time sitting in certain places, not the moment of sitting down:

češće sjediti u vrtu ili šumi – to be sitting more often, i.e. spend more time sitting there

If you used sjesti, it would sound like “sit down more often” (perform the act of sitting down), which is not what is meant.

What does češće mean grammatically, and why is it before sjediti?

Češće is the comparative form of the adverb često (often):

često – often
češće – more often

It modifies the verb sjediti, so it tells us how often the sitting should happen.

Adverbs of frequency (often, rarely, always, etc.) in Croatian commonly appear before the verb they modify:

Uvijek sjedim ovdje. – I always sit here.
Rijetko idem tamo. – I rarely go there.
Češće sjediti… – to sit more often…

You could say sjediti češće, but češće sjediti is more natural and more common in this type of general statement.

Why is it u vrtu and u šumi, and not u vrt or u šuma?

The preposition u (“in”) can take locative or accusative, depending on meaning:

u + locative – location (where?)
u + accusative – direction (where to?)

Here we’re talking about where one sits (a place), so we use locative:

vrt (garden), masculine
- locative singular: u vrtu – in the garden
šuma (forest), feminine
- locative singular: u šumi – in the forest

So:

sjediti u vrtu ili šumi – sitting in the garden or in the forest (location)
If you said ići u vrt or ići u šumu, that would use the accusative, expressing movement towards the garden/forest.

What case is računala in, and why does it look like a plural?

Računalo is a neuter noun:

nominative singular: računalo – computer
genitive singular: računala

The preposition ispred (“in front of”) always takes the genitive:

ispred kuće – in front of the house (gen. sg.)
ispred škole – in front of the school (gen. sg.)
ispred računala – in front of the computer (gen. sg.)

The confusion comes from the fact that računala also looks like nominative/accusative plural, but here, because of ispred, it is genitive singular: of the computer.

Why is the verb sjediti repeated in a manje sjediti ispred računala? Could it be omitted?

In Croatian, repeating the infinitive like this is very natural and quite common for clarity and rhythm:

Trebalo bi češće sjediti u vrtu ili šumi, a manje sjediti ispred računala.

However, you can omit the second sjediti and still be correct:

Trebalo bi češće sjediti u vrtu ili šumi, a manje ispred računala.

Native speakers use both forms.
Repeating sjediti slightly emphasizes the contrast of actions: sit here vs. sit there.
Omitting it makes the sentence a bit more compact, relying on context to complete the idea.

What is the function of a here, and how is it different from i?

Both a and i can be translated as “and”, but they have different nuances:

i – simple addition, similar to “and”
a – contrast or mild opposition, often like “while”, “whereas”, or “but”

In this sentence:

…, a manje sjediti ispred računala.

a shows a contrast:
more often in the garden/forest vs. less in front of the computer.

If you used i:

Trebalo bi češće sjediti u vrtu ili šumi, i manje sjediti ispred računala.

it would still be understandable, but a is more natural because the ideas are clearly contrasted.

Could we say trebalo bi se češće sjediti with se? Is that correct, and does it change the meaning?

Yes, trebalo bi se češće sjediti is also grammatically correct, and you do see this kind of structure in Croatian.

se here makes the verb sjediti reflexive in a very impersonal, general way. The meaning is essentially the same:

Trebalo bi češće sjediti…
Trebalo bi se češće sjediti…

Both mean roughly: “One should sit more often…”
The version without se is a bit cleaner and more standard in everyday speech, but the version with se is not wrong and is used in real language, especially in more formal or “general advice” contexts.

Is there any explicit subject in this sentence, or is it completely subjectless?

There is no explicit subject. Grammatically, this is an impersonal construction:

Trebalo bi – conditional, neuter, no person expressed
sjediti – infinitive

The underlying idea is: “People / we / one should sit more often…”, but Croatian leaves that understood.

If you want to make the subject explicit, you can:

Mi bismo trebali češće sjediti… – We should sit more often…
Ljudi bi trebali… – People should…

The original, though, is completely subjectless on the surface.

Could the word order be changed, for example to Češće bi trebalo sjediti u vrtu ili šumi? Would that sound natural?

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, and this alternative is natural:

Češće bi trebalo sjediti u vrtu ili šumi, a manje sjediti ispred računala.

Differences:

Trebalo bi češće sjediti… – neutral, typical order.
Češće bi trebalo sjediti… – puts češće (more often) in a more prominent, emphasized position.

Both are correct; the choice affects emphasis, not basic meaning.

What is the role of ili here, and does it need to be repeated like u vrtu ili u šumi?

Ili means “or”, and it connects two options:

u vrtu – in the garden
šumi – (in the) forest

In Croatian, if the structure is clear, you don’t have to repeat the preposition:

u vrtu ili šumi – in the garden or (in the) forest

Both versions are correct:

u vrtu ili šumi (more concise)
u vrtu ili u šumi (slightly more explicit, can sound a bit heavier)

The preposition u is understood for both nouns, so repeating it is not necessary.