Breakdown of Cijelu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji.
Questions & Answers about Cijelu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji.
Cijelu is the feminine singular accusative form of the adjective cijeli (whole, entire).
- The noun večer (evening) is feminine.
- In the sentence, cijelu večer means “(for) the whole evening” – a duration of time.
- Durations of time in Croatian are often expressed using the accusative case without a preposition.
So:
- Nominative (subject): cijela večer = the whole evening (as a thing)
- Accusative (duration): cijelu večer = (for) the whole evening
Because here we’re talking about how long we are doing something, we need the accusative: cijelu večer.
In cijelu večer, the noun večer is in the accusative singular, but it looks the same as the nominative (dictionary form).
For the noun večer:
- Nominative singular: večer
- Accusative singular: večer
They are identical in form, which is normal for many feminine nouns.
We know it is accusative here because:
- It follows the adjective cijelu, which is clearly in the feminine accusative (cijelu not cijela), and
- It expresses a time duration (“for the whole evening”), which uses the accusative.
Croatian does not have a separate “continuous” tense like English (are watching, is watching).
The simple present tense covers both:
- We watch
- We are watching
So gledamo means both “we watch” and “we are watching”.
The context or time expressions (here cijelu večer) tell you that it is happening right now and over a period of time.
Literally, the structure is just:
- gledamo = we watch / we are watching
(no extra verb like “to be” is added)
Yes, in theory the Croatian present tense can describe:
- an action happening right now, or
- a habitual / repeated action.
However, in everyday use, Cijelu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji will most naturally be understood as describing what is going on tonight (or on a specific evening), especially in conversation.
To make it clearly habitual, you would usually add something like:
- Svaki dan cijelu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji.
= Every day we watch a series on TV all evening.
Seriju is the accusative singular of serija (series, TV show), and it’s used because serija is the direct object of the verb gledamo (we watch).
For serija:
- Nominative singular (subject): serija
- Serija je dobra. – The series is good.
- Accusative singular (direct object): seriju
- Gledamo seriju. – We are watching a series / the series.
In the sentence Cijelu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji, seriju answers “what are we watching?”, so it must be in the accusative.
Croatian has no articles like a or the.
The form seriju by itself can mean:
- a series, one series, or
- the series, that series
The exact meaning depends on context, not on any special ending.
Examples:
- If your friend knows which show you’re talking about, seriju will be understood as “the series”.
- If you’re talking in general, with no specific show known, it may be understood as “a series”.
To be more precise, Croatian will often add extra words instead of articles:
- tu seriju = that series
- onu seriju = that series (over there)
- neku seriju = some series
Televiziji is in the locative singular of televizija (television).
The preposition na + locative expresses location or medium:
- na televiziji literally = “on television”, i.e. via the TV as a medium / channel.
So gledamo seriju na televiziji is literally “we watch the series on television”, in the sense of on TV, not necessarily on some other device like a computer or phone.
Both are used, but they have slightly different nuances:
na televiziji (locative of televizija)
- Focus on the medium, like saying “on TV” (on a TV channel, on broadcast, etc.).
- Very common in everyday speech:
- Gledam utakmicu na televiziji. – I’m watching the match on TV.
na televizoru (locative of televizor, TV set)
- Focus on the device, more like “on the TV set/screen”.
- Can also be used idiomatically with the same meaning, but it emphasizes the physical TV more.
In normal conversation about watching shows, na televiziji is extremely common and sounds perfectly natural.
Yes. Croatian word order is relatively flexible, and you can move parts around to change the emphasis, while the core meaning stays the same.
All of these are grammatically correct:
- Cijelu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji. (neutral, emphasis on “all evening”)
- Gledamo seriju na televiziji cijelu večer. (slightly more neutral/prosodic)
- Seriju gledamo cijelu večer na televiziji. (emphasis on “the series”)
- Na televiziji cijelu večer gledamo seriju. (emphasis on “on TV / on television”)
In speech, what you put earlier and how you stress it shows what you want to highlight. The original version is very natural and neutral.
You can say Mi cijelu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji, but Croatian usually drops the subject pronoun (like mi, ti, on) because the verb ending already shows the person.
- gledamo ends in -mo, which clearly marks 1st person plural = we.
So:
- Cijelu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji. – We are watching a series on TV all evening.
- Mi cijelu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji. – Same meaning, but mi adds emphasis to we, as in “We (as opposed to someone else) are the ones who are watching...”.
Use the future tense I: the auxiliary ću + infinitive gledati.
A very natural version:
- Cijelu večer ćemo gledati seriju na televiziji.
= We will (be) watch(ing) a series on TV all evening.
Other acceptable word orders:
- Gledat ćemo seriju na televiziji cijelu večer.
- Gledat ćemo cijelu večer seriju na televiziji.
The important parts are:
- ćemo gledati / gledat ćemo = we will watch / we will be watching
- cijelu večer still in the accusative for duration.
Yes, there are a few common alternatives with similar meaning:
- čitavu večer – the whole evening
- svu večer – the whole / entire evening
All are grammatically similar and use the feminine accusative:
- Cijelu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji.
- Čitavu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji.
- Svu večer gledamo seriju na televiziji.
Cijelu večer is probably the most common neutral choice.