Breakdown of Ona želi snimati seriju o našem gradu.
Questions & Answers about Ona želi snimati seriju o našem gradu.
Because seriju is in the accusative case, which is used for the direct object of the verb.
- The basic (dictionary) form is serija (feminine noun, nominative singular).
- In Croatian, most feminine nouns ending in -a change -a → -u in the accusative singular:
- serija → seriju
- škola → školu
- knjiga → knjigu
In this sentence, seriju is what she wants to film, so it must be in the accusative case.
Croatian has aspect: imperfective vs perfective verbs.
- snimati = imperfective (focus on the process, activity, or repeated action)
- snimiti = perfective (focus on the completed, one-time result)
In Ona želi snimati seriju o našem gradu, using snimati suggests:
- she wants to be filming a series,
- an ongoing/project-type activity, not just a single completed act.
If you said:
- Ona želi snimiti seriju o našem gradu.
that would emphasize finishing or completing the series at some point, the result as a whole. Both are possible, but snimati highlights the ongoing work.
Because o (meaning about) in Croatian requires the locative case.
- o + locative = about something / someone
- o gradu = about the city
- o filmu = about the film
- o Mariji = about Marija
So:
- naš grad is nominative: our city (subject form)
- o našem gradu is locative: about our city
In this sentence, the series is about our city, so you need the preposition o and the locative forms našem gradu.
našem is a possessive pronoun (our) and must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun it modifies:
- Noun: grad (city)
- masculine
- singular
- locative (because of o)
Locative singular of grad is gradu.
So naš (our) changes to našem to match:
- masculine
- singular
- locative
Thus we get o našem gradu (about our city), with both words in masculine singular locative.
The base form is grad (city), nominative singular.
But the preposition o (about) always takes the locative case, and in the locative singular, many masculine nouns take a -u ending:
- grad → gradu (locative)
- stan → stanu (in the apartment)
- vrh → vrhu (on the top)
So:
- grad (nominative) = city (as subject)
- gradu (locative) = in/about the city (after certain prepositions like u, na, o, depending on meaning)
Here, o gradu = about the city.
Yes.
Croatian is a pro-drop language, meaning that subject pronouns (like ja, ti, on, ona) are often omitted when the subject is clear from the verb ending.
- želi clearly shows third person singular (he/she/it wants).
- So Želi snimati seriju o našem gradu is grammatically complete and natural.
You keep Ona when you:
- want to emphasize she (as opposed to someone else), or
- need to be very clear who you are talking about in context.
želi is the 3rd person singular present of željeti (to wish, to desire, to want).
hoće is the 3rd person singular present of htjeti (to want).
Differences in nuance:
željeti (želi) often sounds a bit more polite, softer, “to wish”:
- Ona želi snimati seriju. = She wants/wishes to film a series.
htjeti (hoće) is more direct, sometimes stronger, more “to want, intend”:
- Ona hoće snimati seriju. = She wants/insists on filming a series.
Both can translate as want in English, but želi is slightly more neutral/polite in many contexts.
In standard Croatian, verbs like:
- željeti (to wish, want)
- htjeti (to want)
- morati (must, have to)
- voljeti (to like, to love, when used as like doing something)
are commonly followed directly by an infinitive:
- Ona želi snimati seriju.
She wants to film a series. - Mora učiti.
He has to study.
Using da + a finite verb (like da snima) is possible in speech and certain dialects, but:
- Ona želi da snima seriju. is more colloquial/Serbian-like,
- Standard Croatian prefers: Ona želi snimati seriju.
Croatian word order is relatively flexible compared to English, but not all orders sound equally natural.
Possible but with different emphasis:
- Ona želi snimati seriju o našem gradu.
Neutral, most natural. - Ona želi snimati o našem gradu seriju.
Unusual; sounds like you are stressing seriju at the end. - Ona želi seriju snimati o našem gradu.
Grammatically possible, but sounds awkward and quite marked; you would rarely say it this way.
In everyday speech, you would almost always say the original sentence or maybe move ona:
- Želi snimati seriju o našem gradu.
- Seriju o našem gradu ona želi snimati. (emphasis on the series about our city)
snimati can mean to film or to record, depending on the object:
- snimati seriju / film / video = to film a series / film / video
- snimati pjesmu / album = to record a song / album
- snimati glas = to record voice
In this context (with seriju), it clearly means to film a TV series (or web series), not to audio-record it.
The form of naš (our) changes with gender, number, and case.
- naš – masculine nominative singular
- naša – feminine nominative singular
- našu – feminine accusative singular
- našem – masculine locative/dative singular
Since grad is masculine, singular, and here in the locative case (gradu), the possessive must match:
- o našem gradu
not o naša grad or o našu grad
So našem is the correct masculine locative singular form agreeing with gradu.
Both exist, but they are not identical:
- serija – a TV series, drama, show made of episodes (the usual word for a TV show/series).
- serijal – a series in a broader sense, often:
- a series of programs (documentary series),
- a sequence of related items, sometimes used more in media/marketing language.
In most everyday contexts about TV shows, serija is the natural word.
So snimati seriju o našem gradu is the normal, idiomatic choice.