Vikendom češće šetamo u parku.

On weekends we walk in the park more often.

Breakdown of Vikendom češće šetamo u parku.

• u: in
• park: park
• vikendom: on weekends
• šetati: to stroll
• češće: more often

Questions & Answers about Vikendom češće šetamo u parku.

What does vikendom literally mean, and why isn’t it something like “za vikend”?

Vikendom literally means “on weekends / at weekends / during weekends” and talks about something that happens regularly on weekends.

Grammatically:

• vikendom is the instrumental singular of vikend used in a temporal meaning: “(in) time of weekend” → “on weekends”.
• It’s a very common, idiomatic way to express a habitual action that happens on weekends.

You can also say:

• Za vikend češće šetamo u parku. – “We walk in the park more often at the weekend.”
  • This tends to refer more to a particular or upcoming weekend, or to the weekend time frame more concretely, not so much to all weekends in general.

So:

• Vikendom = in general, as a routine: on weekends, usually.
• Za vikend = more specific weekend time, often this or that weekend.

Why is it vikendom and not vikend?

In Croatian, many time expressions use different cases instead of prepositions.

Here:

• vikendom is the instrumental case of vikend.
• Using instrumental without a preposition is a standard way to say “on X” or “during X” when X is a kind of time period:
  
  • danju – during the day
  • noću – at night
  • radnim danom – on workdays
  • vikendom – on weekends

Saying vikend (nominative) alone would just mean “(the) weekend” as a subject or object, not as a time expression. The -om ending is what turns it into a temporal adverbial meaning “on weekends”.

What is the difference between češće and često?

Both come from the adverb često (“often”):

• često = often
  
  • Vikendom često šetamo u parku. – “We often walk in the park on weekends.”
• češće = more often (comparative form)
  
  • Vikendom češće šetamo u parku. – “On weekends we walk in the park more often.”

So češće is just the comparative of često, just like:

• often → more often
• frequently → more frequently

Why is češće before šetamo? Could it come after the verb?

Češće is an adverb modifying the verb šetamo (“we walk”).

The most neutral, natural position for such adverbs in Croatian is before the verb:

• Vikendom češće šetamo u parku. ✅ (very natural)

You can move it for emphasis:

• Vikendom šetamo češće u parku.
• Češće vikendom šetamo u parku.

These are possible, but they slightly tweak the focus or sound less neutral. Putting češće right before šetamo is the standard, unmarked word order.

What does šetamo mean exactly, and how is it different from hodamo?

Both relate to walking, but they’re used differently:

• šetamo comes from šetati and means “to stroll / to go for a walk”.

  • It implies a relaxed, often pleasant walk, frequently done for leisure or exercise.
  • šetati psa – to walk the dog
  • ići u šetnju – to go for a walk

• hodamo comes from hodati and means “to walk” in a more neutral, physical sense:

  • Ne vozimo se, hodamo. – We don’t drive, we walk.
  • It’s more about the act of walking, not necessarily a stroll.

In your sentence:

• Vikendom češće šetamo u parku. suggests “we go for walks / we stroll in the park more often on weekends”, i.e. it’s a leisure activity.

Why is it u parku and not u park?

The preposition u can take locative or accusative, depending on meaning:

• u + locative = in, inside (location, no movement)

  • u parku – in the park
  • This answers “Where?” and describes a static location.

• u + accusative = into, to (movement towards)

  • u park – into the park / to the park
  • This answers “Where to?” and describes movement to a place.

Your sentence:

• Vikendom češće šetamo u parku.
  → The walking happens in the park (location), so you need locative: parku.

If you said:

• Vikendom češće idemo u park. – “We go to the park more often on weekends.”
  → now there is movement to the park, so park (accusative) is used.

Why does park become parku here?

Park is a masculine noun. In u parku, it’s in the locative singular case, which is used (among other things) for location after certain prepositions, especially u (in) and na (on).

Case change:

• Nominative: park – This park is big. (Ovaj park je velik.)
• Locative: parku – We walk in the park. (Šetamo u parku.)

The -u ending marks the locative: in the park.

Why is there no word for “the” in u parku? How do you know it’s “in the park” and not “in a park”?

Croatian does not have articles like “a/an/the”.

• u parku can mean “in the park” or “in a park”, depending on context.
• If earlier in the conversation you mentioned a particular park, listeners understand it as “in the (that) park.”
• If not specified, it can be more general, like “in a park / in the park” in English.

So you must rely on context and sometimes on word order or extra words (like taj park, “that park”) to make the meaning more precise:

• u tom parku – in that park
• u jednom parku – in a (certain) park

What tense is šetamo, and what kind of action does it express?

Šetamo is:

• Present tense
• 1st person plural (we)
• Imperfective aspect (ongoing / repeated action)

In this sentence, present tense is used in its habitual meaning:

• Vikendom češće šetamo u parku.
  → “On weekends we (tend to / usually) walk in the park more often.”

So it describes a regular, repeated activity, not something happening right this moment only.

Could the sentence also be Češće šetamo vikendom u parku or Šetamo vikendom češće u parku?

Yes, both are grammatically possible:

• Češće šetamo vikendom u parku.
• Šetamo vikendom češće u parku.

Croatian word order is fairly flexible. All these versions convey the same basic meaning, but:

• The original Vikendom češće šetamo u parku. is the most neutral and natural.
• Moving elements around may put slight emphasis on what comes first or what’s placed in a more prominent position in the sentence.

As a learner, it’s safest to stick to something like the original word order until you feel comfortable with nuances.

Is vikendom singular or plural? It sounds like “weekends” in English.

Grammatically, vikendom is:

• instrumental singular of vikend.

Even though English translates it as “on weekends” (plural), in Croatian it is singular in form but used as a time adverbial that already carries a general, habitual meaning.

Compare:

• radnim danom – on weekdays (literally “by the workday”, instrumental singular)
• noću – at night (from noć, night, in a temporal form)

So: singular in form, generic/habitual in meaning.

Could you say Vikendom češće hodamo u parku instead of šetamo?

You can say:

• Vikendom češće hodamo u parku.

It’s grammatically okay, but the nuance changes:

• šetamo → we go for walks / stroll in the park (leisure, recreation).
• hodamo → we walk in the park (focus on the physical act of walking, less specifically “strolling”).

In everyday speech, šetamo is more idiomatic for the idea of going for a walk in the park.

Is vikendom always used alone, or can it be modified, like “every weekend”?

You can use vikendom alone, or you can specify it further. For example:

• Svaki vikend šetamo u parku. – We walk in the park every weekend.
• Gotovo svakim vikendom šetamo u parku. – We walk in the park almost every weekend.
• Vikendom obično šetamo u parku. – On weekends we usually walk in the park.

Note that in:

• svaki vikend – “every weekend”
  you switch back to nominative vikend with the adjective svaki (“every”).
• vikendom on its own is already “on weekends / at weekends” in general.