Learn Hardcore Croatian: U džep jakne uvijek stavim mali šal kad je vjetar hladan. - In the pocket of my jacket I always put a small scarf when the wind is cold.

stavim u džep = I put (something) into the pocket → motion → accusative (džep)
imam u džepu = I have (something) in the pocket → location → locative (džepu)

So with stavim (I put), you need u džep (accusative).
u džepu jakne would sound wrong here, because it would mean “in the pocket of the jacket” as a static location, not a destination.

What case is jakne in u džep jakne, and why is it used?

jakne here is genitive singular of jakna (jacket).

The structure is basically:

u džep (čega?) jakne = into the pocket of the jacket

Croatian often uses the genitive to show possession or a “whole–part” relationship:

džep jakne = the pocket of the jacket
vrata sobe = the door of the room
boja zida = the color of the wall

You could also say:

u džep od jakne = into the pocket of the jacket

Here od also governs the genitive, so jakne stays in the genitive case.

Could I say u džepu jakne with stavim, or is that always wrong?

With stavim, u džep (accusative) is strongly preferred and standard.

You will occasionally hear stavim u džepu in informal speech, but it’s considered non‑standard or sloppy; grammatically it mixes a verb of motion with a static case (locative).

For clear, correct Croatian:

stavim u džep (accusative) – destination
je / stoji / imam u džepu (locative) – location

So in this sentence you should stick to u džep jakne.

Can I move uvijek, mali šal, or u džep jakne around, or is the word order fixed?

The word order is flexible, but some options sound more natural than others. All of these are grammatical:

U džep jakne uvijek stavim mali šal kad je vjetar hladan.
Uvijek stavim mali šal u džep jakne kad je vjetar hladan.
Mali šal uvijek stavim u džep jakne kad je vjetar hladan.

Main points:

uvijek (always) most commonly goes before the verb:
Uvijek stavim… / …uvijek stavim…
The phrase u džep jakne can go either before or after the object:
- u džep jakne stavim mali šal
- stavim mali šal u džep jakne

Changing the order mostly affects emphasis, not basic meaning. For example:

Mali šal uvijek stavim… – slight emphasis on “the small scarf”.

Why is the verb stavim (perfective) used here, and could I also say stavljam?

Both stavim (perfective) and stavljam (imperfective) are possible, but they differ in nuance.

uvijek stavim – each time the wind is cold, you see the action as a single, complete act:
- “I always (make sure to) put a small scarf…”
uvijek stavljam – focuses more on the ongoing, habitual nature of the action:
- “I always put / I’m always putting a small scarf…”

In real life:

Many speakers would more naturally say Uvijek stavljam mali šal u džep jakne kad je vjetar hladan.
Uvijek stavim… is still correct and common, just a bit more “each time I do it, I complete that action” in flavor.

For a learner, you can safely use stavljam for habits, but know that stavim isn’t wrong here.

What’s the difference between kad and kada? Could I use kada here?

kad and kada are essentially the same word in everyday Croatian:

Both mean “when” (in the temporal sense).
kada is slightly more formal or careful.
In normal conversation, kad is much more frequent.

In this sentence you can use either:

…kad je vjetar hladan.
…kada je vjetar hladan.

The meaning doesn’t change.

Why is it kad je vjetar hladan and not just kad je hladno?

Both are possible, but they’re not identical:

kad je vjetar hladan = when the wind is cold
– specifically refers to the wind being cold.
kad je hladno = when it’s cold (weather is cold)
– more general, about the overall temperature, not only the wind.

Your sentence focuses on wind as the cause, so kad je vjetar hladan is more precise. You could also say:

Kad je hladno i puše vjetar, uvijek stavim mali šal u džep jakne.

Why is the word order kad je vjetar hladan and not kad vjetar je hladan?

Because of the position of je, which is a clitic (a short, unstressed form of the verb “to be”).

In Croatian, clitics like je must appear in second position in their clause:

Clause: kad je vjetar hladan
- 1st element: kad
- 2nd position: je
- then: vjetar hladan

You cannot say kad vjetar je hladan, because that puts je in 3rd position in the clause, which violates Croatian clitic rules.

Other acceptable variants (with different emphasis) still obey the “second position” rule:

Kad je hladan vjetar, …
Vjetar je hladan kad… (here je is still 2nd in its clause: vjetar je hladan)

What is the grammatical role of vjetar and hladan in kad je vjetar hladan?

vjetar = subject of the clause, masculine singular nominative.
je = 3rd person singular of biti (to be).
hladan = predicate adjective; it describes the subject and agrees with it in:
- gender: masculine
- number: singular
- case: nominative

So structurally it’s just like English “the wind is cold”:

vjetar (wind) – subject
je (is) – verb
hladan (cold) – predicate adjective

Why is it mali šal, and not malo šal or malen šal?

The noun šal (scarf) is masculine, so the adjective must agree:

masculine nominative singular: mali
neuter nominative singular: malo
feminine nominative singular: mala

So:

mali šal – correct (masculine)
malo šal – wrong (mismatch: neuter adjective with masculine noun)
malen šal – also possible; malen is a stylistic/poetic variant of “small, little,” a bit less common in everyday speech.

You might also hear:

jedan mali šal – “one small scarf” (often just for emphasis, not counting literally)

Why are there no words like “the” or “a” in the Croatian sentence?

Croatian doesn’t have articles like English a/an or the.

So:

džep jakne can mean “a pocket of the jacket” or “the pocket of the jacket”, depending on context.
mali šal can be “a small scarf” or “the small scarf”.
vjetar can be “(the) wind” or “a wind”.

Definiteness (the/a) is usually clear from context, not from a specific word.

Could I say Kad je vjetar hladan, uvijek stavim mali šal u džep jakne instead?

Yes, that is completely natural and maybe even more typical:

Kad je vjetar hladan, uvijek stavim mali šal u džep jakne.

Here you just move the kad‑clause to the front and put a comma:

[When the wind is cold], I always put a small scarf in the jacket pocket.

Both orders are fine:

U džep jakne uvijek stavim mali šal kad je vjetar hladan.
Kad je vjetar hladan, uvijek stavim mali šal u džep jakne.

The meaning is the same; the difference is stylistic and about which part you foreground first.

Is the tense present in stavim and je, and can it refer to repeated actions like in English?

Yes. Both verbs are in the present tense:

stavim – present, 1st person singular
je – present, 3rd person singular

Croatian present can express:

current actions – “I’m putting it in now.”
habits / repeated actions – “I (always) put it in.”
general truths – “The wind is cold.”

So using the present here with uvijek and kad is entirely normal and directly parallels English “I always put a small scarf in the jacket pocket when the wind is cold.”