Learn Hardcore Croatian: Umjetnost joj je važna, pa vikendom ide na tečaj klavira s rođakinjom. - Art is important to her, so on weekends she goes to a piano course with her cousin female.

Umjetnost joj je važna literally: Art is important to her.
- Structure: [something] + je + [to someone in dative] + važno / važna / važan…
- Focuses on importance / value, not just liking.
- The “experiencer” (the person for whom something is important) is put in the dative (joj = to her).
Ona voli umjetnost = She likes/loves art.
- Structure: [subject in nominative] + voli + [object in accusative].
- Focuses on liking, more emotional and direct, less about priorities or values.

You can often use either in context, but:

use Umjetnost joj je važna when you want to stress that art plays an important role in her life / priorities;
use Ona voli umjetnost when you simply want to say she likes art.

What exactly is joj in Umjetnost joj je važna? Why not ona or njoj?

Joj is a clitic dative pronoun meaning to her.

ona = she (nominative, subject form)
njoj = to her (dative, stressed form)
joj = to her (dative, unstressed/clitic form)

In Croatian, when you say something like “X is important to someone”, the someone is usually put in the dative:

Umjetnost joj je važna. – Art is important to her.
Posao mu je važan. – Work is important to him.
Obitelj mi je važna. – Family is important to me.

Joj is a clitic, so it:

is short and unstressed;
normally appears in the second position in the clause (after the first word or phrase).

That’s why we say:

Umjetnost joj je važna. (X joj je Y)

Using njoj instead of joj is possible but changes the rhythm/emphasis:

Umjetnost je važna njoj. – Emphasis on her (as opposed to others).
Njoj je umjetnost važna. – Emphasis on her again; sounds more contrastive.

So:

joj = normal, neutral clitic form inside the sentence,
njoj = stressed form, often used for emphasis or contrast.

Why is the word order Umjetnost joj je važna and not Joj je umjetnost važna or Važna joj je umjetnost?

All of these are grammatically possible, but the word order changes what is emphasized. Croatian word order is quite flexible and is mainly used for information structure and emphasis, not for basic grammar roles.

Umjetnost joj je važna.
- Most neutral here.
- Umjetnost (art) is the topic: “As for art, it is important to her.”
Joj je umjetnost važna.
- Sounds more marked and a bit literary/poetic in isolation.
- Could appear in special contexts (e.g. to keep some rhythm or stress).
Važna joj je umjetnost.
- Emphasizes važno (importance) or umjetnost in contrast:
- Like: “It is art that is important to her (not something else).”
Njoj je umjetnost važna.
- Puts emphasis on njoj (her): “She is someone for whom art is important (unlike others).”

All are correct; Umjetnost joj je važna is the natural, neutral statement without any special contrast.

What does pa mean in … važna, pa vikendom ide na tečaj klavira …? Is it like “and”, “so”, or “because”?

Pa is a very common conjunction that often means something like “so / and so / and therefore”, with a slight sense of consequence, but softer and more conversational than a clear “because/therefore”.

In this sentence:

Umjetnost joj je važna, pa vikendom ide na tečaj klavira…
≈ “Art is important to her, so she goes to a piano course on weekends.”

Comparison:

i – just and, simple addition:
- Umjetnost joj je važna i vikendom ide na tečaj klavira.
  = “Art is important to her and she goes to a piano course on weekends.”
  (Two facts, not explicitly cause → result.)
jer / zato što – because:
- Vikendom ide na tečaj klavira jer joj je umjetnost važna.
  = “She goes to a piano course on weekends because art is important to her.”
  (Explicit reason.)
pa – in between:
- Feels like “and so / and then / so”, often used in storytelling and everyday speech.

The comma before pa is normal because it links two clauses.

What form is vikendom, and why does it mean “on weekends”?

Vikendom is the instrumental singular of vikend (“weekend”), used adverbially to express a habitual time: “(on) weekends / at weekends”.

Pattern: [time word in instrumental] → “on X” in a general, repeated sense.

Examples:

Vikendom učim. – I study on weekends (usually).
Nedjeljom odmaramo. – We rest on Sundays.
Noću je tiho. – It’s quiet at night.

Nuance compared to other options:

vikendom – general, repeated: every or most weekends.
za vikend – “this weekend / at the weekend” (often one specific upcoming/past weekend, or more loosely “on the weekend” in speech).
svakog vikenda – explicitly “every weekend”.

So vikendom ide na tečaj klavira = “She goes to a piano course (habitually) on weekends.”

Why is it ide na tečaj klavira and not ide u tečaj klavira?

Croatian uses different prepositions with ići (“to go”) depending on what you’re going to:

na
- accusative is used for events, activities, and organized sessions:
- ići na tečaj – go to a course
- ići na sat / predavanje – go to a lesson / lecture
- ići na koncert / kino / izlet – go to a concert / cinema / trip
u
- accusative is typically used for physical places / enclosed spaces:
- ići u školu – go to school (building / institution)
- ići u trgovinu – go to the shop
- ići u grad – go to town

Because tečaj (“course”) is understood as an activity/session you attend, the natural phrase is:

ići na tečaj (not u tečaj).

Why is it tečaj klavira and not tečaj za klavir or something else?

In tečaj klavira, klavira is in the genitive case. This tečaj + genitive pattern is very common for saying “a course in X / a course of X”:

tečaj hrvatskog jezika – Croatian language course
tečaj plesa – dance course
tečaj kuhanja – cooking course
tečaj programiranja – programming course

So tečaj klavira = “a piano course / a course of piano”.

You can sometimes see tečaj za klavir, but that sounds more like “a course for the piano”, and is less idiomatic for describing what is being studied. The genitive is the standard way to express the subject matter of a course.

What case is s rođakinjom, and why is that form used?

S rođakinjom uses the instrumental case after the preposition s (“with”).

Nominative: rođakinja – (female) cousin
Instrumental: rođakinjom

Formed by:

stem rođakinj-
- -om → rođakinjom

The preposition s (or sa) + instrumental is used to mean “with (someone)” in the sense of company:

s prijateljem – with a (male) friend
s prijateljicom – with a (female) friend
s bratom – with (my) brother
s rođakom – with (my male) cousin
s rođakinjom – with (my female) cousin

In this sentence, na tečaj klavira s rođakinjom means “to a piano course with her cousin (female)”, i.e. they go together.

When do we use s and when sa before words like rođakinjom? Why is it s rođakinjom here?

Both s and sa mean “with”. S is the basic form; sa is used:

mainly for easier pronunciation, often before words starting with s, z, š, ž or certain consonant clusters,
sometimes for emphasis.

Typical examples with sa:

sa sestrom – with (my) sister (s + s- would be hard to pronounce)
sa psom – with the dog (some speakers prefer this for ease)
sa mnom, sa tobom, sa njim – very common fixed expressions

Here we say:

s rođakinjom (not sa rođakinjom) because s + r is easy enough to pronounce; s rođakinjom is the natural, standard choice.

In practice:

If the next word starts with s, z, š, ž or a difficult cluster, sa is likely.
Otherwise, s is more common, and s rođakinjom fits that pattern.

Could we say Pohađa tečaj klavira instead of vikendom ide na tečaj klavira? What’s the difference?

Yes, pohađa tečaj klavira is correct, but it changes the nuance.

ide na tečaj klavira – literally “goes to a piano course”
- Focuses on the physical act of going/attending, regular movement.
- With vikendom, it clearly expresses a habit: “she goes (there) on weekends.”
pohađa tečaj klavira – “attends a piano course”
- More formal, often used in written language, school reports, etc.
- Stresses enrolment and regular attendance rather than the act of going each time.

So:

Umjetnost joj je važna, pa vikendom ide na tečaj klavira s rođakinjom.
– Everyday, conversational style; you imagine them physically going every weekend.
Umjetnost joj je važna, pa pohađa tečaj klavira.
– More formal, reporting style; states the fact that she attends such a course, without the vivid “weekend” detail.