U podrumu čuvamo debele kapute i stare knjige.

In the basement we keep thick coats and old books.

Breakdown of U podrumu čuvamo debele kapute i stare knjige.

• u: in
• knjiga: book
• star: old
• i: and
• kaput: coat
• čuvati: to keep
• debeo: thick
• podrum: basement

Questions & Answers about U podrumu čuvamo debele kapute i stare knjige.

Why is there no word for we in the Croatian sentence?

Croatian usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

• čuvamo ends in -mo, which always means we (1st person plural).
• The full form with the pronoun would be Mi čuvamo debele kapute i stare knjige., but mi is only added:
  • for emphasis: Mi čuvamo, a oni bacaju. – We keep (them), but they throw (them) away.
  • or to avoid confusion.

So čuvamo on its own is naturally understood as we keep.

Why is it u podrumu and not u podrum?

Because u uses different cases depending on whether it’s location or movement.

• Location (where?) → locative case

  • u podrumu – in the basement (locative singular)
  • U podrumu čuvamo… – We keep (them) in the basement.

• Movement (where to?) → accusative case

  • Idemo u podrum. – We’re going to the basement.

For the noun podrum (basement):

• Nominative (dictionary form): podrum
• Accusative (to the basement): u podrum
• Locative (in the basement): u podrumu

Here it’s about where the coats and books are kept, so the locative podrumu is required.

How do I know when to use u and when to use na, since both can mean in/on/at?

Both u and na can translate as in, on, or at, but they follow patterns plus many fixed expressions.

Typical tendencies:

• u – inside/enclosed spaces, interiors, institutions:

  • u podrumu – in the basement
  • u kući – in the house
  • u školi – at school
  • u gradu – in the city

• na – surfaces, open areas, and many idiomatic uses:

  • na stolu – on the table
  • na ulici – in the street / on the street
  • na poslu – at work
  • na fakultetu – at university

You say u podrumu because a basement is understood as an enclosed interior space you are in, not on.

What exactly does čuvamo mean here – keep, store, or guard?

The verb čuvati has several related meanings:

• to keep / to store – to keep something in a safe place:

  • U podrumu čuvamo debele kapute i stare knjige.
  • We keep/store thick coats and old books in the basement.

• to guard / to watch over:

  • Čuva kuću. – He/She guards the house.
  • Čuvam djecu. – I’m babysitting / watching the children.

• to preserve / to protect:

  • Čuvamo tradiciju. – We preserve tradition.

In this sentence, the natural English translation is keep or store, with a nuance of keeping them safe and out of the way, not actively guarding them.

How is čuvamo formed from čuvati, and what are the other present-tense forms?

čuvati is the infinitive, meaning to keep / to guard. In the present tense:

• ja čuvam – I keep
• ti čuvaš – you (sg) keep
• on/ona/ono čuva – he/she/it keeps
• mi čuvamo – we keep
• vi čuvate – you (pl/polite) keep
• oni/one/ona čuvaju – they keep

So čuvamo is we keep. Croatian doesn’t have a separate form for we are keeping; context covers both simple and continuous meanings.

Why is it debele kapute and not debeli kaputi?

Because debele kapute is in the accusative plural (direct object), while debeli kaputi is nominative plural (subject).

The noun kaput (coat):

• Nominative singular: kaput – a coat
• Nominative plural: kaputi – coats (as subject)
• Accusative plural: kapute – coats (as object)

Compare:

• Debeli kaputi su u podrumu.
  Thick coats are in the basement.
  – debeli kaputi is the subject (nominative).

• U podrumu čuvamo debele kapute.
  In the basement we keep thick coats.
  – debele kapute is the object (accusative).

The adjective debele must match kapute in number (plural) and case (accusative), so we get debele kapute, not debeli kaputi.

Why do both debele kapute and stare knjige use adjectives ending in -e, even though kaput is masculine and knjiga is feminine?

In this sentence both adjective–noun phrases are in plural accusative, and in that form many adjectives end in -e regardless of gender.

Adjective–noun agreement:

• debele kapute

  • kapute – masculine plural accusative
  • debele – masculine plural accusative form of debeo (thick/fat)

• stare knjige

  • knjige – feminine plural accusative
  • stare – feminine plural accusative form of star (old)

To see the gender difference more clearly, look at the singular:

• Masculine:
  • debeo kaput – a thick coat
• Feminine:
  • stara knjiga – an old book

In the plural accusative:

• debele kapute – thick coats
• stare knjige – old books

So the -e ending appears in both, but they are different gender-specific forms that just happen to look the same in this case/number.

Why is it knjige and not knjiga?

Because we’re talking about books in the plural.

The noun knjiga (book):

• Nominative singular: knjiga – a book
• Nominative plural: knjige – books
• Accusative plural: knjige – also knjige (same as nominative plural)

In our sentence:

• stare knjige is plural accusative (direct object).
• English has old books; Croatian uses stare knjige.

If it were just one book in the object position, it would be:

• staru knjigu – an old book (accusative singular)

Can I change the word order, for example to Čuvamo debele kapute i stare knjige u podrumu?

Yes. Croatian word order is relatively flexible. All of these are grammatically correct:

• U podrumu čuvamo debele kapute i stare knjige.
• Čuvamo debele kapute i stare knjige u podrumu.
• Debele kapute i stare knjige čuvamo u podrumu.

The differences are about emphasis:

• Starting with U podrumu highlights the location: As for the basement, that’s where we keep…
• Placing u podrumu at the end (…knjige u podrumu) slightly emphasizes what we keep, then where as an afterthought.
• Starting with the objects (Debele kapute i stare knjige čuvamo…) emphasizes what we keep, then where.

English is much stricter about word order; Croatian uses it more for nuance than basic grammar.

Does debele mean thick or fat here, and is it rude if used about people?

debeo / debela / debelo and its plural forms (debeli, debele, debela) can mean:

• thick (for objects, clothing, books, etc.):

  • debeo kaput – a thick coat
  • debela knjiga – a thick book (many pages)

• fat (for people or animals):

  • debeo čovjek – a fat man
  • debela mačka – a fat cat

In debele kapute, the natural meaning is thick coats (warm, padded, winter coats).

Used about people, debeo/debela is usually considered impolite or blunt, like calling someone “fat” in English. For people, more neutral/softer words are often used instead, or it’s avoided altogether.

Why isn’t there a word for the or a in the Croatian sentence? How do we know if it’s the basement or a basement?

Croatian has no articles (no equivalents of a/an/the). Nouns normally appear without any article-like word:

• podrum – basement / the basement
• knjiga – book / a book
• kaput – coat / the coat

Whether you understand it as the basement or a basement comes from context, not from a specific word.

• In most real situations, U podrumu čuvamo… will mean in the (our) basement we keep….
• If someone were speaking very generally, it could also mean in a basement we keep….

When translating into English, you choose a or the based on what sounds natural in context.

How do you pronounce čuvamo, especially the letter č?

čuvamo has three syllables: ČU-va-mo.

• č – like ch in chocolate or church, but always pronounced clearly (never like sh).
• u – like oo in food.
• a – like a in father.
• o – like o in more (shorter).

Approximate English rendering: CHOO-vah-moh.

So the whole sentence:

• U podrumu čuvamo debele kapute i stare knjige.
  is roughly: Oo POH-droo-moo CHOO-vah-moh DEH-beh-leh kah-POO-teh ee STAH-reh KNYEE-geh.