Learn Hardcore Croatian: Tek navečer osjećam da sam umoran. - Only in the evening I feel that I am tired.

This means “I only feel tired in the evening (and not at other times)”, but it doesn’t automatically carry the idea of delay (“not until then”) as strongly as tek does.

In short:

tek = only / just, with the sense “not before that time”.
samo = only, simply limiting something, without the built‑in idea of “not before”.

Both can be correct here, but tek is more natural if you want the “not until evening” feeling.

What exactly does navečer mean, and how is it different from večer or uvečer?

Navečer is an adverb meaning “in the evening” in a general or habitual sense.

Tek navečer osjećam… = “Only in the evening I feel…”

Differences:

večer – a noun, “evening”.
- Ova večer = this evening
- Svake večeri = every evening
navečer – adverb, “(usually) in the evening”.
- Navečer čitam knjigu. = I read a book in the evenings.
uvečer – also an adverb, very similar to navečer.
- In modern standard Croatian, navečer is more common; uvečer can sound a bit more formal, regional, or old‑fashioned in some areas, but it’s not wrong.

In your sentence, navečer is the natural choice because you’re talking about when something typically happens.

Can I change the word order? For example: Osjećam da sam umoran tek navečer?

Yes, Croatian allows flexible word order, and Osjećam da sam umoran tek navečer is grammatically correct.

Typical variants and their feel:

Tek navečer osjećam da sam umoran.
→ Time expression is in front; emphasizes the time (“only in the evening”).
Osjećam da sam umoran tek navečer.
→ Focus shifts a bit to “tired only in the evening” at the end; still natural.
Tek navečer osjećam da sam umoran. vs. Osjećam tek navečer da sam umoran.
→ Both are possible; putting tek navečer earlier makes the time frame very prominent.

You just need to respect the placement of clitics like sam, se, ga, je, etc. (they normally appear in the “second position” in their clause), but in all the examples above, the placement is fine.

What does da do in osjećam da sam umoran, and why is it needed?

Da here is a conjunction meaning that, introducing a subordinate clause:

osjećam da sam umoran = “I feel that I am tired.”

Structure:

Main clause: (Ja) osjećam… – “I feel…”
Subordinate clause: da sam umoran – “that I am tired.”

In Croatian, verbs of perception or mental state (e.g. misliti, znati, osjećati) often take a da‑clause:

Mislim da je istina. = I think that it is true.
Znam da kasni. = I know that he/she is late.

You can’t drop da here:

✗ osjećam sam umoran – ungrammatical.

Alternatives without da use a different structure, e.g.:

Osjećam se umornim. = I feel tired. (literally “I feel myself tired”)

Why is it osjećam and not osjetim?

Croatian distinguishes imperfective and perfective verbs:

osjećati – imperfective (ongoing, repeated, general state), present: osjećam
osjetiti – perfective (single, completed event or moment of realization), present: osjetim

In your sentence, you’re describing a habitual / general feeling:

Tek navečer osjećam da sam umoran.
→ “Only in the evening (in general) I feel tired.”

So the imperfective present osjećam is normal.

If you said:

Tek navečer osjetim da sam umoran.

this would usually describe a single event or the moment when you notice it, often in a specific context, e.g.:

Kad popijem puno kave, tek navečer osjetim da sam umoran.
= When I drink a lot of coffee, I only notice I’m tired in the evening.

So osjećam = general, ongoing feeling;
osjetim = specific moment when the feeling hits or becomes noticeable.

What is the difference between osjećam da sam umoran and osjećam se umornim / osjećam se umoran?

All of these talk about how you feel, but the structure differs.

Osjećam da sam umoran.
- Literally: “I feel that I am tired.”
- Uses da
  - clause.
- Slightly more “cognitive”: you perceive or realize the state “I am tired.”
Osjećam se umornim. (normative form)
- Literally: “I feel myself tired.”
- se = reflexive pronoun; umornim is instrumental case.
- This is the standard way with se osjećati
  - predicate (instrumental).
Osjećam se umoran. (very common in speech)
- Same meaning as 2, but umoran is nominative.
- Common in everyday language, although grammar books usually prefer umornim.

Nuance:

osjećam da sam umoran sounds a bit more like you’re talking about realizing or perceiving your tiredness.
osjećam se umornim/umoran is more direct physical/mental feeling: “I feel tired.”

In your sentence, both patterns could appear:

Tek navečer osjećam da sam umoran.
Tek navečer osjećam se umornim.

Why is it da sam umoran and not da umoran sam?

This is about the special placement of short verb forms (clitics) like sam, si, je, smo, ste, su.

Rule of thumb:
In a clause, these clitics want to be in second position (after the first word or phrase of that clause).

In the subordinate clause:

First word: da
Second position: the clitic sam
Then the rest: umoran

So:

da sam umoran = correct, natural order.

If you said:

✗ da umoran sam

you’d be putting sam in the wrong place for a clitic (not in second position in that clause), so it sounds ungrammatical or very strange.

In a main clause you can say, for example:

Umoran sam. (first word Umoran, second position sam)
Ja sam umoran. (first word Ja, second word sam)

But not:

✗ Sam umoran. (unless sam means “alone” with a different meaning).

Why is there no ja (“I”) in the sentence?

Croatian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are usually omitted unless you want to emphasize them.

The verb ending ‑am in osjećam already tells us the subject is 1st person singular (“I”):

(Ja) osjećam = I feel.

So:

Tek navečer osjećam da sam umoran. – normal, neutral.
Ja tek navečer osjećam da sam umoran. – emphasizes ja (“I only feel tired in the evening”, maybe contrasting with others).

Most of the time, you leave ja out unless contrast or emphasis is intended.

Why is it umoran here, and how would it change for a female speaker or plural?

Umoran is an adjective meaning tired, and it must agree in gender and number with the subject.

In your sentence, the understood subject is ja (“I”), and it’s assumed to be masculine singular:

(Ja) sam umoran. – I am tired. (male speaker)

If a woman is speaking, she would say:

Tek navečer osjećam da sam umorna.
→ umorna = feminine singular.

Basic forms of umoran:

Masculine singular: umoran – Ja sam umoran.
Feminine singular: umorna – Ja sam umorna.
Neuter singular: umorno – Dijete je umorno. (The child is tired.)
Plural:
- Masculine animate/mixed: umorni – Mi smo umorni.
- Feminine: umorne – One su umorne.
- Neuter: umorna – Ta djeca su umorna.

So the sentence will change form depending on who ja refers to.

How do you pronounce Tek navečer osjećam da sam umoran?

Approximate pronunciation (one possible standard realization):

Tek – [tek], like tek in “tech” but with e as in “bed”.
navečer – roughly NA‑ve‑cher
- na as in “nah” (shorter),
- ve like “ve” in “very”,
- čer like “cher” in “cherish”;
- č is like ch in church.
osjećam – roughly OS‑ye‑cham
- o like “o” in “or” but shorter,
- sje approximates “sye”,
- ć is a softer “ch” sound, palatal (between t and ch),
- final ‑am like “um” but with clear a: “ahm”.
da – [da], like “duh” but with pure a.
sam – [sam], a as in “father” (short).
umoran – roughly OO‑mo‑ran
- u like “oo” in “food”,
- mo like “mo” in “motel”,
- ran like “run” but with a rolled/flapped r and clear a.

Stress in Croatian can vary regionally, but a simple learner‑friendly pattern would be to stress the first syllable of each word:

TEK NA‑ve‑čer O‑sje‑ćam da sam U‑mo‑ran

Even if the exact pitch accent is off, this will be clearly understood.