Learn Hardcore Croatian: Još nisam odlučio gdje da živim sljedeće godine. - I still haven’t decided where to live next year. male speaker

In nisam odlučio, the auxiliary sam (inside nisam) is 1st person singular, so it clearly means I have not decided / I didn’t decide.

You could say Ja još nisam odlučio…, but that usually adds emphasis on I (as opposed to someone else), like: I haven’t decided yet (but maybe others have). In neutral sentences, Croatians simply leave ja out.

What exactly does još mean here, and where can it go in the sentence?

In this sentence još means yet (or still): Još nisam odlučio… = I haven’t decided yet.

Typical positions are:

Još nisam odlučio gdje da živim sljedeće godine.
Nisam još odlučio gdje da živim sljedeće godine.

Both are correct and common. The difference is very small:

Još nisam odlučio… slightly emphasizes the “still not” idea.
Nisam još odlučio… puts a tiny bit more focus on the verb odlučio.

You would not normally say Nisam odlučio još gdje da živim, because još usually comes before the main verb or just after the auxiliary in this kind of sentence.

What tense is nisam odlučio, and how is it formed?

Nisam odlučio is the perfect tense in Croatian, used very often for past actions and also for “have not yet done” situations.

It is formed with:

the present tense of biti (to be) as an auxiliary, plus
the past participle (l-participle) of the main verb.

Breakdown:

nisam = ne (not) + sam (I am / I have, as an auxiliary in perfect)
odlučio = past participle of odlučiti (to decide)

So literally: I am-not decided = I have not decided / I haven’t decided.

The neutral past I decided is also usually expressed with this perfect: Odlučio sam.

Why is it odlučio and not some other form like odlučila or odlučili?

The past participle (odlučio) agrees with the subject in gender and number.

odlučio – masculine singular
odlučila – feminine singular
odlučilo – neuter singular
odlučili – masculine or mixed plural
odlučile – feminine plural

Since the sentence is Još nisam odlučio…, it assumes the speaker is male.

If a woman says it, she should say:

Još nisam odlučila gdje da živim sljedeće godine.

What is the difference between odlučiti and odlučivati?

They are aspectual partners:

odlučiti – perfective (to decide – a single, completed act)
odlučivati – imperfective (to be deciding, to decide repeatedly / habitually)

In Još nisam odlučio, odlučiti is perfective because you are talking about the result: whether the decision has been made or not. With još and a negative, this is the normal pattern: Još nisam odlučio = I haven’t decided yet.

You would not say Još ne odlučujem gdje da živim… in this meaning; that would suggest an ongoing process of deciding right now, and sounds unnatural here.

Why is gdje used and not kamo?

Croatian distinguishes:

gdje – where (location, “in what place”)
kamo – (to) where (direction, movement toward a place)

In this sentence you are talking about where you will live (a location, a state), not about moving to some place at this moment. So gdje is correct:

gdje da živim = where (in which place) I should live

You would use kamo for movement, e.g.:

Kamo da idem? – Where should I go (to)?

What does da do in gdje da živim? Is it like English that?

The da here is not really that in the English sense. It is a particle that introduces a clause with a mood similar to English “should / is to / ought to” or a kind of subjunctive:

gdje da živim ≈ where (I am) to live / where I should live

After verbs of wanting, deciding, planning, etc., Croatian often uses da + present tense to express what should happen:

Želim da živim u Zagrebu. – I want to live in Zagreb.
Nisam odlučio gdje da živim. – I haven’t decided where I should live.

So gdje da živim feels like where to live / where I should live, not literally “where that I live”.

Could I say gdje ću živjeti instead of gdje da živim? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

Još nisam odlučio gdje ću živjeti sljedeće godine.

This is very natural and perhaps more neutral, especially in standard Croatian.

Rough nuance:

gdje da živim – feels more like “where I should live / where I am to live”, a bit more about the decision / choice itself.
gdje ću živjeti – more straightforward “where I will live”, focusing on the future situation.

In everyday speech both are used, and in many contexts they will feel almost the same.

Could I use the infinitive instead of da + present, like gdje živjeti?

In principle, yes: Croatian allows infinitives in this kind of structure, especially in more formal or written style:

Još nisam odlučio gdje živjeti sljedeće godine.

This is similar in feel to English “I haven’t decided where to live next year.”

However, in ordinary speech many people prefer either:

gdje ću živjeti
or
gdje da živim

So all three are possible, with slightly different stylistic and regional preferences:

gdje ću živjeti – very common, neutral.
gdje da živim – common in speech, a bit more “subjunctive-like”.
gdje živjeti – more formal / written-sounding.

Why is živim in the present tense when it refers to the future?

In gdje da živim sljedeće godine, the present živim is inside a da-clause, which often behaves like a kind of subjunctive / “should” construction. Even though živim is present in form, the time reference is given by the context and sljedeće godine (next year).

A very literal way to feel it is like:

gdje da živim (sljedeće godine) ≈ where should I live (next year)

If you want a clear future form without da, you use:

gdje ću živjeti sljedeće godine – where I will live next year.

Why is it sljedeće godine and not sljedeću godinu?

Sljedeće godine is the genitive singular of sljedeća godina.

In many time expressions without a preposition, Croatian uses the genitive:

prošle godine – last year
ove godine – this year
sljedeće godine – next year

So sljedeće godine on its own means next year in the sense of during next year or in the coming year.

You use the accusative (sljedeću godinu) when “next year” is a direct object or part of a prepositional phrase that governs the accusative:

Planiram sljedeću godinu provesti u Zagrebu. – I plan to spend next year in Zagreb.
Za sljedeću godinu imam puno planova. – For next year I have many plans.

Can I use iduće godine instead of sljedeće godine?

Yes. Iduće and sljedeće (from idući and sljedeći) are very close in meaning and often interchangeable:

Još nisam odlučio gdje da živim iduće godine.
Još nisam odlučio gdje da živim sljedeće godine.

Both mean next year. Usage and preference vary slightly by region and personal style, but for most learners they can be treated as synonyms here.

Can the word order of sljedeće godine change? For example, can I say Još nisam odlučio sljedeće godine gdje da živim?

The most natural positions for sljedeće godine in this sentence are:

Još nisam odlučio gdje da živim sljedeće godine.
Još nisam odlučio gdje ću živjeti sljedeće godine.

You can also move it toward the beginning:

Sljedeće godine još nisam odlučio gdje da živim.
(grammatically possible, but the emphasis becomes a bit unusual: as for next year, I still haven’t decided where to live.)

However, Još nisam odlučio sljedeće godine gdje da živim sounds unnatural; splitting the main verb (odlučio) from its clause (gdje da živim) with sljedeće godine in between is not typical in Croatian.

So, keep sljedeće godine either:

at the end, after the clause (…gdje da živim sljedeće godine), or
at the very start, if you want to emphasize next year as the topic.