Questions & Answers about Tada smo bili u gradu.
In Croatian, the usual past tense (called the perfect) is formed with:
- a present tense form of biti (to be) as an auxiliary: sam, si, je, smo, ste, su
- plus a past participle of the main verb: here bili (from biti, to be)
So:
- smo = we are (present auxiliary)
- bili = past participle been
Together smo bili literally looks like “we are been”, but functionally it means “we were”.
So Tada smo bili u gradu = Then we were in the city/town.
Smo is a clitic – a short, unstressed word that normally stands in the second position in the clause. Croatian has fairly strict rules about where clitics go.
The basic pattern is:
- First comes the first stressed word or phrase in the sentence (here Tada).
- Then come clitics (here smo).
- Then the rest of the sentence (here bili u gradu).
So:
- ✅ Tada smo bili u gradu. (correct)
- ❌ Tada bili smo u gradu. (sounds wrong because smo is not in the usual clitic position)
Yes, you can change the word order, and it’s still grammatically correct, but the emphasis changes slightly.
All of these are possible and natural:
- Tada smo bili u gradu.
- Bili smo tada u gradu.
- U gradu smo tada bili.
The basic meaning (“At that time, we were in the city/town”) stays the same.
Subtle differences:
- Tada smo bili u gradu. – Slight focus on “then/at that time” as the starting point.
- Bili smo tada u gradu. – Slightly more focus on the state of being in the city, with tada inserted for when.
- U gradu smo tada bili. – Brings “in the city” to the front, so the location feels a bit more emphasized.
In normal conversation, they are pretty interchangeable.
Grad is the basic (nominative) form meaning city / town.
In u gradu, the noun is in the locative singular:
- u (in) + gradu (locative of grad)
The locative is used mainly after certain prepositions, especially:
- u (in)
- na (on, at)
when they express location (where?), not direction (where to?).
So:
- grad – nominative (dictionary form)
- u gradu – “in the city/town” (locative)
The difference is direction vs. location:
u grad (usually u grad with accusative): to the city / into the city – movement, direction
- Idemo u grad. – We are going to the city.
u gradu (locative): in the city – location, no movement
- Tada smo bili u gradu. – Then we were in the city.
So in your sentence, u gradu is correct because it describes where you were, not where you are going.
Yes, both tada and onda can be translated as “then”, but there are some tendencies:
tada
- Often a bit more neutral or slightly bookish.
- Commonly used in telling stories, written language, or when referring to a specific time already mentioned:
- Tada smo bili u gradu. – At that time, we were in the city.
onda
- Very common in speech, slightly more colloquial.
- Can mean “then” (at that time), but also “so / in that case” as a discourse marker:
- Onda smo bili u gradu. – Then we were in the city.
- Onda idemo! – So, let’s go!
In your sentence, Tada smo bili u gradu and Onda smo bili u gradu both sound fine; onda might feel a bit more conversational.
The past participle of biti (to be) changes according to gender and number of the subject:
- bio – masculine singular (he, one male)
- bila – feminine singular (she, one female)
- bilo – neuter singular (it)
- bili – masculine plural / mixed-gender plural (they / we / you)
- bile – feminine plural (group of only females)
In Tada smo bili u gradu, the subject is we (mi), which is normally treated as:
- bili if the group is all male or mixed
- bile if the group is all female
So with a mixed or default group, smo bili is the standard form.
The subject pronoun mi (we) is not written, but it is implied.
Croatian is a pro‑drop language, which means subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb already shows person and number:
- smo clearly tells you it’s “we”.
So:
- Mi smo bili u gradu. – We were in the city. (more explicit, can add emphasis on we)
- Tada smo bili u gradu. – Then (we) were in the city. (normal, natural)
Leaving out mi is very common and sounds perfectly natural.
The noun grad literally means city or town, but in everyday speech:
- ići u grad / biti u gradu is often used idiomatically as “to go into town / to be in town”, especially when referring to the nearest urban center where you shop, meet friends, etc.
So depending on context, Tada smo bili u gradu can naturally be translated as:
- Then we were in the city.
- Then we were in town.
If you’re talking about a specific major city (e.g. Zagreb), “in the city” may fit better; if it’s just your local town, “in town” is often the most idiomatic English.
Tada smo bili u gradu already corresponds very naturally to “At that time we were in the city”.
If you want to stress “at that time” even more, you can add u to vrijeme:
- U to vrijeme smo bili u gradu. – At that time we were in the city.
But in most cases, simple Tada smo bili u gradu is exactly what you need.