Learn Hardcore Croatian: Djeca se znaju zabaviti u parku. - Children know how to have fun in the park.

The Croatian sentence is fairly close to the literal meaning, but the verb znaju here is not just “know (a fact)”, it leans toward “know how / are able to / tend to”, so it has a bit of an ability/habitual nuance.

What does “se” do in this sentence?

Se is a reflexive pronoun. In this sentence, it marks that the children are doing the action to themselves or for their own enjoyment.

The base verb is zabaviti (nekoga) – “to entertain (someone), to amuse (someone)”.
With se → zabaviti se means “to have fun, to enjoy oneself, to amuse oneself.”

So se here indicates that the children are the ones having fun themselves, not someone else entertaining them.

Why is it “znaju zabaviti se” in meaning, but written “se znaju zabaviti” in this word order?

In Croatian, short clitic words like se usually come in the second position in the clause (the so‑called “Wackernagel position”).

Logically, you might think in terms of:

djeca – znaju – zabaviti se

But because se is a clitic, it tends to move toward the front of the clause, after the first stressed word:

Djeca se znaju zabaviti u parku.

The underlying structure is still znati + zabaviti se, but Croatian word order rules for clitics force se earlier in the sentence.

In practice, you learn to treat “se znaju zabaviti” as a unit meaning “(they) know how to have fun / know how to enjoy themselves.”

What is the difference between “znaju zabaviti se” and just “se zabavljaju”?

Djeca se zabavljaju u parku.
- Imperfective aspect (zabavljati se)
- Means: “The children are having fun in the park” / “The children (generally) have fun in the park.”
- Focuses on the ongoing activity or regular action.
Djeca se znaju zabaviti u parku.
- Perfective infinitive (zabaviti se) with znaju
- Means more like: “Children know how to have fun in the park / They know how to really enjoy themselves there.”
- Adds a nuance of ability or knack—they’re good at turning the situation into fun.

So se zabavljaju = they are (or usually are) having fun;
se znaju zabaviti = they’re capable of having fun; they know how.

What is the difference between “zabaviti se” and “zabavljati se”?

They are aspectual pairs:

zabavljati se – imperfective
- Focus on duration or repeated action.
- “to be having fun”, “to be amusing oneself”, “to keep entertaining oneself”.
- Examples:
  - Djeca se zabavljaju. – “The children are having fun.”
  - Djeca se često zabavljaju u parku. – “The children often have fun in the park.”
zabaviti se – perfective
- Focus on the whole event or achieving the result “to have fun (successfully)”.
- Often appears with znati, htjeti, uspjeti, etc.
- Examples:
  - Djeca se znaju zabaviti. – “Children know how to have fun.”
  - Nadam se da ćemo se zabaviti. – “I hope we’ll have fun.”

In “Djeca se znaju zabaviti”, the perfective zabaviti se fits well with znati to express the idea of being able to (successfully) have fun.

Why is it “znaju zabaviti” (perfective infinitive) and not “znaju zabavljati se”? Are both possible?

Both are possible, but the nuance changes:

Djeca se znaju zabaviti u parku.
- Perfective infinitive zabaviti (se).
- Implies: they know how to make it fun, how to turn it into a good time.
- There is a sense of achieving a fun experience.
Djeca se znaju zabavljati u parku.
- Imperfective zabavljati se.
- Implies: they know how to keep themselves entertained, they know how to spend time having fun.
- Emphasis on the process/duration of having fun.

In everyday speech, the perfective zabaviti se with znati is very natural and common in this phrase.

What exactly does “znaju” mean here? Is it just “know”?

Znaju is the 3rd person plural of znati (“to know”).

Here, znati + infinitive means “to know how to / to be able to (by skill or experience)”:

znati plivati – “to know how to swim”
znati kuhati – “to know how to cook”
znaju zabaviti se – “they know how to have fun / enjoy themselves”

So in this sentence, znaju expresses ability or skill, not just knowledge of a fact.

What is the grammatical form of “djeca”? Why isn’t it djecu or something else?

Djeca is a special noun:

It is a plural-only noun meaning “children”.
It is in the nominative plural here, because it is the subject of the sentence.

Some notes:

dijete – “child” (singular)
djeca – “children” (plural)
Verb agreement:
- Djeca znaju. – 3rd person plural verb form (like with “Oni znaju”).

So djeca is the correct subject form; djecu would be accusative plural (“I see the children” – Vidim djecu.).

Which case is used in “u parku”, and why?

U parku uses the locative case (singular masculine: park – u parku).

The preposition u (“in”) with locative is used to express location:
- u parku – “in the park”
- u školi – “at school / in school”
- u kući – “in the house”

If it were motion into the park, you would use u + accusative:

Idemo u park. – “We’re going to the park.” (accusative: park)

Here, they’re already in the park, so: u parku (locative).

Can the word order change, for example “Djeca znaju se zabaviti u parku” or “U parku se djeca znaju zabaviti”?

Some changes are grammatical, some sound wrong:

Djeca znaju se zabaviti u parku.
- This is unnatural / incorrect in standard Croatian.
- The clitic se should not be placed after znaju here; it belongs earlier.
U parku se djeca znaju zabaviti.
- This is correct.
- Meaning is almost the same, but now “u parku” is emphasized (you’re stressing the park).

Other acceptable variants (with different emphasis) include:

Djeca se u parku znaju zabaviti.
U parku djeca se znaju zabaviti. (less common, but possible in speech for emphasis)

The key rule: se (as a clitic) usually comes right after the first stressed element of the clause.

Why is there no word for “the” before “children” or “park”?

Croatian does not have articles like “a”, “an”, or “the”. Context tells you whether it’s specific or general.

Djeca se znaju zabaviti u parku.
- Could be understood as “(The) children know how to have fun in (the) park.”
- Often it’s general: “Children know how to have fun in a/the park (in parks in general).”

You choose “a” or “the” in English based on context, but Croatian simply uses djeca, park, u parku without articles.

Does “Djeca se znaju zabaviti u parku” sound like a general statement about kids, or about particular children?

It can be either, depending on context and intonation:

General statement:
- “Children (in general) know how to have fun in the park.”
- Like a comment about kids’ natural tendency.
Specific group:
- “(These) children know how to have fun in the park.”
- Said while watching a particular group of kids.

Croatian itself doesn’t mark this difference with articles; it’s inferred from the situation.

How would you say the same thing about just one child instead of “children”?

For a single child, you’d use dijete:

Dijete se zna zabaviti u parku.
- “A/The child knows how to have fun in the park.”

Changes:

Djeca znaju → Dijete zna (3rd singular).
Everything else stays the same: se zabaviti u parku.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral?

“Djeca se znaju zabaviti u parku.” is neutral, standard Croatian.

You can use it in everyday conversation, in writing, or in a neutral descriptive context.
It’s neither slangy nor especially formal.