Questions & Answers about On ih želi zabaviti u parku.
Ih means them and it is the accusative plural form of the 3rd person pronoun (they = oni).
- Nominative: oni (they)
- Accusative: ih (them)
So ih is the direct object of zabaviti (to entertain):
On (he) – ih (them) – želi zabaviti (wants to entertain).
Ih is a clitic (an unstressed short pronoun). Croatian has a strong rule that clitics usually go in second position in the clause (the so‑called Wackernagel position).
In On ih želi zabaviti u parku:
- On – first stressed word (subject)
- ih – clitic, so it moves right after the first stressed word
- želi zabaviti – the rest of the verb phrase
That is why:
- ✅ On ih želi zabaviti u parku. (correct, natural)
- ❌ On želi ih zabaviti u parku. (ungrammatical in standard Croatian)
- ❌ On želi zabaviti ih u parku. (also wrong in standard Croatian)
Clitics (like se, ga, je, mu, im, ih) must normally stay in this second position.
Both are verbs, but they have different roles:
- želi = wants (3rd person singular present of željeti)
- zabaviti = to entertain / to amuse (infinitive, perfective aspect)
Grammatically:
- želi is the finite verb (it carries person, number, tense).
- zabaviti is an infinitive complement of želi.
So the basic structure is:
On (subject) želi (wants) zabaviti (to entertain) ih (them) u parku (in the park).
Even though ih is written before želi because of the clitic rule, it still logically belongs as the object of zabaviti.
In standard Croatian, both of these sound incorrect / very unnatural:
- ❌ On želi ih zabaviti u parku.
- ❌ On želi zabaviti ih u parku.
Because ih is a clitic, it doesn’t behave like a normal stressed word; it must go to the clitic cluster position (usually right after the first stressed word in the clause).
So the standard, natural choice is:
- ✅ On ih želi zabaviti u parku.
No, you normally cannot start a sentence with a clitic like ih in Croatian. You need some full (stressed) word before it, or at least a conjunction like i (and), ali (but), etc.
- ❌ Ih želi zabaviti u parku. – ungrammatical in isolation
- ✅ On ih želi zabaviti u parku.
- ✅ U parku ih želi zabaviti. (Here u parku is first, so ih can come second.)
You can drop On (Croatian is often “pro‑drop”), but then you must start with another full word:
- ✅ Želi ih zabaviti u parku. – He wants to entertain them in the park. (subject on is understood from context)
So: subject pronouns like on are often left out, but clitics like ih cannot stand first.
Both are related but differ in aspect:
- zabaviti – perfective: to entertain (once, as a completed act)
- zabavljati – imperfective: to be entertaining, to entertain repeatedly or over time
In your sentence:
- On ih želi zabaviti u parku.
→ He wants to (successfully, at least once) entertain them in the park, focusing on the result of entertaining.
If you said:
- On ih želi zabavljati u parku.
→ More like He wants to (keep) entertaining them in the park or He wants to be entertaining them (there) – focusing on the process / duration / repeated action.
Both can be grammatically correct, but they have different nuances.
U parku uses:
- u – the preposition in / at
- parku – locative singular of park
Croatian uses:
- u
- locative to express location (where something is happening):
- u parku – in the park (location)
- locative to express location (where something is happening):
- u
- accusative to express movement into somewhere (where you are going to):
- u park – into the park (movement towards)
- accusative to express movement into somewhere (where you are going to):
In On ih želi zabaviti u parku, the action is happening in that place, not moving to it, so the locative parku is used.
Here zabaviti is a normal transitive verb, not reflexive:
- zabaviti nekoga – to entertain someone (transitive)
- On ih želi zabaviti. – He wants to entertain them.
Reflexive would be:
- zabaviti se – to have fun (oneself), to entertain oneself
- On se želi zabaviti u parku. – He wants to have fun (himself) in the park.
So:
- On ih želi zabaviti u parku. – He wants to entertain them.
- On se želi zabaviti u parku. – He wants to have fun himself.
Changing ih to se changes the meaning.
The present tense želi describes his current state of wanting. In English we also say “He wants to entertain them” in the present.
The entertaining itself is understood as future relative to now, but Croatian (like English) typically uses:
- present of the verb of desire/intention (želi)
- infinitive for the action (zabaviti)
to express this idea.
If you wanted to say “He will entertain them in the park” (a plain future plan or prediction), you would change the verb of entertaining, not the verb željeti:
- On će ih zabaviti u parku. – He will entertain them in the park. (future tense of zabaviti)
Yes, prepositional phrases like u parku are relatively flexible in word order, as long as you respect the clitic rules. For example:
- ✅ On ih želi zabaviti u parku. (neutral order)
- ✅ U parku ih on želi zabaviti. (emphasis on in the park)
- ✅ On ih u parku želi zabaviti. (slight emphasis / contrast on in the park)
But you still:
- cannot put clitics first,
- and normally keep all parts of the verb phrase fairly close together.
So you wouldn’t say something like:
- ❌ On u parku želi zabaviti ih. (puts ih in a bad position)
You can absolutely omit On if it’s clear from context who you’re talking about:
- ✅ Želi ih zabaviti u parku. – He wants to entertain them in the park.
Croatian often leaves out subject pronouns (this is called a pro‑drop language) because the verb ending (želi = 3rd singular) already shows the person and number.
Using On adds either:
- clarity when the subject is not obvious, or
- mild emphasis: On ih želi zabaviti… – He (as opposed to someone else) wants to entertain them…
Yes, željeti can also be followed by a da‑clause:
- On želi da ih zabavi u parku.
This literally means: He wants that he (should) entertain them in the park.
Differences:
- On ih želi zabaviti u parku.
- more compact, very natural; infinitive construction
- On želi da ih zabavi u parku.
- slightly more “sentence‑like” structure; common too, especially in spoken language or when you want to emphasise the whole following action
In everyday use, both can be correct; preference can be influenced by style and region.