Breakdown of Ujutro uzmem ručnik i idem se tuširati.
Questions & Answers about Ujutro uzmem ručnik i idem se tuširati.
Ujutro is a single adverb meaning “in the morning” and is normally written as one word in standard Croatian.
You might occasionally see u jutro in other constructions, but for the everyday time expression “in the morning”, learners should use ujutro as one word.
Formally uzmem is the present tense of a perfective verb (uzeti – “to take”).
With perfective verbs, the present form usually expresses a single, complete action in the future or in a habitual routine, not a “right now” ongoing action.
So here it fits a routine meaning: “In the mornings, I (usually) take a towel…”.
Uzmem comes from the perfective verb uzeti and presents the action as a single, complete act (take once / as a step in a routine).
Uzimam comes from the imperfective verb uzimati and presents the action as ongoing or repeated (“I am taking / I (generally) take”).
In a routine description, both can appear, but uzmem often sounds like a fixed step in a sequence; ujutro uzimam ručnik would sound more like a general, ongoing habit.
Croatian usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.
The -em ending in uzmem and idem clearly indicates 1st person singular (“I”), so ja is not needed.
You could say Ja ujutro uzmem ručnik…, but it adds emphasis on “I” (“I, as opposed to someone else…”).
Ručnik is in the accusative singular.
It’s the direct object of the verb uzmem – you “take what?” → “towel”, so Croatian uses the accusative.
For masculine inanimate nouns like ručnik, nominative and accusative singular look the same in form.
Yes, it’s grammatically correct.
Ujutro uzimam ručnik emphasizes the ongoing / habitual nature of the action (“I (generally) take a towel in the morning”).
Ujutro uzmem ručnik sounds a bit more like a fixed step in a routine or in a sequence of actions (“First I take a towel, then I…”).
Both are possible, but they don’t highlight the same thing.
Tuširam se means “I shower / I am showering” (focus on the action of showering).
Idem se tuširati is more like “I’m going to take a shower”, focusing on the movement / decision to go and do it rather than on the showering itself.
Tuširati se is a reflexive verb and is the normal way to say “to shower (oneself)” in Croatian.
Literally, se marks that the action is done to oneself, roughly “to shower oneself”.
Without se, tuširati usually needs an object: tuširati nekoga = “to shower someone (else)”.
The little word se is a clitic and has strict word‑order rules: it normally wants to stand very early in the clause, typically in second position.
Because of that, idem se tuširati is natural, while idem tuširati se sounds wrong or very unnatural in standard Croatian.
After verbs of motion or intention like ići (idem) it’s very common to use another verb in the infinitive: idem (što?) raditi / jesti / spavati / tuširati se.
So idem se tuširati corresponds to English “I’m going to shower”, where English also uses the base verb form.
You could also say idem da se tuširam, but idem se tuširati is shorter and very common.
Yes, Ujutro uzmem ručnik i tuširam se is correct.
That version states the actions more directly: “In the morning I take a towel and (then) I shower.”
The original idem se tuširati makes you hear the “going to do it” step, whereas tuširam se simply states that showering takes place.
Yes: English uses a preposition + noun (“in the morning”), but Croatian uses a single adverb ujutro.
So you don’t add another preposition; you just say ujutro by itself at the beginning or end of the sentence: Ujutro uzmem ručnik… or Uzmem ručnik ujutro.