Breakdown of Idem posjetiti baku i djeda u nedjelju; taj posjet nam je važan.
Questions & Answers about Idem posjetiti baku i djeda u nedjelju; taj posjet nam je važan.
Both are correct, but they feel slightly different:
Idem posjetiti baku i djeda u nedjelju.
Literally: I am going to visit grandma and grandpa on Sunday.- Uses present tense of ići (idem = I go / I am going) + infinitive (posjetiti).
- Very common for near future plans that feel arranged or decided.
- Sounds quite natural and conversational.
Posjetit ću baku i djeda u nedjelju.
Literally: I will visit grandma and grandpa on Sunday.- Uses the normal future I tense.
- Slightly more neutral and a bit more “formal/standard”, but still everyday language.
In practice, in spoken Croatian people often use present of a movement/volitional verb + infinitive to talk about a planned near future, similar to English “I’m going to visit…”
In Croatian, after verbs of movement or intention (like ići – to go, doći – to come, htjeti – to want), you often use an infinitive to express what you are going to do:
- Idem *kupiti kruh.* – I’m going to buy bread.
- Idem *učiti.* – I’m going to study.
- Idem *spavati.* – I’m going to sleep.
So idem posjetiti = I’m going to visit.
Here, "idem" carries the information about the subject and tense (I, present), and "posjetiti" is the action that will be done.
This is about aspect in Croatian verbs:
- posjetiti – perfective (a single, completed visit)
- posjećivati – imperfective (a repeated or ongoing action: to visit regularly/often)
In the sentence:
- Idem posjetiti baku i djeda u nedjelju;
-> implies one specific visit that will take place on Sunday.
If you said:
- Nedjeljom posjećujem baku i djeda.
-> “I visit my grandma and grandpa on Sundays.” (a repeated, habitual action)
Because the sentence refers to one particular visit that will happen, perfective “posjetiti” is the natural choice.
This is accusative case for direct objects:
- Dictionary (nominative) forms:
- baka (grandmother) – feminine
- djed (grandfather) – masculine
After a verb like posjetiti (to visit), the people you visit are direct objects, so they go into accusative:
- baka → baku
- djed → djeda
So:
- Posjetiti baku. – To visit (my/the) grandma.
- Posjetiti djeda. – To visit (my/the) grandpa.
- Posjetiti baku i djeda. – To visit grandma and grandpa.
Both nouns that are coordinated with i (and) take the same case: both are in the accusative singular here.
You can say:
- Idem posjetiti svoju baku i djeda.
But very often in Croatian, with close family members (mother, father, grandma, grandpa, etc.), the possessive (moj / tvoj / svoj) is omitted if it’s obvious from context that you mean your own relatives.
So:
- Idem posjetiti baku i djeda.
is naturally understood as
I’m going to visit my grandma and grandpa.
You would typically add svoju / svoju baku i djeda if:
- you really want to emphasize that they’re your grandparents (as opposed to someone else’s), or
- the context might be ambiguous.
For days of the week when you mean “on [that specific day]”, Croatian uses:
- u + accusative
So:
- u nedjelju – on Sunday
- u ponedjeljak – on Monday
- u petak – on Friday
The noun nedjelja (Sunday) becomes nedjelju in the accusative.
Compare:
- U nedjelju idem posjetiti baku i djeda. – On Sunday, I’m going to visit grandma and grandpa.
The preposition na is used with time expressions in other, more specific meanings (e.g. na Božić – at/for Christmas), but for ordinary days of the week, “u + accusative” is the default for “on [day]”.
u nedjelju – on that particular Sunday (a specific date, one event)
- Idem posjetiti baku i djeda u nedjelju.
= I will visit them this Sunday / on Sunday (once).
- Idem posjetiti baku i djeda u nedjelju.
nedjeljom – on Sundays in general / habitually
- Nedjeljom posjećujem baku i djeda.
= I visit them on Sundays (regularly).
- Nedjeljom posjećujem baku i djeda.
So the sentence given is talking about one specific future Sunday, not a regular habit.
Yes. Croatian word order is fairly flexible. These are all grammatical:
- Idem posjetiti baku i djeda u nedjelju.
- U nedjelju idem posjetiti baku i djeda.
The difference is mainly emphasis:
- Starting with U nedjelju puts more focus on when:
On Sunday I’m going to visit grandma and grandpa. - Keeping u nedjelju at the end is slightly more neutral or end-focus:
Both are natural in speech. Context and what you want to emphasize will guide the order.
The semicolon is used because we have two independent clauses that are closely related in meaning:
- Idem posjetiti baku i djeda u nedjelju – I’m going to visit my grandma and grandpa on Sunday.
- taj posjet nam je važan – that visit is important to us.
You could also write:
- Idem posjetiti baku i djeda u nedjelju. Taj posjet nam je važan.
(two separate sentences), or - Idem posjetiti baku i djeda u nedjelju, taj posjet nam je važan.
(comma – more informal, but often used in everyday writing).
The semicolon just signals a stronger separation than a comma, but tighter connection than a full stop.
All three demonstratives exist in Croatian:
- ovaj – this (near the speaker)
- taj – that (near the listener, or just “that” as already mentioned in conversation)
- onaj – that over there / that one (more distant, or strongly contrastive)
Here, taj refers to something that has just been mentioned in the sentence before: the planned visit.
- Idem posjetiti baku i djeda u nedjelju; taj posjet nam je važan.
Literally: I’m going to visit grandma and grandpa on Sunday; that visit is important to us.
So taj = that (previously mentioned) visit.
Also, taj agrees with posjet in:
- gender: posjet is masculine,
- number: singular,
- case: nominative (subject).
Hence: taj posjet (not ta posjet or to posjet).
nam is the short (clitic) form of the dative pronoun nama = “to us / for us”.
- nama – stressed, full form
- nam – unstressed, clitic form
In the sentence:
- taj posjet nam je važan
= literally: that visit to-us is important
= that visit is important to us.
Croatian prefers to use the short clitic form (nam) in neutral sentences, and it tends to appear in second position in the clause, after the first stressed word or phrase:
- Taj posjet nam je važan. (standard, very natural)
- Taj posjet je nama važan. (also correct, here nama is stressed, adds emphasis: to us it is important.)
So:
- Use “nam” in neutral, unstressed position.
- Use “nama” when you want to emphasize “to us”.
Yes, both are correct:
- Taj posjet nam je važan.
- Taj nam je posjet važan.
Differences:
- Clitic position:
- In “Taj nam je posjet važan”, the clitic nam still appears early (after Taj), which is normal.
- Emphasis / rhythm:
- Taj posjet nam je važan. – a bit more neutral; the phrase taj posjet stays together.
- Taj nam je posjet važan. – can slightly highlight “taj” and “nam”, often with a more expressive tone: That visit is important to us.
Both sound natural; it’s mainly a matter of style and emphasis.
Both mean “That visit is important to us”, but there is a nuance:
Taj posjet nam je važan.
- Uses dative (“to us”) with the verb biti važan (to be important).
- Very natural and idiomatic.
- Feels slightly more personal, as if the visit has special meaning for us.
Taj posjet je važan za nas.
- Uses the preposition za + accusative: za nas (for us).
- Also correct, but can feel a bit more explicit or formal, sometimes suggesting importance for our situation / interests, not just emotionally.
In everyday speech, you will most often hear “nam je važan” with people, feelings, and personally important things.