Learn Hardcore Croatian: Gledanje serije cijelu večer nije dobra navika. - Watching a series the whole evening is not a good habit.

Gledanje is a verbal noun formed from the verb gledati (to watch). It corresponds to English “watching” used as a noun, like in “Watching TV all evening is not a good habit.”

In Croatian, when an action is the subject of the sentence, it is very common (and often more natural) to use this -nje noun:

Pušenje je nezdravo. – Smoking is unhealthy.
Čitanje knjiga je zabavno. – Reading books is fun.

So:

gledati seriju = to watch a series (verb phrase)
gledanje serije = the watching of a series / watching a series (noun phrase)

Here the whole noun phrase Gledanje serije cijelu večer is the subject of nije dobra navika.

Is Gledati seriju cijelu večer nije dobra navika also correct, using the infinitive instead of gledanje?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct and understandable:

Gledati seriju cijelu večer nije dobra navika.

Here gledati seriju cijelu večer (to watch a series all evening) functions as the subject.

Nuance:

Gledanje serije cijelu večer nije dobra navika.
– Slightly more “noun-like”, a bit more neutral/standard or written in style.
Gledati seriju cijelu večer nije dobra navika.
– Uses the infinitive as subject, very common and natural in speech.

You will hear and see both patterns in real life.

Why is serije in the genitive case after gledanje, instead of accusative seriju?

With the verb gledati, the direct object is in the accusative:

Gledam seriju. – I’m watching a series. (Accusative: seriju)

But when we turn the verb into a verbal noun (gledanje), its object usually changes to genitive:

gledanje serije – the watching of a series (Genitive: serije)

This is a common pattern:

čitati knjigu → čitanje knjige – reading a book → the reading of a book
igrati nogomet → igranje nogometa – to play football → the playing of football
gledati film → gledanje filma – to watch a film → the watching of a film

So:

verb: gledati (koga/što?) seriju – Accusative
noun: gledanje (koga/čega?) serije – Genitive

What would be the difference between gledanje serije and gledanje serija?

Grammatically, these are different cases and numbers:

gledanje serije
– Genitive singular of serija
– Usually means: watching one particular series (e.g. binge‑watching that show).
gledanje serija
– Genitive plural of serija
– Means: watching series in general / several series, or binge‑watching various shows.

Example contrasts:

Gledanje serije cijelu večer nije dobra navika.
– Watching one (specific) series all evening isn’t a good habit.
Gledanje serija cijelu večer nije dobra navika.
– Watching series (several shows / TV series in general) all evening isn’t a good habit.

Why is cijelu večer in the accusative case, not something like cijele večeri?

Croatian often uses the accusative without a preposition to express duration of time – how long something lasts:

raditi cijeli dan – to work all day
učiti cijelu noć – to study all night
čekati tri sata – to wait for three hours

So:

cijelu večer (Accusative feminine singular) = for the whole evening / all evening

Here cijelu agrees with večer in gender (feminine) and case (accusative):

Nominative: cijela večer – the whole evening
Accusative: cijelu večer – (for) the whole evening

A phrase with genitive would typically come with a preposition, for example:

tijekom cijele večeri – during the whole evening

Does cijelu always have to come before večer, or could I say večer cijelu?

In normal, everyday Croatian, adjectives and similar words (like “cijeli/cijela/cijelo”) almost always come before the noun:

cijela večer
dobra navika
nova knjiga

So cijelu večer is the standard order.

Putting the adjective after the noun (e.g. večer cijelu) is possible mainly in poetic, very stylised, or emphatic language, but it sounds unusual in ordinary speech. For learning and everyday use, you should keep:

cijelu večer, not večer cijelu.

Why do we say nije dobra navika, with dobra in the feminine, instead of something like nije dobro navika?

The key point is agreement:

navika (habit) is feminine, nominative singular.
The adjective describing it must match that gender and case, so we use dobra (feminine nominative).

So:

dobra navika – a good habit
loša navika – a bad habit

In the sentence:

…nije dobra navika.
dobra is agreeing with navika.

If you said nije dobro navika, dobro is neuter and does not agree with navika. It sounds wrong. You can say Nije dobro on its own:

Gledati serije cijelu večer nije dobro. – Watching series all evening is not good.

Here dobro is a general, neuter predicate (“it isn’t good”), not directly tied to a noun like navika.

Also note: the subject Gledanje serije… is neuter, but in sentences with biti (“to be”), the adjective agrees with the predicate noun, not with the subject:

Gledanje serije cijelu večer nije dobra navika.
– adjective dobra agrees with navika (fem.), not with gledanje (neuter).

Why do we use nije instead of ne je for “is not”?

The verb biti (to be) has special fused negative forms; you don’t say ne je, you use nije as a single word.

Present tense forms of biti:

Affirmative:
- ja sam
- ti si
- on/ona/ono je
- mi smo
- vi ste
- oni/one/ona su
Negative:
- ja nisam
- ti nisi
- on/ona/ono nije
- mi nismo
- vi niste
- oni/one/ona nisu

So for on/ona/ono (“he/she/it”), is not is nije, not ne je. That’s why we say:

Gledanje serije cijelu večer nije dobra navika.

Can I move cijelu večer to another position, like Cijelu večer gledanje serije nije dobra navika?

Yes. Croatian word order is relatively flexible, especially with time expressions. These are all grammatical, with slightly different emphasis:

Gledanje serije cijelu večer nije dobra navika.
– Neutral order; focus on the habit as a whole.
Cijelu večer gledanje serije nije dobra navika.
– Puts strong emphasis on cijelu večer (“all evening”).
Nije dobra navika gledati seriju cijelu večer.
– Very natural; the “not a good habit” part comes first.

What sounds odd is putting cijelu večer after navika:

✗ Gledanje serije nije dobra navika cijelu večer.
– This sounds wrong, because cijelu večer then seems to modify navika, not the watching.

General guideline: keep cijelu večer close to the activity it describes (gledanje serije / gledati seriju), or put it at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis.

How would I say “Watching a series every evening is not a good habit”? What’s the difference between cijelu večer and “every evening”?

For “every evening”, you normally use svake večeri (genitive singular):

Gledanje serije svake večeri nije dobra navika.
– Watching a series every evening is not a good habit.

Difference in meaning:

cijelu večer = all evening / for the whole evening (duration of one evening)
- Focus on spending many hours in one stretch.
svake večeri = every evening (how often)
- Focus on the habit happening on each evening, regularly.

So:

Gledanje serije cijelu večer nije dobra navika.
– Binge‑watching for hours in one evening is not a good habit.
Gledanje serije svake večeri nije dobra navika.
– Watching a series every single evening is not a good habit.

Does serija always mean a TV series, or can it mean other kinds of “series”?

Serija is a general word for “series” and can be used in different contexts:

TV serija – a TV series/show
kriminalistička serija – a crime series
serija članaka – a series of articles
matematička serija – a mathematical series

In everyday conversation, when people just say serija, they usually mean a TV series / TV show, especially in a sentence like:

Gledanje serije cijelu večer nije dobra navika.

So in this sentence, serije is best understood as “(a) TV series / show.”