Learn Hardcore Croatian: U azilu spašavamo pse i mačke i tražimo im novi dom. - In the shelter we rescue dogs and cats and look for a new home for them.

You use the locative case (like here) when you mean location:
- u azilu = in the shelter (where?)
You use the accusative case when you mean movement into something:
- Idemo u azil. = We’re going to the shelter (into where?)

So u azilu spašavamo… = in the shelter we save… — it describes where the action happens, so locative (azilu) is used.

Why is it pse and not psi or psa?

Pse is the accusative plural of pas (dog).

pas – nominative singular (a dog)
psi – nominative plural (dogs – as the subject)
psa – accusative singular (a dog as a direct object)
pse – accusative plural (dogs as a direct object)

In the sentence, pse is a direct object of spašavamo (we save), and there are more than one dog, so we need accusative plural:

Spašavamo pse. = We save (the) dogs.

So pse is correct because we’re talking about dogs as objects of the verb, in plural.

What form is mačke, and how does it compare to pse?

Mačke here is also accusative plural, just like pse.

For mačka (cat – feminine):

mačka – nominative singular
mačke – nominative plural and accusative plural (same form)

For pas (dog – masculine):

pas – nominative singular
psi – nominative plural
pse – accusative plural (different from nominative)

So in spašavamo pse i mačke:

pse – accusative plural of pas
mačke – accusative plural of mačka

Both are direct objects of spašavamo (we save).

What does spašavamo mean exactly, and how is it formed?

Spašavamo means “we save / we are saving”.

The infinitive is spašavati – to save, to rescue (imperfective).
Present tense, 1st person plural:
- (mi) spašavamo = we save / we are saving

Conjugation pattern (present tense):

ja spašavam – I save
ti spašavaš – you save
on/ona/ono spašava – he/she/it saves
mi spašavamo – we save
vi spašavate – you (pl/formal) save
oni/one/ona spašavaju – they save

It’s an imperfective verb, so it describes an ongoing, habitual, or repeated action: we (generally) save dogs and cats (not just once).

What exactly does im mean in tražimo im novi dom, and why not ih?

Im is a dative plural pronoun meaning “to them / for them”.

tražimo = we search / we look for
novi dom = a new home (direct object – accusative)
im = to them / for them (indirect object – dative plural)

So tražimo im novi dom is literally:

we’re looking for a new home to/for them
→ natural English: we’re looking for a new home for them.

Difference between im and ih:

im = dative/locative plural (to them, for them → indirect object)
ih = accusative/genitive plural (them as a direct object or in some genitive uses)

Here novi dom is the direct object (what are we looking for?), so them must be in dative → im, not ih.

Why is it novi dom and not nov dom or novo dom?

Novi dom means “a new home” (masculine singular, accusative).

dom = home – masculine noun
In accusative singular, masculine inanimate nouns look the same as nominative:
- nominative: novi dom
- accusative: novi dom (same form)

The adjective nov (new) must agree with dom in:

gender: masculine
number: singular
case: accusative (but identical to nominative for inanimate masculine nouns)

So the correct form is:

novi dom – a new home

Novo dom would be wrong because novo is the neuter form, and dom is masculine.

What does the second i in pse i mačke i tražimo im novi dom do? Is it “and” again?

Yes, both i’s mean “and”, but they connect different things:

pse i mačke
→ i connects two nouns: dogs *and cats*.
spašavamo pse i mačke i tražimo im novi dom
→ the second i connects two verbs/clauses:
- spašavamo pse i mačke – we save dogs and cats
- tražimo im novi dom – and we look for a new home for them

So the full structure is roughly:

U azilu [spašavamo pse i mačke] i [tražimo im novi dom].

You could also add a comma in writing for clarity:

U azilu spašavamo pse i mačke, i tražimo im novi dom.

Could I say tražimo novi dom za njih instead of tražimo im novi dom? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

Tražimo novi dom za njih. = We’re looking for a new home for them.

This is also correct and natural.

Difference in nuance:

tražimo im novi dom
- uses the dative pronoun im (for-them)
- sounds a bit more compact and conversational
- very typical, slightly more “internal” / involved feel
tražimo novi dom za njih
- uses za + accusative (for them)
- a bit more explicit and neutral
- also common, maybe slightly more “spelled out”

Functionally, in this sentence they mean almost the same thing; both are fine.

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” in U azilu spašavamo pse i mačke i tražimo im novi dom?

Croatian has no articles like English “a/an” or “the”.

Definiteness (whether you mean a dog or the dog) is usually understood from:

context
word order
sometimes from forms or additional phrases (like taj, ovaj, etc. = that, this)

So:

U azilu spašavamo pse i mačke
can mean:
- We save dogs and cats (in general).
- We (the people) at the shelter save the dogs and cats.
tražimo im novi dom
usually understood as:
- We’re looking for a new home for them.

Whether you translate it as a or the depends on the context in English, not on any specific Croatian word.

Could the word order be Spašavamo pse i mačke u azilu i tražimo im novi dom? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Spašavamo pse i mačke u azilu i tražimo im novi dom.

The core meaning stays the same: We save dogs and cats in the shelter and look for a new home for them.

Difference in emphasis:

U azilu spašavamo…
- Starting with u azilu slightly emphasizes the place: In the shelter, we save…
Spašavamo pse i mačke u azilu…
- Starts with what we do; u azilu is just added as a detail about where.

Both are grammatically correct and natural.