Learn Hardcore Croatian: U udruzi često razgovaramo o tome kako spasiti naš planet. - In the association we often talk about how to save our planet.

Locative (where?) – static location
- u udruzi = in the association / at the association (no movement)
Accusative (where to?) – movement towards somewhere
- Idem u udrugu. = I’m going to the association.

In your sentence U udruzi često razgovaramo…, the meaning is “We often talk in the association”, so it describes a static location → locative → udruzi (locative singular of udruga).

What exactly does udruga mean? Is it like “company”, “club”, or “association”?

Udruga most closely means association or non-profit organization.

Typical uses:

ekološka udruga – environmental association
sportska udruga – sports association/club (formal/registered)
nevladina udruga – NGO (non-governmental organization)

It usually implies a registered, formal group, often non-profit.
For comparison:

društvo – can mean “company (of people), society, club”, more general and also used informally (“ekološko društvo”).
tvrtka / firma – commercial company / business.

So u udruzi is best understood as “in the association / in the organization”.

Why is there no “we” (mi) before razgovaramo?

In Croatian, the verb ending already shows the person and number, so subject pronouns are usually dropped unless you want to emphasize them.

razgovaramo = we talk / we are talking
- 1st person plural ending -amo

You could say:

Mi u udruzi često razgovaramo o tome… – perfectly correct, but mi adds emphasis, like “We (as opposed to others) often talk about…”.

In neutral style, Mi is omitted, just like in your sentence.

What does razgovaramo mean exactly, and how is it different from pričamo or govorimo?

Razgovarati means to talk with someone / to have a conversation (two-way, interactive):

razgovaramo o tome – we are discussing / we’re talking about that

Comparison:

pričati – to talk, tell, narrate
- pričati priču – to tell a story
- pričamo o poslu – we’re talking (chatting) about work
  Often more informal, “chatting, telling”.
govoriti – to speak (a language) or to talk (often one-way, giving a speech, stating facts)
- govoriti engleski – to speak English
- govoriti o problemu – to talk about a problem (more formal/neutral).

In this context, često razgovaramo o tome emphasizes discussion and exchange of ideas in the group, which fits very well.

Why is it o tome? What is tome, and why that form?

The preposition o (about) requires the locative case.

o čemu? – about what?

Here, to is a demonstrative pronoun (“that / it”). Its locative singular form (neuter) is:

nominative: to – that, it
dative/locative: tome – to that / about that

So:

razgovaramo o tome = we talk about that (thing, topic).

You will very often see o tome as a fixed phrase.
Colloquially, people may say o tom instead of o tome, but o tome is the standard form and the safest to use.

Why do we say razgovaramo o tome kako spasiti…? Could we drop o tome and just say razgovaramo kako spasiti…?

Yes, both are possible, but the nuance is different.

razgovaramo o tome kako spasiti naš planet
- literally: we talk about that – how to save our planet
- o tome introduces a general topic (“about that”), and kako spasiti… explains what “that” is.
razgovaramo kako spasiti naš planet
- literally: we talk how to save our planet
- grammatically possible, but less natural in many contexts and can sound a bit direct or clumsy.

In practice, native speakers very often use o tome kako… as a natural way to build “We talk about how to…”:

Razgovaramo o tome kako poboljšati sustav. – We talk about how to improve the system.
Raspravljamo o tome kako smanjiti troškove. – We discuss how to reduce costs.

So o tome is not strictly required by grammar, but it makes the sentence more natural and idiomatic.

Why is it kako spasiti and not kako da spasimo or kako bismo spasili?

All three are possible, but they differ in style and nuance.

kako spasiti naš planet
- kako + infinitive
- very common and neutral: how to save our planet
- subject “we” is understood from context.
kako da spasimo naš planet
- kako da + present tense
- also common in speech; feels a bit more colloquial.
- rough English equivalent: “how (we should) save our planet”.
kako bismo spasili naš planet
- kako bismo + past participle
- more formal or careful, often used in written language, reasoning, or planning:
  “how we could / how we would (in order to) save our planet”.

Your sentence uses the simplest and most neutral pattern:

kako + infinitive → kako spasiti.

Why is spasiti used here and not spašavati?

Spasiti and spašavati are aspectual pairs:

spasiti – perfective: to save (as a completed act, result)
spašavati – imperfective: to be saving, to keep saving (ongoing, repeated)

In the phrase kako spasiti naš planet, the focus is on the result: successfully saving the planet as a single overall goal.

Using spašavati here:

kako spašavati naš planet – would sound more like “how to keep saving / be in the process of saving our planet”, which is possible but less natural as a big, final goal.

So spasiti (perfective) matches the idea: what can we do in order to (finally) save the planet?

Is naš planet nominative or accusative here? Why does it look the same?

In kako spasiti naš planet, naš planet is the direct object of spasiti, so it is in the accusative.

For many masculine inanimate nouns in Croatian, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular:

nominative: planet – the planet (as subject)
accusative: planet – save the planet → spasiti planet

So:

nominative example:
Naš planet je ugrožen. – Our planet is endangered. (subject)
accusative example:
Pokušavamo spasiti naš planet. – We are trying to save our planet. (object)

The form of the noun is the same, but the function in the sentence (subject vs. object) is different.

Can I say naša planeta instead of naš planet?

Yes, planeta is also used in Croatian, but there are some differences:

planet – masculine noun, somewhat more standard and common in neutral/modern usage.
planeta – feminine noun, also understood and used, but can sound a bit more old-fashioned or less technical in some contexts.

If you use planeta, you must change the adjective and ending accordingly:

nominative: naša planeta – our planet
accusative: našu planetu – how to save our planet

So you could say:

kako spasiti naš planet (as in your sentence)
kako spasiti našu planetu (also correct, with planeta).

Both are understandable. In many educational and environmental contexts, planet is more common.

Can I change the word order and say Često u udruzi razgovaramo o tome kako spasiti naš planet? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Često u udruzi razgovaramo o tome kako spasiti naš planet.

The basic meaning does not change – it still means “We often talk in the association about how to save our planet.”

Croatian word order is relatively flexible, and changes are mostly about emphasis and rhythm:

U udruzi često razgovaramo…
– Slightly emphasizes “in the association” as the context or setting:
As for what we do in the association, we often talk about how to save our planet.
Često u udruzi razgovaramo…
– Brings “often” to the front; rhythmically, you first hear the frequency, then the place:
Often, in the association, we talk about how to save our planet.

Both orders are natural. The original version sounds very typical as a statement about what happens in that association.