Learn Hardcore Croatian: Drugo rješenje je da kupujemo manje plastičnih boca i nosimo svoje boce od kuće. - Another solution is to buy fewer plastic bottles and carry our own bottles from home.

Drugo rješenje je da kupujemo manje plastičnih boca i nosimo svoje boce od kuće.

Another solution is to buy fewer plastic bottles and carry our own bottles from home.

Breakdown of Drugo rješenje je da kupujemo manje plastičnih boca i nosimo svoje boce od kuće.

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Questions & Answers about Drugo rješenje je da kupujemo manje plastičnih boca i nosimo svoje boce od kuće.

What exactly does drugo rješenje mean here, and why is it drugo (neuter) and not druga (feminine) or drugi (masculine)?

Rješenje (solution) is a neuter noun in Croatian, so any adjective that describes it has to be in the neuter form as well.

Masculine: drugi
Feminine: druga
Neuter: drugo

Since rješenje is neuter, you must say drugo rješenje = the second solution / another solution.

So the sentence starts literally as: Drugo rješenje je… = The second solution is… or Another solution is….

Why are the verbs kupujemo and nosimo in the 1st person plural (we) when the subject seems to be drugo rješenje (the solution)?

In Croatian, this structure is very common:

Rješenje je da + [present tense, 1st person plural]
Literally: The solution is that we do X.

So the grammatical subject of the main clause is rješenje (solution), but inside the da‑clause the subject is we, expressed through the verb endings:

kupujemo = we buy
nosimo = we carry / we bring

English usually says: The solution is to buy… and to bring…, but Croatian prefers:

Drugo rješenje je da kupujemo manje… i nosimo svoje boce…
Literally: The second solution is that we buy less… and (that we) bring our bottles…

What does da do in da kupujemo manje plastičnih boca i nosimo svoje boce od kuće? Is it like “to” or “that”?

Here da introduces a subordinate clause and corresponds to English that in sentences like:

The solution is *that we buy less plastic bottles…*

Croatian often uses da + present tense where English might use:

an infinitive: to buy, to bring
or a that‑clause: that we buy, that we bring

So:

je da kupujemo… i nosimo… ≈ is that we buy… and (that we) bring…

You could also say:

Drugo rješenje je kupovati manje plastičnih boca i nositi svoje boce od kuće.

That version uses infinitives (kupovati, nositi) and is also correct, but da + present is more common and sounds a bit more natural in everyday speech.

Why is it kupujemo and not kupimo? What’s the difference?

This is the aspect difference (imperfective vs. perfective):

kupujemo – imperfective: we (regularly / habitually) buy
kupimo – perfective: we buy (once, finish the act of buying)

In a sentence about a general, ongoing habit or long‑term change, Croatian uses the imperfective:

da kupujemo manje plastičnih boca
that we (in general, from now on) buy fewer plastic bottles

If you said da kupimo manje plastičnih boca, it would suggest more of a one‑time action or a specific occasion: that we buy fewer bottles (on that particular occasion), which doesn’t fit the idea of a general solution as well.

Why is it manje plastičnih boca and not manje plastične boce?

After words of quantity like manje (less/fewer), više (more), puno (a lot of), malo (a little/few), Croatian usually uses the genitive case for countable nouns:

manje plastičnih boca = literally less/fewer of plastic bottles
(plastičnih boca is genitive plural)

So:

nominative plural: plastične boce (plastic bottles)
genitive plural: plastičnih boca (of plastic bottles)

Because of manje, we need the genitive plural form: plastičnih boca.

Does manje mean “less” or “fewer”, and does it change form?

Manje covers both English less and fewer. Croatian does not distinguish countable vs. uncountable here:

manje plastičnih boca = fewer plastic bottles
manje plastike = less plastic

Manje is an invariable form in this use; it doesn’t change for gender, number or case. The noun that follows changes case (here: plastičnih boca in genitive plural), but manje itself stays the same.

What case and forms are plastičnih boca, and how do the adjective and noun match?

Plastičnih boca is genitive plural:

singular: plastična boca (a plastic bottle)
- nominative singular: plastična boca
- genitive singular: plastične boce
plural: plastične boce (plastic bottles) – nominative plural
- genitive plural: plastičnih boca

The adjective plastičnih and the noun boca both show genitive plural endings:

adjective feminine genitive plural: -ih → plastičn-ih
noun feminine genitive plural: -a → boc-a

They agree in gender (feminine), number (plural), and case (genitive).

Why is it nosimo svoje boce, not nosimo naše boce?

Croatian has two different “our”‑type words:

naš, naša, naše… – our (normal possessive)
svoj, svoja, svoje… – reflexive possessive, meaning one’s own

You use svoj when the possessor is the subject of the clause. Here the subject is we (implicit in nosimo), so we use svoje:

nosimo svoje boce = we bring our own bottles

If you used naše boce, it would still be understandable, but less natural and can sometimes sound like you’re contrasting them with someone else’s bottles, rather than just saying “our own bottles” as a habit/solution.

So in neutral sentences where the subject owns the thing, svoj(e) is preferred.

What does od kuće literally mean, and why not iz kuće?

Literally:

od kuće = from (the) house → idiomatically: from home
kuće is genitive singular of kuća (house)

In Croatian, od kuće is the standard idiomatic way to say from home in many expressions:

raditi od kuće – to work from home
ponijeti nešto od kuće – to bring something from home

Iz kuće also exists and is more literal: out of the house (building), focusing on physical movement from inside to outside. In the sentence about habits (bringing your own bottles from home), od kuće is the natural, idiomatic choice.

Why is there only one da before kupujemo, but not repeated before nosimo?

Croatian allows you to share the same da across coordinated verbs:

da kupujemo manje plastičnih boca i nosimo svoje boce od kuće

Here da applies to both verbs:

(that) we buy less plastic bottles and (that) we bring our bottles from home

You could repeat da, but it’s not necessary:

Drugo rješenje je da kupujemo manje plastičnih boca i da nosimo svoje boce od kuće.

Both versions are correct. The version without the second da is slightly more fluent and typical in everyday speech.

Can the word order in the da‑clause be changed, for example putting manje earlier or moving od kuće?

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, especially in spoken language. Some possible variants:

…da kupujemo manje plastičnih boca i svoje boce nosimo od kuće.
…da manje plastičnih boca kupujemo i nosimo svoje boce od kuće.
…da kupujemo manje plastičnih boca i nosimo svoje boce od kuće. (original)

The original is the most neutral and natural. Moving words around can:

add emphasis (e.g. fronting manje plastičnih boca to stress “fewer bottles”), or
sound more stylistic or poetic.

But for a learner, the given order is a very good default.