Breakdown of Volim sudjelovati u raspravama na sastanku kad tema nije previše teška.
Questions & Answers about Volim sudjelovati u raspravama na sastanku kad tema nije previše teška.
Volim is the 1st person singular present tense of voljeti (I like / I love).
Sudjelovati is in the infinitive form (to participate). In Croatian, when you talk about likes and preferences, the common pattern is:
- volim + infinitive
Examples:
- Volim čitati. – I like to read.
- Volim putovati. – I like to travel.
- Volim sudjelovati. – I like to participate.
So sudjelovati stays in the infinitive because it depends on volim, which carries the person and tense.
Raspravama is locative plural of rasprava (discussion, debate).
- Nominative singular: rasprava
- Nominative plural: rasprave
- Locative plural: raspravama
The preposition u (in) requires the locative when it expresses location or situation (in something, during something):
- u školi – in (at) school
- u gradu – in the city
- u raspravama – in discussions
So u raspravama literally means in (the) discussions / during discussions, and u + locative is the standard combination here.
With u, you choose between:
- u + accusative for movement into something:
- Idem u grad. – I am going to (into) the city.
- u + locative for being in something:
- Radim u gradu. – I work in the city.
In the sentence, you are not moving into a discussion; you are talking about being in discussions / taking part in them, so you use locative plural:
- u raspravama (locative plural) – in discussions
U rasprave would be into discussions and would sound wrong here.
Both na and u can sometimes translate as at in English, but Croatian uses them in different contexts.
For events like meetings, lectures, concerts, Croatian very often uses na:
- na sastanku – at the meeting
- na koncertu – at the concert
- na predavanju – at the lecture
So:
- na sastanku (locative) = at the meeting (as an event)
- u sastanku is technically possible but sounds unusual and would more likely mean inside some physical thing called a meeting (not natural in Croatian).
So the idiomatic choice for at the meeting is na sastanku.
Sastanku is locative singular of sastanak (meeting).
- Nominative singular: sastanak
- Locative singular: (na) sastanku
The preposition na uses the locative when expressing location (at/on):
- na stolu – on the table
- na plaži – at the beach
- na sastanku – at the meeting
So na sastanku = at the meeting.
Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.
- u raspravi – in the discussion (one specific discussion)
- u raspravama – in discussions (in general, or multiple discussions)
So:
Volim sudjelovati u raspravi na sastanku…
I like taking part in the discussion at a meeting (one main discussion).Volim sudjelovati u raspravama na sastanku…
I like taking part in discussions at a meeting (whenever there are discussions).
The original with raspravama sounds more general and habitual.
Kad and kada mean the same thing: when.
- Kad tema nije previše teška.
- Kada tema nije previše teška.
Both are correct. Kad is a bit shorter and more colloquial; kada can sound slightly more formal or careful, but in everyday speech they are mostly interchangeable.
In writing, you can freely choose either here.
Tema is feminine singular, so any adjective describing it must agree in gender, number, and case:
- tema – feminine singular nominative
- teška – feminine singular nominative of težak (difficult, heavy)
So:
- Tema nije previše teška. – The topic is not too difficult.
If you said:
- Nije previše teško.
you would be using teško (neuter adverb/adjective), which usually goes with:
- an implied situation: It is not too hard (to do this).
(Nije previše teško [to do it].)
Because you explicitly mention tema, you keep agreement:
- tema → teška
Previše is an adverb meaning too (much), and it modifies the adjective teška:
- teška – difficult
- previše teška – too difficult
The usual order in Croatian is:
- nije + adverb + adjective
- nije previše teška
Other examples:
- Nije jako važno. – It is not very important.
- Nije baš zanimljivo. – It is not really interesting.
You could technically say nije teška previše, but in normal speech nije previše teška is the natural order.
Croatian can use either singular or plural here, depending on how you think about it:
- kad tema nije previše teška – when the topic is not too difficult
- kad teme nisu previše teške – when the topics are not too difficult
Both are grammatically correct. The original sentence treats tema as a typical topic of discussion at a meeting, in a general sense: when the topic (of that discussion) is not too hard.
If you want to emphasize several topics in one meeting, use plural:
- Volim sudjelovati u raspravama na sastanku kad teme nisu previše teške.
Yes, but there is a nuance:
- sudjelovati u raspravama – participate in discussions (focus on being inside the discussion, actively taking part in the content)
- sudjelovati na raspravama – participate at the discussions (slightly more event-like, at these discussion sessions)
In practice, sudjelovati u raspravi/raspravama is more common and sounds more focused on actual debating. Na raspravi is also heard, especially when rasprava is treated as a formal event (e.g. public debate), but u raspravi is the safest neutral choice.
Croatian has no articles (no the, a, an). Whether something is definite or indefinite is understood from context, word order, and sometimes other words.
So:
- raspravama can mean discussions, the discussions, or some discussions, depending on context.
- na sastanku = at a meeting or at the meeting.
In translation you choose a or the based on what sounds natural in English, but Croatian itself does not mark that distinction with separate words.