Learn Hardcore Croatian: Volonter često dolazi u azil za životinje. - The volunteer often comes to the animal shelter.

Volonter can mean a volunteer or the volunteer depending on context.
azil za životinje can mean an animal shelter or the animal shelter.

Whether the speaker has a specific volunteer or shelter in mind is understood from context, not from a separate word like "the" or "a".

Can the word order be changed, or must it be Volonter često dolazi u azil za životinje?

The basic neutral order is Subject – Adverb – Verb – Rest of the sentence:

Volonter često dolazi u azil za životinje.

But Croatian word order is flexible. You can also hear:

Volonter dolazi često u azil za životinje.
Često volonter dolazi u azil za životinje. (emphasis on often)
U azil za životinje volonter često dolazi. (emphasis on the place)

All of these are grammatically correct; what changes is the emphasis and what feels most natural in a given context. The original version is the most neutral and typical.

Why is često placed between volonter and dolazi? Could it go somewhere else?

Često means often, and adverbs of frequency usually go:

after the subject,
before the main verb.

So:

Volonter često dolazi u azil za životinje. (most natural)

You can move it, but then it sounds either more emphatic or slightly marked:

Volonter dolazi često u azil za životinje. – still okay, a bit more emphasis on often.
Često volonter dolazi u azil za životinje. – very strong focus on often, maybe contrasting with someone who doesn’t come often.

Putting često at the very end (…u azil za životinje često) is possible but sounds a bit unusual and marked.

What exactly is dolazi? Is it present tense? What is the infinitive?

Yes, dolazi is present tense, 3rd person singular.

Infinitive (dictionary form): dolaziti – to come (repeated/habitual).
Present tense of dolaziti:
- (ja) dolazim – I come / I am coming
- (ti) dolaziš – you come
- (on/ona/ono) dolazi – he/she/it comes
- (mi) dolazimo – we come
- (vi) dolazite – you (pl/formal) come
- (oni/one/ona) dolaze – they come

Here dolazi expresses a habitual action: the volunteer comes there regularly.

What is the difference between dolaziti and doći?

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

dolaziti (imperfective) – to come habitually, repeatedly, or as an ongoing process.
- Volonter često dolazi u azil. – He often comes; it’s a regular habit.
doći (perfective) – to come once, a single completed arrival.
- Volonter je došao u azil. – The volunteer came (arrived); one event in the past.
- Kada će volonter doći u azil? – When will the volunteer come (arrive)?

In your sentence, we talk about a repeated action, so dolazi (from dolaziti) is correct.

Why is it u azil, not u azilu?

The preposition u can take either:

accusative (movement into something), or
locative (location in something, no movement).

Here we have movement into the shelter:

dolazi u azil – he comes into the shelter → u
- accusative (azil).

Compare:

Ide u školu. – He is going to school. (movement, accusative)
Radi u školi. – He works in the school. (location, locative školi)

So:

u azil (accusative) = into the shelter.
u azilu (locative) = in the shelter.

Your sentence correctly uses u azil because the volunteer is coming to/into the shelter.

What case is azil in, and why does it not change form?

Azil is a masculine noun. In the accusative singular, it keeps the same form as the nominative when it’s inanimate:

Nominative singular: azil
Accusative singular: azil

So u azil is u + accusative singular.

For comparison, a masculine animate noun changes in the accusative:

Nominative: pas (dog)
Accusative: psa

Example:

Vidim psa. – I see a dog. (accusative, animate)
Vidim azil. – I see a shelter. (accusative, inanimate, same as nominative)

What case is životinje in za životinje, and why?

The preposition za always takes the accusative case.

Životinja = animal (feminine noun)

Nominative singular: životinja
Nominative plural: životinje
Accusative plural: životinje (same form as nominative plural)
Genitive plural: životinja

In za životinje, we have:

za
- accusative plural → životinje

So azil za životinje literally means a shelter for animals, with životinje being accusative plural because of za.

Is za životinje necessary? Could I just say u azil?

You can say only:

Volonter često dolazi u azil. – The volunteer often comes to the shelter.

This is perfectly grammatical, but it’s less specific. Adding za životinje:

azil za životinje – animal shelter

clarifies the type of shelter. Azil alone could be:

a shelter for animals,
a kind of asylum/refuge (e.g. political asylum) in other contexts.

So za životinje adds important information: we are talking about an animal shelter.

What is the gender of volonter, and how would I say “female volunteer”?

Volonter is grammatically masculine.

To explicitly refer to a female volunteer, Croatian commonly uses:

volonterka – female volunteer

Examples:

Volonter često dolazi u azil za životinje. – A (male or unspecified) volunteer often comes…
Volonterka često dolazi u azil za životinje. – A female volunteer often comes…

In mixed or gender-neutral contexts, Croatian often defaults to the masculine form volonter unless you specifically want to highlight that the person is female.

How do I pronounce često, azil, and životinje?

Approximate pronunciation (stressed syllable in CAPS):

često → CHEH-stoh
- č like ch in church.
azil → AH-zil
- stress usually on a.
životinje → ZHI-vo-tee-nyeh
- ž like s in measure, vision.
- nj in -tnje is like ny in canyon.

So the whole sentence roughly: VO-lon-ter CHEH-stoh DO-lah-zee oo AH-zil za ZHI-vo-tee-nyeh.

How would I say the same idea with a slightly different verb, for example “often visits the shelter”?

You could use posjećivati (imperfective, to visit regularly):

Volonter često posjećuje azil za životinje.
– The volunteer often visits the animal shelter.

Notes:

posjećivati → present 3rd sg: posjećuje
This keeps the habitual meaning (like dolazi) but emphasizes the act of visiting rather than simply coming.