Breakdown of Na Svjetski dan životinja djeca idu u azil za životinje.
Questions & Answers about Na Svjetski dan životinja djeca idu u azil za životinje.
Word by word:
- Na – on (preposition, here used with accusative to talk about a specific day/time)
- Svjetski – world, global (adjective, masculine accusative singular, agreeing with dan)
- dan – day (masculine accusative singular)
- životinja – of animals (genitive plural of životinja = animal)
- Svjetski dan životinja literally: World day of animals
- djeca – children (irregular plural of dijete = child; grammatically neuter plural, but behaves like a normal plural subject)
- idu – go (3rd person plural present of ići = to go)
- u – to / into (preposition, here with accusative because of movement)
- azil – shelter (masculine accusative singular)
- za – for (preposition, here with accusative)
- životinje – animals (accusative plural of životinja)
So the key cases:
- Svjetski dan – accusative (time expression with na)
- životinja – genitive plural (day of animals)
- djeca – nominative plural (subject)
- azil – accusative (movement into)
- životinje (after za) – accusative plural (for whom? → animals)
In time expressions, Croatian often uses na + accusative to mean on (a specific day / date / holiday):
- na Božić – on Christmas
- na Dan državnosti – on Statehood Day
- na Svjetski dan životinja – on World Animal Day
Using u + locative with dan (u danu) is possible in other contexts, but it changes the meaning and sounds unusual here.
- na dan → on the day (punctual, the calendar day/event)
- u danu → in the day (inside the span of the day; very rarely used like this)
For names of holidays or special days, na + accusative is the normal, idiomatic choice. So Na Svjetski dan životinja is the natural way to say On World Animal Day.
- životinja in dan životinja is genitive plural of životinja (animal).
Compare:
- nominative singular: životinja – an animal
- genitive singular: životinje – of an animal
- nominative plural: životinje – animals
- genitive plural: životinja – of animals
The pattern dan + genitive plural is very common:
- Dan žena – Day of Women
- Dan učitelja – Teachers’ Day
- Dan djece – Children’s Day
So Dan životinja = Day of Animals (i.e., animals in general), not Day of (one) animal, which would be Dan životinje.
Djeca is the irregular plural of dijete (child).
- singular: dijete ide – the child goes
- plural: djeca idu – the children go
Even though djeca looks a bit different from a typical plural, grammatically it is a neuter plural noun, and in modern usage it normally takes 3rd person plural verb forms:
- Djeca idu u školu. – The children go to school.
- Djeca jedu. – The children are eating.
So djeca idu is exactly like English children go.
Yes, Djeca idu u azil za životinje na Svjetski dan životinja is also grammatically correct.
Croatian word order is quite flexible. Putting Na Svjetski dan životinja at the beginning:
- emphasizes when this happens
- gives you a typical time–subject–verb–place rhythm:
- Na Svjetski dan životinja (time)
- djeca (subject)
- idu (verb)
- u azil za životinje (place/purpose)
So the chosen order sounds natural and slightly highlights the special day. The alternative order is fine but has a bit less emphasis on the day.
The preposition u can take either:
- accusative – for movement into something
- locative – for location in something
In the sentence, the children are going to the shelter (movement), so we use accusative:
- idu u azil – they are going into/to the shelter
If we were talking about being in the shelter (no movement), we’d use locative:
- Djeca su u azilu. – The children are in the shelter.
So:
- u azil (accusative) → going there
- u azilu (locative) → being there
Azil za životinje literally means shelter for animals.
In Croatian, za + accusative is a very common way to express “for X”, especially when describing the target group or purpose:
- škola za strance – school for foreigners
- dom za starije – home for the elderly
- knjiga za djecu – book for children
So:
- azil za životinje – shelter for animals
You could theoretically say azil životinja (with životinja in genitive plural), but it would sound less natural and more like a technical label or a slightly awkward noun–noun compound. The standard, idiomatic phrase is azil za životinje.
You’re right: životinje is both:
- nominative plural: životinje – animals
- accusative plural: životinje – (for) animals / (towards) animals
After the preposition za, Croatian always uses the accusative. So in za životinje, životinje is accusative plural, even though it has the same form as the nominative plural.
Many feminine nouns in -a have identical nominative plural and accusative plural forms. Context (and the preposition) tells you the case.
In Croatian, with names of holidays, memorial days, etc., typically only the first word is capitalized:
- Dan državnosti – Statehood Day
- Međunarodni dan žena – International Women’s Day
- Dan planeta Zemlje – Earth Day
If the first word is an adjective, that adjective is capitalized, and the rest remains lower-case (unless there’s a proper name like Zemlje):
- Svjetski dan životinja – World Animal Day
So we write:
- Svjetski dan životinja (only Svjetski capitalized, dan životinja lower-case)
Writing Svjetski Dan Životinja with every word capitalized would look English-influenced and is not standard Croatian.
Idu is 3rd person plural, present tense of the verb ići (to go). Ići is irregular. Present tense forms:
- ja idem – I go
- ti ideš – you go (singular)
- on/ona/ono ide – he/she/it goes
- mi idemo – we go
- vi idete – you go (plural/formal)
- oni/one/ona idu – they go
So djeca idu = the children go.
The infinitive is ići, but the present stem is id-, not i-, which is why you get idem, ideš, idu, not ićem, ićeš, iću.
Yes, grammatically you can say:
- Na Svjetski dan životinja djeca idu u azil.
This would mean: On World Animal Day the children go to the shelter.
However:
- azil by itself simply means shelter, asylum (could be political asylum, a shelter for refugees, etc.).
- azil za životinje specifies an animal shelter.
In most real-life contexts, if you are talking about World Animal Day and azil, people will understand you mean an animal shelter, but adding za životinje makes it explicit and is more natural when teaching or in neutral description.
Yes:
- Dan životinja – Day of Animals (could be any, generic day honoring animals)
- Svjetski dan životinja – World Animal Day, a specific internationally recognized day (October 4).
Adding Svjetski (world, global) makes it clear that this is the official international day, not just any “animal day” a school or town might create.
Approximate pronunciation (IPA-like, but written simply):
Svjetski → [svyets-kee]
- svj: say s
- v quickly, then a je sound → svje
- stress is usually on the first syllable: SVJEt-ski
- svj: say s
životinja → [zhee-VOH-tee-nyah]
- ž like the s in measure or vision
- ti before nj comes out a bit like “tee” but soft
- nj similar to ñ in Spanish niño
- stress: ži-VÓ-ti-nja (main stress on vo; in practice, learners are usually understood even if they just stress the first syllable: ŽI-vo-ti-nja).
Perfect, authentic stress is less important at the beginning; focus on getting ž, nj, and the consonant clusters reasonably clear.