Learn Hardcore Croatian: U dolini govorimo o sigurnosti na planini i opasnosti od lošeg vremena. - In the valley we talk about safety in the mountains and the danger of bad weather.

u dolini = in the valley
For enclosed or “inside” spaces, Croatian usually uses u (in):
- u kući – in the house
- u gradu – in the city
- u dolini – in the valley
na planini = on the mountain / in the mountains (as a terrain)
For surfaces, open areas, and many geographical features, Croatian often uses na (on):
- na planini / na brdu – on the mountain / hill
- na otoku – on the island
- na selu – in the countryside
- na moru – at the seaside

So u dolini feels like being inside the valley, and na planini like being on the mountain area / terrain.

What case is dolini and planini, and why do they both end in -i?

Both dolini and planini are in the locative singular.

dolina (valley) → u dolini
planina (mountain) → na planini

With location prepositions such as u (in) and na (on), if you’re describing where something is, you use the locative case.

For most feminine nouns ending in -a, the locative singular ending is -i:

kuća → u kući (in the house)
škola → u školi (at school)
dolina → u dolini
planina → na planini

Why is it o sigurnosti and o opasnosti? What case is that, and why?

After the preposition o (about), Croatian uses the locative case to indicate the topic of speech, thought, etc.

govoriti o
- locative = to talk about
sigurnost (safety) → o sigurnosti
opasnost (danger) → o opasnosti

Both sigurnost and opasnost are feminine nouns ending in -ost. In the singular:

nominative: sigurnost, opasnost
locative: sigurnosti, opasnosti

So:

govorimo o sigurnosti – we talk about safety
govorimo o opasnosti – we talk about the danger

Why is there only one o: o sigurnosti na planini i opasnosti od lošeg vremena? Can I repeat o?

The preposition o logically applies to both nouns:

govorimo o (sigurnosti na planini i opasnosti od lošeg vremena)

So grammatically, one o is enough.

You can repeat it for emphasis or clarity, and it’s still correct:

U dolini govorimo o sigurnosti na planini i o opasnosti od lošeg vremena.

Both versions are acceptable. The version without repetition is more compact and very natural.

Why is it opasnosti od lošeg vremena and not something like opasnosti lošeg vremena?

In Croatian, the preposition od is normally used to express “danger from something” or “risk of something”:

opasnost od požara – danger of fire
opasnost od lavine – danger of avalanche
opasnost od infekcije – danger of infection

So:

opasnost od lošeg vremena = danger from bad weather / danger of bad weather

Without od, opasnost lošeg vremena sounds unnatural or at best stylistically very odd. The standard way to express this relationship is opasnost od + GENITIVE.

Why is it lošeg vremena and not loše vrijeme?

Two different things are happening:

The preposition od requires the genitive case.
The adjective must agree with the noun in case, gender, and number.

vrijeme (time / weather) is a neuter noun:
- nominative: loše vrijeme
- genitive: lošeg vremena

Because we have od (of/from), we must use genitive:

od lošeg vremena – from bad weather

Forms:

nominative: loše vrijeme (subject, “Bad weather is coming.”)
genitive: lošeg vremena (after many prepositions, including od)

So lošeg vremena is simply “bad weather” in the genitive form.

What exactly is the difference between na planini and u planini?

Most of the time, you’ll say na planini:

na planini – on the mountain / in the mountain area
- natural and idiomatic for hiking, skiing, mountain terrain, etc.

u planini is much less common and would sound marked or unusual in standard usage; it could suggest being inside the mountain in some literal sense (e.g. in caves/tunnels) or be poetic.

For everyday speech about being in the mountains for activities, use na planini:

Planinarimo na planini. – We are hiking in the mountains.

What tense and aspect is govorimo, and is there a difference from pričamo or razgovaramo?

govorimo is:

present tense
1st person plural (we)
of the verb govoriti (imperfective)

Meaning here: we talk / we are talking.

Related verbs:

govoriti – to speak / to talk (often more neutral or formal, also used for giving a speech, stating facts)
- govorimo o sigurnosti – we talk about safety
pričati – to tell, to narrate, to chat (more informal, often with stories)
- pričamo priče – we tell stories
razgovarati – to have a conversation (focus on two-way discussion)
- razgovaramo o sigurnosti – we are discussing safety

In this sentence govorimo is perfectly normal and slightly neutral/formal: we (are) talk(ing) about….

Is the word order fixed? Can I move u dolini to the end of the sentence?

The word order in Croatian is relatively flexible, so you can move u dolini:

U dolini govorimo o sigurnosti na planini i opasnosti od lošeg vremena. (original)
Govorimo u dolini o sigurnosti na planini i opasnosti od lošeg vremena.
Govorimo o sigurnosti na planini i opasnosti od lošeg vremena u dolini.

All are grammatically correct, but the focus and rhythm change slightly.

Starting with U dolini emphasizes the place first: “In the valley, we talk about…”
Putting u dolini at the end can sound like you’re adding the location as a kind of afterthought.

The original order is very natural and neutral.

How would this sentence change if we talked about valleys and mountains in the plural?

We’d need plural forms in the locative:

u dolini → u dolinama (in the valleys)
na planini → na planinama (on the mountains / in the mountains)

One possible plural version:

U dolinama govorimo o sigurnosti na planinama i opasnosti od lošeg vremena.
“In the valleys we talk about safety in the mountains and the danger of bad weather.”

The rest (sigurnosti, opasnosti, lošeg vremena) can stay singular if we mean safety in general, danger in general, and bad weather in general.

Why doesn’t Croatian use something like “the” (articles) in u dolini and na planini?

Croatian has no articles (no equivalents of a/an or the). Nouns like dolina, planina, vrijeme stand on their own, and definiteness is usually clear from:

context:
- U dolini can mean in a valley or in the valley, depending on what was mentioned before.
word order and stress
other words in the sentence (demonstratives, possessives, etc.):
- u toj dolini – in that valley
- na našoj planini – on our mountain

So u dolini can be translated as either in a valley or in the valley; Croatian doesn’t mark the difference with an article.

Could I switch the order and say od vremena lošeg instead of od lošeg vremena?

Grammatically, you could say od vremena lošeg, but:

The normal, neutral order is adjective + noun:
- loše vrijeme, lošeg vremena
Noun + adjective (e.g. vrijeme loše, vremena lošeg) is:
- stylistically marked
- sounds poetic, emphatic, or old-fashioned

So in everyday speech and standard prose, you should say:

od lošeg vremena – from bad weather

Use od vremena lošeg only if you’re aiming for a very literary or poetic effect.