Večeras idem s prijateljicom u kino.

Tonight I am going to the cinema with my (female) friend.

Breakdown of Večeras idem s prijateljicom u kino.

• ići: to go
• u: to
• večeras: tonight
• s: with
• kino: cinema
• prijateljica: female friend

Questions & Answers about Večeras idem s prijateljicom u kino.

Where is “the” (as in “the cinema”) or “a” (as in “a friend”) in this sentence?

Croatian does not use articles like a/an or the at all.

So:

• kino can mean a cinema or the cinema, depending on context.
• prijateljica can mean a (female) friend or the (female) friend.

Native speakers understand whether you mean a or the from the situation, not from a specific word.

Why is there no word for “I” in Večeras idem s prijateljicom u kino?

The subject pronoun ja (I) is usually dropped in Croatian because the verb ending already shows the person.

• idem = I go / I am going
  
  • -m ending tells you it’s 1st person singular (I).

You can say:

• Ja večeras idem s prijateljicom u kino.

but that usually adds emphasis on ja (I, me in particular). The neutral, most common version simply omits ja.

Why is the present tense (idem) used when the meaning is “I’m going tonight / I will go tonight”?

In Croatian, the present tense is very often used for planned, near-future actions, especially when you add a time expression like večeras (tonight), sutra (tomorrow), etc.

• Večeras idem u kino.
  = I’m going to the cinema tonight. / I’m going tonight.

If you want, you can also use the future tense:

• Večeras ću ići u kino.
  (I will go to the cinema tonight.)

Both are correct; the present tense with a time word is more colloquial and common for fixed plans.

What does the preposition “s” mean here, and why is it “s prijateljicom”?

The preposition s means “with” in this sentence and it requires the instrumental case.

• base form: prijateljica (friend, female, nominative)
• after s → s prijateljicom (with a female friend, instrumental)

So the structure is:

• s
  • instrumental → s prijateljicom

That’s why you don’t see prijateljica in its basic form, but the instrumental form prijateljicom.

Why is it “prijateljicom” and not “prijateljica”?

Because Croatian changes noun endings depending on their case (grammatical role).

Here:

• s (“with”) requires the instrumental case
• The instrumental singular for a feminine noun like prijateljica is prijateljicom

Rough pattern (feminine -a noun, singular):

• Nominative (dictionary form): prijateljica – a (female) friend
• Instrumental (after s = with): prijateljicom – with a (female) friend

So:

• prijateljica → subject:
  
  • Prijateljica ide u kino. (The friend is going to the cinema.)
• prijateljicom → after s / “with”:
  
  • Idem s prijateljicom u kino. (I’m going to the cinema with (a) friend.)

What’s the difference between prijateljica and prijatelj? Does the sentence say the friend is female?

Yes. Croatian marks gender in the word for “friend”:

• prijateljica = female friend
• prijatelj = male friend

In your sentence:

• s prijateljicom = with a female friend

If you mean a male friend, you’d say:

• Večeras idem s prijateljem u kino.
  (male friend; prijateljem is instrumental of prijatelj.)

If you mean several friends:

• Večeras idem s prijateljima u kino.
  (with friends, plural instrumental)

Why is it “u kino” and not “u kinu”?

The preposition u can take two different cases with different meanings:

1. u + accusative → direction / movement into

   • u kino = to the cinema / into the cinema
   • Used with verbs of movement: ići (to go), ulaziti (to enter), etc.

2. u + locative → location / being in

   • u kinu = in the cinema
   • Used with verbs of being/staying: biti (to be), sjediti (to sit), raditi (to work), etc.

So:

• Idem u kino. – I’m going to the cinema. (movement → accusative)
• Jesam u kinu. – I am in the cinema. (location → locative)

Can I change the word order, like in English “I’m going to the cinema with my friend tonight”?

Yes. Croatian word order is quite flexible, and your sentence can appear in several natural orders, for example:

• Večeras idem s prijateljicom u kino. (neutral, very common)
• Večeras idem u kino s prijateljicom.
• Idem večeras s prijateljicom u kino.
• Idem večeras u kino s prijateljicom.

All mean the same basic thing.

Changing the order usually affects emphasis slightly (what you put earlier or later), but it does not make the sentence ungrammatical.

What is the difference between “s” and “sa”? Could I say “sa prijateljicom”?

Both s and sa mean “with” and take the instrumental case.

In practice:

• s is the default form.
• sa is mainly used:
  • before words that start with s, š, z, ž (to avoid tongue-twisters), or
  • sometimes for style or emphasis.

In your specific sentence, people would normally say:

• s prijateljicom (most natural)

sa prijateljicom is possible and understandable, but sounds a bit more emphatic or stylized here.

How is “večeras” different from other words like “noćas” or “danas navečer”?

All relate to time around the evening/night, but they’re not identical:

• večeras = this evening / tonight (typically the time before you go to sleep, roughly early evening to late evening)
• noćas = tonight (during the night), emphasises the nighttime hours (late night)
• danas navečer = this evening, more literally “today in the evening”; similar in meaning to večeras, but a bit more explicit.

In your sentence, večeras is the standard, neutral choice:

• Večeras idem s prijateljicom u kino.
  I’m going to the cinema with a (female) friend this evening / tonight.

Does “kino” mean the same as English “cinema” / “movie theater”? Can it mean “movie” itself?

In Croatian:

• kino = cinema / movie theater (the place, the building)
  
  • Idem u kino. – I’m going to the cinema.

For the movie/film itself, Croatians normally say:

• film

So:

• Idem u kino gledati film.
  I’m going to the cinema to watch a film.