Questions & Answers about Djeca tiho govore u vrtu.
Croatian has no articles like English “the” or “a/an”.
Whether djeca means “the children” or “children” is understood from context, not from a separate word.
So Djeca tiho govore u vrtu can be translated as:
- “The children are speaking quietly in the garden.”
or - “Children are speaking quietly in the garden.”
The sentence itself doesn’t say explicitly whether we mean specific children or children in general; context decides that.
Djeca is a bit special:
- It is grammatically plural, which is why the verb is govore (3rd person plural).
- Semantically it refers to a group (children).
- In traditional grammar it’s often treated as neuter plural, even though it refers to people.
So:
- Djeca govore. – govore = they speak (plural)
- You cannot say *Djeca govori (that would be wrong in standard Croatian).
The verb is govoriti (to speak, to talk).
Govoriti is imperfective, and govore is present tense, 3rd person plural.
In English, this Croatian present can cover:
- “The children speak quietly in the garden.” (habitual)
- “The children are speaking quietly in the garden.” (right now)
Croatian does not have a special present continuous form (like “are speaking”).
Context tells you whether it’s a general habit or something happening now.
Present tense endings for govoriti (imperfective) are:
- ja govorim – I speak
- ti govoriš – you speak (sg.)
- on/ona/ono govori – he/she/it speaks
- mi govorimo – we speak
- vi govorite – you speak (pl./formal)
- oni/one/ona govore – they speak
Since djeca is plural, you must use the “they” form: govore.
There is no *govoraju in standard Croatian for this verb; the correct base is govoriti, not govorati.
Tiho is an adverb meaning “quietly / softly”. It modifies the verb govore.
In Croatian, common positions for such an adverb include:
- Djeca tiho govore u vrtu.
- Djeca govore tiho u vrtu.
Both are natural and mean the same.
You can also emphasize the manner by putting tiho near the start:
- Tiho djeca govore u vrtu. – stylistically marked, more poetic or unusual.
The most neutral are the first two, with tiho close to govore.
The preposition u can take either:
- Locative case – meaning “in / inside” (location)
- Accusative case – meaning “into” (movement to)
U vrtu
- vrtu = locative singular of vrt
- Means “in the garden” (where the children are)
U vrt
- vrt = accusative singular (same as nominative here)
- Would mean “into the garden” (movement toward the garden)
In Djeca tiho govore u vrtu, there is no movement, just location, so vrtu (locative) is correct.
The base (dictionary) form is vrt – “garden” (masculine noun).
Singular cases (most common ones):
- Nominative: vrt – the garden (subject)
- Vrt je velik. – The garden is big.
- Accusative: vrt – the garden (object, or movement into)
- Vidim vrt. – I see the garden.
- Idem u vrt. – I’m going into the garden.
- Locative: vrtu – in/on/at the garden (after certain prepositions)
- U vrtu je trava. – There is grass in the garden.
- O vrtu govorimo. – We talk about the garden.
So u vrtu = “in the garden” (locative).
Yes, u can mean:
- “in / inside” when used with locative (static location)
- “into” when used with accusative (movement)
Examples:
- Djeca su u vrtu. – The children are in the garden. (locative)
- Djeca trče u vrt. – The children are running into the garden. (accusative)
In Djeca tiho govore u vrtu, the children are already there, speaking in that place, so location → locative (vrtu).
Croatian word order is relatively flexible compared to English.
All of these are grammatically correct:
- Djeca tiho govore u vrtu. – neutral, common order.
- Djeca govore tiho u vrtu. – also neutral.
- U vrtu djeca tiho govore. – emphasizes “in the garden” (contrast or focus on location).
- U vrtu tiho govore djeca. – even stronger emphasis on “in the garden”, with djeca as new information.
The default “neutral” version is typically with the subject first: Djeca tiho govore u vrtu.
For one child, you would use the singular noun and verb:
- Dijete tiho govori u vrtu.
- dijete – child (singular)
- govori – 3rd person singular present
Compare:
- Dijete tiho govori u vrtu. – One child speaks quietly in the garden.
- Djeca tiho govore u vrtu. – The children speak quietly in the garden.
Croatian uses a particle ne before the verb to make the present tense negative:
- Djeca ne govore tiho u vrtu.
or - Djeca tiho ne govore u vrtu. (slightly different emphasis)
Most neutral: Djeca ne govore tiho u vrtu.
→ “The children do not speak quietly in the garden.”
Both can describe children talking, but there is a nuance:
- govoriti – to speak, to talk (more general; also about the ability to speak or languages)
- Djeca tiho govore u vrtu. – They are speaking quietly (neutral).
- pričati – to tell (a story), to chat, to narrate
- Djeca tiho pričaju u vrtu. – They are quietly chatting / telling stories in the garden.
In many everyday contexts they overlap, but pričati tends to suggest more informal, story-like, or chatty talking.
Djeca is pronounced approximately like:
- [ˈdʑɛtsa] in IPA
- Roughly like “dye-tsa” in simplified English spelling.
Key points:
- dj = a soft d sound, close to dy in “adieu” or “did you” said quickly (“didja”).
- c = ts as in “cats”.
- Stress is on the first syllable: DJE-ca.