Learn Hardcore Croatian: Na turnir dolaze roditelji kao navijači i navijačice, pa je dvorana puna glasnih ljudi. - Parents come to the tournament as male and female fans, so the hall is full of loud people.

na + accusative is often used for:
- events: na koncert, na utakmicu, na turnir
- surfaces/open areas: na stol, na trg
u + accusative is more for entering an enclosed space: u školu (into school), u kuću (into the house).

A tournament is treated as an event, so Croatian prefers na turnir (to the tournament), not u turnir.
But you could say u dvoranu (into the hall), because that’s a physical enclosed space.

What case is turnir in, and why does it look like the nominative?

Turnir is in the accusative singular, governed by na (movement: to the tournament).

For inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative singular form is identical to the nominative:

Nominative: turnir je danas – “The tournament is today.”
Accusative: na turnir dolaze – “(They) are coming to the tournament.”

So the form doesn’t change, but the function is accusative.

What tense and aspect is dolaze, and why not something like dođu?

Dolaze is:

Present tense
3rd person plural
From the verb dolaziti (imperfective aspect)

Using dolaziti (imperfective) + present describes an ongoing, general or repeated action:

Na turnir dolaze roditelji…
“Parents come/are coming to the tournament…” (it’s a typical situation or currently happening)

If you said dođu (from doći, perfective), it would sound more like a single completed arrival:

Kad dođu roditelji, dvorana je puna.
“When the parents arrive, the hall is full.”

So here, dolaze matches the idea of people coming (as a process / generally).

Why is roditelji in this form? What case is it and what’s its role?

Roditelji is:

Nominative plural of roditelj – “parent”
It is the subject of the verb dolaze.

You can see that with a simpler sentence:

Roditelji dolaze. – “The parents are coming.”

Since the subject of a sentence is normally in the nominative, roditelji is nominative plural here.

What does kao mean here, and why are navijači and navijačice in the nominative?

Here, kao means “as” or “in the role of”:

roditelji kao navijači i navijačice
“parents as (male and female) fans/cheerers”

After kao, when you’re saying what someone is / acts as, Croatian usually uses the nominative:

Ona radi kao učiteljica. – “She works as a teacher.”
On nastupa kao glumac. – “He performs as an actor.”

So navijači and navijačice stay in the nominative because they are role labels introduced by kao.

What is the difference between navijači and navijačice? Could you just say navijači?

navijači = male fans / cheerers, or grammatically masculine plural, which can also be used as a generic mixed-gender plural.
navijačice = explicitly female fans / cheerleaders (feminine plural).

By saying navijači i navijačice, the speaker is explicitly including both men and women, making it gender-balanced and clearer.

You could say just navijači and it would be understood as “fans” in general (including women), but it sounds more male‑default and less explicitly inclusive.

What does pa mean here, and how is it different from i or zato?

In this sentence:

pa ≈ “so / and so / and therefore”

The clause structure is:

Na turnir dolaze roditelji kao navijači i navijačice, pa je dvorana puna…
“Parents come to the tournament as fans, so the hall is full …”

Comparison:

i = “and” (just adding another fact)
…navijači i navijačice, i dvorana je puna. – sounds more like two separate statements.
zato (je) / zato što = “therefore” / “because” – more explicit cause:
- …navijači i navijačice, zato je dvorana puna. – “therefore the hall is full.”
- …jer dolaze…, dvorana je puna. – “because they come…, the hall is full.”

Pa often gives a light causal or consequential meaning: “and as a result…”

Why is it je dvorana puna instead of dvorana je puna? Is that word order special?

Both je dvorana puna and dvorana je puna are grammatically correct.

The key thing is the clitic je (“is”):

In Croatian, short forms like je, se, ga, mi, ti tend to go in second position in the clause.
In …pa je dvorana puna…, the conjunction pa is first, so je naturally comes second:
- 1st: pa
- 2nd: je
- then: dvorana puna

If you started a sentence independently, you would very commonly say:

Dvorana je puna. – “The hall is full.”

Here, because of pa, the clitic je shifts to follow it, giving pa je dvorana puna.

Why is it puna glasnih ljudi and not something like puna glasni ljudi? What cases are used?

Puna glasnih ljudi breaks down like this:

puna – predicate adjective “full”, agreeing with dvorana:
- dvorana (hall) is feminine singular, so:
  - masculine: pun
  - feminine: puna
  - neuter: puno
glasnih ljudi – genitive plural
- glasnih: genitive plural of glasni (“loud / noisy”)
- ljudi: genitive plural of ljudi (“people”)

The structure pun/puna/puno + GENITIVE means “full of X”:

puna vode – full of water
puna djece – full of children
pun knjiga – full of books

So you must use the genitive after pun/puna/puno in this meaning.
puna glasni ljudi would be wrong, because glasni ljudi is nominative plural, not genitive.

What is the difference between glasni ljudi and glasnih ljudi?

glasni ljudi – nominative plural
Used when glasni ljudi is the subject or a predicate:
- Glasni ljudi viču. – “Loud people are shouting.”
- To su glasni ljudi. – “Those are loud people.”
glasnih ljudi – genitive plural
Used after certain adjectives/prepositions/quantities, here after puna:
- dvorana je puna glasnih ljudi – “the hall is full of loud people.”

So the form changes because the grammar role changes (subject vs. complement of “full of”).

Could you say Dvorana je puna glasnih roditelja instead? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, grammatically you could say:

Dvorana je puna glasnih roditelja.
“The hall is full of loud parents.”

Differences:

glasnih ljudi – emphasizes that the hall is full of loud people in general (not necessarily specifying who they are).
glasnih roditelja – specifically says it’s the parents who are loud and filling the hall.

The original sentence first identifies them as roditelji kao navijači i navijačice (parents as fans) and then more generally says the hall is full of loud people. Using ljudi keeps it more general.