Learn Hardcore Croatian: Nakon turnira ostatak dana provodimo u kafiću i mirno pričamo o svakom rezultatu. - After the tournament we spend the rest of the day in a café and calmly talk about each result.

nakon is a bit more formal and “bookish”.
poslije is slightly more colloquial and very common in speech.
In some regions (especially Serbian), you’ll also see posle, similar to poslije but without ij.

In your sentence, you can safely say:

Poslije turnira ostatak dana provodimo u kafiću…

The grammar stays the same: poslije + genitive (turnira).

What exactly does ostatak dana mean grammatically, and why is dana in that form?

Ostatak dana literally means “the remainder of the day” / “the rest of the day.”

ostatak = remainder, rest (nominative singular)
dan = day (nominative singular)
dana = genitive singular of dan

In Croatian, when you say “the rest of X,” X goes into the genitive:

ostatak dana = the rest of the day
ostatak tjedna = the rest of the week
ostatak novca = the rest of the money

So structurally:

ostatak (subject, nominative)
dana (what the rest is of → genitive)

Dana can also be genitive plural of days, but here the context makes it clear it’s singular (“the rest of the day”).

What does provodimo mean here, and why this verb and not something like “trošimo”?

Provodimo is the 1st person plural present of provoditi.

In this context, provoditi (vrijeme) means “to spend (time)”:

provodimo (ostatak dana) u kafiću = we spend (the rest of the day) in a café

This is the standard verb for spending time:

volim provoditi vrijeme s prijateljima = I like spending time with friends
vikende provodimo na selu = we spend weekends in the countryside

You wouldn’t normally use trošiti (to spend/use up, like money, energy) for time in this neutral sense. Trošiti vrijeme often has a negative nuance (“to waste time”):

ne želim trošiti vrijeme na to = I don’t want to waste time on that

Why is u kafiću and not u kafić? What case is kafiću here?

Preposition u can take locative (location, “in/at”) or accusative (direction, “into”).

Here you have a location (we are in a café), not movement into it, so you use u + locative:

u kafiću = in a café (locative singular)
u grad = to the city (accusative, direction)
u gradu = in the city (locative, place)

Declension of kafić (a café):

Nominative: kafić
Genitive: kafića
Dative/Locative: kafiću
Accusative: kafić

So u kafiću is “in the café,” using the locative case.

What’s the nuance of kafić? Is it the same as “café” or “coffee shop”?

Kafić is a casual place where you mostly order drinks: coffee, juice, beer, wine, etc. It covers:

café
coffee bar
bar (if it’s not too nightclub-like)

It’s usually not a restaurant (you might get simple snacks but not full meals).

Some related words:

kavana – more old-fashioned / traditional café; often slightly more formal or classic.
bar – also exists in Croatian, often trendier or more “nightlife” oriented.

In everyday speech, kafić is the default for “place where we sit and drink coffee/beer and talk.”

What is mirno here, and could I say pričamo mirno instead of mirno pričamo?

Mirno is an adverb formed from the adjective miran (calm, peaceful).

miran (adj.) → mirno (adv.) = calmly, peacefully

Position:

mirno pričamo and pričamo mirno are both grammatically correct.
mirno pričamo puts a bit more emphasis on the calmness of the action right away: “we calmly talk…”
pričamo mirno sounds slightly more neutral or like you’re adding the detail afterward: “we talk, calmly…”

Croatian word order is flexible; adverbs often come before the verb but can also follow, with slight shifts in emphasis.

Why did the writer use pričamo and not govorimo or razgovaramo?

All three can be translated as “talk/speak,” but they’re used differently:

pričati – to talk, to tell (stories), to chat
- mirno pričamo o svakom rezultatu = we calmly talk about each result
- Focus on informal conversation / narration.
govoriti – to speak (a language), to speak in a more formal or monologic way
- govorim engleski = I speak English
- on govori prebrzo = he speaks too fast
razgovarati – to converse, to have a conversation (often two-way)
- razgovaramo o poslu = we talk about work

In your sentence, pričamo suggests a relaxed, story-like or chatty discussion about each result, which fits the scene in a café.

What case is svakom rezultatu in o svakom rezultatu, and why that form of svaki?

Preposition o in the sense of “about” takes the locative case.

o rezultatu = about the result (locative singular)
o svakom rezultatu = about each result

Declension of rezultat (masculine):

Nominative: rezultat
Genitive: rezultata
Dative/Locative: rezultatu

Declension of svaki (masculine singular):

Nominative: svaki (every, each)
Genitive: svakog
Dative/Locative: svakom

So both the adjective and noun match in gender, number, and case:

o (preposition) + svakom (locative sg.) + rezultatu (locative sg.)

Could the word order be different, like Nakon turnira ostatak dana mirno provodimo u kafiću i pričamo o svakom rezultatu? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the word order, and the basic meaning stays the same, but the focus shifts slightly.

Original:

…ostatak dana provodimo u kafiću i mirno pričamo o svakom rezultatu.
→ Neutral focus on where we are (in a café), then how we talk (calmly).

Alternative:

…ostatak dana mirno provodimo u kafiću i pričamo o svakom rezultatu.
→ Slightly more emphasis on the peaceful way we spend the day.

Other acceptable variations:

…ostatak dana provodimo u kafiću i pričamo mirno o svakom rezultatu.
…ostatak dana u kafiću provodimo i mirno pričamo o svakom rezultatu.

Croatian allows fairly free word order as long as case endings are correct. Changing the order usually changes emphasis, not core meaning.

Why is there no mi (“we”) in the sentence? Is it optional?

In Croatian, subject pronouns (ja, ti, on, mi, vi, oni…) are usually dropped because the verb ending already shows the subject.

provodimo and pričamo are both 1st person plural forms → “we spend” / “we (are) talk(ing)”.

So:

Mi nakon turnira ostatak dana provodimo… – grammatically correct but sounds emphasized, like “We (as opposed to others) spend the rest of the day…”
Nakon turnira ostatak dana provodimo… – normal, neutral.

You only add mi when you need contrast or emphasis.

The sentence uses present tense (provodimo, pričamo) even though it’s about “after the tournament.” Is this present or future?

Formally, it’s present tense, but Croatian often uses the present tense for scheduled or habitual future events, similar to English in sentences like “After the game, we go to a bar.”

Possible readings:

Habitual (what we usually do):
- “After the tournament, we (typically) spend the rest of the day in a café and calmly talk about each result.”
Planned near future (a fixed plan):
- “After the tournament, we’ll spend the rest of the day in a café and calmly talk about each result.”

You could also use the future tense:

…ostatak dana ćemo provesti u kafiću i mirno ćemo pričati…

But in everyday speech, the present for planned/habitual future is very common and natural here.