Learn Hardcore Croatian: Navijačice nam pomažu zadržati pozitivno raspoloženje do kraja utakmice. - The female fans help us keep a positive mood until the end of the match.

In many contexts navijačice can simply mean “female fans”, but depending on the situation (e.g. sports, performances, pom‑poms, choreography), it can indeed be understood as “cheerleaders” in the English sense. The exact nuance depends on context, not grammar.

Why is the pronoun nam in the middle of the sentence: Navijačice nam pomažu… and not somewhere else?

Nam is an unstressed (clitic) pronoun meaning “to us” (dative plural of mi = we).

Croatian clitics usually go in the second position in the clause, after the first stressed word or phrase. In this sentence, Navijačice is the first stressed element, so the clitic comes right after it:

Navijačice nam pomažu…

You could also say:

Navijačice pomažu nama…

Here nama (the stressed form) is used instead of the clitic nam. That version sounds more emphatic: “The cheerleaders help us (as opposed to someone else).”

But putting nam after navijačice is the neutral, standard word order with an unstressed pronoun.

Could I say pomažu nam instead of nam pomažu? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say both:

Navijačice nam pomažu… (neutral)
Navijačice pomažu nam… (slightly emphatic on us)

In the first one, nam is in the normal clitic position (second position in the clause), which is the most natural and common.

In Navijačice pomažu nam, nam is in a later position and is stressed, so it carries a bit more emphasis: “They help us.”

Grammatically, both are correct; the difference is in nuance and emphasis.

Why is it pomažu zadržati and not pomažu da zadržimo? Which is more natural?

Both structures are possible:

pomažu zadržati
- infinitive
  - literally: “help (to) keep”
pomažu da zadržimo
- da-clause
  - literally: “help that we keep / help us (so that we) keep”

In modern Croatian:

Verb + infinitive: a bit more neutral, often somewhat more formal or bookish in tone.
- Navijačice nam pomažu zadržati pozitivno raspoloženje…
Verb + da + finite clause: very common in everyday speech, a bit more colloquial.
- Navijačice nam pomažu da zadržimo pozitivno raspoloženje…

Meaning-wise they are almost the same here; the choice is mostly about style. Your sentence with the infinitive is perfectly correct and natural, especially in written or slightly more formal contexts.

What is the aspect of zadržati, and why is that aspect used here?

Zadržati is perfective.

imperfective pair: zadržavati = to be keeping, to keep (ongoing)
perfective: zadržati = to keep, to retain (with a sense of reaching a goal, maintaining something for a certain period)

In pomažu zadržati pozitivno raspoloženje do kraja utakmice, the focus is on successfully maintaining the positive mood all the way until the end. The perfective aspect matches the idea of achieving that end point (“to keep it until the end”).

If you said pomažu zadržavati, it would highlight the ongoing process more than the result, and would sound less natural in this specific “up to the end” context.

Why is it pozitivno raspoloženje and not something like pozitivno raspoloženja?

Raspoloženje (mood) is a neuter noun.

In your sentence, it is the direct object of zadržati, so it must be in the accusative singular, which for neuter nouns is identical to the nominative singular:

nominative sg: raspoloženje
accusative sg: raspoloženje

So pozitivno raspoloženje is correct.

Pozitivno raspoloženja would be incorrect here because raspoloženja is genitive singular (or nominative/accusative plural), and this sentence needs a direct object, not a genitive.

Why is it pozitivno raspoloženje and not pozitivna raspoloženje? How does the agreement work?

Adjectives in Croatian agree with the noun in gender, number and case.

raspoloženje = neuter, singular
Accusative singular (here): raspoloženje
The matching adjective form is pozitivno (neuter singular accusative = same form as neuter nominative)

So:

pozitivno raspoloženje = correct (both neuter singular)
pozitivna raspoloženje = wrong, because pozitivna is feminine singular, while raspoloženje is neuter.

What case is used in do kraja utakmice, and why?

Both kraja and utakmice are in the genitive case.

do + genitive
The preposition do (until, up to) always takes the genitive:
- do kraja = until the end
kraj + genitive (“the end of X”)
The noun kraj (end) often takes another noun in genitive to say “the end of something”:
- kraj utakmice = the end of the match

So do kraja utakmice literally means “until the end of the match,” which is structurally:

do
- kraja (gen. of kraj)
kraja
- utakmice (gen. of utakmica)

What is the gender and basic declension of utakmica?

Utakmica (match, game) is a feminine noun.

Singular (basic forms):

Nominative: utakmica (the match)
Genitive: utakmice (of the match)
Dative: utakmici
Accusative: utakmicu
Locative: (o) utakmici
Instrumental: (s) utakmicom

In do kraja utakmice, it is in the genitive singular (utakmice) because of the structure kraj utakmice (“the end of the match”).

How is pomažu formed, and what is its aspect?

Pomažu is the 3rd person plural present tense of the verb pomagati (to help).

Conjugation (present, indicative):

ja pomažem
ti pomažeš
on/ona/ono pomaže
mi pomažemo
vi pomažete
oni/one/ona pomažu

Pomagati is imperfective, describing an ongoing, repeated, or general action (“are helping”, “help in general”).

The perfective partner is pomoći (“to help” but with a completed, one‑time sense: “to give help, to have helped”). In this sentence, we want the idea of them generally or continuously helping us through the match, so the imperfective pomažu is appropriate.

If there were only one cheerleader, how would the sentence change?

You would use the singular forms:

Navijačica nam pomaže zadržati pozitivno raspoloženje do kraja utakmice.

Changes:

Navijačice (feminine plural) → Navijačica (feminine singular)
pomažu (3rd person plural) → pomaže (3rd person singular)

Everything else stays the same.

Are there any natural word‑order variations of this sentence?

Yes, Croatian word order is relatively flexible, but changes often affect emphasis. Some possibilities:

Navijačice nam pomažu zadržati pozitivno raspoloženje do kraja utakmice.
– Neutral, most natural.
Navijačice pomažu nama zadržati pozitivno raspoloženje do kraja utakmice.
– Emphasis on nama (“they help us”).
Pozitivno raspoloženje nam navijačice pomažu zadržati do kraja utakmice.
– Stronger emphasis on pozitivno raspoloženje (what is being kept).
Navijačice nam pomažu da zadržimo pozitivno raspoloženje do kraja utakmice.
– More colloquial structure with da zadržimo.

Not all permutations sound equally natural; moving elements around is mainly used for stressing different parts of the sentence.

What is the difference in meaning or nuance between zadržati and održati in a sentence like this?

Both zadržati and održati can relate to “keeping” something, but their typical uses differ:

zadržati (raspoloženje) = keep, retain a mood or state
- zadržati pozitivno raspoloženje = keep a positive mood
održati literally means “to hold, to maintain, to carry out” (often events, promises, speeches, meetings):
- održati sastanak = hold a meeting
- održati govor = give/hold a speech
- održati obećanje = keep a promise
- održati formu = maintain fitness

You can hear održati dobro raspoloženje, but zadržati (pozitivno) raspoloženje sounds more natural and common specifically with raspoloženje (mood). In your sentence, zadržati is the best choice.