Learn Hardcore Croatian: Navečer vježbamo hrvatski u tihoj sobi. - In the evening we practice Croatian in a quiet room.

večer = evening (a noun)
- e.g. Ova večer je lijepa. – This evening is beautiful.
navečer = in the evening, in the evenings (adverb)
- e.g. Navečer čitam. – I read in the evening / in the evenings.
u večer is not normally used in modern standard Croatian for “in the evening”. You’d say navečer instead.

So in your sentence, Navečer vježbamo… means “In the evening we practice…” in a habitual or general way.

Why is there no word for “we” in vježbamo? Where is the subject?

In Croatian, the subject pronoun (like mi = we) is usually dropped because the verb ending already shows the person.

The infinitive is vježbati – to practice / exercise.
The 1st person plural (we) present tense is vježbamo.

The ending -mo tells you the subject is “we”, so saying mi vježbamo is grammatically correct but usually unnecessary and only used for emphasis:

Vježbamo hrvatski. – We practice Croatian.
Mi vježbamo hrvatski (a ne oni). – We practice Croatian (not them).

What tense is vježbamo here, and does it mean “we are practicing” or “we practice”?

Vježbamo is present tense of an imperfective verb.

In English it can correspond to both:

We practice Croatian (in the evenings). – habitual action
We are practicing Croatian (this evening). – ongoing action

Croatian present tense with an imperfective verb often covers both simple present and present continuous meanings, and context (like navečer) tells you if it’s habitual or happening right now. In your sentence, it sounds mostly habitual (“in the evenings we (usually) practice Croatian”).

Why is it hrvatski and not hrvatski jezik or hrvatsku?

Hrvatski here is a short form for the language “Croatian”.

hrvatski jezik = Croatian language (full phrase)
In everyday speech, when it’s clear we mean the language, we just say hrvatski.

About the form:

The verb vježbati takes a direct object in the accusative case.
hrvatski is masculine singular accusative, and for masculine inanimate nouns/adjectives, the accusative form = nominative form, so it looks the same as the dictionary form.

Why not hrvatsku?

hrvatsku would be feminine accusative singular, which doesn’t match jezik (m.).
The understood noun is (hrvatski) jezik (m.), so the adjective has to be masculine → hrvatski.

What case is u tihoj sobi, and why is it tihoj sobi instead of something like tihu sobu?

U tihoj sobi is in the locative case.

In Croatian:

u
- locative = location where something is (static, no movement)
  - u tihoj sobi – in a quiet room
u
- accusative = movement into something
  - u tihu sobu – into the quiet room (you’re going in)

Forms:

soba (nominative singular, fem.) – room
u sobi (locative singular) – in the room
tiha soba (nom.) → u tihoj sobi (loc.) – adjective agrees with the noun

So u tihoj sobi literally means “in (a/the) quiet room”, describing where the practicing happens, not movement into the room.

Why does tihoj end in -oj? How does it agree with sobi?

Tihoj is the locative feminine singular form of the adjective tih (quiet).

Agreement rules:

soba is feminine singular.
In locative singular, feminine nouns usually end in -i (sobi).
The adjective must match the noun in gender, number, and case:
- Nominative: tiha soba – quiet room
- Locative: u tihoj sobi – in a quiet room

Pattern (feminine singular adjective endings):

Nominative: -a → tiha
Genitive/Dative/Locative: -e / -oj → here tihoj is the correct locative form with u.

So tihoj matches sobi in case (locative), number (singular), and gender (feminine).

Can the word order be different, like Vježbamo navečer hrvatski u tihoj sobi? How flexible is Croatian word order here?

Croatian word order is quite flexible, especially compared to English. Most of these are possible and natural:

Navečer vježbamo hrvatski u tihoj sobi.
Navečer u tihoj sobi vježbamo hrvatski.
Hrvatski vježbamo navečer u tihoj sobi. (emphasis on the language)
U tihoj sobi navečer vježbamo hrvatski. (emphasis on the place)

The basic information stays the same, but changing the order slightly changes what feels emphasized (time, place, or the activity/language). Your original sentence is natural and neutral.

When should I use u vs na for places like this? Why not na tihoj sobi?

U and na both can mean “in / at / on”, but they’re used with different types of locations.

General rules:

u = in / inside something:
- u sobi – in the room
- u kući – in the house
- u školi – at school / in the school
na = on / on top of / at (some places):
- na stolu – on the table
- na poslu – at work
- na koncertu – at a concert

A room is an enclosed space, so you’re in it: u sobi, not na sobi.
Na sobi would be incorrect here and would sound like “on top of the room”.

Is Navečer always written with a capital N like this?

It’s capitalized here only because it is the first word of the sentence.

As a general rule:

At the beginning of a sentence: Navečer vježbamo…
In the middle of a sentence, it would be lowercase:
- Obično navečer vježbamo hrvatski.

So the correct dictionary form is navečer (lowercase); you capitalize it only when normal sentence rules require it.

Why is there no article (“a / the”) in u tihoj sobi or before hrvatski? How do I know if it means “a quiet room” or “the quiet room”?

Croatian has no articles (no a, an, the), so you don’t see a separate word for them.

u tihoj sobi can mean “in a quiet room” or “in the quiet room”.
hrvatski can mean “Croatian”, “the Croatian language”, etc.

Which one is meant (“a” vs “the”) is decided by context:

If it’s a specific room already known from context → the quiet room.
If it’s just any quiet room, not specified → a quiet room.

English must choose, but Croatian leaves it to the situation and prior information.