Learn Hardcore Croatian: Večeras je kafić poluprazan, pa mirno pijemo čaj. - Tonight the cafe is half-empty, so we are calmly drinking tea.

Je is an unstressed auxiliary verb (a clitic) from biti (to be). Croatian clitics normally go into the second position in the clause, after the first stressed word or phrase.

First stressed unit: Večeras
Second-position clitic: je
Then comes the subject: kafić

So we get: Večeras je kafić poluprazan…

You wouldn’t normally say Večeras kafić je poluprazan in standard Croatian; that sounds wrong because je is not in second position.

Why is kafić in this form? Why not kafića or something else?

Kafić is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative singular:

Nominative (subject): kafić – the café
Genitive (e.g. “of the café”): kafića

In this sentence we are saying “the café is half empty”, so kafić must be in the nominative, not in any other case.

What exactly does poluprazan mean, and how is it formed?

Poluprazan literally means “half-empty”.

It’s made of:

polu- – a prefix meaning half-, semi-
prazan – empty (masculine singular form of the adjective)

So polu + prazan → poluprazan = half-empty.
Other examples with polu-:

polukrug – semicircle
poluslatko vino – semi-sweet wine
polupismen – semi-literate

Why is it poluprazan and not poluprazno or poluprazna?

Adjectives in Croatian must agree with the noun in:

gender
number
case

Kafić is:

masculine
singular
nominative

So the adjective must take the masculine singular nominative form: poluprazan.

If the noun were different, the adjective would change:

Soba je poluprazna. – The room is half-empty. (feminine)
Kazalište je poluprazno. – The theatre is half-empty. (neuter)

Could I say napola prazan instead of poluprazan?

Yes, you can:

Večeras je kafić napola prazan.

Napola prazan literally means “half empty” too.
The difference:

poluprazan – one word, sounds a bit more compact and idiomatic, quite common
napola prazan – two words, slightly more descriptive / literal (“empty to halfway”)

Both are correct; style and personal preference decide which you use.

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

In this sentence, pa roughly means “so” or “and so”:

Večeras je kafić poluprazan, pa mirno pijemo čaj.
Tonight the café is half-empty, so we’re peacefully drinking tea.

Comparison:

i = and (just adds information, no cause–effect)
- Večeras je kafić poluprazan i pijemo čaj. – sounds like two facts listed.
pa = and/so, often implying a mild consequence or result
zato (što) / zato = because / therefore, stronger, more explicit causal link

So pa is softer than zato, and often feels more natural in casual speech for “so/and so”.

Why is there a comma before pa?

In Croatian, pa usually introduces a new clause (like a separate mini-sentence), and it’s common to separate it with a comma:

[Večeras je kafić poluprazan], [pa mirno pijemo čaj].

Each bracketed part is a clause. You could almost translate the comma + pa as “, so” or “, and so”, which in English also takes a comma.

What is the difference between mirno and miran / mirna / mirno?

miran / mirna / mirno are adjectives – they describe nouns:
- miran čovjek – a calm man
- mirna večer – a peaceful evening
- mirno mjesto – a quiet place
mirno (in mirno pijemo čaj) is an adverb – it describes how we drink:
- mirno pijemo čaj – we drink tea calmly / in peace

The form mirno can be both:

neuter adjective (for neuter nouns), and
adverb formed from the adjective miran.

Here it’s functioning as an adverb.

Could I say pijemo čaj mirno instead of mirno pijemo čaj?

Yes, both orders are possible:

Mirno pijemo čaj. – neutral; the adverb comes before the verb.
Pijemo čaj mirno. – sounds a bit more like you’re adding “calmly” as extra information at the end.

Croatian word order is relatively flexible, but:

Putting mirno at the beginning (Mirno pijemo čaj) can make how you’re drinking more prominent.
At the end (Pijemo čaj mirno) can feel slightly more like an afterthought or emphasis.

All are grammatically correct; the differences are subtle and mostly about emphasis.

Why is the verb pijemo (present tense) used, even though in English we say “we are drinking”?

Croatian does not have a separate continuous form (am/is/are doing) like English.

The present tense (pijemo) covers both:

we drink tea (habitually)
we are drinking tea (right now)

Context tells you which meaning is intended.
Here, because we’re talking about tonight and a current situation in the café, pijemo is naturally understood as “we are drinking”.

How do we know the subject is “we”? There is no mi in the sentence.

Croatian usually drops subject pronouns (like ja, ti, mi) because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

The verb pijemo has the ending -emo, which is:

1st person plural → “we drink / we are drinking”

So pijemo alone implies mi pijemo.
You only add mi for emphasis or contrast:

Mi pijemo čaj, a oni piju kavu. – We are drinking tea, and they are drinking coffee.

Why is čaj in this form? Isn’t the object supposed to be in the accusative?

Yes, čaj is the direct object of pijemo, so it is in the accusative case.

For inanimate masculine nouns, the nominative and accusative singular forms are usually identical:

Nominative: čaj – tea (as subject)
Accusative: čaj – tea (as object)

So even though the form looks the same, in this sentence čaj is accusative because it’s the thing being drunk.