Za mene je najveća sreća kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno.

For me the greatest happiness is when the whole family has a calm dinner together.

Breakdown of Za mene je najveća sreća kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno.

• biti: to be
• zajedno: together
• kad: when
• obitelj: family
• večerati: to have dinner
• za: for
• mene: me
• mirno: calmly
• cijeli: whole
• najveći: greatest
• sreća: happiness

Questions & Answers about Za mene je najveća sreća kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno.

What does Za mene mean literally, and what case is mene in? Why do we use za here?

Za mene literally means for me.

• za = for
• mene = the accusative form of ja (I → me)

The preposition za in Croatian always takes the accusative case (za koga? za što? → for whom? for what?), so you must say:

• za mene (for me)
• za tebe (for you)
• za njega / za nju (for him / for her)

Functionally, Za mene = In my opinion / As far as I’m concerned / For me personally.

Could I also say Meni je najveća sreća kad… instead of Za mene je…? What is the difference?

Yes, you can say Meni je najveća sreća kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno.

Differences:

• Za mene je…

  • literally: For me, the greatest happiness is…
  • neutral, very common; sounds like a general personal standpoint.

• Meni je…

  • meni = dative of ja (I → to me)
  • literally: To me, the greatest happiness is…
  • feels a bit more personal/subjective, like “to me personally, the greatest happiness is…”

Both are correct and natural; the nuance is small. Use whichever feels more natural to you.

Why is the verb je placed after Za mene? Could I say Za mene najveća sreća je…?

In Croatian, short forms of “to be” (sam, si, je, smo, ste, su) act like clitics and prefer the second position in the sentence or clause.

• Za mene je najveća sreća…
  
  • Za mene = first slot
  • je = clitic in second position
  • This is the most natural word order.

You can hear Za mene najveća sreća je kad…, but:

• it sounds more marked / emphatic
• the standard, neutral order keeps je early: Za mene je najveća sreća…

As a learner, treat “clitic in second position” as your default rule.

Why is it najveća sreća and not najveći sreća or najveće sreća?

Because the adjective must agree with the noun sreća in gender, number, and case.

• sreća = happiness, luck
  
  • gender: feminine
  • number: singular
  • case: nominative (it is the subject)

So the adjective velik (big/great) in the superlative form najveći has to match:

• masculine: najveći
• feminine: najveća ✅
• neuter: najveće

Therefore:

• najveća sreća = the greatest happiness ✅
• najveći sreća ❌ (masculine adjective with a feminine noun)
• najveće sreća ❌ (neuter adjective with a feminine noun)

What is the grammatical structure of the whole sentence? Who or what is the subject?

Sentence: Za mene je najveća sreća kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno.

Breakdown:

• Za mene – prepositional phrase: for me / as far as I’m concerned
• je – 3rd person singular of biti (to be)
• najveća sreća – subject complement / predicate noun (what “it” is)
• kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno – subordinate “when”-clause explaining in what situation

More abstractly:

• (Implicit subject) [It] is the greatest happiness for me when the whole family has dinner together peacefully.

In Croatian we don’t say It; we just say je najveća sreća.

What does kad mean here? Is there a difference between kad and kada?

kad = when (introduces a subordinate time clause).

• kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno
  = when the whole family has dinner together calmly/peacefully

kad and kada:

• kada is the full form, slightly more formal or careful.
• kad is the short, very common spoken form.

In most everyday contexts, you can swap them freely:

• Za mene je najveća sreća kada cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno. ✅
• Za mene je najveća sreća kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno. ✅

Meaning is the same; kad just sounds a bit more informal/colloquial.

Why is obitelj treated as singular? In English we often say the family are….

obitelj = family is grammatically singular feminine in Croatian.

• cijela obitelj – whole family (singular)
• verb: večera – 3rd person singular (he/she/it has dinner)

So Croatian uses singular agreement:

• cijela obitelj mirno večera
  = the whole family has dinner (as one unit)

Even though the family consists of many people, the noun itself is singular and the verb must match it.

Why is it cijela obitelj and not cijeli obitelj?

Again, adjective–noun agreement:

• obitelj = feminine singular (nominative)
• cijeli = masculine form
• cijela = feminine form ✅

So:

• cijela obitelj – the whole family ✅
• cijeli obitelj ❌ (wrong gender)

A few examples to see the pattern:

• cijela kuća (fem.) – the whole house
• cijeli dan (masc.) – the whole day
• cijelo vrijeme (neut.) – the whole time

What exactly is večera here: a noun (dinner) or a verb (to have dinner)?

In this sentence, večera is a verb:

• 3rd person singular, present tense of večerati (to have dinner)
  
  • ja večeram
  • ti večeraš
  • on/ona/ono večera ✅
  • mi večeramo
  • vi večerate
  • oni/one/ona večeraju

So:

• cijela obitelj mirno večera
  = the whole family is having dinner / has dinner peacefully

There is also a noun:

• večera (noun) = dinner
  
  • Idemo na večeru. – We’re going to (for) dinner.

Here the context and the role in the sentence show it’s a verb, not the noun.

Why is the present tense used in kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno? It sounds like a specific time.

Croatian, like English, uses the present tense to talk about:

• regular / habitual actions
• general truths
• typical situations

In kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno, the present expresses a general, repeated situation:

• whenever the whole family has dinner together peacefully

This is like English:

• For me, the greatest happiness is when the whole family eats dinner together.

So it doesn’t refer to just one dinner; it’s about that situation in general.

What does mirno add to the meaning? Does it only mean “quietly”?

mirno is an adverb from the adjective miran:

• miran = calm, peaceful, quiet
• mirno = calmly, peacefully, quietly

In this sentence, mirno suggests:

• no arguing, no tension
• calm atmosphere
• possibly also not noisy, but the main idea is peaceful, not just silent.

Compare:

• tiho = quietly (low volume)
• mirno = calmly, peacefully (no conflict / agitation)

So mirno večerati is more like to have a peaceful dinner rather than just a quiet dinner.

What is the role of zajedno here? Could I move it or leave it out?

zajedno = together.

• It describes how the family is having dinner: večeraju zajedno – they have dinner together.

You can:

• leave it out, but then you lose the idea of being together:
  
  • kad cijela obitelj mirno večera – when the whole family calmly has dinner (together is implied but not explicit)
• move it in the clause; typical positions:
  
  • kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno ✅
  • kad cijela obitelj zajedno mirno večera ✅
  • kad cijela obitelj mirno zajedno večera ✅ (less common, but possible)

Croatian word order is flexible. Putting zajedno right after večera is also fine:

• kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno (very natural)

How flexible is the word order in the kad‑clause? Can I start with mirno or zajedno?

The core elements are:

• cijela obitelj (subject)
• večera (verb)
• mirno, zajedno (adverbs)

Most natural orders:

• kad cijela obitelj mirno večera zajedno ✅
• kad cijela obitelj zajedno mirno večera ✅
• kad cijela obitelj večera mirno zajedno ✅

Less usual but still grammatical:

• kad mirno večera cijela obitelj zajedno – emphasizes mirno večera
• kad zajedno mirno večera cijela obitelj – stronger focus on zajedno mirno

Croatian allows you to move adverbs and even the subject around for emphasis, but cijela obitelj večera… (subject near the verb) is the most neutral pattern for a learner.

How do I pronounce tricky parts like ć in sreća and lj in obitelj?

Some key sounds:

1. ć in sreća

   • softer than English ch in chair
   • closer to a soft “tch”, with the tongue more towards the front of the palate
   • sreća ≈ SRE-tya (but with a single, soft consonant, not “t” + “y”)

2. lj in obitelj

   • a single sound, like the lli in million or ll in Spanish calle (in many dialects)
   • obitelj ≈ o-BEE-tyel (again, lj is one sound)

3. Stress (simplified guide):

   • Za MÉne je najVÉća SREća kad ciJEla oBÍteľ MÍrno VEčera zaJEDno.
   • In real speech, stress patterns vary by region, but this gives you a workable approximation.

Focusing on making ć soft and lj as one sound will already make you sound much more natural.