Na koncertu svira poznati glazbenik, a pjeva mlada glazbenica.

At the concert a famous male musician is playing, and a young female musician is singing.

Breakdown of Na koncertu svira poznati glazbenik, a pjeva mlada glazbenica.

• a: and
• na: at
• pjevati: to sing
• svirati: to play
• mlad: young
• koncert: concert
• poznat: famous
• glazbenik: male musician
• glazbenica: female musician

Questions & Answers about Na koncertu svira poznati glazbenik, a pjeva mlada glazbenica.

Why is there no subject pronoun like on or ona before svira and pjeva?

Croatian normally drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the subject.

• svira = he/she plays
• pjeva = he/she sings

From context you know who does what:

• svira poznati glazbenik → a famous (male) musician is playing
• pjeva mlada glazbenica → a young (female) musician is singing

You would normally only add on / ona if you need to emphasize or contrast:
On svira, a ona pjeva. – HE plays, and SHE sings.

Why is it na koncertu and not na koncert or u koncertu?

Na koncertu uses the preposition na + locative case to express location: at the concert.

• na
  • locative → on/at (a place where something happens)
    
    • na koncertu – at the concert
    • na sastanku – at the meeting

na koncert would use the accusative case and usually means movement to the concert:

• Idem na koncert. – I’m going to the concert.

u koncertu is basically wrong in this context; u is not used for “at a concert” in standard Croatian. You say na koncertu, not u koncertu.

What case is koncertu, and how do I recognize it?

Koncertu is masculine singular locative.

For many masculine nouns ending in a consonant, locative singular ends in -u:

• koncert → na koncertu (at the concert)
• trg → na trgu (in the square)
• sastanak → na sastanku (at the meeting)

You know it’s locative here because it follows na with a static location meaning (“at”).

What is the function of a in the sentence, and how is it different from i?

a is a conjunction that often means “and” with a slight contrast or a change of perspective:

• Na koncertu svira poznati glazbenik, a pjeva mlada glazbenica.
  → Two different people doing two different actions; a lightly contrasts them.

i is a more neutral “and”, just joining elements:

• Na koncertu svira poznati glazbenik i pjeva mlada glazbenica.
  This is also correct, but sounds more like a simple listing, with less contrast.

Rough guide:

• i = and, in addition
• a = and/but, meanwhile/on the other hand

Why is the verb placed before the subject: svira poznati glazbenik instead of poznati glazbenik svira?

Croatian word order is relatively flexible. Both are possible:

• Svira poznati glazbenik.
• Poznati glazbenik svira.

In neutral speech, both can mean the same. Putting the verb first can:

• sound a bit more stylistic or narrative
• highlight the action first, then say who is doing it

If you strongly want to emphasize the subject, you might more often put it first:
Poznati glazbenik svira, a mlada glazbenica pjeva.

Why is it poznati glazbenik but mlada glazbenica? Why poznati vs mlada?

These are adjective–noun agreement patterns:

• poznati glazbenik

  • poznati – masculine, singular, nominative
  • glazbenik – masculine, singular, nominative

• mlada glazbenica

  • mlada – feminine, singular, nominative
  • glazbenica – feminine, singular, nominative

The adjective must agree with the noun in:

• gender (masc./fem./neut.)
• number (singular/plural)
• case

So for a feminine noun glazbenica, you say poznata glazbenica, mlada glazbenica, etc.; for masculine glazbenik, poznati glazbenik, mladi glazbenik, etc.

Is there any difference between glazbenik and glazbenica besides gender?

The main difference is grammatical and natural gender:

• glazbenik – male musician
• glazbenica – female musician

They both refer to people whose job/role is making music. There’s no difference in status, only in gender.

In some contexts you can use glazbenik generically (like “musician” without specifying gender), but if you specifically refer to a woman, glazbenica is normal and expected.

Could I say svira poznata glazbenica or pjeva poznati glazbenik instead?

Yes. Grammatically, any combination is possible as long as the adjectives agree:

• Svira poznata glazbenica. – A famous (female) musician is playing (an instrument).
• Pjeva poznati glazbenik. – A famous (male) musician is singing.

The semantics then change: who is famous, who is young, and who is playing vs singing. The original sentence simply chooses:

• famous male musician → plays (an instrument)
• young female musician → sings

In English we’d say “is playing / is singing”. Why is simple present svira, pjeva used instead of a progressive form?

Croatian does not have a separate progressive tense like English is playing, is singing. The simple present usually covers both:

• svira – plays / is playing
• pjeva – sings / is singing

Context decides whether it’s a general habit or a current ongoing action.

Here, describing what happens at a concert right now, svira and pjeva naturally mean is playing and is singing in English.

Why are there no words for “a” or “the” before poznati glazbenik and mlada glazbenica?

Croatian has no articles like English a, an, the.

Definiteness and indefiniteness are shown by:

• context
• word order, emphasis
• sometimes by using jedan / jedna (like “a certain / one”)

So poznati glazbenik can be translated differently depending on context:

• a famous musician
• the famous musician

The Croatian phrase itself doesn’t encode the article directly.

Why does poznati end in -i but mlada ends in -a?

Because of gender:

• Masculine singular nominative adjectives often end in -i (or -Ø in some patterns):

  • poznat / poznati glazbenik
  • mlad / mladi čovjek

• Feminine singular nominative adjectives usually end in -a:

  • mlada glazbenica
  • poznata pjevačica

So:

• poznati glazbenik (masc.)
• poznata glazbenica (fem.)
• mladi glazbenik (masc.)
• mlada glazbenica (fem.)

What exactly does svira imply? Does it always mean “play an instrument”?

svira (from svirati) almost always means to play a musical instrument or to perform music:

• svira gitaru – he/she plays the guitar
• svira u bendu – he/she plays in a band

It does not mean to act in a play or to play a game (those are glumiti, igrati, etc.).

In this sentence, svira poznati glazbenik implies the famous musician is playing some instrument (or performing instrumental music).

Could this sentence also describe a future concert, not one happening right now?

Yes, Croatian present tense is often used for scheduled future events, similar to English:

• Sutra na koncertu svira poznati glazbenik, a pjeva mlada glazbenica.
  → Tomorrow at the concert, a famous musician will be playing, and a young female musician will be singing.

Here the adverb sutra (tomorrow) makes it clearly future. The verb form stays present, but the meaning is future because of context.