Djeca čekaju pred školom.

The children are waiting in front of the school.

Breakdown of Djeca čekaju pred školom.

• škola: school
• dijete: child
• čekati: to wait
• pred: in front of

Questions & Answers about Djeca čekaju pred školom.

Why is there no word for “the” in Djeca čekaju pred školom (like the children)?

Croatian has no articles (no equivalent of English the or a/an).
Whether you mean the children or children is understood from context, not from a separate word.

So:

• Djeca čekaju pred školom.
  can mean The children are waiting in front of the school.
  or Children are waiting in front of the school.

If you really need to be specific, you usually add context, a demonstrative, or a possessive, e.g.:

• Ta djeca čekaju pred školom. – Those children are waiting in front of the school.
• Naša djeca čekaju pred školom. – Our children are waiting in front of the school.

What does the word djeca mean exactly, and what is its singular form?

Djeca means children. Its singular base word is dijete (child).

Irregularity:

• dijete – child (singular, neuter)
• djeca – children (plural, grammatically neuter plural)

You don’t say dijeti or something like that; the correct plural is djeca.

Grammatically, djeca is:

• Number: plural
• Gender: neuter plural (but it refers to people, of course)
• Case: nominative here (it’s the subject of the sentence)

That’s why the verb is in 3rd person plural (čekaju).

Why is the verb čekaju used, and what form is it?

Čekaju is the 3rd person plural present tense of the verb čekati (to wait).

Basic present forms of čekati:

• (ja) čekam – I wait / I am waiting
• (ti) čekaš – you wait
• (on/ona/ono) čeka – he/she/it waits
• (mi) čekamo – we wait
• (vi) čekate – you (plural/formal) wait
• (oni/one/ona) čekaju – they wait

Since the subject djeca is plural, you must use the plural verb form: čekaju.

Why don’t we say the subject pronoun Oni (They) in front of čekaju?

Croatian is a pro-drop language. That means subject pronouns are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

• Djeca čekaju pred školom. – natural and normal
• Oni čekaju pred školom. – also grammatically correct, but sounds like you’re emphasizing they, e.g. They are the ones waiting in front of the school (not someone else).

In neutral sentences, you normally omit pronouns like ja, ti, on, ona, mi, oni unless you want to stress them.

What does pred školom literally mean, and which case is školom?

Pred školom literally means in front of (the) school.

• pred – preposition meaning in front of / before
• školom – form of škola (school) in the instrumental singular case

So the structure is:

• pred
  • instrumental → pred školom

Instrumental singular of škola:

• Nominative: škola (subject form)
• Instrumental: školom (used after certain prepositions: sa, pred, nad, pod, za in some meanings, etc.)

Why is školom (instrumental) used after pred, and not školu or škole?

In Croatian, each preposition requires a specific case (or cases).

Pred when it means in front of, normally takes the instrumental case:

• pred školom – in front of the school
• pred kućom – in front of the house
• pred zgradom – in front of the building

So:

• školom is instrumental singular of škola, used because pred demands it in this meaning.

Forms of škola (singular):

• Nominative: škola
• Genitive: škole
• Dative: školi
• Accusative: školu
• Locative: školi
• Instrumental: školom

Here, the preposition dictates the case, not English logic.

Could we also say ispred škole instead of pred školom? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Djeca čekaju ispred škole.

This is also correct and very common.
Difference:

• pred školom – pred
  • instrumental
• ispred škole – ispred
  • genitive (škole)

Nuance:

• In everyday speech, pred and ispred with this meaning are often interchangeable.
• Some speakers feel ispred is a bit more explicit about location directly in front of, while pred can be slightly more general or stylistically neutral/shorter.
• For most learners: you can treat them as practically the same in this context.

Examples:

• pred kućom / ispred kuće – in front of the house
• pred kinom / ispred kina – in front of the cinema

Could the word order be Pred školom djeca čekaju? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

• Pred školom djeca čekaju.

Grammatically, it’s still fine and it still means The children are waiting in front of the school.

Word order in Croatian is more flexible than in English and is often used to:

• emphasize a part of the sentence
• adjust rhythm or style

Subtlety:

• Djeca čekaju pred školom. – neutral; focus a bit more on who/what is waiting (djeca).
• Pred školom djeca čekaju. – puts pred školom first, which can highlight where they are waiting.

The basic meaning remains the same.

How do you pronounce the letters č and š in čekaju and školom?

• č – like ch in chocolate, but a bit harder/shorter

  • čekaju ≈ che-kah-yoo (rough guide)

• š – like sh in shoe

  • školom ≈ shko-lom

So the whole sentence:

• Djeca čekaju pred školom.
  Roughly: DYE-tsa CHE-ka-yu pred SHKO-lom

Is čekati (to wait) used the same way as English to wait for? Why isn’t there a preposition like for?

The Croatian verb čekati already includes the idea of waiting for something/someone.
You don’t add a preposition like for before the object.

Examples:

• Čekam autobus. – I am waiting for the bus. (not čekam za autobus)
• Oni čekaju prijatelja. – They are waiting for a friend.

In Djeca čekaju pred školom, there is no explicit object (we don’t say wait for someone), only a location (in front of the school). That’s why we have:

• čekaju – they are waiting
• pred školom – in front of the school (place, not an object)

Why is Djeca capitalized? Would djeca be wrong?

Djeca is capitalized here because it is the first word of the sentence.
In Croatian, just like in English:

• The first word of a sentence is capitalized.
• Common nouns (like djeca, škola) are not capitalized in the middle of a sentence.

So:

• At the start: Djeca čekaju pred školom.
• In the middle: Vidim djecu. Ona su dobra djeca.

Writing djeca čekaju pred školom. at the beginning of a sentence would be incorrect because of capitalization rules, not because of grammar.

What is the aspect of čekati, and does that matter here?

Čekati is an imperfective verb in Croatian.

• Imperfective aspect is used for actions that are ongoing, repeated, or not viewed as completed.
• Perfective partners of čekati include forms like pričekati (to wait a bit, to wait for a while) or sačekati (regionally common for wait).

In our sentence:

• Djeca čekaju pred školom. – The children are currently waiting in front of the school (process/ongoing).

You’d only worry about choosing a perfective form if you wanted to emphasize completion or the whole event as a unit, for example:

• Djeca su pričekala pred školom. – The children waited for a while in front of the school. (completed event)

If I want to say The children are waiting in front of the school for their teacher, how would I extend this sentence?

You keep the base and add the object they are waiting for:

• Djeca čekaju pred školom učitelja. – The children are waiting in front of the school for the teacher. (male)
• Djeca čekaju pred školom učiteljicu. – ...for the teacher (female).

Structure:

• Djeca – subject
• čekaju – verb
• pred školom – place
• učitelja / učiteljicu – direct object (what/who they are waiting for)

No preposition like for is needed before učitelja / učiteljicu.