Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ne želim ostaviti psa kod kuće. - I don’t want to leave the dog at home.

Ne – not
želim – I want / I wish (1st person singular of željeti)
ostaviti – to leave (perfective infinitive)
psa – the dog (accusative singular of pas)
kod – at, at the place of
kuće – of the house / of home (genitive singular of kuća, used here in the fixed phrase kod kuće = “at home”)

So structure-wise it’s:
Not + I-want + to-leave + dog-ACC + at + home-GEN.

Why is it psa and not pas?

Pas is the basic (dictionary) form, the nominative singular (used for the subject of a sentence).

Here, pas/psa is the direct object of the verb ostaviti (“to leave”), so it must be in the accusative case.

For animate masculine nouns like pas, the accusative singular ending is -a, not the same as nominative.
So:

Nominative: pas – “the dog” (subject)
Accusative: psa – “(the) dog” (object)

Example contrast:

Pas spava. – The dog is sleeping. (subject → nominative)
Vidim psa. – I see the dog. (object → accusative)

What case is psa, and when do I use it?

Psa is accusative singular masculine animate.

Use the accusative mainly for:

Direct objects:
- Ne želim ostaviti psa. – I don’t want to leave the dog.
- Kupujem knjigu. – I am buying a book.
Some prepositions (not in this sentence) like za (for), kroz (through), na (onto, in some uses), when they govern accusative.

Key thing here: because pas is animate and masculine, its accusative changes form to psa.

What exactly does kod kuće mean, and why is kuće in that form?

Kod kuće is a very common fixed expression meaning “at home”.

kod is a preposition meaning “at (someone’s place), by, near”
It requires the genitive case.
kuća (house, home) → kuće (genitive singular).

So literally, kod kuće is “at (the) house/home”, but idiomatically it’s simply “at home”.

Because kod always takes genitive, kuća must become kuće.

Could I say u kući instead of kod kuće? What’s the difference?

You can say u kući, but the nuance is different:

kod kuće – “at home” in the general, usual sense of location (home as your place).
- Ne želim ostaviti psa kod kuće. – I don’t want to leave the dog at home.
u kući – literally “in the house / inside the house” (physical interior).
- Ne želim ostaviti psa u kući. – I don’t want to leave the dog inside the house.

In many contexts they overlap, but kod kuće is the standard way to say “at home”.

Why is there no word for “I” in Ne želim ostaviti psa kod kuće?

Croatian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (ja, ti, on, etc.) are usually omitted when the verb ending already shows the person.

želim clearly marks 1st person singular (I want), so ja is not needed.

You could say:

Ja ne želim ostaviti psa kod kuće.

This is grammatically correct, but it usually adds emphasis on I (as opposed to someone else):

“I don’t want to leave the dog at home (but maybe someone else does).”

Where does ne (the negation) go, and could it go somewhere else?

In Croatian, ne comes directly before the conjugated verb that it negates:

Želim ostaviti psa. – I want to leave the dog.
Ne želim ostaviti psa. – I don’t want to leave the dog.

You cannot move ne somewhere else, for example:

✗ Želim ne ostaviti psa. – wrong / unnatural
✗ Ostaviti ne želim psa. – wrong in standard speech

The normal pattern is:

[Ne] + [finite verb] + [infinitive / object / rest of sentence].

What is the difference between ostaviti and ostavljati?

Croatian has aspect: perfective vs imperfective verbs.

ostaviti – perfective: “to leave (once, as a complete action)”
- Focus on the result / completion.
- Used for single, whole actions, often in the future or in narratives.
- Ne želim ostaviti psa. – I don’t want to (ever / this time) leave the dog.
ostavljati – imperfective: “to be leaving, to leave repeatedly, to keep leaving”
- Focus on the process or repeated action.
- Ne želim ostavljati psa kod kuće. – I don’t want to (keep) leaving the dog at home / I don’t want to make a habit of leaving the dog at home.

In your sentence, ostaviti fits well because it sounds like a single concrete act (“I don’t want to leave the dog at home (on this occasion / in general as an act)”).

Could I say Ne hoću ostaviti psa kod kuće?

No. Two issues:

hoću is a form of htjeti, which in modern standard Croatian is mostly used for “will / am going to” (future) or strong desire, not as a simple “want” the way English “want” works.
Negation + htjeti is normally used as “won’t” / “refuse to”, not as “don’t want to” in the mild sense.

Correct/common patterns:

Ne želim ostaviti psa kod kuće. – I don’t want to leave the dog at home.
Neću ostaviti psa kod kuće. – I will not / I’m not going to leave the dog at home. (decision, refusal)

So for “don’t want”, željeti (želim) is the natural choice.

Can I change the word order, like Ne želim psa ostaviti kod kuće?

Yes, Croatian word order is flexible, and both are grammatical:

Ne želim ostaviti psa kod kuće. – neutral, standard word order.
Ne želim psa ostaviti kod kuće. – still correct, but slightly emphasises “psa” (“the dog is what I don’t want to leave at home”).

The most neutral, textbook version is the original:

Ne želim ostaviti psa kod kuće.

Moving words around usually changes focus or emphasis, not basic meaning.

How would I say “I don’t want to leave him at home” if I’ve already mentioned the dog?

You would replace psa with the masculine accusative pronoun ga (him/it):

Ne želim ga ostaviti kod kuće. – I don’t want to leave him at home.

Notes:

ga is a clitic (an unstressed short pronoun), and clitics go after the first stressed word or phrase in the clause.
That’s why it must be Ne želim ga ostaviti, not ✗Ne ga želim ostaviti.

How is želim pronounced, especially the ž?

Želim is pronounced approximately “zhe-leem”:

ž – like the s in “measure” or “vision”.
e – like “e” in “get” (short, pure vowel).
i – like “ee” in “see”.

Syllables: že-lim, stress usually on the first syllable: ŽE-lim.