Breakdown of Danas vidim turiste svugdje u gradu.
Questions & Answers about Danas vidim turiste svugdje u gradu.
Croatian normally drops subject pronouns (like ja = I) because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
- vidim = I see (1st person singular)
- So ja is usually omitted:
- (Ja) vidim turiste. = I see tourists.
You only add ja for emphasis or contrast, e.g.:
- Danas JA vidim turiste, a ti ih ne vidiš.
Today I see tourists, and you don’t.
This is a case issue.
- turisti = nominative plural (used for the subject)
- Turisti dolaze. = The tourists are arriving.
- turiste = accusative plural (used for the direct object)
- Vidim turiste. = I see the tourists.
In Danas vidim turiste svugdje u gradu, turiste is the direct object of vidim, so it must be accusative plural.
In this sentence, turiste is accusative plural.
For the noun turist (a tourist):
- Nominative plural (subject): turisti
- Turisti čekaju. = The tourists are waiting.
- Accusative plural (object): turiste
- Gledam turiste. = I’m looking at the tourists.
Pattern (for many masculine nouns in -t):
- NOM. PL.: -i → turisti
- ACC. PL.: -e → turiste
It’s grammatically correct, just a bit more emphatic.
- Danas vidim turiste svugdje u gradu.
Neutral: Today I see tourists everywhere in the city. - Ja danas vidim turiste svugdje u gradu.
Emphasis on I: I (as opposed to someone else) see tourists…
You’d use ja when:
- Contrasting with another person:
Ja ih vidim, ali on ih ne vidi. – I see them, but he doesn’t. - Strongly stressing the subject.
Yes, Croatian word order is flexible, but changes can affect emphasis and naturalness.
All of these are grammatically fine:
- Danas vidim turiste svugdje u gradu.
Neutral; danas (today) is the time frame. - Vidim danas turiste svugdje u gradu.
Slight emphasis on vidim danas (it’s today that I see them). - Turiste danas vidim svugdje u gradu.
Emphasis on turiste (it’s the tourists that I see).
For a learner, the original Danas vidim turiste svugdje u gradu is the most natural, neutral choice.
All of them mean roughly “everywhere”, but there are small stylistic differences:
- svugdje – very common, standard Croatian.
- svuda – also common, sounds a bit more colloquial to some speakers.
- posvuda – all over (the place); stylistically a bit “nicer” or more literary.
In your sentence you can say:
- Danas vidim turiste svugdje u gradu.
- Danas vidim turiste svuda u gradu.
- Danas vidim turiste posvuda u gradu.
All are correct. svugdje is perfectly standard and safe to use.
The preposition u can take accusative or locative, depending on meaning:
- u + accusative → movement into something
- Idem u grad. = I’m going to the city.
- u + locative → location inside something
- Sam u gradu. = I am in the city.
In svugdje u gradu, we are talking about a location (where the tourists are), not movement, so we use locative:
- grad → (u) gradu (locative singular)
grad is the general word for an urban settlement and is usually translated as “city” or “town”, depending on context and size.
- Large place: grad Zagreb – the city of Zagreb
- Smaller place (but still officially a grad): might be translated as town in English.
Croatian doesn’t have a strict everyday distinction like English city vs town; grad covers both, and the official status and size determine how it’s best translated.
Croatian doesn’t have a separate continuous tense like English I am seeing.
- vidim (present, imperfective) can mean:
- I see (in general / right now)
- I am seeing (right now)
In Danas vidim turiste svugdje u gradu, context tells us it’s about today’s situation, which in English you’d usually translate with the present continuous: Today I’m seeing tourists everywhere in the city.
Aspect here:
- Verb: vidjeti / viđati
- vidjeti – perfective (to see once / to manage to see)
- viđati – imperfective (to see repeatedly, habitually)
In everyday speech, vidjeti is often used with present forms like vidim for the actual present situation.
You’d normally use the perfect tense:
- If the speaker is male:
Danas sam vidio turiste svugdje u gradu. - If the speaker is female:
Danas sam vidjela turiste svugdje u gradu.
Structure:
- sam – auxiliary (1st person singular of biti = to be)
- vidio / vidjela – past participle of vidjeti
- rest of the sentence.
Present tense of vidjeti (to see):
- ja vidim – I see
- ti vidiš – you see (singular, informal)
- on/ona/ono vidi – he/she/it sees
- mi vidimo – we see
- vi vidite – you see (plural or formal)
- oni/one/ona vide – they see
In your sentence, vidim clearly tells us the subject is “I”, which is why ja is omitted.
You use ne before the verb and a negative adverb nigdje (nowhere / anywhere…not):
- Danas ne vidim turiste nigdje u gradu.
Notes:
- Croatian loves double negation in the standard language:
- ne vidim nigdje (I don’t see [them] nowhere → I don’t see [them] anywhere)
- Word order is flexible, but ne must come directly before the verb:
ne vidim, ne vidimo, ne vide, etc.
Both suggest that tourists are spread across the whole city, but the nuance is slightly different:
- svugdje u gradu – literally everywhere in the city; very direct.
- po cijelom gradu – literally all over the whole city; emphasizes coverage of the whole area.
Examples:
- Danas vidim turiste svugdje u gradu.
I see them wherever I look in the city. - Danas vidim turiste po cijelom gradu.
They’re spread out throughout the entire city.
Both are natural; svugdje u gradu is a bit more colloquial and straightforward.
Yes, if you want to explicitly say female tourists, you’d use turistkinja (female tourist).
Plural forms:
- Nominative plural (subject): turistkinje
- Accusative plural (object): turistkinje (same form)
So for only female tourists:
- Danas vidim turistkinje svugdje u gradu.
= Today I see female tourists everywhere in the city.
With turiste (from turist), you usually mean male tourists or a mixed group (the masculine form is the default for mixed-gender groups in Croatian).