Learn Hardcore Croatian: Pjesnik piše pismo u parku. - The poet is writing a letter in the park.

“A poet is writing a letter in the park,” or
“The poet is writing the letter in the park,”
depending on what was mentioned before or what makes sense in the conversation.

What is the infinitive of piše, and how is it conjugated?

The infinitive is pisati (“to write”). It’s an imperfective verb (focus on the ongoing process, not the completed result).

Present tense of pisati:

ja pišem – I write / am writing
ti pišeš – you write / are writing (singular, informal)
on/ona/ono piše – he/she/it writes / is writing
mi pišemo – we write / are writing
vi pišete – you write / are writing (plural or formal)
oni/one/ona pišu – they write / are writing

In the sentence Pjesnik piše pismo u parku, piše is 3rd person singular: “(He) writes / is writing.”

Why can piše mean both “writes” and “is writing”?

Croatian has only one present tense form, which covers both:

English present simple: He writes letters every day.
English present continuous: He is writing a letter right now.

So piše in Pjesnik piše pismo u parku can be translated as:

“The poet writes a letter in the park” (habit/general fact), or
“The poet is writing a letter in the park” (right now).

Context decides which English tense is the best translation; Croatian doesn’t use a separate continuous form.

What case is pjesnik, and why does it look like that?

Pjesnik is in the nominative singular, which is:

the dictionary form of the noun
the form used for the subject of the sentence

In Pjesnik piše pismo u parku, pjesnik is the subject (the one doing the writing), so it’s nominative.

Basic singular forms for pjesnik (masculine noun):

Nominative (subject): pjesnik – the poet
Genitive: pjesnika – of the poet
Dative: pjesniku – to/for the poet
Accusative: pjesnika – (see below)
Locative: pjesniku – in/at/on the poet (rare, mostly with prepositions)
Instrumental: pjesnikom – with the poet

Note: because pjesnik is a person (animate masculine), its accusative singular is the same as its genitive: pjesnika, not pjesnik. You only see pjesnika when the poet is object, not subject.

What case is pismo, and how do I know?

Pismo is in the accusative singular. The accusative often marks the direct object of the verb (the thing being acted on).

Who is doing the action? → Pjesnik (subject, nominative)
What is he writing? → pismo (direct object, accusative)

For neuter nouns like pismo, the nominative and accusative singular look the same:

Nominative sg: pismo – (a) letter
Accusative sg: pismo – (a) letter (object)

You know it’s accusative here from the sentence function (object of piše), not from the form itself.

What case is parku, and why does it end in -u?

Parku is in the locative singular. The locative is used mostly with prepositions to say where something is happening.

With the preposition u (in), to express location (where?), masculine singular nouns like park usually take locative -u:

(u) parku – in the park

So the structure is:

preposition u
- locative → u parku = “in the park”

What is the difference between u park and u parku?

The preposition u can take accusative or locative, and the meaning changes:

u + accusative → movement into a place (where to?)
- Idem u park. – I’m going into the park.
u + locative → location in a place (where?)
- Pjesnik piše pismo u parku. – The poet is writing a letter in the park.

So:

u park (accusative) = to the park / into the park (direction)
u parku (locative) = in the park (location, no movement)

Can I change the word order, and does the meaning change?

Yes, Croatian word order is relatively flexible, because cases mark who does what.

All of these are grammatically correct and have essentially the same basic meaning:

Pjesnik piše pismo u parku.
Pjesnik u parku piše pismo.
U parku pjesnik piše pismo.
U parku piše pjesnik pismo. (less neutral, more stylized/emphatic)

The usual neutral order is Subject–Verb–Object–place/time (very similar to English):

Pjesnik (S) piše (V) pismo (O) u parku (place).

Moving parts to the front tends to emphasize them. For example:

U parku pjesnik piše pismo.
Puts more emphasis on “in the park” (as opposed to somewhere else).

Why doesn’t the sentence use on (he)? How would I say it with the pronoun?

In Croatian, subject pronouns (ja, ti, on, ona,…) are often dropped, because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

Piše pismo u parku. – (He/She) is writing a letter in the park.
Pjesnik piše pismo u parku. – The poet is writing a letter in the park.

You can add the pronoun for emphasis or clarity:

On piše pismo u parku. – He is writing a letter in the park (emphasizing “he”).
On, pjesnik, piše pismo u parku. – He, the poet, is writing a letter in the park.

But in Pjesnik piše pismo u parku, the noun pjesnik already tells you who is doing it, so on is not needed.

How do I pronounce pjesnik and piše?

pjesnik: /pʲɛsnik/ approximately:

pj is pronounced like py in “py-es-nik”, not as two separate consonants.
je is like “ye” in “yes”.
Stress is typically on the first syllable: PJES-nik.

piše: /piʃe/

š is like “sh” in “shoe”.
pi like English “pee”; še like “sheh”.
So it sounds like “PEE-sheh” with sh.

Croatian spelling is quite phonetic: once you know letter–sound rules, most words sound as they are written.

How would I say this sentence in the past and future?

Using the imperfective verb pisati:

Past (perfect):
- Pjesnik je pisao pismo u parku. – The poet was writing / wrote a letter in the park.
  - je – auxiliary (3rd sg of biti, “to be”)
  - pisao – past participle, masculine
Future (future I):
- Pjesnik će pisati pismo u parku. – The poet will write a letter in the park.
  - će – future auxiliary
  - pisati – infinitive

If you want to emphasize completion of the letter, you’d use the perfective verb napisati:

Pjesnik je napisao pismo u parku. – The poet (has) written / finished the letter in the park.
Pjesnik će napisati pismo u parku. – The poet will (finish) writing the letter in the park.

How do I make this sentence plural (poets, letters)?

Plural of pjesnik (nominative → subject):

singular: pjesnik – poet
plural: pjesnici – poets

Plural of pismo (accusative → direct object):

singular acc.: pismo – letter
plural acc.: pisma – letters (same as nominative plural)

Verb piše (he/she writes) becomes pišu (they write).

So:

Pjesnici pišu pisma u parku.
→ The poets are writing letters in the park.

Is pismo always “letter”, or can it mean something else?

The main everyday meaning of pismo is “letter” (a written message to someone).

It can also mean:

script / writing system, e.g.:
- latinično pismo – Latin script
- ćirilično pismo – Cyrillic script

But in a sentence like Pjesnik piše pismo u parku, without extra context, pismo is understood as a personal letter.