Learn Hardcore Croatian: Večeras u dvorištu mirno sjedimo i gledamo nebo. - Tonight we are sitting calmly in the yard and looking at the sky.

Croatian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (ja, ti, on, mi, vi, oni) are usually left out when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

sjedimo = we sit / we are sitting
- ‑mo ending = 1st person plural → we

Because the form of the verb already tells you the subject is we, saying mi sjedimo is usually unnecessary in a neutral statement. You would add mi only for emphasis or contrast, for example:

Mi večeras u dvorištu mirno sjedimo, a oni rade.
We are quietly sitting in the yard tonight, and they are working.

In English we say “we are sitting” and “we are watching.” Why is Croatian using just sjedimo and gledamo, not something like “jesmo sjedeći”?

Croatian does not have a separate present continuous tense like English. The simple present tense covers both:

sjedimo = we sit / we are sitting
gledamo = we watch / we are watching

Context (like večeras, “tonight”) and real‑world knowledge tell you that this is something happening right now, not a general habit. You do not add extra verbs to make a “continuous” form.

What is the role of večeras here, and how is it different from večer or ove večeri?

Večeras is an adverb meaning “this evening / tonight”. It behaves like danas (today), sutra (tomorrow), jučer (yesterday): it doesn’t change form and doesn’t take a case ending.

večeras – tonight (adverb)
večer – evening (noun)
ove večeri – this evening (literally: of this evening, genitive)

Examples:

Večeras idemo u kino. – We’re going to the cinema tonight.
Ove večeri nema predstave. – There is no performance this evening.

In your sentence, večeras simply sets the time of the action.

Why is it u dvorištu and not u dvorište? What case is that?

U dvorištu uses the locative case to express location (“in the yard”).

The noun dvorište (yard) is neuter; in the singular:

Nominative: dvorište
Accusative: dvorište
Locative: dvorištu

With the preposition u:

u
- locative → “in/at” (location)
  - u dvorištu – in the yard
u
- accusative → “into” (direction)
  - u dvorište – into the yard

So u dvorištu = “in the yard” (we are already there), which fits the meaning.

Why is it nebo and not nebu? What case is nebo here?

Nebo (sky) is also a neuter noun. In this sentence it is the direct object of gledamo (we watch). Direct objects take the accusative case.

For neuter nouns in the singular, nominative and accusative have the same form:

Nominative: nebo
Accusative: nebo
Locative: nebu

Here it’s accusative because of the verb:

gledamo nebo – we are watching the sky

Nebu would be the locative form, used with prepositions like:

na nebu – in the sky / on the sky
pod nebom – under the sky

What kind of word is mirno, and why does it end in ‑o?

In this sentence, mirno is an adverb meaning “peacefully / quietly / calmly.”

Many adverbs in Croatian are formed from adjectives by using the neuter singular form of the adjective:

miran (calm, peaceful – masculine)
mirna (feminine)
mirno (neuter) → also used as an adverb: peacefully

So:

mirno sjedimo – we are sitting quietly / peacefully

The ‑o here does not indicate a neuter noun; it’s the typical ending for both neuter adjectives and adverbs formed from them.

Does mirno describe only sjedimo or both sjedimo i gledamo?

In the neutral reading, mirno tends to apply to the whole action that follows, especially because it comes before the two verbs and they’re joined by i:

mirno sjedimo i gledamo nebo
→ we are quietly sitting and (quietly) looking at the sky.

If you wanted to stress only that the sitting is quiet, and not necessarily the looking, you could adjust the word order, for example:

sjedimo mirno i gledamo nebo – more clearly “we are sitting quietly and (just) watching the sky.”

But in everyday use, people will usually understand mirno as coloring the whole scene unless there’s a reason to contrast.

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say Mirno sjedimo u dvorištu večeras?

Yes, Croatian word order is relatively flexible, and adverbs of time, place, and manner can be rearranged. All of these are grammatical, with slightly different emphasis:

Večeras u dvorištu mirno sjedimo i gledamo nebo.
– neutral, time → place → manner → action.
Mirno večeras u dvorištu sjedimo i gledamo nebo.
– stronger focus on how (peacefully).
Večeras mirno sjedimo u dvorištu i gledamo nebo.
– somewhat more emphasis on mirno sjedimo as a unit.

However, very unusual orders can sound awkward or poetic. The original is a natural, neutral version.

Why isn’t there a comma before i gledamo nebo?

In Croatian, you do not normally put a comma before i when it links:

two words: jabuke i kruške (apples and pears)
two phrases: sjedimo mirno i gledamo nebo

You use a comma before i mainly when it introduces an independent clause that would make sense on its own and there is a certain break in thought, or in some special stylistic/clarity cases. Here both verbs share the same subject and form one predicate, so no comma is needed:

… mirno sjedimo i gledamo nebo. ✅
… mirno sjedimo, i gledamo nebo. ❌ (would look odd here)

How do I know this means “in the yard” and not “in a yard” when there is no article?

Croatian has no articles (a / an / the). Definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from:

context: what has been mentioned before
situation: shared knowledge (e.g. “our yard”)
sometimes word order or extra words (like jedan for “a certain / one”).

So u dvorištu can mean:

in the yard (most likely: your / our yard)
in a yard (if no specific yard is known)

In your sentence, if people know which yard you’re talking about (usually your own), English naturally translates it as “in the yard”.

How would I turn this into a yes/no question in Croatian?

To form a yes/no question, you typically keep the same word order and just change your intonation, or you can add the particle li after the verb:

Večeras u dvorištu mirno sjedimo i gledamo nebo?
– (spoken with rising intonation) “Are we sitting quietly in the yard tonight and watching the sky?”
Sjedimo li večeras u dvorištu mirno i gledamo li nebo?
– more formal / careful; li directly marks the question.

In everyday speech, option 1 with questioning tone is very common.

How would I make a “where” question based on this sentence?

Replace the location phrase u dvorištu with the question word gdje (where), and keep the rest:

Gdje večeras mirno sjedimo i gledamo nebo?
– Where are we quietly sitting tonight and watching the sky?

You could also move gdje later, but the above is the most natural:

Večeras gdje mirno sjedimo i gledamo nebo? – possible, but less natural.