Breakdown of Nakon svake svađe pokušamo mirno razgovarati.
Questions & Answers about Nakon svake svađe pokušamo mirno razgovarati.
Because of the preposition nakon.
- nakon (after) always takes the genitive case.
- The noun svađa (argument, quarrel) in the genitive singular is svađe.
- The adjective/pronoun svaki (every) must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
So:
- nominative (dictionary form): svaka svađa – every argument
- genitive (after nakon): svake svađe – of every argument → used in the phrase after every argument
So the structure is:
- nakon
- svake (gen. sg. fem.) + svađe (gen. sg. fem.).
Yes, you can say:
- Poslije svake svađe pokušamo mirno razgovarati.
This is correct and very natural.
Differences:
- nakon – slightly more formal, very clear “after”.
- poslije – very common in everyday speech, also means “after”.
Both nakon and poslije usually take genitive:
- nakon svađe / nakon svake svađe
- poslije svađe / poslije svake svađe
In practice, for this sentence, nakon and poslije are interchangeable.
In Croatian, verbs like pokušati (to try), htjeti (to want), morati (must/have to), moći (can, be able to) are followed by an infinitive, not by a “to” + verb structure as in English.
So the pattern is:
- pokušati
- infinitive
- pokušamo razgovarati – we try to talk
- pokušavam razumjeti – I try to understand
- pokušat ću nazvati – I will try to call
- infinitive
You do not say:
- ✗ pokušamo da razgovaramo (this sounds Serbian; in standard Croatian use the infinitive: pokušamo razgovarati).
Both come from related verbs:
- pokušati – perfective (focus on a single, complete attempt)
- pokušavati – imperfective (focus on an ongoing or repeated process of trying)
Forms:
- pokušamo – 1st person plural present of pokušati
- pokušavamo – 1st person plural present of pokušavati
Nuance in this sentence:
- Nakon svake svađe pokušamo mirno razgovarati.
Focus on each individual attempt after each specific fight. - Nakon svake svađe pokušavamo mirno razgovarati.
Emphasises that as a general habit we are trying/keep trying to do this.
Both sentences are acceptable. Many speakers use pokušamo in everyday speech for this habitual meaning, but pokušavamo makes the “ongoing effort” aspect more explicit.
Formally, pokušamo is the present tense of a perfective verb (pokušati). In Croatian:
- perfective present often refers to a single, complete action, and can sometimes have a future-like feel, especially in context.
- However, in sentences with time expressions like nakon svake svađe (after every argument), speakers also use it for repeated actions.
So:
- Here, it’s understood as present habitual:
- After every argument, we try to talk calmly (that’s what we do as a rule).
For a clearly ongoing present process, you’d more typically use the imperfective:
- Nakon svake svađe pokušavamo mirno razgovarati.
Mirno here is an adverb meaning calmly, peacefully.
- mirno razgovarati = to talk calmly / to have a calm conversation
Miran is the adjective form:
- miran razgovor – a calm conversation
- mirna osoba – a calm person
In Croatian:
- adjectives describe nouns: miran razgovor
- adverbs describe verbs: razgovarati mirno
So since we are describing how we talk (the verb razgovarati), we need the adverb:
- mirno (not miran).
Yes, that is correct and natural:
- Pokušamo mirno razgovarati nakon svake svađe.
Croatian word order is relatively flexible. Both:
- Nakon svake svađe pokušamo mirno razgovarati.
- Pokušamo mirno razgovarati nakon svake svađe.
are fine.
Very roughly:
- Starting with Nakon svake svađe puts more emphasis on the time/circumstance (after each argument).
- Starting with Pokušamo puts more emphasis on the action/effort (we try to talk calmly).
Meaning-wise, they are the same.
Yes, you can:
- Pokušamo mirno razgovarati.
- Pokušamo razgovarati mirno.
Both are grammatical and mean the same thing: we try to talk calmly.
Tiny nuance:
- mirno razgovarati – adverb comes right before the verb; this is probably the more common and “neutral” order.
- razgovarati mirno – the adverb is separated slightly; can sound a bit more emphatic on mirno in some contexts, but in everyday speech there’s no real difference here.
Svađa is usually:
- a verbal conflict: an argument, quarrel, row.
It can be translated as:
- argument
- quarrel
- fight (when you mean a verbal fight)
If you want to clearly talk about a physical fight, you’d usually use something like:
- tučnjava – fistfight, brawl
- tuča – fight, often physical (also “hail” in other contexts)
So in normal relationship context, svađa is best understood as an argument / a quarrel, not necessarily physical.
You can say:
- Nakon svađe pokušamo mirno razgovarati.
→ After an argument, we try to talk calmly.
Adding svake (every) changes the meaning:
- Nakon svake svađe pokušamo mirno razgovarati.
→ After every argument, we try to talk calmly.
So:
- svađe alone (genitive singular) = of the argument / of an argument
- svake svađe = of every argument
You keep svake if you want the idea of “every single time it happens”.
razgovarati means to talk with someone, to have a conversation, usually implying a two-way exchange.
In this sentence, you could say:
- Nakon svake svađe pokušamo mirno razgovarati.
→ neutral, slightly more formal. - Nakon svake svađe pokušamo mirno pričati.
→ more colloquial; also acceptable in everyday speech.
Nuances:
- razgovarati – often a bit more neutral/standard; suggests a conversation or discussion.
- pričati – often “to talk / to chat / to tell stories”, more informal.
In a serious context like “after every fight we try to talk calmly”, razgovarati is slightly more typical, but pričati would be easily understood and not wrong in casual speech.
Natural options:
- nakon svake svađe – very common, neutral.
- poslije svake svađe – equally common in speech, also neutral.
Iza svake svađe is generally not used with this meaning.
- iza usually means “behind” (in space), not “after” in time, except in limited idiomatic uses.
So for temporal “after every argument”, use:
- nakon svake svađe
- poslije svake svađe