Breakdown of U velikoj zdjeli miješamo salatu za cijelu obitelj.
Questions & Answers about U velikoj zdjeli miješamo salatu za cijelu obitelj.
In Croatian, the preposition u (“in”) usually requires the locative case when it describes location (where something is).
zdjela is a feminine noun.
- Nominative (dictionary form): zdjela
- Locative singular: zdjeli
velik is an adjective:
- Feminine nominative singular: velika
- Feminine locative singular: velikoj (it must agree with zdjeli)
So:
- u velikoj zdjeli = in a big bowl (locative, location)
- velika zdjela = a big bowl (nominative, as subject)
Because of the preposition u + location, you must use velikoj zdjeli, not velika zdjela in this sentence.
Both are correct, but they mean different things:
u velikoj zdjeli – u
- locative = in a big bowl (position, no movement)
- We are already in the bowl and mixing there.
u veliku zdjelu – u
- accusative = into a big bowl (movement, direction)
- We are putting/moving something into the bowl.
In your sentence U velikoj zdjeli miješamo salatu…, we are describing where we are mixing the salad (in the bowl), so the locative velikoj zdjeli is used.
Croatian doesn’t need a separate auxiliary verb for the present continuous like English.
- miješamo is already:
- 1st person plural
- present tense of miješati (to mix)
It covers both:
- we mix (general, habitual) and
- we are mixing (right now).
Context usually makes clear which meaning is intended.
You can add the pronoun mi (“we”) if you want emphasis:
- Mi miješamo salatu… = We (as opposed to someone else) are mixing the salad…
But miješamo alone is the normal, neutral form.
Something like miješamo smo is ungrammatical in Croatian.
salata is a regular feminine noun ending in -a.
- Nominative singular (subject): salata
- Accusative singular (direct object): salatu
In the sentence, salatu is the direct object of the verb miješamo (what are we mixing? → the salad), so it must be in the accusative case:
- (Mi) miješamo salatu.
- We are mixing the salad.
If the salad were the subject, you’d use nominative:
- Salata je na stolu.
The salad is on the table.
u velikoj zdjeli – locative case (after u when it means “in/at” as a location)
- zdjeli – locative singular of zdjela
- velikoj – locative singular feminine of velik, agreeing with zdjeli
salatu – accusative case (direct object)
- accusative singular of salata
So the structure is:
- U velikoj zdjeli (locative) miješamo (present) salatu (accusative) …
The preposition za (“for”) in this meaning always takes the accusative case.
obitelj (“family”) is grammatically feminine, even though it doesn’t end in -a.
- Nominative singular: obitelj
- Accusative singular: obitelj (same form, but grammatically accusative)
cijeli (“whole, entire”) is an adjective:
- Feminine accusative singular: cijelu
The adjective must match the noun in gender, number, and case:
- Feminine, singular, accusative:
- cijelu obitelj
So za cijelu obitelj literally means for the whole family, with za + accusative.
cijela obitelj is feminine nominative singular, used when obitelj is the subject of the sentence:
- Cijela obitelj je kod kuće.
The whole family is at home.
After za (“for”), we must use the accusative:
- za cijelu obitelj (accusative)
for the whole family
obitelj looks the same in nominative and accusative, but the adjective changes from cijela (nom) to cijelu (acc), which tells you it’s no longer the subject.
Yes. Croatian word order is quite flexible. All these are grammatically correct:
- U velikoj zdjeli miješamo salatu za cijelu obitelj.
- Miješamo salatu u velikoj zdjeli za cijelu obitelj.
- Za cijelu obitelj miješamo salatu u velikoj zdjeli.
The differences are mostly about emphasis and information flow:
- Starting with U velikoj zdjeli… highlights the location first.
- Starting with Miješamo salatu… is more neutral and verb-focused.
- Starting with Za cijelu obitelj… emphasizes for whom you are doing it.
For everyday speech, Miješamo salatu u velikoj zdjeli za cijelu obitelj. is probably the most neutral-sounding, but your original version is also perfectly natural.
- zdjela – feminine
- salata – feminine
- obitelj – feminine (even though it does not end in -a)
Gender matters because adjectives and some case endings change according to the noun’s gender:
- velika zdjela, velikoj zdjeli
- velika salata, veliku salatu
- cijela obitelj, cijelu obitelj
Whenever you use an adjective, make sure its gender, number, and case match the noun it describes.
zdjeli is pronounced roughly like:
- /zdjéli/
Details:
- zdj is a consonant cluster: z
- soft d before j. It may feel a bit like “z-dy” in English “as during”, but said more smoothly.
- lj is a palatal L (like the lli in Spanish “llama” in many accents, or similar to the lli in Italian “famiglia”).
So zdjeli is something like “zd-yeh-lee”, with the stress normally on the first syllable: ZDJE-li.
Yes, but it doesn’t mean exactly the same thing:
- miješamo salatu – we are mixing the salad (literally mixing the ingredients already in the bowl).
- pravimo salatu – we are making salad (the whole process: washing, cutting, mixing, etc.).
In your original sentence, miješamo salatu focuses specifically on the action of mixing inside the bowl. If you want to talk about preparing the salad in a more general sense, pravimo salatu or pripremamo salatu would be used.
Yes. Croatian verbs usually come in aspect pairs:
- miješati – imperfective (ongoing, repeated, process-focused)
- miješamo salatu = we are mixing / we mix the salad.
- promiješati – perfective (completed action, result-focused)
- promiješat ćemo salatu = we will (finish) mixing the salad.
In your sentence, miješamo is appropriate because it describes an ongoing action (the process of mixing) rather than the result of having mixed it completely.
Yes, in everyday speech you might also hear:
For zdjela:
- posuda – container, dish (more general term)
- zdjelica – small bowl
For obitelj:
- familija – borrowed from Latin/Italian; more colloquial, sometimes with a slightly different feel depending on context.
However, zdjela and obitelj are the standard, neutral words, so your sentence:
- U velikoj zdjeli miješamo salatu za cijelu obitelj.
is perfectly standard Croatian.