Learn Hardcore Croatian: Laku noć, vidimo se sutra.

Historically / literally, laku noć could be understood as have a light (restful) night, but in modern language it is just the standard farewell: good night.

What about dobru noć or dobra noć?

In full sentences you can say things like:
- Želim ti dobru noć. = I wish you a good night.
But as a standalone greeting/farewell, people say Laku noć, not Dobru noć or Dobra noć. Those would sound unusual as the main bedtime goodbye.

What grammatical case is noć in laku noć, and why is it laku, not laka?

In laku noć:

noć is in the accusative singular (same form as nominative for feminine nouns ending in a consonant).
laku is the accusative feminine singular form of the adjective lak.

The expression is historically short for something like:

Želim ti laku noć.
I wish you a good/light night.

In Croatian, when you say what you wish, have, want, see, etc., that object is in the accusative. The adjective must agree with the noun’s gender, number, and case:

nominative: laka noć (a light night – as a subject)
accusative: laku noć (a light night – as an object)

Because the greeting hides the verb, we only see the accusative form: Laku noć.

Does laku noć literally mean light night? Do people feel that meaning today?

Literally, yes:

lak = light (not heavy)
laka/laku noć = light night

But for a native speaker, Laku noć is felt as a fixed social formula meaning good night, not as a descriptive phrase about how “heavy” or “light” the night is.

You could still use lak in its literal sense in other contexts, for example:

lagan kofer / lak kovčeg = a light suitcase
laka hrana = light food

But in Laku noć, most people are not thinking of “lightness”; they simply hear “good night.”

Does laku noć change depending on whether I’m speaking to a man, a woman, or several people?

No, Laku noć stays exactly the same regardless of:

the gender of the person you’re talking to,
how many people you’re talking to,
how formal or informal the situation is.

It only agrees with noć, which is always a singular feminine noun. So you always say:

To one friend: Laku noć.
To your parents: Laku noć.
To a whole class: Laku noć, vidimo se sutra.

What’s the difference between Laku noć and Dobra večer?

Both are “evening/night” greetings, but they are used in different situations.

Dobra večer. = Good evening.
- Used as a greeting when you meet someone in the evening or arrive somewhere.
- Can be used when entering a shop, meeting someone at 7–9 p.m., etc.
Laku noć. = Good night.
- Used as a farewell, usually when people are going to bed or leaving late in the evening/night.
- Typical when someone is about to sleep, or when you’re leaving a late gathering.

So:

You arrive at 8 p.m.: Dobra večer.
You leave at 11 p.m. / go to bed: Laku noć.

Is Laku noć, vidimo se sutra informal, or can I say it to a teacher, boss, or older person?

The sentence itself is perfectly neutral in tone:

You can say Laku noć, vidimo se sutra to:
- family and friends,
- colleagues,
- teachers,
- your boss.

If you want to sound a bit more polite or formal, you might slightly extend it:

Laku noć, vidimo se sutra.
Laku noć, vidimo se sutra u uredu.
Laku noć i doviđenja.

But the basic sentence is suitable for almost any context; what makes it formal or informal is mainly your voice, situation, and possibly additional phrases, not the words themselves.

What exactly does vidimo se mean? It looks like we see ourselves or we see each other.

Literally:

vidimo = we see (1st person plural of vidjeti – to see)
se = reflexive pronoun

So vidimo se literally means we see each other (or we see ourselves).

In everyday speech, though, vidimo se is a very common way to say:

See you.
We’ll see each other (later / tomorrow / soon).

It’s just like English using present tense for a future plan:

English: See you tomorrow. (not We will see each other tomorrow in most casual speech)
Croatian: Vidimo se sutra. (instead of Vidjet ćemo se sutra.)

Who is the subject in vidimo se? Why does it mean see you even if I’m talking to just one person?

The grammatical subject is we (1st person plural):

mi (we) – implied, not written
vidimo se – we see each other

Croatian, like many languages, often uses we for mutual future contact, even if you’re actually just talking about you and one other person. The idea is:

Mi (ti i ja) ćemo se vidjeti sutra.
We (you and I) will see each other tomorrow.

That gets shortened to:

Vidimo se sutra.

So even when you say it to just one person, you’re still saying “we (you and I) will see each other,” which functions as see you.

Can I drop se and just say Vidimo sutra?

No, Vidimo sutra is not correct in standard Croatian.

Reasons:

vidimo normally needs a direct object: we see *something.*
se in vidimo se makes it reflexive, meaning we see each other, which is exactly what you want for see you.

Correct options:

Vidimo se sutra. – natural, very common
Vidjet ćemo se sutra. – more explicitly future, but also common

❌ Vidimo sutra – ungrammatical / sounds wrong to native speakers.

What’s the difference between Vidimo se sutra and Vidjet ćemo se sutra?

Both express a future meeting:

Vidimo se sutra.
- Present tense with a future meaning (like English See you tomorrow).
- Very common and casual, used all the time.
Vidjet ćemo se sutra.
- Explicit future tense of vidjeti.
- Sounds a bit more neutral or explicit; fine in any context, but slightly less “formula-like.”

Meaning-wise, they are almost identical; the first just feels more like a set farewell phrase, while the second feels more like a full sentence describing a plan.

Does sutra have to come at the end in Vidimo se sutra, or can I move it?

You can move sutra around quite freely; Croatian word order is flexible. All of these are possible:

Vidimo se sutra. – most common, neutral.
Sutra se vidimo. – emphasises tomorrow a bit more.
Sutra vidimo se. – also possible, but less common / more marked in normal speech.

In your full sentence:

Laku noć, vidimo se sutra. – completely standard.
Laku noć, sutra se vidimo. – also OK, just a different emphasis.

How do I pronounce noć and sutra? Is ć different from č?

Pronunciation pointers:

noć
- o like in not (a bit shorter)
- ć is a soft “ch”, somewhat like the t in English future in some accents, or like saying t
  - y quickly.
- Rough approximation: noh-ty (but with the tongue slightly further forward than English t).
sutra
- su like soo
- tra as in trah (short a, like father but shorter).
- sutra = SOO-trah, stress on the first syllable.

Difference ć vs č:

ć – softer, more palatal; tongue closer to the front of the mouth.
č – harder, more like English ch in church.

In noć, it’s the softer ć.

Is the comma in Laku noć, vidimo se sutra necessary, and how would this normally be written?

Yes, in standard writing you normally separate these as two parts with a comma:

Laku noć, vidimo se sutra.

Details:

Laku is capitalized because it’s the first word of the sentence.
noć is lowercase (it’s just a regular noun).
A comma is used because you’re combining two clauses/phrases:
- Laku noć (a greeting/farewell)
- vidimo se sutra (a clause: we’ll see each other tomorrow)

In informal texting, people might skip punctuation, write Laku noć vidimo se sutra, or even abbreviate, but the standard, correct written form uses the comma.

How would I normally respond if someone says Laku noć, vidimo se sutra to me?

Typical, natural replies include:

Laku noć. – simple and completely fine.
Laku noć, vidimo se. – mirroring the see you part.
Laku noć, vidimo se sutra. – repeating the whole sentence.
Laku noć, čujemo se sutra. – if you expect to talk by phone / online (literally we’ll hear from each other).

Any short variation with Laku noć will sound natural.