Learn Hardcore Croatian: Djeca traže pravi film za večeras. - The children are looking for the right movie for tonight.

The infinitive is tražiti – to look for / to search for.
traže is present tense, 3rd person plural: they look for / they are looking for.

Conjugation in the present:

(ja) tražim – I look for
(ti) tražiš – you look for (sg.)
(on/ona/ono) traži – he/she/it looks for
(mi) tražimo – we look for
(vi) tražite – you look for (pl.)
(oni/one/ona) traže – they look for

Here Djeca traže… = The children are looking for… (Croatian uses the simple present for both English “look for” and “are looking for”).

Why is there no word for the or a in this sentence?

Croatian has no articles like English the or a/an. Context tells you whether it should be translated as the, a, or nothing.

So Djeca traže pravi film za večeras can be translated as:

The children are looking for *the right movie for tonight*, or
The children are looking for *a good/right movie for tonight*,

depending on what makes sense in context. The Croatian sentence itself does not specify definiteness.

What exactly does pravi mean here, and is it always “right”?

Pravi is an adjective; its basic meanings include:

right / suitable – the one that fits the situation
real / genuine – not fake
sometimes close to proper / good in a casual sense

In pravi film za večeras, it most naturally means:

the right movie for tonight
or a good (suitable) movie for tonight

Other examples:

To je pravi prijatelj. – That’s a true/genuine friend.
To je pravi odgovor. – That’s the correct answer.

Depending on context, pravi overlaps with words like ispravan (correct), stvaran (real), dobar (good), but here it’s mainly “right/suitable”.

Why is it pravi film, not pravog filma?

This is about case and gender, and about whether the noun is animate or inanimate.

Film is masculine, inanimate.
In Croatian, for masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative (object) form is the same as the nominative.
So:
- nominative: pravi film – (the) right movie
- accusative: pravi film – looking for the right movie

If the noun is masculine animate (a person or animal), the accusative is like the genitive, and the adjective changes:

nominative: pravi prijatelj – the right friend
accusative: pravog prijatelja – I’m looking for the right friend
- Tražim pravog prijatelja. – I’m looking for a true friend.

Here film is inanimate, so we use pravi film in the accusative.

What case is film in, and how do we know?

Film is in the accusative singular.

We know this because:

It is the direct object of traže (they are looking for what? → pravi film).
For masculine inanimate nouns like film, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular, so the form film doesn’t change.
The structure is:
- Djeca (nominative, subject)
- traže (verb)
- pravi film (accusative object)
- za večeras (prepositional phrase).

What does za večeras mean exactly, and how is it different from just večeras?

večeras by itself is an adverb meaning this evening / tonight.

Compare:

Djeca večeras traže film. – Tonight the children are looking for a movie.
za večeras literally: for tonight. It usually means for use/watching/doing tonight.

In pravi film za večeras, it means:

a right/suitable movie for tonight (for tonight’s watching).

You could say:

Djeca traže film za večeras. – The kids are looking for a movie for tonight.

If you drop za, you slightly change the focus:

Djeca večeras traže film. – The act of looking happens tonight.
Djeca traže film za večeras. – They may be looking now so that they can watch it tonight.

In everyday speech, context does a lot of the work, so both are common but not identical in nuance.

Can the word order change, or must it be Djeca traže pravi film za večeras?

Word order in Croatian is relatively flexible, though there are natural preferences.
Djeca traže pravi film za večeras is the most neutral order.

Other possible orders (all grammatically correct but with slightly different emphasis):

Djeca za večeras traže pravi film.
- Emphasis a bit more on for tonight.
Za večeras djeca traže pravi film.
- Very strong emphasis on for tonight.
Pravi film za večeras djeca traže.
- Puts focus on the right movie for tonight.

Unstressed pronouns and clitics (like ga, se, ću) have stricter positions, but there are none in this sentence. For a neutral statement, the original order is best.

Is djeca grammatically plural or singular? It looks like a plural but acts strangely.

Djeca is grammatically neuter plural, but it functions as the plural of dijete (child), which is neuter singular.

singular: dijete – child
plural: djeca – children

Agreement examples:

Dobro dijete. – A good child. (neuter singular)
Dobra djeca. – Good children. (neuter plural; adj. dobra is neuter plural)
Dobra su djeca došla. – The good children came.
- dobra (neuter plural adjective)
- su došla (verb in plural; past participle došla is neuter plural)

In our sentence:

Djeca traže… – traže is 3rd person plural to match the plural subject djeca.

How would I say this sentence in the past or future tense?

Base sentence (present):

Djeca traže pravi film za večeras. – The children are looking for the right movie for tonight.

Past tense (perfect):

Djeca su tražila pravi film za večeras. – The children were looking for / have looked for the right movie for tonight.

Explanation:

su – auxiliary (3rd person plural of biti, to be)
tražila – past participle, neuter plural, agreeing with djeca

Future tense (futur I):

Djeca će tražiti pravi film za večeras. – The children will look for the right movie for tonight.

Explanation:

će – future auxiliary (3rd person plural)
tražiti – infinitive

Is there a more “completed action” version of tražiti, like “to look for and (at least try to) find”?

Yes, aspect is important in Croatian. Tražiti is imperfective (focus on the ongoing action). There are related perfective verbs:

potražiti – to look for (at least as a single, completed attempt)
- Djeca će večeras potražiti pravi film. – The children will (set out to) look for the right movie tonight.
pronaći / naći – to find
- Djeca su našla pravi film za večeras. – The children found the right movie for tonight.

In the original sentence, traže emphasizes that they are in the process of searching.

Could I say Djeca traže neki film za večeras instead? What would that change?

Yes, that is correct, but the meaning shifts slightly.

pravi film za večeras – the right/suitable movie for tonight (there is some idea of a particular or appropriate one).
neki film za večeras – some movie for tonight; they’re not picky, just any movie.

Examples:

Djeca traže pravi film za večeras. – They want something that really fits (maybe a specific genre, mood, or quality).
Djeca traže neki film za večeras. – They just want some movie, nothing specific.

Both are natural, but pravi is more selective.

How would I say “The kids are looking for the right movie to watch tonight” more explicitly?

You can keep it simple, or make the “watch” part explicit:

Djeca traže pravi film za večeras.
- Common, natural, and usually understood as to watch tonight.

More explicit:

Djeca traže pravi film za gledanje večeras.
- Literally: The children are looking for the right movie for watching tonight.
Djeca traže pravi film koji će gledati večeras.
- The children are looking for the right movie that they will watch tonight.

The original simple sentence is what speakers would most commonly use; the idea of “to watch” is implied by context.