Learn Hardcore Croatian: U braku postoji i tuga i ponos, ali važno je da razgovaramo o osjećajima. - In marriage there is both sadness and pride, but it is important that we talk about feelings.

u
- locative = in/at/on (static location or situation)
  - u braku = in (the state of) marriage
u
- accusative = into (movement towards)
  - u brak = into marriage (e.g. ušao je u brak – he entered into marriage)

In this sentence, we are talking about what exists within marriage as a state, not about movement into it, so locative (braku) is required.

What case is braku, and what is the base form of that noun?

The base (dictionary) form is brak (marriage), which is masculine singular.

In the sentence u braku, braku is the locative singular of brak.
The declension pattern (simplified) is:

Nominative sg: brak (marriage – as a subject)
Genitive sg: braka (of marriage)
Dative/Locative sg: braku (to marriage / in marriage)
Accusative sg: brak (marriage – as a direct object)

So braku is needed because of the preposition u with the meaning “in”.

Why is the verb postoji used here instead of je or ima?

Postoji comes from postojati = to exist.

U braku postoji i tuga i ponos literally: In marriage there exists both sadness and pride.

You could in everyday speech sometimes hear:

U braku ima i tuge i ponosa. – In marriage there is sadness and pride.

Differences:

postoji sounds a bit more neutral/formal and emphasizes existence.
ima is very common in speech, more colloquial, and often requires genitive (tuge, ponosa) in this type of existential construction.
Using just je (U braku je tuga i ponos) is possible but sounds less natural here; postoji and ima are the standard ways to express there is / there exists in this type of sentence.

Why is i repeated: i tuga i ponos, instead of just tuga i ponos?

The construction i X i Y corresponds to “both X and Y” in English.

i tuga i ponos = both sadness and pride

If you just say tuga i ponos, it is like plain “sadness and pride”, which is also correct, but:

i tuga i ponos is stronger and more balanced, it gives equal emphasis to both elements.
It is a very common pattern in Croatian for stressing that both things are present:
- I on i ona – both he and she
- I mladi i stari – both young and old

What case are tuga and ponos in, and what is their role in the sentence?

Tuga (sadness) and ponos (pride) are in the nominative singular.

In this construction with postoji, they function as the things that exist – essentially the logical subject of the verb:

U braku – in marriage (adverbial phrase of place/situation)
postoji – there exists
i tuga i ponos – sadness and pride (what exists)

So grammatically they are nominative because they are the entities whose existence is being stated.

Could the sentence also be U braku je i tuga i ponos? Would that be correct?

Yes, U braku je i tuga i ponos is grammatically possible, and people will understand it.

However, in natural usage:

U braku postoji i tuga i ponos
or
U braku ima i tuge i ponosa

sound more idiomatic for expressing “there is / there exists” in this kind of general statement.

Using je shifts the feel slightly towards “In marriage, there is sadness and pride” but without the typical existential postoji/ima flavor. It’s acceptable, just less common stylistically in this context.

Why is it važno je with neuter važno, and where is the subject?

Važno is the neuter singular form of the adjective važan (important).

The structure važno je da… is an impersonal construction, equivalent to English “it is important that…” where “it” is just a dummy subject.

In Croatian:

Važno je da razgovaramo o osjećajima.
- literally: Important is that we talk about feelings.

The neuter is used because the “subject” is really the whole clause da razgovaramo o osjećajima, and Croatian uses the neuter predicative form in such impersonal statements:

Dobro je da dođeš. – It’s good that you come.
Moguće je da je u pravu. – It’s possible that he/she is right.

So važno is neuter to match the impersonal “it” idea.

Why is it važno je da razgovaramo and not važno je razgovarati? Are both possible?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different focuses:

Važno je da razgovaramo o osjećajima.
- literally: It is important that we talk about feelings.
- Emphasis: that we (you and I / we people) do this action.
- da + present tense introduces a finite clause with an explicit subject (we).
Važno je razgovarati o osjećajima.
- literally: It is important to talk about feelings.
- Emphasis: the activity “talking about feelings” in general, more abstract.
- razgovarati is an infinitive, no explicit grammatical subject.

In everyday speech, da + present is extremely common after adjectives like važno, dobro, potrebno, especially when the subject (we, you, they) is clear and important.

What tense/mood is razgovaramo, and why does it look like a normal present tense after da?

Razgovaramo is the 1st person plural present tense of razgovarati (to talk, to converse):

ja razgovaram
ti razgovaraš
on/ona/ono razgovara
mi razgovaramo
vi razgovarate
oni/one/ona razgovaraju

After da, Croatian uses the present tense form to express something similar to the subjunctive or “that”-clause in English:

važno je da razgovaramo ≈ it is important that we talk / that we (should) talk

So grammatically it’s just the present tense, but in this environment (after da) it often has a subjunctive-like meaning (wish, necessity, importance, etc.).

Why is it o osjećajima and not some other case? What case is osjećajima?

The preposition o meaning “about” (in the sense of topic) always takes the locative case in Croatian.

o
- locative = about (topic of conversation, thinking, writing, etc.)

Here:

base noun: osjećaj (feeling), masculine
plural, locative: osjećajima
so: o osjećajima = about feelings

Other examples with o + locative:

pričamo o poslu – we talk about work
razmišljam o tebi – I think about you
članak o ekologiji – an article about ecology

How can I tell osjećajima is plural, and how is osjećaj declined?

Osjećajima ends in -ima, which is a very common ending for dative/locative/instrumental plural of many masculine and neuter nouns.

Base noun: osjećaj (m.)

Singular (simplified):

Nominative: osjećaj (a feeling)
Genitive: osjećaja (of a feeling)

Plural (simplified):

Nominative: osjećaji (feelings)
Genitive: osjećaja (of feelings)
Dative/Locative/Instrumental: osjećajima

So in o osjećajima, the -ima ending shows plural locative, required by the preposition o.

Could I move je and say Ali je važno da razgovaramo o osjećajima?

Yes, Ali je važno da razgovaramo o osjećajima is perfectly correct and sounds natural.

Croatian word order is relatively flexible, especially with short words like je. Both of these are fine:

Ali važno je da razgovaramo o osjećajima.
Ali je važno da razgovaramo o osjećajima.

The second version (Ali je važno…) might be slightly more common in everyday speech, but the difference is very small; both are idiomatic.

What is the difference between brak and vjenčanje in Croatian? They both seem to relate to “marriage”.

They refer to different things:

brak = the state/institution of marriage, the ongoing relationship
- U braku postoji i tuga i ponos. – In marriage there is both sadness and pride.
- Njihov brak je sretan. – Their marriage is happy.
vjenčanje = the wedding ceremony, the event when people get married
- Idemo na vjenčanje. – We’re going to a wedding.
- Njihovo vjenčanje je bilo u lipnju. – Their wedding was in June.

So in this sentence, we are clearly talking about what happens within the ongoing marriage, so brak (and u braku) is the correct word.