Profesorica večeras čita roman u parku.

Tonight the professor (female) is reading a novel in the park.

Breakdown of Profesorica večeras čita roman u parku.

• u: in
• čitati: to read
• večeras: tonight
• park: park
• roman: novel
• profesorica: professor

Questions & Answers about Profesorica večeras čita roman u parku.

Why is there no word for the or a before profesorica and roman?

Croatian has no articles like the or a/an. Nouns appear without them, and context tells you whether English would use the or a.

So:

• Profesorica večeras čita roman u parku.
  can mean:
  • The (female) teacher is reading a novel in the park this evening.
  • A (female) teacher is reading a novel in the park this evening.

You don’t change the Croatian sentence; you only change how you translate it, depending on what you want to express in English and on the wider context.

Why is čita used for is reading? Where is the equivalent of is?

Croatian doesn’t have a separate present continuous tense like is reading. The simple present covers both:

• Profesorica čita roman.
  
  • The teacher reads a novel. (habitual)
  • The teacher is reading a novel. (right now / this evening)

There is no extra auxiliary like is for the present. Čita alone (3rd person singular of čitati = to read) expresses both reads and is reading. The time expression večeras makes it clear that this is a specific situation happening this evening, so English naturally uses is reading.

What exactly does večeras mean, and can it be placed somewhere else in the sentence?

Večeras means this evening / tonight (but specifically in the sense of later today in the evening).

Word order is flexible, so you can move večeras around:

• Profesorica večeras čita roman u parku. (neutral, fairly common)
• Večeras profesorica čita roman u parku. (emphasis on this evening)
• Profesorica čita roman u parku večeras. (evening added at the end, still fine)
• U parku profesorica večeras čita roman. (emphasis on in the park)

All of these are grammatically correct. Changing the position changes what is emphasized, but not the basic meaning.

Why profesorica and not profesor? Is this a specifically female teacher?

Yes. Croatian marks grammatical gender very clearly in many profession nouns.

• profesor = (male) teacher / professor
• profesorica = (female) teacher / professor

In this sentence, profesorica tells you explicitly that the subject is a woman. The verb čita is the same for both; it doesn’t change with gender, only with person and number:

• Profesor čita roman u parku. – A male teacher
• Profesorica čita roman u parku. – A female teacher

What case is roman in, and why does it look the same as the dictionary form?

Roman is in the accusative singular, used for the direct object of the verb (what is being read).

For masculine inanimate nouns like roman, the:

• Nominative singular (dictionary form) and
• Accusative singular

often look the same:

• Nominative: Roman je zanimljiv. – The novel is interesting.
• Accusative: Čitam roman. – I am reading a novel.

So in Profesorica večeras čita roman, roman is clearly the object because of its position and the verb meaning, not because of a visible case ending.

Why does parku end in -u, and what case is that?

Parku is locative singular of park.

Locative is used (among other things) to express location after certain prepositions, especially u (in) and na (on/at) when they mean being in a place (not moving toward it).

• Nominative: park – a/the park
• Locative: u parku – in the park

So u parku literally means in (the) park. The -u on parku plus the preposition u tells you this is a static location.

What is the difference between u park and u parku?

This is a very important contrast:

1. u park = into the park (motion, direction)

   • Idem u park. – I am going to the park.

2. u parku = in the park (location, no movement implied)

   • Profesorica čita roman u parku. – The teacher is reading a novel in the park.

• u + accusative → movement into / to a place (u park)
• u + locative → being in / at a place (u parku)

Can the word order be changed, and does it affect the meaning?

Croatian word order is relatively flexible. All of these are correct:

• Profesorica večeras čita roman u parku. (neutral)
• Večeras profesorica čita roman u parku. (focus on this evening)
• Profesorica čita roman u parku večeras. (evening added at end)
• U parku profesorica večeras čita roman. (focus on in the park)
• Roman profesorica večeras čita u parku. (emphasis on the novel as object)

The core meaning remains the same: a (female) teacher is reading a novel in the park this evening. Different orders put informational focus on different parts of the sentence, but basic grammar and roles (who does what to whom, where, when) stay the same.

How would this sentence change if the teacher were male?

Only the noun for teacher would change:

• Profesor večeras čita roman u parku.
  
  • Profesor = male teacher/professor
  • čita stays the same (3rd person singular present)
  • roman and u parku are unchanged

So gender is shown on the noun profesor / profesorica, not on the verb.

How do you say The (female) teachers are reading a novel in the park this evening?

You need plural subject and plural verb:

• Profesorice večeras čitaju roman u parku.

Breakdown:

• Profesorice – plural of profesorica (female teachers)
• čitaj(u) – 3rd person plural present of čitati
  
  • singular: (ona) čita – she reads / is reading
  • plural: (one) čitaju – they (fem.) read / are reading
• roman – still singular accusative (they are all reading one novel, or a novel in general)
• u parku – locative, same as before

Is čita related to the infinitive čitati, and how is it conjugated?

Yes. Čita is the 3rd person singular present of the verb čitati (to read), which is an -ati verb.

Present tense (singular and plural):

• (ja) čitam – I read / am reading
• (ti) čitaš – you read / are reading (sg., informal)
• (on/ona/ono) čita – he/she/it reads / is reading
• (mi) čitamo – we read / are reading
• (vi) čitate – you read / are reading (pl. or formal)
• (oni/one/ona) čitaju – they read / are reading

So in Profesorica večeras čita roman u parku, čita matches profesorica (3rd person singular).

Why don’t we say something like Profesorica je večeras čita roman with je for is?

In Croatian, you do not use je (3rd person singular of biti = to be) to form the present tense the way English uses is.

• čita alone already means reads / is reading.
• je is used as an auxiliary mainly in past tenses and in some other constructions, not to form the present progressive.

For example:

• Profesorica je večeras čitala roman u parku.
  – The (female) teacher read / was reading a novel in the park this evening. (past tense)

The incorrect Profesorica je večeras čita roman mixes a present auxiliary with a present main verb and doesn’t follow Croatian tense rules, so it is ungrammatical.