Learn Hardcore Croatian: Nakon što smo pojeli večeru, gledali smo film. - After we had eaten dinner, we watched a movie.

With a noun: poslije večere (after dinner)
With a clause, you normally use poslije što or more commonly poslije nego što:
- Poslije (nego) što smo pojeli večeru…

So:

nakon + noun (genitive) → nakon večere
nakon što + clause → nakon što smo pojeli večeru

Why is it nakon što smo pojeli večeru and not nakon što pojeli smo večeru?

In Croatian, the short form of the auxiliary verb (sam, si, je, smo, ste, su) is a clitic, and clitics must normally appear in the second position in the clause.

In the clause što smo pojeli večeru:

First element: što
Second position: clitic smo
Then: main verb pojeli, object večeru

So što smo pojeli večeru is correct.
što pojeli smo večeru is ungrammatical because the clitic smo is not in that second position.

In the main clause, you see a different pattern: gledali smo film. Here gledali comes first and smo is second, which also satisfies the “second position” rule (within that clause).

What is the difference between pojeli and jeli?

Both come from the verb jest(i) = to eat, but:

jesti is imperfective – focuses on the process or ongoing action:
- Jeli smo večeru. = We were eating dinner / We ate dinner (no focus on completion).
pojesti is perfective – focuses on the completed action:
- Pojeli smo večeru. = We (finished) eating dinner.

In Nakon što smo pojeli večeru, gledali smo film, the speaker wants to say the movie was watched after dinner was finished, so the perfective pojeli is natural. Using jeli would be unusual here and sound like the film was watched while/around the time they were eating, not clearly after finishing.

Why is it večeru and not večera?

Večera (dinner) is a feminine noun. In this sentence it is the direct object of the verb pojesti (to eat up).

Croatian marks the direct object with the accusative case:

Nominative (dictionary form): večera (subject)
Accusative singular (direct object): večeru

Examples:

Večera je bila dobra. – Dinner was good. (subject → nominative)
Pojeli smo večeru. – We ate (up) dinner. (object → accusative)

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” before večeru or film?

Croatian has no articles like English a / an / the.

Pojeli smo večeru. can mean we ate dinner or we ate the dinner.
Gledali smo film. can mean we watched a film or we watched the film.

Definiteness (a vs the) is understood from context, word order, or extra phrases if needed:

Gledali smo jedan film. – We watched a (certain) film.
Gledali smo onaj film. – We watched that film. (more specific)

Why is there a comma between večeru and gledali?

The sentence has two clauses:

Nakon što smo pojeli večeru – dependent (subordinate) clause
gledali smo film – main clause

In Croatian, when a subordinate clause comes before the main clause, you usually put a comma between them:

Nakon što smo pojeli večeru, gledali smo film.

If you reverse the order and put the main clause first, the comma is usually not used:

Gledali smo film nakon što smo pojeli večeru. (no comma)

Why is it gledali smo film and not smo gledali film?

Again, because smo is a clitic and tends to occupy the second position in the clause.

In the main clause:

First element: gledali (past participle)
Second position: clitic smo
Then: object film

So gledali smo film is correct and natural.
Smo gledali film is wrong because the clitic cannot start the clause in standard Croatian.

What is the difference between gledali smo film and pogledali smo film?

Both are past tense of gledati/pogledati (to watch), but:

gledati is imperfective – focuses on the process/duration:
- Gledali smo film. = We were watching a film / We watched a film (no special emphasis on completion).
pogledati is perfective – emphasizes the completed action:
- Pogledali smo film. = We (finished) watching a film.

In your sentence, gledali smo film simply describes what you did after dinner. If you said pogledali smo film, it would subtly stress that you watched it through to the end. Both can be correct, depending on what you want to emphasize.

Why are the verbs pojeli and gledali in the plural masculine form?

Croatian past tense uses a past participle that agrees with the subject in number and gender.

mi (we) is plural → participle in plural
If the group is all male or mixed (male + female), Croatian uses the masculine plural:
- pojeli (masc. plural), gledali (masc. plural)

Other possibilities:

All-female group:
- Nakon što smo pojele večeru, gledale smo film.
One male only:
- Nakon što sam pojeo večeru, gledao sam film.

So the form in your sentence assumes either a mixed group or a group of males.

Could I use kad instead of nakon što? For example: Kad smo pojeli večeru, gledali smo film.

Yes, that is possible and very natural:

Kad smo pojeli večeru, gledali smo film.

Both kad and nakon što can introduce a time clause, but there is a nuance:

kad = when (can be broader, sometimes overlapping with while/whenever/after)
nakon što = after (that), more clearly points to after one event is finished and another starts.

So:

Kad smo pojeli večeru… – When we had eaten dinner… (still implies “after”, and is fine here)
Nakon što smo pojeli večeru… – more explicitly “after we ate dinner…”, with a bit stronger focus on sequence.