Breakdown of Cijeli tjedan učimo hrvatski navečer.
hrvatski
Croatian
učiti
to study
navečer
in the evening
cijeli tjedan
all week
Questions & Answers about Cijeli tjedan učimo hrvatski navečer.
Why is there no word for “we” in the sentence? Shouldn’t it be Mi učimo hrvatski?
Croatian normally drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
The verb učiti in the present tense:
- učim – I learn
- učiš – you (sg.) learn
- uči – he/she learns
- učimo – we learn
- učite – you (pl.) learn
- uče – they learn
Since učimo already means we (are) learn(ing), saying mi učimo is usually redundant.
You would add mi only for emphasis, e.g. Mi učimo hrvatski, a oni ne. – We study Croatian, but they don’t.
What tense is učimo here? Does it mean “we study” or “we are studying” or “we have been studying”?
Učimo is present tense of učiti (imperfective aspect). Croatian present can cover several English meanings, depending on context:
- We study Croatian (regular/habitual)
- We are studying Croatian (right now / this period)
- We have been studying Croatian (all week) (ongoing activity over a period up to now)
Because of cijeli tjedan (the whole week), the sentence is naturally understood as something happening throughout this week, similar to English We’ve been studying Croatian in the evenings all week or We’re studying Croatian in the evenings all week.