Learn Hardcore Croatian: Za Božić cijela obitelj ide u crkvu i poslije slavi blagdan kod kuće. - For Christmas the whole family goes to church and afterwards celebrates the holiday at home.

Literally, “Za Božić” means “for Christmas”, but in this context it is best translated as “at Christmas / on Christmas” or “for Christmas time”.

“za” + accusative (here: Božić) can express time around an event, often meaning “for / during (a holiday or period)”:
- za Božić – at / for Christmas
- za Uskrs – at / for Easter
- za vikend – at / over the weekend

So “Za Božić cijela obitelj ide u crkvu...” = “At Christmas, the whole family goes to church...”, describing what they (habitually) do around that holiday.

Could you also say “Na Božić” instead of “Za Božić”? Is there any difference?

Yes, “Na Božić” is also possible, and you will hear both.

za Božić – often feels like “for/around Christmas (time)”, can sound a bit broader, including the general Christmas period.
na Božić – more like “on Christmas Day”, emphasizing the specific day.

In many everyday contexts they overlap and are both fine:

Za Božić / Na Božić cijela obitelj ide u crkvu.

Here, “Za Božić” is very natural and idiomatic.

Why is it “cijela obitelj ide” and not “cijela obitelj idu”? Shouldn’t “family” be plural?

In Croatian, “obitelj” (family) is grammatically singular, feminine.

obitelj – singular, feminine noun
cijela obitelj ide – “the whole family goes”, with ide (3rd person singular) agreeing with obitelj

So:

Cijela obitelj ide u crkvu. – correct (standard)
Cijela obitelj idu u crkvu. – you might hear this in speech (treating family as a group of individuals), but standard grammar prefers the singular.

Compare:

Moja obitelj je velika. – My family is big. (singular verb/adjective)

What does “cijela” add to the meaning of “obitelj”? Could you leave it out?

“cijela” means “whole / entire”.

cijela obitelj – the whole family, everyone in the family
obitelj – the family, but not explicitly stressing that it’s everyone

You can say:

Obitelj ide u crkvu. – The family goes to church.

However, “Cijela obitelj ide u crkvu” emphasizes that all family members go, not just some of them.

Why is it “u crkvu” and not “u crkvi”?

This is about case choice with movement vs location.

u
- accusative → movement into something (where to?)
u
- locative → location inside something (where?)

In the sentence we have movement:

ide u crkvu – goes to church (into the church) → accusative (crkvu)

If you talk about being there (no movement), you use the locative:

Cijela obitelj je u crkvi. – The whole family is in (at) the church.

Why is “crkvu” spelled with -u at the end? What case is that?

“crkvu” is the accusative singular form of “crkva” (church).

Nominative: crkva – (this) church
Accusative: crkvu – (to) the church

Because the verb “ići” (ide) expresses movement towards a place, the noun takes the accusative with “u”:

ići u školu – to go to school
ići u grad – to go to town
ići u crkvu – to go to church

What does “poslije” mean here, and why is there no noun after it (like “poslije mise”)?

Here, “poslije” is used as an adverb meaning “afterwards / after that / then”.

Used this way, it stands alone:

...ide u crkvu i poslije slavi blagdan kod kuće.
→ ...goes to church and afterwards celebrates the holiday at home.

“poslije” can also be a preposition that needs a genitive:

poslije ručka – after lunch
poslije mise – after mass

In your sentence, the idea “after (they go to church)” is understood from the context, so no noun is needed; “poslije” just means “afterwards”.

What does “slavi blagdan” literally mean, and could you just say “slavi Božić” instead?

Literally, “slavi blagdan” = “celebrates the holiday / feast day”.

slaviti – to celebrate
blagdan – (religious) holiday, feast day

You can absolutely say:

slavi Božić – celebrates Christmas

In this sentence:

slavi blagdan is a bit more general: celebrates the feast (that is Christmas).
slavi Božić would be more explicit and specific: celebrates Christmas.

Both are correct; “slavi blagdan” just sounds slightly more formal/religious in style.

Why is it “kod kuće” and not “u kući”?

Both exist, but they don’t mean exactly the same.

kod kuće – at home (the usual, idiomatic phrase)
- slavi blagdan kod kuće – celebrates the holiday at home
u kući – in the house (inside the building), a more physical, literal location
- djeca su u kući – the children are in the house

When you mean “at home” in general, Croatian almost always uses:

biti kod kuće – to be at home
ostati kod kuće – to stay at home
slaviti kod kuće – to celebrate at home

So “kod kuće” is the natural choice here.

Why is “kuće” in that form? What case is used after “kod”?

The preposition “kod” takes the genitive case.

kuća – house, home (nominative singular)
kuće – genitive singular

So:

kod + genitive → kod kuće – at home (literally: at the house/home)
Other examples:
- kod prijatelja – at a friend’s (place)
- kod bake – at grandma’s

In your sentence, “kod kuće” is “at home” with “kuće” in the genitive because of “kod”.

Why are the verbs “ide” and “slavi” in the present tense if this describes something that happens every Christmas?

Croatian often uses the present tense to talk about habitual or repeated actions, just like English does.

Cijela obitelj ide u crkvu – The whole family goes to church (habitually, every Christmas).
...i poslije slavi blagdan kod kuće. – and afterwards celebrates the holiday at home.

So this present tense is a “habitual present”, describing what usually happens at Christmas.

If you wanted to emphasize a specific one future Christmas, you could use the future:

Za Božić će cijela obitelj ići u crkvu... – This Christmas, the whole family will go to church...

What verb is “ide” from, and what is its infinitive form?

“ide” is the 3rd person singular present of the verb “ići” – to go.

Some key forms:

infinitive: ići – to go
ja idem – I go
ti ideš – you go
on/ona/ono ide – he/she/it goes
mi idemo – we go
vi idete – you (pl./formal) go
oni/one/ona idu – they go

So “cijela obitelj ide” = “the whole family goes”.

Which words in the sentence are capitalized in Croatian, and why?

In the sentence:

Za Božić cijela obitelj ide u crkvu i poslije slavi blagdan kod kuće.

The only capitalized word is:

Božić – because it is the name of a holiday, i.e., a proper noun (Christmas).

Croatian capitalizes:

names of holidays: Božić, Uskrs, Nova godina
names of people, places, etc.

Other words like “za, cijela, obitelj, crkvu, poslije, blagdan, kuće” are all common nouns/adverbs/prepositions and are written in lowercase.