Word
On nikad ne viče namjerno, ali ponekad slučajno zvuči preglasno.
Meaning
He never shouts on purpose, but sometimes he accidentally sounds too loud.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of On nikad ne viče namjerno, ali ponekad slučajno zvuči preglasno.
on
he
ne
not
ali
but
ponekad
sometimes
Questions & Answers about On nikad ne viče namjerno, ali ponekad slučajno zvuči preglasno.
Why is there both nikad and ne in nikad ne viče? Isn’t that a double negative?
In Croatian, negative adverbs like nikad (never), ništa (nothing), nitko (nobody) normally require the verb to also be negated with ne.
So:
- On nikad ne viče. = He never shouts.
- On ništa ne kaže. = He doesn’t say anything / He says nothing.
This looks like a double negative to an English speaker, but in Croatian it is the standard way to say it. You cannot drop ne here; On nikad viče would be wrong.
Can the subject pronoun On be omitted in this sentence?
Yes. Croatian is a “pro‑drop” language, so the subject pronoun is often left out when it’s clear from context.
- On nikad ne viče namjerno, ali ponekad slučajno zvuči preglasno.
- Nikad ne viče namjerno, ali ponekad slučajno zvuči preglasno.
Both are correct; the second is actually more typical in natural speech and writing, unless you want to emphasize he (as opposed to someone else).
Could the word order be On nikad namjerno ne viče? Is that more natural?