Learn Hardcore Croatian: Glazba u kafiću večeras svira prejako, pa radije sjedimo u mirnom parku. - The music in the cafe is playing too loud tonight, so we prefer to sit in the quiet park.

u kafiću – locative singular → “in the café” (we’re already there)
- nominative: kafić
- locative: (u) kafiću
u kafić – accusative singular → “into the café” (movement towards/into it)

In this sentence, the music is already happening in the café, so you need the locative: u kafiću.

Why is glazba the subject of svira? I thought only people “play” music.

In Croatian it’s completely normal for glazba (music) to be the subject of svirati:

Glazba svira. – literally “The music is playing.”

The verb svirati can mean:

“to play (an instrument / music)” – Ja sviram gitaru.
or, with glazba as subject, “to be playing / to sound” – Glazba svira glasan rock.

English tends to say “The band is playing” or “The music is loud”, but Croatian easily says Glazba svira with music as the “doer.”

Why don’t we say something like Glazba je prejaka instead of Glazba svira prejako?

Both are possible, but they say slightly different things:

Glazba svira prejako. – focuses on the action: the music is being played too loudly.
Glazba je prejaka. – focuses on the state/quality: the music is too loud (as a characteristic).

In everyday speech, glazba svira prejako sounds very natural when complaining about how loudly someone is playing music at that moment. Je prejaka is also fine and common; your sentence simply chooses to describe the playing rather than the loudness as a trait.

Why is it prejako and not prejak?

Because here it describes how the music is playing (an adverb), not what the music is like (an adjective):

jak – strong / loud (adjective)
jako – strongly / loudly (adverb)
prejako – too strongly / too loudly (adverb)

So:

Glazba je prejakA. – The music is too loud. (adjective agreeing with glazba, feminine)
Glazba svira prejako. – The music is playing too loudly. (adverb modifying svira)

Why is prejako written as one word and not pre jako?

Pre- is a prefix that attaches directly to adjectives and adverbs to mean “too”:

jak → prejak
jako → prejako
glasno → preglasno

So the standard spelling is one word: prejako.
Writing it as pre jako would usually be considered a mistake in standard Croatian (though you might see it informally online).

What exactly does pa mean here, and why is there a comma before it?

Pa is a coordinating conjunction. Here it’s best translated as “so” or “and so”:

Glazba … svira prejako, pa radije sjedimo u mirnom parku.
→ “The music is playing too loudly, so we’d rather sit in the quiet park.”

The comma is required because pa connects two clauses:

Glazba u kafiću večeras svira prejako
radije sjedimo u mirnom parku

Other common translations of pa in different contexts: and, and then, but, well, depending on tone. Here, so (consequence) fits best.

What does radije mean, and how does it work in this sentence?

Radije is the comparative form of rado (“gladly, willingly”), and it usually means “rather, preferably” or “would rather”.

Pattern: radije + verb → “prefer to / would rather”

Radije sjedimo u mirnom parku.
→ “We would rather sit in the quiet park.” / “We prefer to sit in the quiet park (instead).”

It doesn’t require any extra word like “would”; radije itself gives the idea of preference.

Why is it sjedimo and not something like sjednemo?

Because sjediti and sjesti/sjednuti are different verbs:

sjediti – “to sit, to be sitting” (state, continuous action)
- sjedimo – “we are sitting / we sit”
sjesti / sjednuti – “to sit down, to take a seat” (moment of starting to sit)
- sjednemo – “we sit down / we take a seat”

In the sentence, the meaning is “we (would rather) sit in the quiet park” (be there sitting), not “we (would rather) sit down in the park” (the moment of sitting), so sjedimo is the right choice.

Why is the simple present used (svira, sjedimo) instead of something like “is playing / are sitting”?

Croatian doesn’t normally have a special present continuous form like English “is playing / are sitting”. The simple present usually covers both:

Glazba svira. – “The music plays / The music is playing.”
Sjedimo u parku. – “We sit in the park / We are sitting in the park.”

Context tells you whether it’s a habit or something happening right now. Here, because of večeras (“this evening”), it clearly refers to what’s happening now.

Why is it u mirnom parku and not u mirni park?

Again, it’s the locative case, because we’re talking about being in a place (location), not moving into it:

u mirnom parku – locative singular → “in the quiet park” (already there)
- park: nominative park, locative parku
- miran: nominative miran, locative masculine mirnom
u mirni park – accusative singular → “into the quiet park” (movement into the park)

The sentence means they prefer to be in the quiet park, not “to go into” it, so u mirnom parku is correct.

Why is it mirnom parku and not miran park?

Because adjectives must agree in case, number, and gender with the noun they describe.

noun: park – masculine singular, locative → parku
adjective: miran – masculine singular, locative → mirnom

So:

nominative: miran park – “a quiet park” (as the subject)
locative: u mirnom parku – “in the quiet park”

Both words change form together.

Can večeras go somewhere else in the sentence, like at the beginning?

Yes. Večeras is an adverb of time and is quite flexible in position. All of these are grammatical, with small differences in emphasis:

Večeras glazba u kafiću svira prejako, pa radije sjedimo u mirnom parku.
Glazba u kafiću svira prejako večeras, pa radije sjedimo u mirnom parku.
Glazba u kafiću večeras svira prejako, pa radije sjedimo u mirnom parku. (original)

The original is very natural, but moving večeras mainly just shifts what you emphasize (time vs place vs loudness) rather than changing the basic meaning.

What’s the difference between glazba and muzika?

Both can mean “music”, but:

In standard Croatian, glazba is the preferred/official word.
Muzika is widely understood and used in speech, but it can sound more colloquial or be associated with Serbian/Bosnian usage.

In everyday Croatian, people will understand both, but glazba is the “safe” choice in formal or neutral standard language.