Breakdown of Nakon večere jedemo samo mali komad torte.
Questions & Answers about Nakon večere jedemo samo mali komad torte.
Nakon (like poslije) requires the genitive case.
- večera (dinner) → genitive singular večere
So nakon večere = after dinner.
You can also say poslije večere; both are common. What you can’t do is leave večera in nominative (večera) after these prepositions.
večere is genitive singular of the feminine noun večera.
You know it’s singular from the meaning (after dinner as a general event) and from the form: many feminine nouns in -a take -e in genitive singular (e.g., žena → žene, škola → škole).
- jesti is the infinitive (to eat).
- jedu is 3rd person plural (they eat).
- jedemo is 1st person plural present tense (we eat).
So the sentence is from a we perspective: We eat…
No—Croatian usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person/number.
- (Mi) jedemo = We eat
You’d add mi mainly for emphasis or contrast (e.g., Mi jedemo…, a oni ne. = We eat…, but they don’t.).
jesti / jedemo is imperfective and often expresses a habit/general routine: After dinner we eat… (as a regular thing).
pojesti / pojedemo is perfective and tends to mean to eat up / to eat (completely) / to have eaten (as a completed event).
Both can work depending on context, but jedemo sounds natural for a habitual statement.
Croatian word order is flexible. This version puts the time phrase first to set the scene: After dinner…
Other common options:
- Jedemo samo mali komad torte nakon večere.
- Samo mali komad torte jedemo nakon večere. (emphasizes only a small piece)
The meaning stays similar, but focus/emphasis changes.
In this sentence samo most naturally applies to mali komad torte:
- we eat only a small piece of cake
You can use word order to make it even clearer: - Jedemo samo mali komad torte. (as given)
- Jedemo mali komad torte, samo. (colloquial emphasis)
If you wanted only eat (and not drink/do something else), you’d normally rephrase for clarity.
Because it’s one piece (singular):
- mali komad = a small piece (nominative/accusative singular)
malo komada uses malo as a quantity word meaning a little / a small amount of, and it typically goes with genitive plural: - malo komada torte = a few pieces of cake / a small number of pieces of cake (more like multiple pieces)
komad is accusative singular because it’s the direct object of jedemo (we eat what?).
For masculine inanimate nouns like komad, accusative = nominative in form, so komad looks the same in both cases.
Adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
komad is masculine singular accusative, so the adjective is mali.
- mala would match a feminine noun (e.g., mala torta)
- malu would be feminine accusative (e.g., jedemo malu tortu)
torte is genitive singular of torta.
This is a common pattern: a “container/portion” noun + genitive to show of what:
- komad torte = a piece of cake
Similarly: čaša vode (a glass of water), kriška kruha (a slice of bread).
It’s possible, but it’s not the neutral everyday choice here.
- komad torte is the standard “piece of cake” structure.
od often adds a sense of “from/out of” or can sound heavier: - komad od torte can be used in some contexts, but it’s less idiomatic than plain genitive.
Because torta would be nominative, but after a portion noun (komad), Croatian typically uses genitive to express “of”:
- komad (čega?) torte
So torte is required by this construction, not by a preposition.
They’re related in meaning (both connected to dinner/evening meal), but in this sentence večere is just the noun večera in genitive singular.
The verb večerati means to have dinner / to dine, e.g. Večeramo u sedam. = We have dinner at seven.
You negate the verb:
- Nakon večere ne jedemo samo mali komad torte. = After dinner we don’t eat only a small piece of cake.
If you mean “we don’t eat cake after dinner,” you’d typically say: - Nakon večere ne jedemo tortu. or …ne jedemo kolače. depending on intent.
In Croatian, torta typically refers to a torte-style cake (often layered, celebratory). For “cake” more generally, people may also use kolač (plural kolači) depending on the type.
So komad torte sounds like a slice/piece of a larger cake.