Kad gledamo vijesti navečer, televizor se stalno gasi.

When we watch the news in the evening, the TV keeps turning off.

Breakdown of Kad gledamo vijesti navečer, televizor se stalno gasi.

• mi: we
• gledati: to watch
• kad: when
• navečer: in the evening
• se: oneself
• vijest: news
• televizor: TV
• gasiti se: to shut down / to turn off (by itself)
• stalno: constantly / keeps

Questions & Answers about Kad gledamo vijesti navečer, televizor se stalno gasi.

Why does the sentence start with Kad, and what does it mean here?

Kad introduces a time clause and means when (often like whenever in habitual contexts).
So Kad gledamo vijesti navečer = When/Whenever we watch the news in the evening.
Because this time clause comes first, Croatian normally uses a comma before the main clause: …, televizor…

Why is there a comma after navečer?

Croatian typically separates an introductory subordinate clause from the main clause with a comma.
Here the subordinate clause is Kad gledamo vijesti navečer, and the main clause is televizor se stalno gasi.

What does gledamo tell me about the subject—who is watching?

Gledamo is 1st person plural present of gledati = we watch / we are watching.
Croatian often drops subject pronouns, so mi (we) is implied and usually not written unless you want emphasis.

Is gledamo “we watch” or “we are watching”?

In Croatian present tense can cover both:

• gledamo can mean we watch (habitually) or we are watching (right now).
  Context decides. With Kad ... navečer (a routine time setting), it strongly suggests a habitual meaning: whenever we watch.

Why is it vijesti and not something like a singular word for “news”?

In Croatian, vijesti is a plural-only noun in this meaning, similar to English news being grammatically singular but conceptually plural.
After gledati (to watch), it appears in the accusative, and for this noun the accusative form looks the same as the nominative: vijesti.

What exactly does navečer mean, and why isn’t it in a case ending?

navečer is an adverb meaning in the evening / in the evenings.
It doesn’t decline like a noun phrase would. You could also say uvečer (similar meaning), or more explicitly u večernjim satima (in the evening hours).

Why does the second clause start with televizor—is that the subject?

Yes. Televizor is the grammatical subject of the main clause: the TV.
Croatian word order is flexible, but starting with the subject is very common, especially in neutral statements.

What is the role of se in televizor se ... gasi?

se marks a reflexive / “middle/passive-like” construction.
With gasiti se, it means something like to turn off (by itself) / to be turning off.
So televizor se gasi implies the TV is switching off (not necessarily that someone is turning it off).

What’s the difference between gasiti and ugasiti here?

They’re an imperfective/perfective pair:

• gasiti (se) (imperfective): ongoing/repeated action → keeps turning off / is turning off
• ugasiti (se) (perfective): single completed event → turns off (once), has turned off

Because the sentence includes stalno (constantly), the imperfective gasi se is the natural choice.

Why is it gasi (present tense) if the meaning is about a repeated problem?

Croatian present tense commonly describes habitual or repeated actions, especially with time clauses and adverbs like:

• Kad ... (Whenever...)
• stalno (constantly)

So televizor se stalno gasi = the TV keeps turning off (a repeated, ongoing issue).

Where does stalno go in the sentence—can I move it?

stalno is an adverb meaning constantly / all the time.
It’s commonly placed before the verb: se stalno gasi.
You can move it for emphasis or style, but some placements sound more natural than others:

• Natural: televizor se stalno gasi
• Also possible: televizor se gasi stalno (more emphasis on stalno at the end)

How do I pronounce tricky parts like vijesti and navečer?

A few key points:

• vijesti: the ije/je sequence is common; roughly vee-yes-tee (depending on accent).
• navečer: č is like ch in church. So na-ve-cher.
• Kad ends with a clear d sound; Croatian consonants are generally pronounced more distinctly than in casual English.