Ne volim sjediti blizu prolaza u kinu.

Because Croatian usually negates a verb by putting ne directly in front of it.

• volim = I like
• ne volim = I do not like / I don't like

So:

• Volim kavu. = I like coffee.
• Ne volim kavu. = I don't like coffee.

Nisam is the negative form of sam and is used with forms of to be or with the perfect tense, not with a simple present-tense verb like volim.

After voljeti in the sense of to like doing something, Croatian often uses an infinitive.

So:

• Volim čitati. = I like reading.
• Volim putovati. = I like travelling.
• Ne volim sjediti... = I don't like sitting...

This works much like English I like to read or I like reading.

This is an aspect question.

• sjediti = to sit, to be sitting
• sjesti = to sit down

In this sentence, the idea is being seated in that place, not the one-time action of lowering yourself into the seat. So sjediti is the natural choice.

Compare:

• Ne volim sjediti blizu prolaza. = I don't like sitting near the aisle.
• Ne volim sjesti blizu prolaza. = I don't like to sit down near the aisle.
  This sounds more focused on the act of choosing/taking that seat, not on the experience of being seated there.

For a general preference like this, sjediti is much more natural.

Because Croatian often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• volim already means I like
• so ja is not necessary

You could say:

• Ja ne volim sjediti blizu prolaza u kinu.

But that adds emphasis, like I don't like sitting near the aisle.

Without ja, the sentence is more neutral and natural.

Because blizu is commonly followed by the genitive case.

The noun is:

• prolaz = aisle / passageway

After blizu, it changes to genitive singular:

• prolaza

So:

• blizu kuće = near the house
• blizu škole = near the school
• blizu prolaza = near the aisle

That is why you do not get blizu prolaz here.

u kinu is in the locative singular.

The preposition u can take different cases depending on meaning:

• u + accusative = movement into
• u + locative = location in/at

Here the sentence describes location:

• u kinu = in the cinema

So we use locative.

Compare:

• Idem u kino. = I am going to the cinema.
  (u kino = accusative, motion)
• Sjedim u kinu. = I am sitting in the cinema.
  (u kinu = locative, location)

Because kino is a neuter noun, and after u for location it goes into the locative singular.

• nominative: kino
• locative: kinu

So:

• kino = cinema
• u kinu = in the cinema

This kind of change is very common in Croatian case grammar.

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order, because case endings carry a lot of grammatical information.

The original sentence is perfectly natural:

• Ne volim sjediti blizu prolaza u kinu.

But you could also hear:

• U kinu ne volim sjediti blizu prolaza.
• Blizu prolaza ne volim sjediti u kinu.

These versions shift emphasis:

• U kinu... puts focus on the cinema context
• Blizu prolaza... puts stronger focus on the aisle location

The most neutral version is the original one.

It can mean more than just a cinema aisle.

prolaz is a general word meaning something like:

• passage
• aisle
• way through

In a cinema context, blizu prolaza naturally means near the aisle.

So the exact English translation depends on context.

Because Croatian does not have articles like English a/an/the.

So:

• prolaz can mean an aisle or the aisle
• kino can mean a cinema or the cinema

Context tells you which meaning is intended. In this sentence, English naturally uses the aisle and the cinema, but Croatian does not need separate words for that.

Yes. That is also natural.

• blizu prolaza = near the aisle
• kraj prolaza = by the aisle / next to the aisle

The nuance is slightly different:

• blizu means generally near
• kraj often suggests right by or next to

In many situations, both would work.

No. Kino is standard and very common, especially in Croatia.

You may also encounter regional alternatives, especially in other varieties of the language, such as bioskop.

So depending on region:

• u kinu = in the cinema
• u bioskopu = in the cinema

For standard Croatian, kino is the safest choice.

A simple pronunciation guide would be:

Ne volim sjediti blizu prolaza u kinu
≈ neh VO-leem SYEH-dee-tee BLEE-zoo pro-LAH-zah oo KEE-noo

A few useful notes:

• lj and nj are special Croatian sounds, but they do not appear here.
• j is pronounced like English y.
• c is usually ts, but again it does not appear here.
• sjediti starts with sj, which can feel unusual for English speakers; it sounds roughly like sye-

The stress system in Croatian is more complex than this simplified guide shows, but the guide above is good enough for a learner to start with.