U ostavi držimo sokove, tjesteninu i brašno.

Because after u meaning in, Croatian uses the locative case when talking about a static location.

• base form: ostava = pantry / storage room
• locative singular: ostavi

So:

• u ostavi = in the pantry

If you were talking about motion into the pantry, Croatian would normally use u + accusative instead.

Ostava usually means a pantry, storeroom, or storage room in a home.

It is a feminine noun:

• nominative: ostava
• locative: ostavi

A close English equivalent would depend on context:

• pantry if it is used for food
• storage room / cupboard if it is more general

That is a very common question. Držati can mean to hold, but it also often means to keep, to store, or to have something somewhere.

In this sentence:

• držimo = we keep / we store

So U ostavi držimo... means something like:

• We keep ... in the pantry
• We store ... in the pantry

This is a normal everyday use of držati in Croatian.

Držimo is the 1st person plural present tense of držati.

So it means:

• we hold
• we keep
• we store

Basic present-tense forms are:

• držim = I keep
• držiš = you keep
• drži = he/she/it keeps
• držimo = we keep
• držite = you (plural/formal) keep
• drže = they keep

Because sokove is the accusative plural of sokovi.

Here it is the direct object of držimo, so Croatian uses the accusative case.

• nominative plural: sokovi = juices
• accusative plural: sokove

Since sok is a masculine inanimate noun, the plural accusative ends in -e here:

• sokovi → sokove

Because they are being treated as mass nouns rather than countable items.

• tjestenina = pasta
• brašno = flour

In English, we also often treat these as uncountable:

• pasta
• flour

So Croatian naturally uses singular forms here.

Their case is still accusative, because they are direct objects:

• tjestenina → tjesteninu (feminine singular accusative)
• brašno → brašno (neuter singular accusative, same form as nominative)

Because brašno is a neuter singular noun, and in Croatian the nominative and accusative singular are often identical for neuter nouns.

So:

• nominative: brašno
• accusative: brašno

Even though the form does not change, the case is still accusative because it is the object of držimo.

They are in the accusative case, because they are direct objects of the verb.

So:

• sokove = accusative plural
• tjesteninu = accusative singular
• brašno = accusative singular

A useful rule for beginners is:

• verbs like imati, kupiti, vidjeti, držati often take a direct object in the accusative

Yes. Croatian word order is fairly flexible.

This sentence begins with U ostavi to set the scene first:

• U ostavi držimo sokove, tjesteninu i brašno.

You could also say:

• Držimo sokove, tjesteninu i brašno u ostavi.

Both are correct. The difference is mainly about emphasis and flow.

• U ostavi... puts focus first on where
• Držimo... starts with the action

The original version sounds very natural.

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

So ostava can mean:

• a pantry
• the pantry

and the exact meaning depends on context.

Likewise:

• sokove can mean juices, some juices, or the juices
• tjesteninu can mean pasta / the pasta / some pasta
• brašno can mean flour / the flour / some flour

Croatian relies on context much more than English does for this.

Usually sokove suggests juices in a general plural sense, often meaning:

• different kinds of juice
• multiple bottles/cartons of juice
• juice drinks in general

The exact nuance depends on context. In everyday speech, sok often refers to fruit juice or soft drinks of that type, not just the liquid from one fruit.

Yes, often you can.

• ostava = pantry / storeroom / storage area
• smočnica = pantry, larder

Both can refer to a place where food is kept, though regional preference and slight nuance may vary.

So:

• U ostavi držimo...
• U smočnici držimo...

Both are possible, depending on the kind of room and the speaker’s usual vocabulary.

Because Croatian uses commas in lists much like English does.

So:

• sokove, tjesteninu i brašno

means:

• juices, pasta, and flour

Croatian normally does not put a comma before i in a simple list, so the punctuation here is completely standard.