Tijekom nestanka struje upalit ćemo svijeću i uzeti šibice.

After tijekom (during), Croatian normally uses the genitive case.

So:

• tijekom = during
• nestanak = outage / disappearance
• nestanka = genitive singular of nestanak
• struja = electricity / electric current
• struje = genitive singular of struja

That gives:

• tijekom nestanka struje = during a power outage

A useful thing to notice is that nestanak struje literally means something like the disappearance of electricity.

Yes, nestanak struje is a very common and natural Croatian expression for power outage / blackout.

Literally:

• nestanak = disappearance
• struje = of electricity

So the phrase means the loss/disappearance of electricity.

Other expressions exist, such as:

• prekid struje = interruption of electricity
• nestanak električne energije = loss of electrical energy

But nestanak struje is one of the most everyday and common ways to say it.

Yes, both can express we will light.

Croatian future tense can often appear in two common patterns:

• upalit ćemo
• ćemo upaliti

Both mean we will light.

What is happening in upalit ćemo is that the infinitive upaliti drops -i? Actually, more precisely, in the written future form with many verbs ending in -ti, the infinitive stem combines with the clitic form of htjeti:

• upaliti → upalit ćemo

This is a very normal written form.

So:

• upalit ćemo svijeću = we will light a candle
• ćemo upaliti svijeću = we will light a candle

Both are fine, though learners often first notice the verb + ćemo pattern because it looks unusual.

It is the future tense.

The verb is:

• upaliti = to light / to switch on

The future is formed with a present-tense form of htjeti (to want, used as a future auxiliary), here:

• ćemo = we will

So:

• upalit ćemo = we will light

This is 1st person plural, meaning we.

Because the future meaning from ćemo can cover both coordinated verbs.

So:

• upalit ćemo svijeću i uzeti šibice

means:

• we will light a candle and take matches

Croatian often avoids repeating the auxiliary if it is already understood. In full, you could also say:

• Upalit ćemo svijeću i uzet ćemo šibice.

That is also correct, but repeating ćemo is not necessary.

So the sentence is using one future auxiliary for both actions:

• upalit ćemo = we will light
• (ćemo) uzeti = (we will) take

Because upaliti and uzeti are perfective verbs, and that fits the meaning here.

In this sentence, the actions are seen as:

• a single completed act of lighting the candle
• a single completed act of taking the matches

So Croatian uses perfective verbs:

• upaliti = to light, to switch on, as a completed action
• uzeti = to take, as a completed action

Compare:

• paliti = to be lighting / to light repeatedly / in a more ongoing sense
• uzimati = to be taking / to take repeatedly / habitually

Since the sentence describes what will be done in a particular situation, the perfective forms are the natural choice.

No. Upaliti is a very common verb with a broader meaning: to switch on, to light, to ignite.

Examples:

• upaliti svijeću = light a candle
• upaliti svjetlo = turn on the light
• upaliti televizor = turn on the TV
• upaliti vatru = light a fire

So its exact English translation depends on the object.

Because svijeću is the accusative singular, and it is the direct object of upalit ćemo.

Base form:

• svijeća = candle

Direct object form:

• svijeću = candle

So:

• upalit ćemo svijeću = we will light a candle

This is a very common pattern with feminine nouns ending in -a:

• nominative singular: žena
• accusative singular: ženu

And similarly:

• nominative singular: svijeća
• accusative singular: svijeću

Because Croatian noun endings change according to case, and svijeća belongs to a feminine declension pattern.

The important forms here are:

• svijeća = nominative singular
• svijeću = accusative singular

The consonant ć stays the same; only the ending changes.

This is just part of the normal declension system, not something special about this word alone.

Here, šibice is plural.

The singular is:

• šibica = a match

The plural is:

• šibice = matches

In the sentence:

• uzeti šibice = to take matches

This is very natural, because in both Croatian and English we often talk about matches in the plural rather than a match, unless one specific match is meant.

It is accusative plural, because it is the direct object of uzeti.

For this noun, the nominative plural and accusative plural look the same:

• šibice = matches

So even though the form is the same, its role in the sentence is accusative.

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

So a noun like svijeću can mean:

• a candle
• the candle

depending on context.

Likewise šibice can mean:

• matches
• the matches

The exact meaning is understood from the situation, not from an article.

That is why translations into English may vary slightly even when the Croatian stays the same.

Yes. Without more context, it could be interpreted either way.

• upalit ćemo svijeću could mean we will light a candle
• or we will light the candle

English has to choose an article, but Croatian does not.

In many learning contexts, a candle is the most natural default translation, but context could make the candle more appropriate.

Yes, the word order is natural.

Croatian word order is relatively flexible, and this sentence starts with the time phrase:

• Tijekom nestanka struje = during the power outage

Then comes the main action:

• upalit ćemo svijeću i uzeti šibice

You could also hear other variants depending on emphasis, for example:

• Upalit ćemo svijeću i uzeti šibice tijekom nestanka struje.
• Tijekom nestanka struje ćemo upaliti svijeću i uzeti šibice.
  This is less elegant in many contexts, but grammatically understandable.

The original version sounds natural and clear.

Yes. I means and, and here it connects the two actions:

• upalit ćemo svijeću
• uzeti šibice

So the structure is:

• we will light a candle and take matches

This is exactly the same kind of coordination you would see in English.

On its own, uzeti simply means to take. Depending on context, that can mean:

• take/pick up
• get
• take along

So uzeti šibice could mean:

• get the matches
• pick up the matches
• take the matches

The wider situation decides the most natural English wording.

Then Croatian would probably use different forms, often with imperfective verbs or a present-tense habitual construction.

For example:

• Tijekom nestanka struje palimo svijeću i uzimamo šibice.
  = During a power outage, we light a candle and get matches.

Here:

• palimo comes from paliti
• uzimamo comes from uzimati

That version sounds more like a general habit or repeated behavior, while the original sentence sounds like a specific future plan.

Yes, slightly.

• Tijekom nestanka struje = during a power outage
  This sounds a bit more neutral or formal.
• Kad nestane struje = when the power goes out
  This often sounds more conversational and everyday.

Both are natural, but they frame the situation differently:

• tijekom focuses on the period during the outage
• kad nestane struje focuses on the moment when the outage happens

The main thing learners notice is the sound ć, which is a soft Croatian consonant.

Roughly:

• svijeću ≈ svyeh-chu (very approximate)
• ćemo ≈ chyeh-mo (very approximate)

A few notes:

• ije in svijeću is pronounced as a sequence, not like English eye
• ć is softer than English ch
• č and ć are different sounds in Croatian, although many learners need time to hear and produce the distinction

You do not need perfect pronunciation immediately, but it is worth paying attention to ć because it distinguishes words in Croatian.

It is understandable and basically natural, but a native speaker might choose a slightly more practical order of actions depending on the situation.

For example, if the matches are needed to light the candle, many speakers might prefer:

• Tijekom nestanka struje uzet ćemo šibice i upaliti svijeću.

That means:

• During a power outage, we will take the matches and light a candle.

The original sentence is still grammatically fine; it just presents the actions in a particular order.