EasyCroatian_r47.an

Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 06 Desnaons 36 / 600
(Some of these destinations can be used also with u¨ – it makes their meaning
literal, e.g. u more means literally into the sea, to swim or dive, throwing something
into the sea, etc. Nouns that require the na¨ are marked in the Core Dictionary.)
The metaphorical na¨ includes all activities usually done in company, such as meals,
meetings and sport events:
na čaj to have a tea
na kavu to have a coffee ®
na koncert to a concert
na nogomet to football game ®
na odmor to vacation/break
na pivo to have a beer
na ples to dance
na ručak to lunch
na sastanak to a meeting
na večeru to supper
When you say na kavu, it requires motion to a destination (where you will have a
coffee or more than one), not just drinking coffee wherever you are. The
‘destination’ na nogomet means both playing football or just watching a game (this
applies to other sports and public performances as well).
The same holds for celebrations and parties:
na feštu to a local feast/party
na rođendan to a birthday party
na zabavu to a party
For instance:
Idem na kavu. I’m going to have a coffee.
ići
Idemo na sastanak. We’re going to a meeting.
ići
If it’s a bit confusing what ‘activities usually done in company’ are, they are simply
not literally places. Consider this:
not true places
concert
dinner
football
meeting
movie premiere
true places
concert hall
restaurant
playground
meeting room
cinema
You’ll later see that the preposition na¨ can be regarded as the default preposition in
Croatian.
Finally, the ‘destination’ na sunce usually doesn’t imply taking a spaceship, but
rather going to an open space, to get exposed to the sunlight:
na sunce in the sun na zrak to (fresh) air ®
Pay attention: everything I’ve explained here are destinations, and not locations.