Some Croatian connectors come in pairs: a word in the first clause sets up a slot that a matching word in the second clause must fill. These are correlative constructions, and they are a hallmark of polished, cohesive Croatian — the difference between stringing facts together with i ("and") and binding them into a tight logical frame. English has the same family ("the more... the more", "not only... but also", "as soon as..."), so the concepts transfer; what you must learn is the exact Croatian wording and the fixed word order each frame demands. This page walks through the high-value pairs one by one. For the broader conjunction system, see other subordinators and coordinating conjunctions; for the comparative clauses underlying što... to, see comparative and result clauses.
što... to... — "the more... the more"
The headline correlative. To say "the more X, the more Y," Croatian uses što + comparative ... to + comparative: Što više učiš, to više znaš ("the more you study, the more you know"). The structure is rigid: each clause leads with its connector immediately followed by a comparative form (an adverb like više "more", manje "less", or a comparative adjective), and a comma separates the two clauses.
Što više učiš, to više znaš.
The more you study, the more you know. — 'što + comparative' ... 'to + comparative', the canonical frame.
Što smo se više približavali moru, to je zrak bio svježiji.
The closer we got to the sea, the fresher the air was. — 'što više' paired with 'to ... svježiji' (comparative adjective).
Što manje spavam, to sam razdražljiviji.
The less I sleep, the more irritable I am. — 'što manje' ... 'to ... razdražljiviji'.
ne samo... nego i... — "not only... but also"
A correlative of addition that raises the stakes from one item to a second, often more surprising one. The frame is ne samo X, nego i Y (or the equivalent ne samo... već i...). The i after nego/već is the focusing "even/too" particle and should not be dropped.
Ne samo da je zakasnio, nego se nije ni ispričao.
Not only was he late, but he didn't even apologise. — 'ne samo da... nego i/ni', the clausal version.
Govori ne samo hrvatski, nego i talijanski i njemački.
He speaks not only Croatian but also Italian and German. — 'ne samo X, nego i Y' joining noun phrases.
kako... tako (i)... — "as... so (also)"
A correlative of comparison or parallel: as one thing holds, so does another. The frame kako X, tako (i) Y sets up a proportion or an analogy, and it also appears in the set sense "both... and" (kako stari, tako i mladi — "the old as well as the young").
Kako si posijao, tako ćeš i žeti.
As you have sown, so shall you reap. — 'kako... tako i', the proverbial parallel frame.
Kako stariji, tako i mlađi vole tu pjesmu.
The older ones as well as the younger ones love that song. — 'kako... tako i' in its 'both... and' sense.
jedva... kad... — "hardly... when"
A temporal correlative for two events that tread on each other's heels: one had barely happened when the next arrived. The frame jedva... kad (a)... ("scarcely... when...") often inverts the first clause for dramatic effect.
Jedva sam legao, kad je zazvonio telefon.
I had hardly lain down when the phone rang. — 'jedva... kad' links two near-simultaneous events.
Jedva smo izašli, a počela je kiša.
We had barely gone out when the rain started. — the 'jedva... a' variant of the 'hardly... when' frame.
čim... (odmah)... — "as soon as..."
The tight temporal subordinator čim introduces a clause whose event triggers the main clause the instant it completes; the main clause often carries a reinforcing odmah ("immediately"). Unlike kad ("when"), čim insists on immediacy — there is no gap between the two events.
Čim stigneš, odmah me nazovi.
As soon as you arrive, call me right away. — 'čim' for immediate succession, reinforced by 'odmah'.
Čim je čula vijest, briznula je u plač.
The moment she heard the news, she burst into tears. — 'čim' marks the trigger event with no delay before the result.
i... i / ni... ni / ili... ili — the doubled coordinators
Finally, three coordinating correlatives that double a single connector to span two (or more) parallel elements: i... i ("both... and"), ni... ni ("neither... nor"), and ili... ili ("either... or"). The doubling is what makes them correlative — a single i is just "and," but i... i explicitly pairs two members.
Doći će i Ana i Marko.
Both Ana and Marko will come. — doubled 'i... i' = 'both... and'.
Nemam ni vremena ni volje za to.
I have neither the time nor the desire for that. — 'ni... ni' = 'neither... nor'; note this is part of Croatian's normal double negation with 'nemam'.
Ili ćeš mi pomoći ili ćeš se maknuti.
Either you'll help me or you'll get out of the way. — doubled 'ili... ili' = 'either... or'.
Common Mistakes
❌ Što više učiš, više znaš.
Incomplete — the second clause of the 'the more... the more' frame must keep its 'to': 'to više znaš'.
✅ Što više učiš, to više znaš.
The more you study, the more you know. — both halves present, comma between.
❌ Ne samo da je zakasnio, ali se nije ispričao.
Incorrect — the second member of 'not only' is 'nego/već (i)', not 'ali'.
✅ Ne samo da je zakasnio, nego se nije ni ispričao.
Not only was he late, but he didn't even apologise. — 'ne samo... nego'.
❌ Kad stigneš, odmah me nazovi (for 'the very instant you arrive').
Weaker — 'kad' is neutral 'when'; for insistent immediacy use 'čim'.
✅ Čim stigneš, odmah me nazovi.
As soon as you arrive, call me right away. — 'čim' for immediate succession.
❌ Nemam ili vremena ili volje za to.
Wrong correlator — a negative pairing needs 'ni... ni', not 'ili... ili'.
✅ Nemam ni vremena ni volje za to.
I have neither the time nor the desire for that. — 'ni... ni'.
Key Takeaways
- Correlatives are paired connectors: a word in clause one sets up a slot that a matching word in clause two must fill, in a fixed order with a comma between clauses.
- „the more X, the more Y" = što + comparative ... to + comparative (Što više učiš, to više znaš) — both halves need a comparative, and to cannot be dropped.
- ne samo... nego i ("not only... but also"); kako... tako (i) ("as... so (also)" / "both... and"); jedva... kad ("hardly... when"); čim... (odmah) ("as soon as...", maximal immediacy vs. neutral kad).
- Doubled coordinators i... i ("both... and"), ni... ni ("neither... nor"), ili... ili ("either... or") pair two parallel members; ni... ni feeds Croatian's normal double negation.
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Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- Other Subordinators and CorrelativesB1 — Condition (ako, da), concession (iako, makar), comparison (kao, kao da, nego/od), the content split što vs da, and paired correlatives like i…i, ili…ili, ne samo…nego i.
- Coordinating ConjunctionsA1 — i, te, pa, a, ali, nego/već, ili, niti…niti — distinguishing i (and) from a (and-whereas) from ali (but), plus the comma rules and the negation requirement on nego/već.
- Comparative, Result, and Purpose ClausesB2 — Comparing with od + genitive vs nego, equality with tako…kao, result with tako/toliko…da, and purpose with da or kako bi.
- Subordinators of Time and CauseB1 — Time conjunctions (kad, dok, čim, prije nego, nakon što, otkad) and cause conjunctions (jer, zato što, budući da, pošto) — including the 'until' trap dok ne with its non-negating expletive ne.
- The ComparativeA2 — Forming 'more X' with -iji, -ji, and -ši.
- Connecting Ideas: Addition and ContrastB1 — Addition connectives (i, također, osim toga, štoviše) and contrast connectives (ali, međutim, ipak, naprotiv, s druge strane) — and the crucial split between sentence-internal conjunctions and sentence-initial discourse markers.