Buying a ticket and asking when a train leaves looks simple until you realise it fires three grammar systems at once: the clock (u tri sata, u koliko sati), the destination preposition za ("bound for", vlak za Zagreb), and — the genuinely B1 piece — Future II (futur drugi) in kad-clauses, where Croatian uses kad budem stigao ("when I have arrived") instead of the simple future English would expect. This annotated exchange at a kolodvor (station) ticket window threads all three together as a traveller works out connections to Zagreb.
The dialogue
— Putnik: Dobar dan. U koliko sati ide sljedeći vlak za Zagreb? — Službenica: Sljedeći je u tri sata, ali on staje na svakoj stanici. — Putnik: A ima li neki brži? — Službenica: Ima brzi vlak u pola pet. Stiže u Zagreb oko sedam. — Putnik: Dobro. Onda jednu kartu za brzi vlak, molim. — Službenica: U jednom smjeru ili povratnu? — Putnik: Povratnu. Vraćam se u nedjelju. — Službenica: Izvolite. Peron broj četiri, polazak u šesnaest i trideset. — Putnik: A moram li presjedati negdje? — Službenica: Da, u Karlovcu. Kad budete stigli u Karlovac, pričekajte vezu na istom peronu. — Putnik: Razumijem. A kad budem kupio povratnu kartu, vrijedi li dva dana? — Službenica: Vrijedi. Sretan put!
Grammar in action
Telling the time — u koliko sati, u tri sata. Croatian asks u koliko sati? ("at how many hours?") and answers with u + the hour: u tri sata, u pet sati. The noun sat follows the same numeral government as everything else — u tri sata (paucal after tri, looking like the genitive singular) but u pet sati (genitive plural after pet). Half-hours run backwards from English: pola pet is literally "half [of] five", i.e. half-past four (4:30) — you name the hour you are heading toward, not the one you have passed.
U koliko sati ide sljedeći vlak za Zagreb?
At what time does the next train to Zagreb leave? — 'u koliko sati' is the standard 'at what time' question.
Ima brzi vlak u pola pet.
There's a fast train at half past four. — 'pola pet' = half toward five = 4:30, counting toward the coming hour.
The full clock — quarters, half-hours, the 24-hour railway style (šesnaest i trideset) — is laid out on time and dates.
The official 24-hour clock — šesnaest i trideset. Timetables and the clerk use the 24-hour format read as hour i minutes: šesnaest i trideset (16:30). In speech the same departure is the colloquial pola pet; on the ticket and the board it is the formal 16:30. Knowing both registers is what lets you match the spoken answer to the printed peron sign.
Peron broj četiri, polazak u šesnaest i trideset.
Platform number four, departure at sixteen thirty. — official 24-hour 'šesnaest i trideset' for the printed timetable.
Motion prepositions for destinations — vlak za Zagreb. A train "to" somewhere is vlak za + accusative — za Zagreb, za Split. Here za means "bound for / heading to", a destination sense distinct from the u/na + accusative used for general movement into or onto a place (idem u Zagreb, "I'm going to Zagreb"). With named lines and departures, Croatian fixes on za: the train is labelled by where it is for.
Onda jednu kartu za brzi vlak, molim.
Then one ticket for the fast train, please. — 'za' + accusative names what the ticket is for.
Stiže u Zagreb oko sedam.
It arrives in Zagreb around seven. — 'u Zagreb' (accusative) for arriving into the city; 'oko sedam' = around seven.
The whole motion-vs-position case logic, and where za sits among the destination prepositions, is on motion prepositions.
Future II in kad-clauses — kad budem stigao. This is the feature with no clean English match. When the kad ("when") clause refers to a completed future event that must happen before the main clause, Croatian uses Future II (futur drugi): budem / budeš / bude… + the past participle. The clerk says Kad budete stigli u Karlovac, pričekajte vezu — literally "when you will have arrived in Karlovac, wait for the connection." English collapses this into a simple present ("when you arrive"); Croatian keeps the future-perfect logic explicit. The participle agrees in gender and number: stigao (masc. sg.), stigli (the polite Vi, plural).
Kad budete stigli u Karlovac, pričekajte vezu na istom peronu.
When you've arrived in Karlovac, wait for the connection on the same platform. — Future II 'budete stigli' for a completed future event before the main clause.
A kad budem kupio povratnu kartu, vrijedi li dva dana?
And once I've bought a return ticket, is it valid for two days? — Future II 'budem kupio'; the speaker is male, hence 'kupio'.
Why kad, čim ("as soon as"), and ako trigger Future II — and how it differs from the plain futur prvi — is the subject of Future II.
Numeral government and the time accusative. Station talk is dense with counted nouns, and each number drags its case along: jednu kartu (accusative singular after jedan), peron broj četiri, dva dana (paucal after dva — vrijedi dva dana, "valid for two days", not dva dani). The same accusative also marks time-when with days: the traveller returns u nedjelju ("on Sunday"), accusative without any preposition of motion — u + accusative names the day on which something happens.
Povratnu. Vraćam se u nedjelju.
A return. I'm coming back on Sunday. — 'u nedjelju' (accusative) is the 'on Sunday' time-when phrase; 'vraćam se' is the reflexive 'I return'.
How numbers bend the nouns they count is on numeral government.
Vocabulary
| Croatian | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| kolodvor | station | 'željeznički k.' = train, 'autobusni k.' = bus |
| vlak | train | 'vlak za Zagreb' = train to Zagreb |
| peron | platform | 'na peronu' (loc.), 'peron broj četiri' |
| karta | ticket | 'u jednom smjeru' / 'povratna' |
| povratna karta | return ticket | round-trip; one-way = 'u jednom smjeru' |
| polazak | departure | arrival = 'dolazak' |
| presjedati | to change (trains) | 'presjedam u Karlovcu' |
| veza | connection | here a transit connection, not a 'bunch' |
| stići | to arrive / make it | perfective; participle 'stigao / stigli' |
| sretan put | have a good trip | standard send-off to a traveller |
Culture & register note
Key Takeaways
- Ask the time with u koliko sati? and answer with u
- hour: u tri sata, u pet sati (the hour follows numeral government).
- Half-hours count toward the coming hour: pola pet = 4:30, not 5:30.
- A train "to" a city is vlak za
- accusative (za Zagreb) — za marks the destination of a named line.
- Future II appears in kad-clauses for a completed future event: kad budem stigao / kad budete stigli (= "when I/you have arrived"), where English uses a simple present.
- The participle in Future II agrees in gender and number with the subject: stigao (masc. sg.) vs stigli (plural / polite Vi).
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Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- Telling Time and DatesA2 — Asking the time, telling it (half past, quarter to), the days of the week, and Croatian's striking NATIVE month names — siječanj, veljača, ožujak — plus the genitive date.
- Motion Prepositions: kroz, niz, uz, prema, kB1 — Path and direction prepositions — kroz, niz, uz (accusative), prema, k/ka (dative), do (genitive) — and where „toward” lives in the case system.
- Future II (futur drugi)B1 — The 'will have done' future used in subordinate clauses.
- Numeral Government: 1 / 2-4 / 5+A2 — The master rule for which case a counted noun takes.
- Dialogue: Buying a TicketA2 — An annotated ticket-counter dialogue — destination with 'za' + accusative (karta za Zagreb), times with 'u koliko sati', prices in eura, and polite Vi-requests.