Proverb: Što možeš danas, ne ostavljaj za sutra

This proverb is a small machine with four moving parts, and every one of them is a high-value B1 structure: a free relative clause headed by što ("what / that which"), the modal moći ("to be able"), a negated command, and a time phrase with za + accusative. The order is also instructive — Croatian fronts the whole što-clause as the topic, then delivers the command. Master this line and you can both understand and give advice in Croatian.

The proverb

Word by word

Literally: "What you-can today, not leave for tomorrow." The first half (Što možeš danas) is a fronted free relative clause functioning as the object of the command; the second half (ne ostavljaj za sutra) is the negated imperative that acts on it.

What it means and when to say it

The meaning is the universal one: do today's tasks today; don't procrastinate. It is the exact counterpart of the English proverb "Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today" (often phrased "Never put off…"). Register is neutral-to-folksy — a parent nudging a child over homework, a colleague urging you to finish a report, or self-talk when you catch yourself stalling.

Grammar focus 1: the relative što ("what / that which")

The opening što is not the conjunction "that" of reported speech and not the question word "what?" — it is the relative pronoun "what / that which," heading a free (headless) relative clause that names a thing without an explicit antecedent. Što možeš (učiniti) = "[the thing] that you can do," "what you can do."

This što is invariable here in its base form because it is the direct object of možeš. Croatian draws a sharp line between two relatives: što is used for a clause or an unspecified "what," while koji ("which / that") agrees in gender, number and case with a specific noun antecedent. The proverb needs što precisely because there is no antecedent noun — the relative clause itself is the thing.

Grammar focus 2: the modal moći (možeš)

Moći ("can, to be able to") is a core modal verb. Its present tense is irregular: mogu, možeš, može, možemo, možete, mogu — note the consonant alternation g → ž in the middle persons (mogu but možeš). Like English "can," it normally takes a following infinitive, and here that infinitive (učiniti, napraviti — "do") is simply left out, recoverable from context. Croatian tolerates this ellipsis comfortably in proverbs and brisk speech.

Crucially, moći expresses capability or possibility ("you are able / it's possible for you"), which is distinct from smjeti ("to be allowed"). The proverb is about what you are able to get done, not what you have permission to do.

Grammar focus 3: the negative imperative — and why it's imperfective

Ne ostavljaj is a negated imperative ("don't leave / don't put off"). Two things matter. First, the imperative is negated simply by placing ne in front of it. Second — and this is the load-bearing point — negated commands in Croatian strongly prefer the imperfective aspect. Ostavljati is imperfective; its perfective partner is ostaviti. A positive one-off command would happily be perfective (Ostavi to! "Leave that!"), but the prohibition takes the imperfective ne ostavljaj.

The logic: a negative command tells you not to be engaged in an activity at all — an ongoing, general prohibition rather than the completion of a single act. The imperfective is the aspect of process and generality, so it fits. This is one of the most reliable aspect rules in the language, and the proverb embodies it perfectly.

Grammar focus 4: za + accusative for future time (za sutra)

The closing za sutra uses za to mean "for" in the sense of a target or destination in time — "for tomorrow," "set aside for tomorrow." With this directional/target sense, za governs the accusative. The word sutra happens to be an indeclinable adverb, so you don't see the accusative ending on it; but swap in a real noun and the case surfaces: za petak (for Friday), za sljedeći tjedan (for next week).

This contrasts with za + instrumental ("behind / after"), a completely different meaning. The accusative za here is the "earmarked for / postponed until" sense — exactly what procrastination does: it pushes the task forward into tomorrow.

How this differs from English

Three contrasts. First, word order: English keeps the relative clause at the end ("what you can do today"), while Croatian fronts it as the topic ("Što možeš danas, …") and ends on the command. Second, ellipsis of the infinitive: English needs "do" twice ("what you can do today, don't put it off"), while Croatian drops the do after možeš and uses no resumptive "it" before the verb. Third, aspect on the prohibition: English has no grammatical aspect choice on "don't put off," but Croatian must choose, and the negative command pulls the imperfective ostavljaj rather than perfective ostavi.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• što = "what / that which," a free relative with no noun antecedent; koji is for a specific noun.
• moći conjugates mogu / možeš / može (g→ž shift) and takes an infinitive, which proverbs may drop.
• Negative commands take the imperfective: ne ostavljaj, not ne ostavi. This is the central rule the proverb teaches.
• za + accusative marks "for / set aside until" a future time: za sutra, za petak.
• Croatian fronts the relative clause as topic, then gives the command — the reverse of English order.
• Meaning: do it today — "don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today."