Flickering Lights and Darkness
The first sign of a power outage is often when the rasvjeta (lighting) starts to treperiti (flicker).
| I watched the lighting flicker. | Gledao sam kako rasvjeta treperi. |
| The street lighting isn't working today. | Rasvjeta na ulici danas ne radi. |
When the power finally cuts out, tama (darkness) will zavladati (take over).
| Darkness fell over the whole city. | Tama je zavladala u cijelom gradu. |
To describe what had already happened before another past event, Croatian uses the pluperfect tense (pluskvamperfekt). It is formed by combining the perfect tense of biti (to be)—such as je bila or smo bili—with the past participle of your main verb.
| Darkness had already fallen before we arrived. | Tama je već bila zavladala prije nego što smo stigli. |
Overloads and the Power Grid
Power outages are frequently caused by an overload, or preopterećenje, which can trigger a short circuit. This can severely damage the broader elektroenergetski (electric power) system.
| A short circuit happened because of an overload. | Kratki spoj dogodio se zbog preopterećenja. |
| The storm destroyed the power system. | Oluja je uništila elektroenergetski sustav. |
Taking Precautions
To prepare for a blackout, it is a good idea to have an agregat (generator) ready. Most importantly, you should iskopčati (unplug) your sensitive electronics so they are not damaged by power surges.
| You must unplug all cables immediately. | Moraš odmah iskopčati sve kabele. |
Here are more examples using the pluperfect tense to show precautions taken before a specific point in the past. Notice the structures bili smo upalili (we had turned on) and bio sam iskopčao (I had unplugged).
| We had turned on the generator before the night. | Bili smo upalili agregat prije noći. |
| I had unplugged the computer before the storm. | Bio sam iskopčao računalo prije oluje. |
Restoring the Power Supply
Eventually, workers are dispatched to uspostaviti (restore) the opskrba (supply) of electricity.
| The workers will restore the electricity in the morning. | Radnici će ujutro uspostaviti struju. |
| The supply had suddenly stopped. | Opskrba je odjednom bila stala. |