Breakdown of Želim saznati da li je vlak stigao.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
željeti
to want
vlak
train
stići
to arrive
Questions & Answers about Želim saznati da li je vlak stigao.
In English, we often say 'if the train arrived'. Can I use ako instead of da li here?
No, you can't. English uses 'if' for both conditions (If it rains...) and indirect questions (I wonder if...). Croatian is stricter: ako is only for conditions. For indirect yes/no questions like this one, you must use da li, which acts like 'whether'.
Why is the little word je placed directly after da li?
The word je is an enclitic, meaning it naturally wants to sit in the second position of its clause. The phrase da li acts as a single block that starts the indirect question, so the enclitic je snaps right into the position immediately after it.
Could I say želim da saznam instead of using the infinitive saznati?
Yes, you can! Because the same person is doing both actions (I want, and I find out), standard Croatian prefers the infinitive saznati. However, using da with the present tense (da saznam) is also perfectly understood and very common in spoken Croatian.
The helper verb je and the main verb stigao are separated by vlak. Is this normal?