Breakdown of Čekat ćemo ovdje dok kiša ne prestane.
ovdje
here
ne
no, not
čekati
to wait for
htjeti
to want (intent, will)
kiša
rain
dok
until
prestati
to stop
Questions & Answers about Čekat ćemo ovdje dok kiša ne prestane.
Why is there a ne before prestane? Doesn't that mean the rain does not stop?
In Croatian, to say until something happens, you usually use the word dok (while) followed by a negative verb. So, dok kiša ne prestane literally translates to while the rain does not stop, but it means exactly until the rain stops in English. This is a very common structure to memorize at this level!
Why is the first verb spelled čekat instead of the full infinitive čekati?
When forming the future tense, if an infinitive verb ending in -ti comes right before the helper verb (like ćemo), it drops the final -i. This makes pronunciation smoother. If the order were reversed, you would keep the -i, for example: mi ćemo čekati.
Why is prestane in the present tense if we are waiting for an event in the future?
After the dok ne (until) structure, Croatian uses the present tense of a perfective (completed action) verb to talk about a future event. Prestane is the present tense of prestati (to stop), and here it simply points to the exact moment in the future when the rain finishes stopping.
Could we start the sentence with Mi ćemo čekati instead?
Yes, you definitely could. However, Croatian usually drops subject pronouns like mi (we) because the helper verb ćemo already tells us exactly who is doing the action. Starting with the verb like Čekat ćemo sounds much more natural in everyday speech.
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