Breakdown of Kad budemo mijesili, trećina gline bit će meka.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
mek
soft
kad
when (temporal)
glina
clay
Questions & Answers about Kad budemo mijesili, trećina gline bit će meka.
Why is the word for clay in the genitive case (gline) here?
Trećina (a third) is a noun. Just like in English where we say "a third of the clay", in Croatian, when you use a noun to express a quantity or fraction, the substance that follows must be in the genitive case. So, nominative glina becomes genitive gline.
Does the adjective meka (soft) agree with the fraction (trećina) or the clay (gline)?
It agrees with the grammatical subject of the sentence, which is trećina (a third). Because trećina is a feminine singular noun, the adjective describing it must also be feminine singular (meka). It just so happens that glina is also feminine, but the grammar rule links meka to trećina.
Why does the sentence use budemo mijesili instead of the regular future tense mijesit ćemo?
This is the exact future tense, often called futur drugi. It is required in clauses starting with words like kad (when) or ako (if) to describe an action that will happen in the future before or during the main future action. You cannot use the regular future tense right after kad for a future event.
Why does the infinitive biti lose its final i to become bit in bit će?