Breakdown of Kad bih imao brod, plovio bih godinama.
imati
to have
godina
year
brod
boat, ship
kada
when / if (with conditional)
bih
would (conditional auxiliary, "I would")
ploviti
to sail
Questions & Answers about Kad bih imao brod, plovio bih godinama.
Why is godinama in the instrumental case here, and why isn't there a preposition?
In Croatian, the bare instrumental case (without a preposition) is used to express continuous duration, such as doing something "for days," "for hours," or "for years." Here, godinama shows that the sailing would happen continuously over a period of years.
Why does the sentence use Kad instead of Ako to mean "If"?
For purely hypothetical or imaginary situations ("If I had a ship, but I don't"), Croatian typically uses kad combined with the conditional mood (kad bih imao). If you used ako, you would usually pair it with the present tense for a real possibility (ako imam brod = "if I have a ship").
Why is the word order kad bih imao in the first half, but plovio bih in the second half?
The word bih is a clitic, meaning it strictly belongs in the second position of its clause. In the first clause, kad takes the first position, so bih must directly follow it. In the second clause, the verb plovio is the first word, so bih tucks in right behind it.
Could I use a perfective verb here instead of the imperfective plovio?
No, you must use an imperfective verb here. The word godinama specifically implies an ongoing or prolonged duration ("for years"). Perfective verbs describe completed actions (like zaploviti, "to set sail"), which cannot be paired with continuous time markers.
Is brod in the nominative case since it doesn't have a special ending?
It is actually in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb imati (to have). It looks identical to the nominative because brod is an inanimate masculine noun, and inanimate masculine nouns do not change their endings in the accusative singular.
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