Ponaša se kao da će zaokružiti pa precrtati odgovor.

Because ponašati se is the normal Croatian verb for to behave. It is a reflexive verb, so it regularly appears with se.

• ponašati by itself is generally not how you say to behave
• the full dictionary form is ponašati se

So:

• On se ponaša čudno. = He is behaving strangely.
• Ponaša se kao dijete. = He/She is behaving like a child.

In your sentence, ponaša se means he/she is behaving / acting.

Kao da means as if.

It introduces an idea that may not be literally true, but describes how something seems.

Examples:

• Govori kao da sve zna. = He/She speaks as if he/she knows everything.
• Ponaša se kao da je šef. = He/She behaves as if he/she is the boss.

So in your sentence, kao da introduces the impression created by the person’s behavior.

Here će + infinitive forms the future tense:

• će zaokružiti = will circle
• (će) precrtati = will cross out

So kao da će zaokružiti pa precrtati odgovor literally means as if he/she will circle and then cross out the answer.

In Croatian, after kao da, you can get a clause that describes what seems about to happen. That is why the future is natural here: the person is acting as though they are just about to do those actions.

Because Croatian often leaves subject pronouns out when the verb form already makes the person clear enough.

• ponaša se = he/she is behaving
• će zaokružiti = he/she will circle

Croatian does this much more often than English. Subject pronouns such as on, ona, or ono are usually added only for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

So:

• Ponaša se kao da će zaokružiti... = normal
• On se ponaša kao da će zaokružiti... = possible, but more marked/emphatic

Pa here means something like and then.

It links the two actions in sequence:

• zaokružiti = circle
• precrtati = cross out

So:

• zaokružiti pa precrtati odgovor = circle and then cross out the answer

In many contexts, pa suggests a natural next step or sequence more clearly than simple i (and).

Compare:

• zaokružiti i precrtati = circle and cross out
• zaokružiti pa precrtati = circle, then cross out

Because one auxiliary će can govern more than one infinitive.

Here:

• će zaokružiti pa precrtati

means:

• will circle and then cross out

Croatian does not need to repeat će before the second infinitive if both infinitives belong to the same future construction.

You could think of it as:

• će [zaokružiti pa precrtati] odgovor

Because after će, Croatian normally uses the infinitive to form the future tense.

Structure:

• će + infinitive

Examples:

• će doći = will come
• će napisati = will write
• će zaokružiti = will circle

So in this sentence:

• će zaokružiti
• (će) precrtati

are both future-tense verb phrases.

Because odgovor is the direct object of zaokružiti and precrtati, so it is in the accusative case.

For masculine nouns like odgovor, the accusative singular is often the same as the nominative singular when the noun is inanimate.

• nominative: odgovor
• accusative: odgovor

So although the form looks unchanged, its grammatical role is different.

Compare with another masculine inanimate noun:

• vidim stol = I see the table

The noun stays the same in form, but it is accusative because it is the object.

They are perfective because the sentence refers to complete, single actions:

• zaokružiti = to circle something completely
• precrtati = to cross something out completely

This fits the idea of a person seeming ready to perform two finished actions on the answer.

If you used imperfective verbs instead, the meaning would shift more toward process, repetition, or ongoing action.

Very roughly:

• zaokruživati = to be circling / to circle repeatedly
• precrtavati = to be crossing out / to cross out repeatedly

Here, perfective verbs are the natural choice because the sentence imagines specific completed actions.

Both can work, depending on context.

• behaves is often the more direct and literal equivalent
• acts can sound more natural in English in sentences like this

So:

• He/She behaves as if...
• He/She acts as if...

Both are good. In this sentence, acts as if may sound slightly more idiomatic in English because the sentence describes the impression someone gives.

The sentence has two parts:

1. Ponaša se
   = the main clause

2. kao da će zaokružiti pa precrtati odgovor
   = the clause describing what the behavior looks like

So the structure is:

• [Main clause] + [as if-clause]

That is very common in Croatian:

• Gleda me kao da me ne poznaje. = He/She looks at me as if he/she doesn’t know me.
• Priča kao da je sve jasno. = He/She talks as if everything is clear.

Your sentence follows the same pattern.

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but not every version sounds equally natural.

The given sentence is natural:

• Ponaša se kao da će zaokružiti pa precrtati odgovor.

You might also hear slightly different arrangements in context, for emphasis, but the original is the most straightforward neutral version.

One thing to note is that će is a clitic, so it tends to appear near the beginning of its clause. That is why kao da će zaokružiti... sounds normal.

So while Croatian allows flexibility, the sentence as given already has a very standard and natural word order.