Dugo čekamo autobus.

We have been waiting for the bus for a long time.

Breakdown of Dugo čekamo autobus.

• autobus: bus
• čekati: to wait
• dugo: for a long time

Questions & Answers about Dugo čekamo autobus.

What is the basic breakdown of the sentence (parts of speech and literal order)?

• Dugo = adverb meaning “for a long time/long,” modifying the verb.
• čekamo = present tense, 1st person plural of čekati “to wait” (imperfective aspect) → “we wait/are waiting.”
• autobus = direct object “(the) bus,” masculine inanimate, accusative singular (same form as nominative here). Literal order: “Long wait-we bus.”

Why isn’t “we” (mi) written?

Croatian is a pro‑drop language: the verb ending -mo already shows the subject is “we.” You add Mi only for emphasis or contrast:

• Neutral: Čekamo autobus.
• Emphatic: Mi čekamo autobus (a oni idu pješice).

How do you conjugate “čekati” in the present?

• ja čekam
• ti čekaš
• on/ona/ono čeka
• mi čekamo
• vi čekate
• oni/one/ona čekaju

Why is there no preposition before “autobus”? What case is it?

The verb čekati takes a direct object in the accusative without a preposition. Autobus is masculine inanimate; its accusative singular is identical to the nominative: autobus. (Compare an animate masculine: čekamo čovjeka “we are waiting for the man.”)

Can I say “čekati na autobus”?

You’ll hear it, but the standard and most natural choice for a thing like a bus is simply čekati autobus (no preposition). Čekati na is idiomatic with some nouns and events, e.g. čekati na red “wait for your turn,” čekati na rezultate “wait for results.” For a vehicle, prefer čekati autobus.

Can “dugo” be placed elsewhere in the sentence?

Yes; word order is flexible for nuance/emphasis.

• Neutral/most common: Dugo čekamo autobus.
• Also fine: Čekamo autobus dugo.
• Emphatic/topicalized object: Autobus dugo čekamo. Less natural: Čekamo dugo autobus. (usually avoided) Adding emphasis: Već dugo čekamo autobus. (“We’ve already been waiting for a long time.”)

Does the present tense here mean “we have been waiting” as well as “we are waiting”?

Yes. Croatian present can cover English present simple, present continuous, and (with a duration) present perfect continuous. To make the “already for some time” idea explicit, add već or a duration:

• Već dugo čekamo autobus.
• Već sat vremena čekamo autobus.

How do I say it in the past?

Use the past (perfekt) with the auxiliary “to be” + active participle:

• Dugo smo čekali autobus. (We waited a long time.) For an all-female group: Dugo smo čekale autobus.

How do I specify exact durations?

Common patterns:

• Čekamo autobus sat vremena. (for an hour)
• Čekamo autobus dva sata.
• Čekamo autobus pet sati.
• Čekamo autobus deset minuta. You can add već: Već pola sata čekamo autobus.

How do you pronounce the tricky parts?

• č = “ch” in English “church” (harder than ć).
• čekamo: “CHEH-kah-mo.”
• dugo: “DOO-go” (g is always hard, like in “go”).
• autobus: say both vowels in au: “a-u-to-bus.” Every letter is pronounced.

Is there a perfective partner to “čekati”? What’s the difference?

Yes. Čekati is imperfective (ongoing/habitual). Common perfectives are pričekati and sačekati (“wait for a bit / wait until it happens,” completed action).

• Imperfective ongoing: Već dugo čekamo autobus.
• Perfective completed: Pričekali smo autobus. (The waiting finished because the bus arrived.)

If I replace “autobus” with a pronoun, where does it go?

Use the object clitic ga (“it/him”) and place it in second position:

• Dugo ga čekamo.
• Čekamo ga dugo. With more words, the clitic still comes early: Već ga dugo čekamo. / Mi ga dugo čekamo.

How does the sentence change for the plural “buses”?

Object in the accusative plural: autobuse.

• Dugo čekamo autobuse. (“We have been waiting for the buses for a long time.”)

Why is there no “the/a” in Croatian?

Croatian has no articles. Definiteness/indefiniteness comes from context or demonstratives:

• Dugo čekamo autobus. (the/a bus, depending on context)
• Dugo čekamo taj autobus. (“that bus” — specific)

How do I ask “How long have we been waiting for the bus?” or “…have you been waiting…”?

Use koliko dugo + present:

• Koliko dugo čekamo autobus?
• Koliko dugo čekate autobus? (you, plural/formal)

How do I negate it?

Put ne before the verb:

• Ne čekamo autobus dugo. / Ne čekamo dugo.
• With a pronoun: Ne čekamo ga dugo.