Learn Hardcore Croatian: Imamo naviku da vikendom posebno dugo doručkujemo. - We have a habit of eating breakfast especially long on weekends.

Literally, Imamo naviku da... means “We have a habit that…”.
Idiomatic English would be “We have a habit of…” or just “We tend to / We usually…”.

Yes, imati naviku da + present tense is a normal, common way in Croatian to talk about habits, especially when you want to sound a bit more explicit or formal than just saying obično (“usually”).

Why do we say da vikendom posebno dugo doručkujemo instead of using an infinitive, like doručkovati?

Croatian often uses a da + present tense clause where English might use an infinitive:

Imamo naviku da vikendom posebno dugo doručkujemo.
= “We have a habit (that) we have especially long breakfasts on weekends.”

You can say:

Imamo naviku vikendom posebno dugo doručkovati.

That is grammatically correct and understandable, but the da + present version usually sounds more natural and conversational in modern Croatian. The infinitive version can sound a bit more formal or written.

What exactly does vikendom mean, and why does it end in -om?

Vikendom literally is the instrumental singular of vikend (“weekend”), but here it’s used adverbially to mean “on weekends / at weekends” in general, as a repeated habit.

Compare:

Za vikend – “at/over the (coming) weekend” (a specific weekend)
Preko vikenda – “over the weekend” (often specific)
Vikendom – “on weekends (generally, as a habit)”

So vikendom implies a regular pattern, which fits perfectly with imamo naviku.

Could the position of vikendom change? For example, is Imamo naviku vikendom posebno dugo doručkovati okay?

Yes, vikendom is fairly flexible in word order. These are all possible:

Imamo naviku da vikendom posebno dugo doručkujemo.
Imamo naviku da posebno dugo doručkujemo vikendom.
Imamo naviku vikendom posebno dugo doručkovati.

The default, most neutral option is usually to place vikendom earlier, right after da or after naviku, but moving it later is also acceptable and mainly affects rhythm and emphasis, not meaning.

What is the difference between Imamo naviku da vikendom dugo doručkujemo and using obično instead, like Obično vikendom dugo doručkujemo?

Both express a habit, but there is a nuance:

Imamo naviku da vikendom dugo doručkujemo.
Literally “We have a habit that on weekends we breakfast for a long time.”
→ Feels a bit more explicit: it’s a well‑established, almost “institutionalized” habit.
Obično vikendom dugo doručkujemo.
“We usually have long breakfasts on weekends.”
→ More neutral, everyday way to say what usually happens.

In many everyday situations, Croatians would prefer Obično vikendom dugo doručkujemo, and reserve imamo naviku for when they want to stress the idea of a habit as something almost designed or intentional.

What does posebno dugo mean exactly, and how do the two adverbs work together?

dugo = “for a long time / long” (in duration)
posebno = “especially, particularly”

In posebno dugo, posebno is an adverb modifying another adverb, dugo.
So posebno dugo means “especially long” or “particularly long” (in time).

You could replace posebno with synonyms like osobito or naročito with a similar meaning: osobito dugo, naročito dugo.

Can we move posebno dugo around, like da dugo posebno doručkujemo or da doručkujemo posebno dugo?

Some word orders are natural, some are awkward:

da vikendom posebno dugo doručkujemo – natural, standard.
da vikendom doručkujemo posebno dugo – also acceptable, just slightly different rhythm.

But:

da vikendom dugo posebno doručkujemo – sounds odd; Croatians wouldn’t normally split it this way.
posebno dugo really wants to stay together because posebno modifies dugo.

The safest and most neutral is exactly what you have: posebno dugo right before doručkujemo.

What does doručkujemo mean, and how is it formed from doručak?

doručak = breakfast (noun)
doručkovati = to have breakfast / to eat breakfast (verb)

Doručkujemo is the 1st person plural present tense of doručkovati:

ja doručkujem
ti doručkuješ
on/ona/ono doručkuje
mi doručkujemo
vi doručkujete
oni doručkuju

So doručkujemo simply means “we have breakfast / we are having breakfast.” In this sentence, because of vikendom and naviku, it clearly refers to a habitual action.

Why do we use the verb doručkovati instead of a phrase like jesti doručak?

Croatian prefers a single verb for meals:

doručkovati – to have breakfast
ručati – to have lunch
večerati – to have dinner/supper

You can say jesti doručak (“to eat breakfast”), but doručkovati is shorter, more idiomatic, and sounds more natural in most contexts. In a sentence about everyday habits, doručkujemo is exactly what a native would normally say.

Is doručkujemo a reflexive verb? Why isn’t there a se?

No, doručkovati is not reflexive, so it doesn’t take se.

Correct: Vikendom dugo doručkujemo.
Incorrect: Vikendom dugo se doručkujemo.

You only need se with reflexive verbs (like smijati se – “to laugh,” prati se – “to wash oneself”). Eating verbs like jesti, doručkovati, ručati, večerati are plain, non‑reflexive verbs in Croatian.

Why is the verb imamo in the present tense, and does it express a general habit like in English?

Yes. In Croatian, the present tense of imati (“to have”) plus a noun often expresses a general, ongoing state:

Imamo naviku... – “We have a habit (that we do something regularly).”

Just like English “We have a habit of…”, Croatian Imamo naviku da... implies a stable, current habit in your life, not just something you did once. If you wanted to talk about a past habit that you no longer have, you’d use the past:

Imali smo naviku da vikendom dugo doručkujemo. – “We used to have a habit of having long breakfasts on weekends.”