Learn Hardcore Croatian: Bilo bi dobro da svaki tim u školi može slobodno reći svoje mišljenje. - It would be good if every team at school could freely say their opinion.

If you said Je dobro da svaki tim… that would mean It is good that every team… (a statement about the present reality), while Bilo bi dobro… is more hypothetical or a recommendation: It would be good if…

Why is it bilo (neuter) and dobro (neuter), when tim is masculine?

The subject of Bilo bi dobro… is not tim, but an implied to (it), referring to the whole idea that follows:

(To) bi bilo dobro da… – It would be good that…

When the subject is this general, abstract it, Croatian usually uses the neuter:

bilo (neuter participle)
dobro (neuter adjective)

So it’s not agreeing with tim, but with the implied, abstract to. Hence: Bilo bi dobro…

What exactly does da do here?

In this sentence, da introduces a subordinate clause and works much like that in English:

Bilo bi dobro da svaki tim u školi može…
It would be good that every team in the school can…

Depending on the context, da-clauses can correspond to:

English that-clauses: I want *that you come → Želim da dođeš*
English if/so that in some conditional or purpose clauses
Here the meaning is close to if / for every team to:
It would be good if/for every team in the school could freely express its opinion.

Why is it može (present) and not bi mogao (conditional), even though the main clause is conditional?

Croatian allows two common patterns here:

Bilo bi dobro da svaki tim u školi može slobodno reći svoje mišljenje.
– literally: It would be good that every team can…
– very natural, especially in spoken language.
Bilo bi dobro kad(a) bi svaki tim u školi mogao slobodno reći svoje mišljenje.
– literally: It would be good if every team could…
– uses conditional (bi mogao) in the subordinate clause, feels a bit more formal/explicitly hypothetical.

With da, Croatians very often just use the present tense (može), and the conditionality is already expressed by bilo bi in the main clause. So može here is understood as could, even though it’s grammatically present. Both versions are correct; you’ll hear option 1 a lot in everyday speech.

What form is reći, and why is it used after može?

reći is the infinitive form of the verb reći (to say, to tell).

Modal and similar verbs in Croatian (like moći = can, morati = must, željeti = want, smjeti = be allowed to) are typically followed by an infinitive:

može reći – can say
mora učiti – must study
želi vidjeti – wants to see

So može slobodno reći = (he/she/it) can freely say.

Why is it svoje mišljenje instead of njegovo or njihovo mišljenje?

svoje is the reflexive possessive pronoun. It’s used when the possessor is the subject of the clause.

Subject of the subordinate clause: svaki tim u školi (every team in the school)
Possessed thing: mišljenje (opinion)
So the team’s own opinion = svoje mišljenje.

If subject = possessor → use svoj / svoja / svoje.

Tim može slobodno reći svoje mišljenje.
– The team can freely say its own opinion.

Using njegovo mišljenje or njihovo mišljenje would suggest someone else’s opinion (his / their), not the team’s own, so it would change or confuse the meaning.

Which cases are used in svaki tim u školi može slobodno reći svoje mišljenje?

Breakdown:

svaki tim – nominative singular (subject)
u školi – locative singular (after preposition u = in)
svoje mišljenje – accusative singular (direct object of reći)

So structurally:

Who does something? → svaki tim u školi (subject, nominative)
Where is that team? → u školi (location, locative)
What can it say? → svoje mišljenje (object, accusative)

Can the word order be changed, for example: Svaki tim u školi može slobodno reći svoje mišljenje or Svaki tim u školi slobodno može reći svoje mišljenje?

Yes, Croatian word order is flexible. The following are all grammatical:

Bilo bi dobro da svaki tim u školi može slobodno reći svoje mišljenje.
(original; neutral emphasis)
Bilo bi dobro da svaki tim u školi slobodno može reći svoje mišljenje.
– puts a slight emphasis on slobodno right in front of može.
Bilo bi dobro da u školi svaki tim može slobodno reći svoje mišljenje.
– emphasises in the school, then every team.

All three would normally be understood the same; differences are mostly in rhythm and slight emphasis. The original order is very natural.

What exactly does slobodno mean here? Is it “free” like “for free / no charge”?

slobodno here means freely, without pressure, without fear.

It’s related to sloboda (freedom):

slobodno govoriti – to speak freely
slobodna država – a free state (politically free)

It does not mean for free / free of charge in this sentence. For free of charge, Croatian more often uses besplatno:

Ulaz je besplatan. – Entrance is free (no charge).

Why is it svaki tim (“every team”) and not svi timovi (“all teams”)?

Both are grammatically possible, but they have slightly different nuances:

svaki tim – each/every team, focuses on individual teams one by one.
svi timovi – all (the) teams, focuses on the group as a whole.

In rules, recommendations, and general statements, Croatian (like English) often prefers svaki:

Svaki učenik mora donijeti bilježnicu.
– Every student must bring a notebook.

So svaki tim u školi sounds natural as a general rule: every team in the school should have that freedom.

What is the difference between tim and ekipa?

Both can mean team, but there are nuances:

tim
- more neutral, often used for sports teams and formal/project teams
- e.g. nogometni tim, tim nastavnika (teaching team)
ekipa
- can mean team, but also group of people / crew / gang / bunch
- often more informal, colloquial
- e.g. ekipa iz razreda – the class crew, mates from class

In a school context talking about organized groups, tim fits well and sounds slightly more formal/neutral than ekipa.

Could we also say Bilo bi dobro kada bi svaki tim u školi mogao slobodno reći svoje mišljenje? Is that more correct?

Yes, that sentence is also correct and perhaps a bit more formally balanced:

Bilo bi dobro – conditional in the main clause
kada bi… mogao – conditional in the subordinate clause

Structure: conditional + conditional, clearly matching English It would be good if every team could…

Your original sentence with da … može is fully acceptable, especially in spoken and less formal written language. The kada bi … mogao version sounds a bit more explicitly hypothetical and somewhat more formal or “textbook” style.

Is da here closer to English that or if?

Formally, it’s a that-clause:

Bilo bi dobro da svaki tim… može…
– It would be good that every team… can…

However, when translated naturally to English, the whole structure usually becomes:

It would be good if every team in the school could freely express its opinion.

So grammatically it’s that, but functionally the whole construction expresses something like if / for … to. In practice, think of da here as introducing the “idea” that is being judged as good.