Kad duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije.

When I breathe deeply, I feel calmer.

Breakdown of Kad duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije.

• kad: when
• osjećati se: to feel
• mirnije: more calmly
• duboko: deeply
• disati: to breathe

Questions & Answers about Kad duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije.

What’s the difference between kad and kada? Can I use kada here instead?

Kad and kada mean the same thing: “when” (in a temporal sense).

• Kad = shorter, more colloquial, very common in everyday speech and writing.
• Kada = a bit more formal or emphatic, common in writing and in careful speech.

In this sentence, both are correct:

• Kad duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije.
• Kada duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije.

No change in meaning, only a slight difference in style/feel.

Why is there a comma in Kad duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije? Is it always required?

Yes, here the comma is required.

The sentence has:

• a subordinate clause: Kad duboko dišem (When I breathe deeply)
• a main clause: osjećam se mirnije (I feel calmer)

In Croatian, when a subordinate clause comes before the main clause, you normally put a comma between them:

• Kad duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije.
• Kad je hladno, nosim kaput.

If you reverse the order, you still usually keep the comma:

• Osjećam se mirnije, kad duboko dišem. (also correct)

In everyday writing, some people drop the comma in the second pattern, but the “schoolbook” rule is to keep it.

Could I also say Kad dišem duboko instead of Kad duboko dišem? Is there a difference?

Both word orders are possible and correct:

• Kad duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije.
• Kad dišem duboko, osjećam se mirnije.

The difference is very small:

• Kad duboko dišem feels slightly more neutral and is maybe more common.
• Kad dišem duboko puts a tiny bit more focus on the verb dišem, then adds how you breathe (duboko).

In most situations, they’re interchangeable and both sound natural.

Why do we need se in osjećam se mirnije? Why not just osjećam mirnije?

In Croatian, when you say “I feel + adjective/adverb (calm, bad, good)”, you almost always use the reflexive verb osjećati se (to feel in oneself):

• osjećam se mirnije = I feel calmer
• osjećam se dobro = I feel good
• osjećam se umorno = I feel tired

Osjećati without se usually means “to feel (something) by touching or sensing it” or “to feel (emotion, pain, etc.) as an object”:

• Osjećam bol. = I feel pain.
• Osjećam hladnoću. = I feel the cold.

So:

• osjećam se mirnije = I myself feel calmer (my internal state)
• osjećam mirnije = incorrect in this meaning

What exactly is se grammatically in osjećam se?

Se is a reflexive clitic pronoun.

Key points:

• It often makes verbs reflexive, meaning the subject acts on itself (I wash myself, I feel (myself) better, etc.).
• With many verbs (including osjećati se) it’s part of the dictionary form and changes the meaning, similar to phrasal verbs in English.

For example:

• osjećati = to feel (something)
• osjećati se = to feel (a certain way, internally)

It’s unstressed and normally appears in the second position of a clause, but here there’s only one verb, so it naturally follows it:

• osjećam se mirnije

Why do we use mirnije and not mirno? What’s the difference?

Both mirno and mirnije come from the adjective miran (calm).

• mirno = calmly, in a calm way
• mirnije = more calmly / calmer (comparative form)

In the sentence:

• osjećam se mirnije = I feel calmer (compared to another state)

If you said:

• osjećam se mirno, it would mean I feel calm (not necessarily compared to anything).

The original English meaning “I feel calmer” matches mirnije (comparative), so that form is used.

Is mirnije an adjective or an adverb here?

In this sentence, mirnije functions as an adverb in the comparative degree.

From the adjective miran:

• Positive adverb: mirno (calmly)
• Comparative adverb: mirnije (more calmly)

So osjećam se mirnije literally: I feel (myself) more-calmly → I feel calmer.

With osjećati se, Croatian typically uses adjectival or adverbial forms that describe your state:

• osjećam se loše = I feel bad
• osjećam se bolje = I feel better
• osjećam se mirno/mirnije = I feel calm/calmer

Why is it duboko and not something like dubok?

Duboko here is an adverb meaning “deeply”.

From the adjective dubok (deep):

• Adjective (m. sg.): dubok
• Adverb: duboko (deeply)

Since it is describing how you breathe (the manner), Croatian uses an adverb:

• dišem duboko = I breathe deeply

Dubok (without -o) would be the masculine singular adjective form, used before a noun:

• dubok glas = a deep voice
• dubok san = deep sleep

How is disati conjugated, and why is it dišem here?

The infinitive is disati = to breathe.
It’s irregular in the present tense. For ja (I), the form is dišem.

Present tense of disati:

• ja dišem – I breathe
• ti dišeš – you breathe
• on/ona/ono diše – he/she/it breathes
• mi dišemo – we breathe
• vi dišete – you (pl/formal) breathe
• oni/one/ona dišu – they breathe

So in the sentence, (ja) dišem is the correct 1st person singular present form.

Why is there no ja (“I”) in the sentence? Could I say Kad ja duboko dišem, ja se osjećam mirnije?

Croatian is a pro-drop language: the subject pronoun (ja, ti, on, ona, etc.) is usually omitted because the verb ending already shows the person:

• dišem = I breathe (must be ja)
• osjećam = I feel (again ja)

So ja is not necessary.

You can say:

• Kad ja duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije.

This adds extra emphasis on “I” (as opposed to somebody else):

• When *I breathe deeply, I feel calmer (maybe others don’t).*

But repeating ja twice (... ja se osjećam...) sounds heavy and is rarely needed in normal speech.

Can I put the main clause first: Osjećam se mirnije kad duboko dišem? Does it sound natural?

Yes, that’s completely natural:

• Osjećam se mirnije kad duboko dišem.

Meaning is the same. What changes slightly is emphasis:

• Original: Kad duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije.
  
  • Focus more on the condition (when I breathe deeply).
• Reordered: Osjećam se mirnije kad duboko dišem.
  
  • Focus more on the result (I feel calmer).

Both versions are very common and correct.

Why are both verbs (dišem, osjećam) in the present tense? Could I express a general truth like this in Croatian?

Yes. Using the present tense in both clauses is the normal way to express a general truth or a regular pattern in Croatian, just like in English:

• Kad duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije.
  = Whenever/when I breathe deeply, I feel calmer (in general).

Other similar examples:

• Kad pijem kavu, ne mogu spavati. = When I drink coffee, I can’t sleep.
• Kad učim, slušam glazbu. = When I study, I listen to music.

You don’t need any special tense for this kind of habitual/general statement.

Does kad here mean “when” (time) or “if” (condition)? Could this also be read as “if I breathe deeply, I feel calmer”?

Grammatically, kad is a temporal conjunction = “when”.

But in real-life usage, especially in sentences about habits or general patterns, it can overlap with the English “if/whenever” idea:

• Kad duboko dišem, osjećam se mirnije.
  Literally: When I breathe deeply, I feel calmer.
  Naturally interpretable as: Whenever / If I breathe deeply, I feel calmer.

So while the word itself is “when”, the whole sentence can express a conditional-like idea (similar to English present “when” that feels like “if” in general statements).