Learn Hardcore Croatian: Učiteljica kaže da je svaki put kad napredujemo važan i da uspjeh dolazi polako. - The teacher says that every time we make progress is important and that success comes slowly.

In English, teacher is gender‑neutral, but in Croatian it usually isn’t. If you don’t know the gender, or you want to speak generally, people often just use the masculine form učitelj as the “default” generic form, or they say učitelj ili učiteljica if they want to be inclusive and explicit.

The choice of učiteljica only adds information about the teacher’s gender; it doesn’t change the rest of the meaning of the sentence.

What does da do in učiteljica kaže da je…? Is it like that in English?

Yes. Croatian da here is a conjunction introducing a content clause, just like English that:

Učiteljica kaže da je…
= The teacher says that …

In English, that is often optional:

She says that every time we make progress is important.
She says every time we make progress is important.

In Croatian, da in this construction is not optional; you normally need it:

Učiteljica kaže da je svaki put kad napredujemo važan. ✔️
✗ Učiteljica kaže svaki put kad napredujemo važan. (ungrammatical in the intended meaning)

Without da, svaki put would be understood as an adverbial of kaže (she says every time), not as part of what she says.

Why is it da je svaki put kad napredujemo važan, with je right after da? Can I say da svaki put kad napredujemo je važan?

The position of je is controlled by a strong word‑order rule in Croatian: clitics (short unstressed words like je, sam, se, ga, mi, ti) normally go in second position in the clause.

In the clause:

da je svaki put kad napredujemo važan

the elements are:

da – first element in the clause (a conjunction)
je – a clitic, so it must come right after the first element
svaki put kad napredujemo važan – the rest

Because of this rule, you cannot normally say:

✗ da svaki put kad napredujemo je važan

Here, je is too late; it should come immediately after da. Standard options are:

da je svaki put kad napredujemo važan ✔️
da je svaki put kad napredujemo doista važan ✔️ (still: je after da)

So: je is glued to second position in its clause; that’s why it appears right after da.

What exactly does svaki put mean here? Does put mean time or way?

Literally, put means way / road / path, but in the fixed expression svaki put it is best translated as every time.

So:

svaki put = every time
svaki put kad napredujemo = every time when we make progress / whenever we make progress

This is a common idiomatic use, similar to English each time or every time, even though the basic meaning of put is way.

Compare:

Idemo istim putem. – We are going the same way / along the same road.
To se događa svaki put. – That happens every time.

Why is it važan at the end? What is važan agreeing with?

Važan is an adjective meaning important.

In Croatian, adjectives agree with the noun they describe in:

gender
number
case

Here the noun being described is put (in svaki put):

put is masculine, singular, nominative
so važan must also be masculine, singular, nominative

That’s why we have:

svaki put … važan (masculine)
- feminine: svaka stvar … važna
- neuter: svako iskustvo … važno

So the structure is:

[svaki put kad napredujemo] – subject
je – verb to be
važan – predicate adjective agreeing with put

What is the difference between kad and kada in kad napredujemo?

Kad and kada mean the same thing: when.

kad napredujemo = kada napredujemo = when(ever) we make progress

The differences are mostly stylistic:

kad – shorter, more colloquial, very common in speech
kada – a bit more formal or careful; often preferred in writing, and used when the rhythm of the sentence sounds better with a longer word

In this sentence, both are correct:

svaki put kad napredujemo ✔️
svaki put kada napredujemo ✔️

The meaning does not change.

What form and aspect is napredujemo, and what is the infinitive?

Napredujemo comes from the verb napredovati = to make progress / to advance.

infinitive: napredovati
present tense, 1st person plural: napredujemo = we are making progress / we progress

The present tense of napredovati is:

ja napredujem – I (am) progress(ing)
ti napreduješ – you (sg.) progress
on/ona/ono napreduje – he/she/it progresses
mi napredujemo – we progress
vi napredujete – you (pl./formal) progress
oni/one/ona napreduju – they progress

Aspect: napredovati is imperfective. It focuses on the ongoing process, not on a single completed act. That fits the meaning whenever we are moving forward / whenever we make progress (as a process).

Why is there no comma before kad in svaki put kad napredujemo?

In Croatian, you generally do not put a comma between a noun (or a phrase like svaki put) and a following essential clause with koji / kad / kada / dok etc. that directly specifies it.

Here, kad napredujemo limits which time we are talking about; it is like an English restrictive clause:

svaki put kad napredujemo
= every time when we make progress

This is treated as one unit and is written without a comma:

svaki put kad napredujemo ✔️ (normal)
✗ svaki put, kad napredujemo (would sound like a non‑restrictive, parenthetical comment, and is not natural here)

You would normally see a comma before kad when the entire kad‑clause is an added adverbial clause to the main sentence, not directly attached to a preceding noun:

Kad napredujemo, osjećamo se bolje. – When we make progress, we feel better.

Why is da repeated before uspjeh dolazi polako? Could we just say …važan i uspjeh dolazi polako?

The teacher is saying two things, both as part of the same overall message:

da je svaki put kad napredujemo važan
da uspjeh dolazi polako

So we have:

Učiteljica kaže [da je svaki put kad napredujemo važan] i [da uspjeh dolazi polako].

Repeating da keeps it clear that both parts belong under kaže – both are things she says.

If you drop the second da:

Učiteljica kaže da je svaki put kad napredujemo važan i uspjeh dolazi polako.

this is normally understood as:

The teacher says that every time we make progress is important, and success comes slowly.

Now the second part uspjeh dolazi polako sounds like an additional statement from the narrator, not necessarily part of what the teacher says. That changes the meaning.

So the repeated da signals that the teacher is saying both clauses.

What is the nuance of polako here? How is it different from sporo or postupno?

All three relate to slowness, but they have different nuances:

polako = slowly, but also gently / take it easy / not in a rush
- Often positive or neutral: calm, careful slowness.
- Uspjeh dolazi polako. – Success comes slowly (and that’s natural / OK).
sporo = slowly in a more neutral or negative sense, often suggesting too slow or sluggish.
- Napreduje sporo. – He is progressing slowly (perhaps more slowly than expected).
postupno = gradually, step by step, focusing on the gradual accumulation, not just speed.
- Uspjeh dolazi postupno. – Success comes gradually.

In the sentence uspjeh dolazi polako, polako fits the motivational idea: success is slow, but that’s just how it naturally is; be patient, don’t rush.

Could I change the word order in uspjeh dolazi polako to uspjeh polako dolazi or polako dolazi uspjeh?

Yes, all three orders are grammatically possible, but the emphasis changes slightly.

Uspjeh dolazi polako.
- Neutral order: subject – verb – adverb.
- Focus on the fact that success comes, with polako just describing how.
Uspjeh polako dolazi.
- Brings polako closer to the verb, giving a bit more emphasis to the slowness of the coming.
- Roughly: Success is slowly coming.
Polako dolazi uspjeh.
- Fronting polako strongly highlights the slowness:
- More like: Slowly, success is coming.
- Often poetic or emphatic.

The original uspjeh dolazi polako is the most neutral and typical in standard prose.

Why is the present tense dolazi used for something general like this? Could it also mean the future?

Croatian uses the present tense very often for:

general truths
habits
timeless statements

So:

Uspjeh dolazi polako.
= Success comes slowly.

This is like English present simple for general truths (e.g. Water boils at 100°C.).

In some contexts, the Croatian present can also have a future meaning, especially when the time reference is clear:

Sutra dolazi. – He is coming tomorrow. / He will come tomorrow.

In this sentence, the meaning is mostly general and proverbial, but you can also feel a hint of “your success will take time”. The present tense comfortably covers both the general principle and its application to the future.