Learn Hardcore Croatian: Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra.

The verb is moći (to be able, can).
Možemo is the 1st person plural, present tense form.
- ja mogu – I can
- ti možeš – you (sg.) can
- on/ona/ono može – he/she/it can
- mi možemo – we can
- vi možete – you (pl./formal) can
- oni/one/ona mogu – they can

So možemo = “we can” in English.

Why is there no separate word for “we” in the Croatian sentence?

Croatian is a pro‑drop language, which means that subject pronouns are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

The ending -emo on možemo clearly marks 1st person plural (we).
So mi (we) is normally left out unless you want to emphasize it.

Examples:

Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra. – We can repeat the assignment tomorrow.
Mi možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra. – We can repeat the assignment tomorrow (as opposed to someone else).

Both are grammatically correct; the first is more common and neutral.

What tense is Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra. in, and how can it refer to the future?

Grammatically, možemo is present tense, so the sentence is literally “We can repeat the assignment tomorrow.”

In Croatian, as in English, the present tense + time expression (like sutra = tomorrow) is often used to talk about the future:

Danas učimo, sutra možemo ponoviti zadatak.
Today we study, tomorrow we can repeat the assignment.

If you want a more explicitly future form, you could say:

Ponovit ćemo zadatak sutra. – We will repeat the assignment tomorrow.

But in many real situations (e.g. in class, making a plan), the present with sutra is perfectly natural and common.

Why is the verb ponoviti and not ponavljati? What’s the difference?

The difference is aspect:

ponoviti – perfective aspect (a single, completed repetition)
ponavljati – imperfective aspect (ongoing, repeated, or habitual repeating)

In Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra, ponoviti suggests doing the assignment again once (or going through it again as one action).

Compare:

Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra.
We can repeat / go over the assignment (once) tomorrow.
Možemo ponavljati zadatak svaki dan.
We can keep repeating the assignment every day.

So ponoviti fits best when you’re talking about a single future repetition.

What grammatical form is ponoviti, and why is it used after možemo?

Ponoviti is the infinitive form of the verb ponoviti (to repeat).

In Croatian, after modal verbs like moći (can), morati (must), htjeti (want), you typically use the infinitive:

možemo ponoviti – we can repeat
moramo ponoviti – we must repeat
želimo ponoviti – we want to repeat

There is no extra word like “to” (as in English) before the infinitive; the bare infinitive ponoviti is used directly after možemo.

What case is zadatak in, and why?

In Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra, zadatak is in the accusative singular.

Reason: zadatak is the direct object of the verb ponoviti – it answers “what can we repeat?”

Basic forms for zadatak (masculine noun):

Nominative (subject): zadatak – the assignment
Accusative (direct object): zadatak – (I see / repeat) the assignment

For many masculine nouns ending in a consonant, nominative and accusative singular look the same, so zadatak doesn’t change its form here; the role is clear from the context and word order.

Can the word order be changed? For example, can I say Sutra možemo ponoviti zadatak?

Yes, Croatian allows fairly flexible word order, and several variants are natural:

Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra.
Sutra možemo ponoviti zadatak.
Možemo sutra ponoviti zadatak.

All are grammatically correct and usually mean the same thing. Subtle differences:

Putting sutra at the beginning (Sutra možemo…) slightly emphasizes tomorrow (as opposed to today or another day).
Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra. is a very neutral, typical order for a simple statement.
Možemo sutra ponoviti zadatak. focuses slightly more on what we can do tomorrow.

In everyday speech, all three are common and acceptable.

How do I turn Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra. into a yes/no question: “Can we repeat the assignment tomorrow?”

There are two main ways:

Add the particle li:
- Možemo li ponoviti zadatak sutra?
  Can we repeat the assignment tomorrow?
This is the most standard and clear written form.
Use intonation only (especially in speech):
- Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra?
  The words stay the same as in the statement, but your voice rises at the end, signaling a question. This is common in conversation.

So:

Statement: Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra.
Question: Možemo li ponoviti zadatak sutra? / Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra?

Does ponoviti zadatak mean “repeat the assignment” or “redo/retake the assignment”?

It can mean both, depending on context:

repeat / go over the assignment again (e.g. teacher and students review it together)
redo / retake the assignment (e.g. a student does a failed task again)

Croatian often uses ponoviti for:

ponoviti gradivo – go over the material again
ponoviti lekciju – go over the lesson again
ponoviti zadatak – go over or do the assignment again

Context (and sometimes tone or extra words) tells you whether it’s reviewing it together or re‑doing it as work.

Is sutra always at the end, or can it go elsewhere in the sentence?

Sutra (tomorrow) is quite flexible:

Možemo ponoviti zadatak sutra.
Sutra možemo ponoviti zadatak.
Možemo sutra ponoviti zadatak.

All are correct. General points:

Time adverbs like danas, sutra, jučer, večeras often appear at the beginning or near the end of the sentence.
Moving sutra slightly changes what you emphasize, but the basic meaning stays the same.

So sutra is not fixed at the end; it’s just one natural option.

How could I say this more politely, like “Could we (please) repeat the assignment tomorrow?”

Several ways, from mildly to more politely formal:

Simple polite question (add molim or molim te/vas):
- Možemo li ponoviti zadatak sutra, molim?
- Možemo li, molim vas, ponoviti zadatak sutra? (to a teacher, politely)
- Možemo li, molim te, ponoviti zadatak sutra? (to a friend/peer)
With mogli bismo (conditional, “we could”):
- Bismo li mogli ponoviti zadatak sutra?
- Bismo li mogli sutra ponoviti zadatak?

These sound softer and more tentative, like English “Could we…” rather than plain “Can we…”.