Ona često razmišlja o budućnosti svoje ekipe na poslu i pita se gdje da živi za deset godina.

She often thinks about the future of her team at work and wonders where to live in ten years.

Breakdown of Ona često razmišlja o budućnosti svoje ekipe na poslu i pita se gdje da živi za deset godina.

• ona: she
• i: and
• gdje: where
• često: often
• posao: work
• na: at
• za: in
• živjeti: to live
• da: that
• o: about
• svoj: own
• godina: year
• pitati se: to wonder
• razmišljati: to think
• budućnost: future
• ekipa: team
• deset: ten

Questions & Answers about Ona često razmišlja o budućnosti svoje ekipe na poslu i pita se gdje da živi za deset godina.

Why does the sentence start with Ona? I thought Croatian usually drops the subject pronoun.

Croatian normally does drop the subject pronoun, because the verb ending already shows the person (here razmišlja = she thinks).

Using Ona is possible and usually:

• adds emphasis: Ona često razmišlja… = She (as opposed to someone else) often thinks…
• or just makes the subject extra clear in a longer context.

A perfectly natural alternative would be:

• Često razmišlja o budućnosti svoje ekipe…

So Ona isn’t grammatically required; it’s stylistic/emphatic.

What is the difference between razmišljati o and misliti na? Could I say Ona često misli na budućnost?

Both razmišljati and misliti involve thinking, but they aren’t interchangeable in all contexts.

• razmišljati o + lokative = to think about something in a more deliberate, reflective way, to ponder, to consider
  • razmišljati o budućnosti ≈ to reflect on the future / to think over the future
• misliti na + accusative = to think of/about someone or something briefly, to have it in mind
  • MIslim na tebe. = I’m thinking of you.
  • Misli na ispit. = He has the exam on his mind.

In this sentence, she is reflecting about the future of the team, so razmišljati o budućnosti is more natural than misliti na budućnost.

Why is it o budućnosti and not just budućnost? What case is that ending -i?

After the preposition o (“about”), Croatian uses the locative case.

• Nominative (dictionary form): budućnost (future)
• Locative singular (feminine): budućnosti

The phrase o budućnosti literally means about (the) future.

Structure:

• razmišljati o + locative
  → razmišlja o budućnosti = she thinks about the future.

Without o, budućnost would normally be in nominative or accusative, and the meaning would change.

Why is it svoje ekipe instead of njene ekipe for “her team”?

Croatian has a reflexive possessive adjective svoj (and its forms: svoja, svoje, svog etc.).

You use svoj when the possessor is the same as the subject of the clause.

• Subject: Ona (she)
• Possessed noun: ekipa (team)
• So: svoje ekipe = the future of her (own) team.

njene ekipe would formally mean “her team” too, but in many contexts it can suggest someone else’s team (another female person previously mentioned), not necessarily the subject.

So:

• Ona razmišlja o budućnosti svoje ekipe.
  → clearly: She thinks about the future of her own team.
• Ona razmišlja o budućnosti njene ekipe.
  → could suggest: She thinks about the future of her team (belonging to that other woman).

Using svoj avoids ambiguity when the possessor = subject.

What exactly is the form svoje in svoje ekipe? What does it agree with?

svoje here is the genitive singular feminine form of the possessive adjective svoj.

It agrees with the noun ekipe:

• Noun: ekipa (team), feminine singular
• In the phrase budućnost svoje ekipe, ekipe is:
  • feminine
  • singular
  • genitive (because budućnost is the future of something → genitive of ekipe)

So svoje must also be:

• feminine
• singular
• genitive

Hence: svoje ekipe.

What does ekipa mean exactly? Is it the same as tim?

Both ekipa and tim can translate as team, but there are nuances:

• ekipa

  • can mean a work team, a group of people who do something together
  • also common in everyday speech for “crowd, gang, group of friends”
  • feels a bit more informal/colloquial in many contexts

• tim

  • directly borrowed from English “team”
  • common in business, sports, and more formal contexts

In svoje ekipe na poslu, it can be understood as her work team or group at work. You could also say:

• svojeg tima na poslu

Both are understandable; ekipa here sounds slightly more casual or conversational.

Why is it na poslu and not u poslu?

The expression na poslu is a fixed phrase meaning “at work” (location or situation):

• Ona je na poslu. = She is at work.
• Razmišlja o budućnosti ekipe na poslu. = She thinks about the future of her team at work.

u poslu literally means in work and is used rarely and differently, e.g. as part of idioms like:

• zatrpan poslom / u poslu = buried in work

So for the general sense “at work (place)” or “in her job context”, use na poslu, not u poslu.

What does pita se mean exactly? How is it different from just pita?

• pitati = to ask (someone)

  • Ona pita šefa. = She is asking her boss.

• pitati se = to ask oneself, to wonder

  • Ona se pita gdje da živi. = She wonders where to live.

Adding se makes it reflexive and changes the meaning from asking another person to questioning in your own mind.

So in the sentence:

• …i pita se gdje da živi… = and she wonders where to live…
  (not she asks where to live).

Why is it gdje da živi and not gdje će živjeti?

Both are possible, but they’re not identical in nuance.

1. gdje da živi

   • da + present in Croatian is often used like a subjunctive / “should” construction.
   • It implies: where (she) should live, where to live.
   • Very natural after verbs of wondering, deciding, thinking about options.

2. gdje će živjeti

   • će + infinitive = future tense, more factual: where she will live.
   • Sounds more like asking about a known or expected future fact, not weighing options.

In this context she’s considering possibilities, so gdje da živi (“where to live / where she should live”) fits better than a factual gdje će živjeti (“where she will live”).

Why is the verb živi in the present tense when talking about ten years in the future?

In gdje da živi za deset godina, the present tense appears inside the da-clause, which behaves like a subjunctive:

• gdje da živi = where (she) should live / where to live

This construction uses the present form of the verb, even if the time reference is future, because the future sense is already given by context:

• za deset godina = in ten years (from now)

If you wanted a straightforward future fact, you’d use future tense:

• gdje će živjeti za deset godina = where she will live in ten years

But because the original sentence is about her reflecting and considering possibilities, the da + present structure with future time expression is very natural.

What does za deset godina mean exactly? Is it “for ten years” or “in ten years”?

In this context, za deset godina means “in ten years (from now)”, i.e. ten years from this moment.

• za + time expression often = in (time) from now:
  • Za sat vremena idem kući. = I’m going home in an hour.

“For ten years” (duration) is usually expressed without za, often with deset godina alone or other constructions:

• Živjela je tamo deset godina. = She lived there for ten years.

So here:

• gdje da živi za deset godina = where to live in ten years (from now), not for ten years.

Why is često placed after Ona? Could it go somewhere else?

Yes, Croatian adverbs like često (often) are quite flexible in position. Common options:

• Ona često razmišlja o budućnosti…
• Često ona razmišlja o budućnosti…
• Ona razmišlja često o budućnosti… (less common, a bit more marked)
• Često razmišlja o budućnosti… (without ona)

Typical neutral positions are:

• subject – adverb – verb: Ona često razmišlja…
• or adverb – verb if the subject is dropped: Često razmišlja…

The given sentence uses a very normal, neutral placement.

Could na poslu be moved or left out? How flexible is the word order here?

Yes, word order in Croatian is quite flexible, especially for elements like time and place.

All of these are grammatical, with small differences in emphasis:

• Ona često razmišlja o budućnosti svoje ekipe na poslu…
• Ona često razmišlja na poslu o budućnosti svoje ekipe…
• Na poslu ona često razmišlja o budućnosti svoje ekipe…

Leaving it out is also fine if context already makes it clear:

• Ona često razmišlja o budućnosti svoje ekipe i pita se…

Including na poslu specifies that it’s about her team at work, not some other “team” (e.g. a sports team or friend group).

Why is razmišlja used (imperfective aspect)? Could you use a perfective verb instead?

razmišljati is imperfective, which is used for:

• ongoing or repeated actions
• states or processes without focus on completion

Here, često razmišlja means she often / regularly thinks about it, which is a repeated, ongoing process → imperfective fits perfectly.

A related perfective verb is razmisliti (to think something over, to think something through once, to come to a considered conclusion):

• Ona je razmislila o budućnosti svoje ekipe.
  = She thought (it) over about her team’s future (and reached some conclusion).

That would describe a single completed act of thinking, not a habitual one.

So:

• često razmišlja (imperfective) = she often thinks / keeps thinking
• je razmislila (perfective) = she has (once) thought it through

In the original sentence, the habitual meaning is intended, so razmišlja is the correct and natural choice.