Learn Hardcore Croatian: Studenti uživaju kad nakon ispita imaju cijeli dan bez obaveza. - Students enjoy it when after an exam they have a whole day without obligations.

when: a specific situation – when they have a whole day free after an exam
whenever: a repeated situation – whenever they have a whole day free after an exam

Because the sentence describes a typical, repeated situation, English would most naturally use when(ever), and Croatian just uses kad.

So you can read it as:
Studenti uživaju kad… → Students enjoy it when(ever)…

What is the difference between kad and kada? Could we use kada here?

kad and kada mean the same thing (when). The difference is mostly style and formality:

kad – shorter, more colloquial, very common in speech and informal writing.
kada – a bit more formal or neutral, common in writing and in careful speech.

You could absolutely say:

Studenti uživaju kada nakon ispita imaju cijeli dan bez obaveza.

The meaning does not change.

Why are there two time expressions together: kad nakon ispita? Is that normal in Croatian?

Yes, it’s normal. They do slightly different jobs:

kad introduces the whole time clause: kad … imaju cijeli dan bez obaveza → when they have a whole day with no obligations.
nakon ispita is a prepositional phrase inside that clause specifying after what: after the exam.

So structurally, it’s:

uživaju – they enjoy
kad – when
nakon ispita – after the exam
imaju cijeli dan bez obaveza – they have a whole day with no obligations.

You can think of it as: They enjoy it when, after the exam, they have a whole day with no obligations.

Could we move the kad‑clause to the beginning, like English: When… students enjoy it?

Yes. Both orders are fine in Croatian:

Studenti uživaju kad nakon ispita imaju cijeli dan bez obaveza.
Kad nakon ispita imaju cijeli dan bez obaveza, studenti uživaju.

The meaning is the same. Changing the order just changes the emphasis a little (starting with the condition vs. starting with the subject), similar to English.

Why is uživaju used here? I thought uživati was followed by u + locative.

uživati has two common uses:

Intransitive, no complement – to enjoy oneself, have a great time
- Studenti uživaju. – The students are having a great time / really enjoy it.
With u + locative – to enjoy something specific
- Studenti uživaju u slobodnom danu. – Students enjoy the day off.
- Uživam u glazbi. – I enjoy music.

In your sentence, uživaju is used in the first way: they enjoy themselves / they love it in that situation. The rest of the sentence explains when they enjoy themselves, not what they enjoy.

Why is the present tense (uživaju, imaju) used? In English we might say students love it when they have… – a kind of general truth.

Croatian uses the present tense in exactly this way: for general, habitual situations.

Studenti uživaju kad nakon ispita imaju cijeli dan bez obaveza.
→ Students enjoy it when they have a whole day with no obligations (whenever this happens).

So the present here is habitual, not right now at this exact moment. It matches English present simple: students enjoy, they have.

Why is it nakon ispita, not nakon ispit?

The preposition nakon (after) always takes the genitive case.

ispit – nominative singular (dictionary form)
ispita – genitive singular (also genitive plural; context tells you it’s singular here)

So you must say:

nakon ispita – after the exam
not
✗ nakon ispit

Other examples with nakon:

nakon posla – after work
nakon ručka – after lunch
nakon utakmice – after the match

Could we use poslije instead of nakon? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can use poslije; the difference is mainly style:

nakon ispita – a bit more formal/neutral
poslije ispita – very common in everyday speech

Both take the genitive:

nakon ispita
poslije ispita

So you could say:

Studenti uživaju kad poslije ispita imaju cijeli dan bez obaveza.

Meaning stays the same.

Why is it cijeli dan and not something like cijelog dana?

Here cijeli dan is the direct object of imaju (they have a whole day), so dan is in the accusative:

imaju cijeli dan – they have a whole day

For masculine inanimate nouns like dan, nominative and accusative singular look the same, but we know it’s accusative because it answers what do they have?

cijelog dana (genitive) would usually express duration, something like:

uživaju cijelog dana – they enjoy themselves all day long (describes how long they enjoy, not what they have)

In your sentence, the key idea is that they have (are given) an entire free day, so cijeli dan as an object is correct.

Why is it bez obaveza and not bez obaveze?

The preposition bez (without) also takes the genitive.

obaveza – nominative singular
obaveze – genitive singular
obaveza – genitive plural

In bez obaveza, the form obaveza is genitive plural: without obligations / with no responsibilities.

So the structure is:

bez + genitive plural → bez obaveza – without obligations

You could say bez ikakvih obaveza – without any obligations at all – still all in genitive plural.

What is the difference between obaveza and obveza? Which one is correct?

Both forms exist:

obveza – traditional standard form in Croatian
obaveza – very widespread in everyday speech and also standard in Serbian and Bosnian; increasingly common in Croatian too

Meaning is the same: obligation, duty, responsibility.

In your sentence, bez obaveza is perfectly understandable and natural in most varieties of BCMS (Bosnian‑Croatian‑Montenegrin‑Serbian). In very prescriptive Croatian contexts, you might see bez obveza instead.

Why is it studenti uživaju and not studenti uživa?

Because the verb must agree with the subject in person and number.

student – 3rd person, singular → student uživa
studenti – 3rd person, plural → studenti uživaju

So:

Student uživa kad… – A student enjoys it when…
Studenti uživaju kad… – Students enjoy it when…

The ending ‑aju is the regular 3rd person plural present ending for verbs like uživati (‑ati verbs):
uživam, uživaš, uživa, uživamo, uživate, uživaju.

Could we say imaju slobodan dan instead of imaju cijeli dan bez obaveza?

Yes, that is a very natural alternative:

imaju slobodan dan – they have a day off

Your original phrase imaju cijeli dan bez obaveza emphasizes:

it’s the whole day (cijeli dan), and
they have no obligations at all (bez obaveza).

slobodan dan is shorter and more idiomatic, but a bit less explicit about no obligations whatsoever. Both are correct; the choice is about nuance and style.

How do you pronounce the tricky parts, like uživaju and obaveza?

Approximate pronunciations (stressed syllable in CAPS):

Studenti – stu‑DEN‑ti
uživaju – u‑ŽI‑va‑ju
kad – like kud in cud but with a: [kad]
nakon – NA‑kon
ispita – I‑spi‑ta
imaju – I‑ma‑ju
cijeli – CYE‑li (the cij is like tsy in catsy)
obaveza – o‑BA‑ve‑za

All vowels are short and clear; there are no diphthongs, and each letter is pronounced.