Aplikacija mi šalje poruku svaki put kad zaboravim ponoviti nove riječi.

The app sends me a message every time I forget to revise new words.

Breakdown of Aplikacija mi šalje poruku svaki put kad zaboravim ponoviti nove riječi.

• nov: new
• mi: me
• kad: when
• poruka: message
• zaboraviti: to forget
• ponoviti: to revise
• riječ: word
• aplikacija: app
• slati: to send
• svaki put: every time

Questions & Answers about Aplikacija mi šalje poruku svaki put kad zaboravim ponoviti nove riječi.

What does mi mean in Aplikacija mi šalje poruku? Is it the same as me in English?

Mi here is an unstressed pronoun in the dative case. It means to me / for me.

• Aplikacija mi šalje poruku ≈ The app sends me a message (literally: The app sends a message to me).
• Subject: Aplikacija (the app)
• Verb: šalje (sends)
• Indirect object (dative): mi (to me)
• Direct object (accusative): poruku (a message)

So mi ≠ me as a direct object; instead it’s to me.
Compare:

• Šalje mi poruku. – It sends *me a message.*
• Vidi me. – He/She sees me (here me is me in accusative, not mi).

Could I also say Aplikacija šalje mi poruku? Why is mi before šalje?

In standard Croatian, unstressed pronouns like mi, ti, mu, joj, ga, je, se are clitics and normally go in second position in the clause (the “second‑position clitic rule”).

In your sentence the natural order is:

• Aplikacija mi šalje poruku.

Putting mi after the verb:

• Aplikacija šalje mi poruku.

is not standard; it can sound odd or non‑native in Croatian (unlike English, where “The app sends me a message” and “The app sends a message to me” are both fine).

Correct alternatives:

• Aplikacija mi šalje poruku.
• Ova aplikacija mi šalje poruku.
• Ponekad mi aplikacija šalje poruku.

In each case, the clitic mi comes right after the first stressed element of the clause (often the subject or an adverb).

Why is it poruku and not poruka?

Poruka is a feminine noun:

• Nominative singular (dictionary form): poruka – message
• Accusative singular (direct object): poruku

In Aplikacija mi šalje poruku, poruku is the direct object of šalje, so it must be in accusative singular.

Pattern:

• Poruka je stigla. – The message arrived. (subject → nominative: poruka)
• Šaljem poruku. – I’m sending a message. (object → accusative: poruku)

What case is riječi in ponoviti nove riječi, and why does it look the same as the singular?

The noun riječ (word) has an irregular pattern: riječi can be both:

• Genitive singular: riječi – of the word
• Nominative plural / Accusative plural: riječi – words

In ponoviti nove riječi, the phrase is the direct object of ponoviti, so it’s accusative plural:

• ponoviti (što?) nove riječi – repeat what? new words → accusative plural

You know it’s plural because of the adjective:

• nove is feminine plural (it would be novu riječ in singular).

So:

• Singular: nova riječ (nom.), novu riječ (acc.)
• Plural: nove riječi (nom./acc.)

Same form riječi, but the adjective nove tells you it’s plural.

Why is it svaki put kad, and can I also say svaki put kada or kad god?

All of these are possible, with slight differences in style and nuance:

• svaki put kad – very common, neutral, everyday speech.
• svaki put kada – a bit more formal or “full” style; kad is just a shortened kada.
• kad god – means whenever, emphasizes any time that…

In your sentence:

• Aplikacija mi šalje poruku svaki put kad zaboravim… – The app sends me a message every time (that) I forget…
• Aplikacija mi šalje poruku svaki put kada zaboravim… – same meaning, slightly more formal.
• Aplikacija mi šalje poruku kad god zaboravim ponoviti nove riječi. – The app sends me a message whenever I forget to revise the new words. (very close in meaning to the original, more “whenever-ish”.)

All are correct; kad vs. kada is mostly a matter of style and rhythm.

Why are šalje and zaboravim in the present tense if we’re talking about repeated or future‑like actions?

Croatian uses the present tense for:

1. General truths / habits / repeated events

   • Aplikacija mi šalje poruku – The app sends me a message (as a general rule).

2. Future actions in time clauses introduced by kad / kada / ako / čim, etc.
   Even if in English you say when I forget (with a future meaning), Croatian uses present in that subordinate clause:

   • Svaki put kad zaboravim, ona mi pošalje poruku.
     Literally: Every time when I *forget, it sends me a message.
     Meaning: Every time I **forget (in the future / generally), it sends me a message.*

So:

• šalje = it sends (habitually)
• zaboravim = I forget (whenever that happens)

You do not say:

• ✗ kad ću zaboraviti in this context.
  You keep kad + present to express future‑like repeated situations.

Why is it zaboravim and not zaboravljam?

This is about aspect: zaboraviti (perfective) vs. zaboravljati (imperfective).

• zaboraviti – perfective: to forget (once, as a complete event)
  Present form zaboravim is usually used for future or single, complete acts in combination with kad, ako, etc.

• zaboravljati – imperfective: to be forgetting / keep forgetting / be in the habit of forgetting
  Present zaboravljam emphasizes an ongoing or repeated process.

With svaki put kad, both are possible, but they sound a bit different:

• svaki put kad zaboravim ponoviti nove riječi
  – every time I (end up) forgetting to repeat the new words (focus on each individual act of forgetting being completed).

• svaki put kad zaboravljam ponoviti nove riječi
  – sounds more like you are in the habit of forgetting, more process‑like, and is less natural in this exact sentence.

The perfective zaboravim is the most natural choice with svaki put kad to refer to each completed slip / failure to repeat the words.

Why is ponoviti used, not ponavljati? What’s the difference?

Again, this is aspect:

• ponoviti – perfective: to repeat once / complete the repetition
• ponavljati – imperfective: to be repeating / keep repeating

In this context, you mean forget to do the scheduled repetition, i.e. fail to complete a task:

• zaboravim ponoviti nove riječi
  = I forget to repeat (them once, as required).

If you said:

• zaboravim ponavljati nove riječi,

it would sound like:

• I forget to keep repeating the new words or
• I forget to do the ongoing/regular repetition,

which is possible but clunkier and less idiomatic. The app is reminding you of a specific repetition event, so ponoviti (perfective) fits best.

Why is the adjective nove before riječi? Does it have to agree in gender, number, and case?

Yes. In Croatian, adjectives normally come before the noun and must agree with it in:

• Gender
• Number
• Case

Here:

• Noun: riječi – feminine, plural, accusative.
• Adjective: nov‑ → nove (fem. plural nominative/accusative).

So:

• Singular: novu riječ (acc. sing.: fem.)
• Plural: nove riječi (acc. pl.: fem.)

Other examples:

• čitati zanimljivu knjigu – to read an interesting book (acc. sing. fem.)
• čitati zanimljive knjige – to read interesting books (acc. pl. fem.)

The adjective normally goes before the noun: nove riječi, not riječi nove (which is only used in special emphatic or poetic styles).

Can I use plural poruke instead of singular poruku since this happens many times?

You could say:

• Aplikacija mi šalje poruke svaki put kad…

but it subtly changes the picture.

• poruku (singular) with svaki put suggests one message each time (which is exactly what the app does).
• poruke (plural) suggests multiple messages per time, or more generally that there are many messages (rather than one per event).

In habitual sentences with svaki put, Croatian often keeps the singular for the thing that happens each time:

• Svaki put kad dođeš, doneseš bombon. – Every time you come, you bring a candy.
• Svaki put kad pogriješim, dobijem opomenu. – Every time I make a mistake, I get a warning.

So poruku is the most natural here.

Can I drop kad and just say svaki put zaboravim ponoviti…?

No, you can’t drop kad here. You need a conjunction or some linking element to introduce the subordinate clause.

• Correct: svaki put kad zaboravim ponoviti nove riječi
  (every time when I forget…)

If you say only:

• ✗ svaki put zaboravim ponoviti nove riječi,

it sounds like:

• I forget to repeat the new words every time, but structurally it’s odd and unnatural, because svaki put is left hanging without a clear “when / that” connection.

Think of svaki put kad as a fixed pattern: svaki put kad + clause = every time (that) + clause.

Should there be a comma before kad: …poruku svaki put, kad zaboravim…?

No comma is needed there. The usual punctuation is:

• Aplikacija mi šalje poruku svaki put kad zaboravim ponoviti nove riječi.

In Croatian, you usually don’t put a comma between svaki put and kad / kada when they form this kind of time expression.

You would see:

• Svaki put kad dođeš, nazovi me. – comma after the clause, not between put and kad.
• Nazovi me svaki put kad dođeš.

So:

• ✗ svaki put, kad zaboravim… (wrong here)
• ✓ svaki put kad zaboravim… (correct)

Is aplikacija feminine? How do I know, and does that affect šalje?

Yes, aplikacija is a feminine noun. Most nouns ending in ‑a in the nominative singular are feminine.

• aplikacija – fem.
• riječ is also feminine, though it doesn’t end in ‑a.

The verb šalje is the 3rd person singular present of slati and is the same for all genders in the present tense:

• On šalje poruku. – He sends a message.
• Ona šalje poruku. – She sends a message.
• Aplikacija šalje poruku. – The app sends a message.
• Pismo šalje poruku. – The letter sends a message. (silly, but grammatically same form)

So the gender affects adjectives and some pronouns, but not the present‑tense verb ending in this case; šalje stays the same.