Learn Hardcore Croatian: Svaki put kad ga vidim, osjećam se mirnije.

Svaki put kad ga vidim, osjećam se mirnije.

Every time I see him, I feel calmer.

Breakdown of Svaki put kad ga vidim, osjećam se mirnije.

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Questions & Answers about Svaki put kad ga vidim, osjećam se mirnije.

What does svaki put literally mean here, and why is put needed? Could we just say Svaki kad ga vidim?

Svaki put literally means “every time”.

svaki = every
put = time, occasion (here, not “road”)

In this sense, put is part of a fixed expression svaki put (kad…) = “every time (when…)”.

You cannot say ✗ Svaki kad ga vidim; that’s ungrammatical. You need either:

Svaki put kad ga vidim… = Every time (I see him)… or a different structure like:
Kad god ga vidim… = Whenever I see him…

What is the difference between kad and kada? Would Svaki put kada ga vidim… be okay?

kad and kada both mean “when”.

kad is the shorter, more colloquial form.
kada is slightly more formal or careful, often found in writing or formal speech.

In everyday conversation, kad is extremely common and completely natural.

You can absolutely say:

Svaki put kad ga vidim, osjećam se mirnije.
Svaki put kada ga vidim, osjećam se mirnije.

They mean the same; the choice is mostly style/register.

Why is it ga vidim and not vidim ga? Can I change the word order?

Short unstressed pronouns like ga, je, me, te, se, mu are clitics, and Croatian has fairly strict rules about where they go.

In a subordinate clause introduced by kad, clitics usually come right after the conjunction or the first word of the clause:

Kad ga vidim (typical, natural)
Kad ga opet vidim (still early in the clause)

You can say Vidim ga in an independent clause:

Vidim ga. = I see him.

But inside kad-clause with this word order, Kad vidim ga sounds wrong; native speakers will strongly prefer Kad ga vidim.

Why is the object pronoun ga and not njega? What is the difference?

Both ga and njega are accusative forms of “him”, but:

ga is the short, unstressed form (a clitic).
njega is the long, stressed form.

In most neutral sentences with a normal direct object, you use ga:

Kad ga vidim… = When I see him…

You usually use njega:

For contrast/emphasis:
Vidim njega, ne tebe. = I see him, not you.
After certain prepositions (especially when emphasized):
Bez njega ne mogu. = I can’t (do it) without him.

So Kad njega vidim, osjećam se mirnije is possible, but it sounds like strong focus on him specifically (as opposed to someone else). The neutral, default choice is Kad ga vidim.

What is the role of se in osjećam se? Why not just osjećam mirnije?

osjećati se is a reflexive verb meaning “to feel (a certain way, emotionally/physically)”.

osjećati alone usually means “to feel (something)” as a direct object:
Osjećam bol. = I feel pain.
osjećati se = to feel (happy, calm, tired, etc.):
Osjećam se dobro. = I feel good.

So:

osjećam se mirnije = I feel calmer.
(se says the feeling is about yourself, your state.)

✗ osjećam mirnije is wrong here because mirnije describes how you feel, not what you feel. You need the reflexive se.

What exactly is mirnije grammatically, and why is it not mirniji?

Base adjective: miran = calm.

Comparative adjective: mirniji = calmer (as an adjective: “a calmer person/day”, etc.)
Comparative adverb form is mirnije = more calmly / in a calmer way / calmer (as a state).

In osjećam se mirnije, mirnije is used adverbially to describe your state/feeling. Think of it as “I feel in a calmer way / I feel calmer”.

You could say:

On je mirniji. = He is calmer. (adjective)
On govori mirnije. = He speaks more calmly. (adverb)

With osjećati se, Croatian strongly prefers the -e form (mirnije, bolje, lošije, sretnije, sigurnije) to describe how you feel:

Osjećam se bolje. = I feel better.
Osjećam se sigurnije. = I feel safer / more secure.

✗ Osjećam se mirniji sounds off; mirnije is the natural choice.

Could you drop se and say Osjećam mirnije to mean “I feel calmer”?

No, that does not work in standard Croatian.

Osjećam se mirnije. = I feel calmer. ✅
Osjećam mirnije. = ungrammatical in this meaning. ❌

Without se, osjećam must have a direct object (“I feel something”), and mirnije cannot act as that object; it describes a manner/state, not a “thing you feel”.

So se is obligatory here.

Why is there a comma after vidim? Is that always required?

The comma separates two clauses:

Svaki put kad ga vidim – subordinate time clause (“Every time when I see him”)
osjećam se mirnije – main clause (“I feel calmer”)

In Croatian, a subordinate clause like a kad-clause is normally separated by a comma from the main clause.

Typical patterns:

Kad ga vidim, osjećam se mirnije.
Osjećam se mirnije kad ga vidim.

In both orders, you put a comma between the two clauses. So yes, the comma is standard and expected here.

Is the present tense vidim / osjećam se talking about now or about a general habit?

Here the present tense expresses a habitual/general truth, just like in English:

Svaki put kad ga vidim, osjećam se mirnije.
= Every time (whenever) I see him, I feel calmer. (regularly, habitually)

Croatian uses the simple present both for:

current actions: Sad ga vidim. = I see him now.
habits/generalisations: Kad ga vidim, osjećam se mirnije.

The phrase svaki put (“every time”) forces the habitual reading.

Is vidim here imperfective or perfective? Shouldn’t a repeated action use viđati?

Verb pair:

vidjeti (perfective) – to see (as a single event)
viđati (imperfective) – to see repeatedly / to keep seeing

From a strict aspect perspective, for a habitual meaning you might expect:

Svaki put kad ga viđam, osjećam se mirnije.

However, native speakers very commonly use vidjeti in the present (vidim) in sentences like this, and it sounds completely natural:

Svaki put kad ga vidim, osjećam se mirnije. ✅

Using viđati (viđam) emphasizes regular, perhaps planned or frequent meetings:

Često ga viđam na poslu. = I often see him at work.

In this sentence, vidim is perfectly normal; viđam is possible but would sound a bit more like “I run into him regularly / we keep seeing each other”.

Could I move svaki put or kad ga vidim around in the sentence? For example: Kad ga vidim, svaki put se osjećam mirnije.

You can move these parts, but word order slightly changes emphasis:

Svaki put kad ga vidim, osjećam se mirnije.
Neutral: “Every time when I see him, I feel calmer.”
Kad ga vidim, svaki put se osjećam mirnije.
Very similar meaning; svaki put now highlights that on each such occasion you feel calmer. Still natural.
Osjećam se mirnije svaki put kad ga vidim.
Also natural. Focus is first on how you feel, then you add the condition “every time I see him”.

All three are acceptable. Croatian word order is relatively flexible, but the position of clitics (ga, se) stays constrained (e.g. Kad ga vidim, not Kad vidim ga; osjećam se, not se osjećam in neutral style).