Learn Hardcore Croatian: Kad navijači i navijačice pjevaju, naše raspoloženje raste i imamo još više energije. - When the fans sing, our mood rises and we have even more energy.

Kad means when. It introduces a time clause: Kad navijači i navijačice pjevaju… = When the fans sing… (also understood as Whenever the fans sing…).

Kad is simply a shorter, more colloquial form of kada.

In most everyday sentences, kad and kada are interchangeable:
- Kad navijači pjevaju… = Kada navijači pjevaju…
Kada can sound a bit more formal or emphatic, but grammatically they work the same way here.

Why does the sentence start with Kad navijači i navijačice pjevaju? Could I put it at the end instead?

Yes, you can move that clause to the end:

Kad navijači i navijačice pjevaju, naše raspoloženje raste i imamo još više energije.
Naše raspoloženje raste i imamo još više energije kad navijači i navijačice pjevaju.

Both are correct and mean the same thing. The difference is just emphasis and rhythm:

Starting with Kad… highlights the condition/situation first (When the fans sing…).
Putting kad… at the end sounds more like a comment added after the main statement.

Note on punctuation:

Subordinate clause first → you normally put a comma: Kad …, …
Subordinate clause after the main clause → usually no comma: …, kad …

Why are both navijači and navijačice used? Aren’t fans already included in the masculine plural?

Grammatically, the masculine plural navijači (male fans) can also be used in a generic way for a mixed group (male + female). So this would be perfectly correct and common:

Kad navijači pjevaju, naše raspoloženje raste…

However, in modern usage, people often add the feminine form navijačice (female fans) to be explicitly inclusive:

navijači i navijačice = male and female fans

So the full form makes it very clear that both men and women are meant, rather than relying on the “generic masculine” only.

What gender and number are navijači and navijačice, and how does the verb pjevaju agree with them?

navijač – singular, masculine
navijači – plural, masculine
navijačica – singular, feminine
navijačice – plural, feminine

In navijači i navijačice, we have two plural subjects joined by i (and), so the whole subject is plural. The verb pjevaju is:

3rd person plural, present tense of pjevati (to sing).

So the agreement is:

navijači i navijačice pjevaju
(they – plural – sing)

With mixed gender subjects (masculine + feminine), Croatian grammar uses the masculine plural as the default for agreement (this matters for adjectives and past participles; the present tense verb form pjevaju is the same for all plural genders).

Why is it naše raspoloženje and not naš raspoloženje?

In Croatian, possessive adjectives like naš (our) must agree in gender, number and case with the noun they modify, not with who owns it.

raspoloženje (mood) is neuter singular.
The neuter singular form of naš is naše.

So:

masculine: naš prijatelj (our friend – m.)
feminine: naša prijateljica (our friend – f.)
neuter: naše raspoloženje (our mood)

Naš raspoloženje is ungrammatical because naš is masculine, but raspoloženje is neuter.

What exactly does raspoloženje mean? Is it like “mood” or “energy”?

Raspoloženje most directly means mood or state of mind, often also the emotional atmosphere in a group.

Depending on context, it can be translated as:

mood: U dobrom sam raspoloženju. – I’m in a good mood.
spirits: Raspoloženje raste. – Our spirits are rising.
atmosphere: Raspoloženje na stadionu je odlično. – The atmosphere in the stadium is great.

In this sentence, naše raspoloženje raste is best understood as “our mood/spirits are rising”, rather than “our energy” (that is expressed separately by imamo još više energije).

Why is the verb raste used here? Could I also say se povećava?

Rasti means to grow / to increase, and raste is its 3rd person singular present form:

raspoloženje raste – the mood grows / rises / increases

This verb is very idiomatic with abstract things like mood, tension, prices, etc.:

Cijene rastu. – Prices are going up.
Napetost raste. – The tension is rising.

You could say raspoloženje se povećava (the mood is increasing), but:

raste sounds more natural and vivid here.
povećavati se is a bit more technical or formal, more typical with measurable quantities (numbers, size, volume).

So raste is the most idiomatic choice for mood/spirits in this context.

Which case is energije in, and why is that case used after više?

Energije here is in the genitive singular of energija (energy).

The pattern is:

više / manje / puno / dosta
- genitive
  - više energije – more energy
  - manje vremena – less time
  - puno posla – a lot of work
  - dosta novca – enough money

So više energije literally means “more of energy”, which is why the genitive case is used.

Formally, energije can be either genitive singular or nominative plural, but here it must be genitive singular because:

energija is treated like a mass/uncountable noun (“energy”), and
after više with a mass noun, Croatian uses genitive singular.

Is energije plural here? Why don’t we say something like “više energiju” or a clear plural?

No, here energije is not a plural meaning “energies”. It’s genitive singular.

energija – nominative singular
energije – genitive singular or nominative plural
energija – genitive plural

In everyday language, energija is almost always used as an uncountable mass noun, like “water” or “air”:

Imam puno energije. – I have a lot of energy.

So you don’t say:

✗ više energiju – wrong case
✗ više energije (understood as plural “energies”) – that reading doesn’t fit normal usage

You say:

više energije – more energy (genitive singular after više).

The true plural “energies” (nominative plural energije) appears only in specific, technical contexts (e.g. different types of energy in physics).

What does još više literally mean, and where can I put još in a sentence?

Literally, još više means “more still” or “more again”, and in natural English it corresponds to “even more”.

više energije – more energy
još više energije – even more energy / even greater amount of energy

Još usually comes right before the word it modifies:

još više energije – even more energy
još bolji – even better
još brže trčim – I run even faster

In this sentence, još intensifies više:

imamo još više energije – we have even more energy (than before).

Could the sentence use pronouns like raspoloženje nam raste instead of naše raspoloženje raste?

Yes. Both are correct, but the structure changes:

Naše raspoloženje raste. – Our mood is rising.
Raspoloženje nam raste. – Our mood is rising / The mood is rising for us.

In raspoloženje nam raste:

raspoloženje is the subject.
nam is a clitic pronoun = to us / our, dative plural of mi (we).

This is very natural in Croatian and often sounds more colloquial:

Kad navijači i navijačice pjevaju, raspoloženje nam raste i imamo još više energije.

So you can choose between a possessive adjective (naše raspoloženje) and a dative pronoun (raspoloženje nam) – both are fine, with small differences in style/emphasis.

Is the aspect of pjevaju important here? Could I use a perfective verb instead?

Yes, aspect matters. Pjevaju is imperfective (from pjevati), which is the natural choice for:

repeated, habitual or ongoing actions:
- Kad navijači i navijačice pjevaju… – When(ever) the fans sing… (in general, whenever this happens)

If you changed it to a perfective verb like otpjevaju or zapjevaju, the meaning would change:

Kad navijači otpjevaju pjesmu… – When the fans have finished singing a song… (completed action)
Kad navijači zapjevaju… – When the fans start singing… (the moment they begin)

In this sentence, we’re talking about the general situation while they are singing / whenever they sing, so the imperfective pjevaju is the correct and natural choice.