Learn Hardcore Croatian: Svaka sekunda je važna kada čekamo zadnji vlak. - Every second is important when we are waiting for the last train.

So svaka sekunda is the normal structure, and because the subject is grammatically singular, the verb je (is) is also singular. Using a plural here, like Sve sekunde su važne, is grammatically possible but sounds unusual in this context and changes the nuance toward “all the seconds” as a group, not the typical “every second” phrase.

What is the difference between svaka, svaki, and svako?

They are all forms of the same word meaning every / each, but they agree with the gender of the noun:

svaki – masculine singular (nominative)
- svaki dan, svaki čovjek, svaki vlak
svaka – feminine singular (nominative)
- svaka sekunda, svaka žena, svaka knjiga
svako – neuter singular (nominative)
- svako dijete, svako slovo

In Svaka sekunda je važna, sekunda is a feminine noun, so you need the feminine form svaka.

What exactly is je here, and why do we need it?

Je is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb biti (to be). In this sentence:

Svaka sekunda – subject (Every second)
je – is
važna – predicate adjective (important)

So Svaka sekunda je važna literally matches English structure: Every second is important. In standard sentences that say X is Y, Croatian uses biti in the same way English uses to be.

Why is važna in the feminine form?

Adjectives in Croatian must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

sekunda is feminine, singular, nominative.
Therefore važna is also feminine, singular, nominative.

Compare:

Svaki dan je važan. – Every day is important. (masculine: dan → važan)
Svaka knjiga je važna. – Every book is important. (feminine: knjiga → važna)
Svako pitanje je važno. – Every question is important. (neuter: pitanje → važno)

So važna is feminine because it refers back to sekunda.

Could I change the word order to Svaka je sekunda važna? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Svaka sekunda je važna.
Svaka je sekunda važna.

Both are grammatically correct and mean the same thing. The difference is only very slight in emphasis:

Svaka sekunda je važna. – neutral, very common.
Svaka je sekunda važna. – puts a little more stress on svaka (“every single second is important”), and follows a more textbook-like rule for the position of je.

In everyday speech you will hear both orders.

I heard that je should be in the “second position”. Why is it after sekunda in Svaka sekunda je važna and not after Svaka?

Croatian clitics (like je) have a rule that they tend to go into the “second position” of the sentence, but in practice this means “after the first stressed unit”, and there is some flexibility.

Normatively, many grammars prefer:

Svaka je sekunda važna.

because je comes right after the first word (Svaka).

However, in real usage Svaka sekunda je važna is completely natural and very common. The “second position” rule is not a rigid word-count rule; speakers often place clitics where they sound most natural, especially in short sentences like this. For a learner, it is enough to know that both versions are accepted and understood.

What does kada mean here, and how is it different from kad or dok?

In this sentence:

kada means when (introducing a time clause):
… kada čekamo zadnji vlak. – … when we are waiting for the last train.

Details:

kada vs kad:
- kada – the full form, a bit more formal or neutral.
- kad – the shortened form, very common in speech.
  You can use either here: kada čekamo or kad čekamo.
kada / kad vs dok:
- dok means while and emphasizes that two actions happen at the same time.
- In this sentence, kada čekamo can often be translated as “when/while we’re waiting”, so dok čekamo zadnji vlak would also sound natural, with a stronger sense of “during the time that we’re waiting”.

What person and tense is čekamo, and how would I say “I am waiting” or “they are waiting”?

Čekamo is:

verb: čekati – to wait
tense: present
person/number: 1st person plural – we

So it means we (are) wait(ing).

Present tense of čekati:

(ja) čekam – I wait / I am waiting
(ti) čekaš – you wait / you are waiting (singular, informal)
(on/ona/ono) čeka – he/she/it waits / is waiting
(mi) čekamo – we wait / we are waiting
(vi) čekate – you wait / you are waiting (plural or formal)
(oni/one/ona) čekaju – they wait / they are waiting

Croatian has just one present tense that covers both simple and continuous meanings (wait / am waiting).

Where is the word we in the Croatian sentence? How do I know it means “we are waiting”?

Croatian usually drops subject pronouns (like I, you, we) because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

čekamo ends in -mo, which is the marker for we (1st person plural).
So čekamo by itself already means “we are waiting”.

You could say Mi čekamo zadnji vlak, but the mi is only used for emphasis or when you really need to contrast it with someone else (e.g. Mi čekamo, a oni već spavaju. – We are waiting, and they are already sleeping.). In neutral sentences, you normally omit it.

Why is it čekamo zadnji vlak without a preposition, and not čekamo na vlak or čekamo za vlak?

The verb čekati (to wait) in standard Croatian usually takes a direct object in the accusative — no preposition is needed:

čekati autobus – to wait for the bus
čekati prijatelja – to wait for a friend
čekati zadnji vlak – to wait for the last train

So čekamo zadnji vlak literally means we-wait last train, but in English we have to say we are waiting for the last train.

Expressions like čekati na do exist, but they have more specific or different uses (e.g. čekati na red – “wait for your turn”). For “wait for a train / bus / person”, use čekati + accusative, with no preposition.

What case is zadnji vlak in, and why does it look like the nominative form?

Here, zadnji vlak is the direct object of čekamo, so it’s in the accusative case (singular, masculine).

For many inanimate masculine nouns like vlak, the nominative singular and accusative singular forms are identical:

nominative: vlak – subject (Vlak dolazi. – The train is coming.)
accusative: vlak – object (Čekamo vlak. – We’re waiting for the train.)

The adjective zadnji in the mas. sing. also has the same form in nominative and accusative when it describes an inanimate noun:

zadnji vlak – subject (nom.) or object (acc.), same form.

So context and the verb tell you that zadnji vlak is the object here.

Is there any difference between zadnji vlak and posljednji vlak?

Both can translate as the last train, but there are nuances:

zadnji vlak – most common in everyday speech for the last train (of the day / schedule).
posljednji vlak – more formal / literary, and can sometimes emphasize finality (the very last one, after which there is no more).

You will almost always hear zadnji vlak in this kind of practical sentence about catching the last train home. Posljednji vlak might appear in news, writing, or if someone wants to sound more formal or dramatic.

Could I say Svaka minuta je važna instead of Svaka sekunda je važna?

Yes, grammatically it’s fine:

Svaka minuta je važna kada čekamo zadnji vlak. – Every minute is important when we’re waiting for the last train.

The structure is exactly the same:

svaka (feminine) + minuta (feminine noun) + je
- važna

The only difference is meaning and intensity: sekunda (second) feels “tighter” and more urgent than minuta (minute). So svaka sekunda je važna sounds more dramatic: every moment counts.

How would I say the same idea in the past and future?

Using čekati and biti (je):

Past (we were waiting):
Svaka sekunda je bila važna kada smo čekali zadnji vlak.
– Every second was important when we were waiting for the last train.
Future (we will be waiting):
Svaka sekunda će biti važna kada budemo čekali zadnji vlak.
– Every second will be important when we are waiting for the last train.

In speech, a simpler future is also common:

Svaka sekunda će biti važna kad budemo čekali zadnji vlak.
or even, in some dialects,
Svaka sekunda će biti važna kad ćemo čekati zadnji vlak. (less standard, but heard)

Do I need a comma before kada in this sentence?

In standard Croatian, a comma is usually not written before kada/kad when the time clause comes after the main clause in a simple sentence like this:

Svaka sekunda je važna kada čekamo zadnji vlak. – no comma.

You would typically see a comma when the kada-clause comes first:

Kada čekamo zadnji vlak, svaka sekunda je važna.

So the punctuation in the original sentence is correct without a comma.