Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ponekad otvorim istu stranicu više puta, jer zaboravim jesam li je već pročitao. - Sometimes I open the same page several times because I forget whether I have already read it.

nekad / nekada – can mean:
- sometimes (like ponekad), or
- *once / formerly / in the past (“back then”)
  Context decides which meaning you get.
katkad – also “sometimes”, but sounds a bit more formal / bookish.

In everyday speech, ponekad and nekad are the most common. In this sentence, Ponekad clearly means sometimes.

Why is it istu stranicu and not ista stranica?

Because ista stranica is the subject (nominative) form, while here istu stranicu is a direct object (accusative).

Nominative (subject, basic form):
- ista stranica – the same page (as subject)
  - Ta ista stranica je otvorena. – That same page is open.
Accusative (direct object, after most verbs):
- istu stranicu – the same page (as object)
  - Otvorim istu stranicu. – I open the same page.

Both the adjective isti and the noun stranica are feminine singular, and they both change to the accusative:

ista → istu
stranica → stranicu

So after otvorim (“I open”), you must use istu stranicu.

What exactly does više puta mean, and are there other common ways to say this?

Više puta literally means “more times”, and in context it’s best translated as:

“several times” / “multiple times” / “repeatedly”

Other common options:

nekoliko puta – a few times, several times
puno puta / mnogo puta – many times
više navrata – several occasions (a bit more formal)

So:

Ponekad otvorim istu stranicu više puta.
≈ Sometimes I open the same page several times.

Could I say otvaram instead of otvorim? What’s the difference?

The verbs:

otvoriti – perfective (focus on a completed act: “to open (once, completely)”)
otvarati – imperfective (focus on the process / habit: “to be opening”, “to open regularly”)

Forms in 1st person singular present:

otvorim – perfective
otvaram – imperfective

For habits / repeated actions, Croatian usually prefers imperfective:

Ponekad otvaram istu stranicu više puta.
– Very clear “I (tend to) open it multiple times (as a habit).”

However, natives quite often use perfective present in general statements like this when each individual act is seen as complete:

Ponekad otvorim istu stranicu više puta.
– Also natural; emphasizes each single completed opening in those “sometimes” moments.

As a learner, otvaram is the “safer” textbook choice for habits, but the given otvorim is absolutely normal in real usage.

Why is it zaboravim and not zaboravljam?

Aspect pair:

zaboraviti – perfective (“to forget” as a single completed act)
zaboravljati – imperfective (“to keep forgetting”, “to forget regularly”)

Forms:

zaboravim – perfective present
zaboravljam – imperfective present

Subtle difference:

jer zaboravim… – focuses on each specific moment when you forget:
- …because (at that moment) I forget whether I’ve already read it.
jer zaboravljam… – would emphasize your general tendency to forget:
- …because I (tend to) forget whether I’ve already read it.

Both are possible; the given sentence uses zaboravim, treating each forgetting as a completed event that causes the extra opening. If you want to stress that you are generally a forgetful person, zaboravljam would highlight that.

How does jesam li je već pročitao work grammatically? It looks very different from English “if I have already read it”.

Breakdown:

jesam – full form of the auxiliary biti (“to be”) in 1st person singular, used in the past tense:
- sam pročitao = I have read / I read (past)
li – question particle, meaning roughly “whether / if”
je – unstressed pronoun “her/it”, feminine singular accusative; here = “it (the page)”
već – already
pročitao – masculine singular past participle of pročitati (“to read (through)”)

Literal structure:

jesam li je već pročitao
≈ have I it already read

In an independent yes/no question, you’d say:

Jesam li je već pročitao? – Have I already read it?

Inside a larger sentence it becomes an indirect yes/no question (“whether I have already read it”):

… jer zaboravim jesam li je već pročitao.
– …because I forget whether I’ve already read it.

So jesam li introduces that indirect “whether I have…” part.

Why is it jesam and not sam in jesam li?

Croatian has:

a short/clitic form of “to be” in the past tense: sam, si, je, smo, ste, su
a full/stressed form: jesam, jesi, jest, jesmo, jeste, jesu

Normally, in statements you use the clitic:

Već sam je pročitao. – I have already read it.

But:

The particle li attaches to the first stressed word in the clause.
The clitic sam is unstressed and cannot carry li.
So you must use the full form jesam to host li:
- Jesam li je već pročitao? – Have I already read it?

In indirect questions it stays the same:

… zaboravim jesam li je već pročitao.

So: jesam li, jesi li, etc., are the normal patterns for “whether I am/have…”, “whether you are/have…”, etc.

What is je in jesam li je već pročitao, and why does it go there?

Je is an unstressed object pronoun:

3rd person singular
feminine
accusative
meaning “her / it”

Here it refers back to stranicu (the page), which is a feminine noun.

Pronoun forms for “her / it” (feminine):

Stressed: nju – used when emphasized or at the start of a clause.
Unstressed/clitic: je – used in normal sentences and must obey strict word-order rules.

Clitics (like je, ga, mi, mu, se, sam, si, etc.) normally go in the “second position” in the clause, after the first stressed word or group.

In jesam li je već pročitao:

First stressed word: jesam (with li attached)
Then comes the object clitic: je
Then the rest: već pročitao

Hence the order: jesam li je već pročitao and not, for example, jesam li već pročitao je.

How would the sentence change if the speaker were female?

Only the past participle needs to agree with the speaker’s gender.

Current (male speaker):

… jer zaboravim jesam li je već pročitao.

Female speaker:

… jer zaboravim jesam li je već pročitala.

Everything else (ponekad, otvorim/otvaram, istu stranicu, više puta, jer, zaboravim, jesam li, je, već) stays exactly the same.

So the full sentence for a female speaker:

Ponekad otvorim istu stranicu više puta, jer zaboravim jesam li je već pročitala.

Why is there a comma before jer, and what’s the difference between jer and zato što?

Jer introduces a subordinate clause of cause (“because”), so Croatian punctuation rules require a comma before it:

…, jer zaboravim jesam li je već pročitao.

Difference between jer and zato što:

Both usually mean “because”.
jer:
- short, very common
- tends to sound a bit more neutral/casual
zato što:
- literally “for that reason that…”
- can sound a bit stronger or more explicit, often used when emphasizing the reason

You could also say:

Ponekad otvorim istu stranicu više puta, zato što zaboravim jesam li je već pročitao.

In this context, jer and zato što are interchangeable.

Could I say „… jer zaboravim da sam je već pročitao“ instead of „… jer zaboravim jesam li je već pročitao“? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

… jer zaboravim da sam je već pročitao.

Difference in nuance:

jesam li je već pročitao = “whether I have already read it or not”
- expresses uncertainty / checking both possibilities (yes or no)
- closer to English: because I forget *whether I’ve already read it.*
da sam je već pročitao = “that I (have) already read it”
- more like a simple reported fact
- closer to: because I forget *that I’ve already read it.*

In many everyday contexts, speakers use da where English uses that or if, so you will hear both.

The original jesam li version is a bit more precise about the idea of doubting / checking whether you’ve read it.
The da sam version focuses on forgetting the fact itself.