Što češće vježbamo hrvatski, to se osjećamo opuštenije.

The more often we practice Croatian, the more relaxed we feel.

Breakdown of Što češće vježbamo hrvatski, to se osjećamo opuštenije.

• hrvatski: Croatian
• to: that
• vježbati: to practice
• osjećati se: to feel
• opušteniji: more relaxed
• što češće: the more often

Questions & Answers about Što češće vježbamo hrvatski, to se osjećamo opuštenije.

What does the structure Što … to … mean in this sentence, and how is it used in general?

The pattern Što + comparative, to + comparative corresponds to English “The more …, the more …” (or “the less …, the less …” etc.).

In Što češće vježbamo hrvatski, to se osjećamo opuštenije:

• Što češće vježbamo hrvatski = The more often we practice Croatian
• to se osjećamo opuštenije = the more relaxed we feel

You keep:

• što in the first part
• to in the second part
• a comparative in each part

Examples:

• Što više čitaš, to bolje pišeš. – The more you read, the better you write.
• Što manje spavam, to sam umorniji. – The less I sleep, the more tired I am.

The word order is quite fixed: Što …, to ….

Why is što used here? Isn’t što just “what”?

Yes, što usually means “what”, but in this special comparative construction it has a different function.

In Što češće vježbamo hrvatski, to se osjećamo opuštenije, što means something like “the (to the extent that)” — it introduces the degree of something.

You can think of it as:

• Što češće… → To the degree that it is more frequent…
• to se osjećamo… → to that same degree we feel…

You cannot replace this što with kada (when) or ako (if) without changing the structure. Kada/Ako would make it a time/condition clause, not a correlative comparison like “the more…, the more…”.

What exactly is češće here? Is it an adjective or an adverb, and why this form?

In this sentence češće is an adverb meaning “more often”.

• Base adverb: često – often
• Comparative adverb: češće – more often
• Superlative adverb: najčešće – most often

Even though češće looks like the neuter singular form of the adjective češći (more frequent), here it modifies the verb vježbamo (we practice), so it functions as an adverb: How do we practice? More often.

You would use the adjective (with gender/number) to modify a noun:

• češći problem – a more frequent problem (masc.)
• češća greška – a more frequent mistake (fem.)

But in češće vježbamo, it’s clearly adverbial.

Why is hrvatski in this form? Why not hrvatskog or hrvatski jezik?

Hrvatski here is in the accusative singular masculine form and acts as the direct object of vježbamo (we practice).

You can think of it as a shortened version of hrvatski jezik (Croatian language):

• vježbamo hrvatski (jezik) – we practice Croatian (the language)

Why not other cases?

• hrvatskog would be genitive or accusative of an animate masculine noun (e.g. hrvatskog prijatelja – Croatian friend), but jezik is inanimate, so hrvatski (jezik) stays hrvatski in accusative.
• Nominative hrvatski jezik is used if it’s the subject, but here it’s the object, so accusative is needed.

You could also say:

• Što češće vježbamo hrvatski jezik, … – fully correct, just more explicit.
• In everyday speech, hrvatski alone is very common for “Croatian (language)”.

Why do we say osjećamo se / se osjećamo, and not just osjećamo?

Croatian distinguishes between:

• osjećati nešto – to feel something (a direct object)
  • Osjećam bol. – I feel pain.
  • Osjećam hladnoću. – I feel cold.

and

• osjećati se + (kako?) – to feel (in some way), used for general states or emotions
  • Osjećam se dobro. – I feel good.
  • Osjećamo se opuštenije. – We feel more relaxed.

In your sentence, we’re describing a state of being (how we are), not an object that we feel, so Croatian uses the reflexive verb osjećati se.

Grammatically:

• se is an unstressed reflexive pronoun (a clitic)
• It usually stands in the second position of its clause:
  • to se osjećamo opuštenije
  • A variant to se opuštenije osjećamo is also possible, with a slightly different rhythm/emphasis.
  • to opuštenije se osjećamo is much less natural because clitics like se prefer to come before the main verb.

Why is it opuštenije, not opušteniji?

Because here we need an adverb, not an adjective.

• Adjective: opušten – relaxed
  • masculine comparative: opušteniji
  • feminine comparative: opuštenija, etc.
• Adverb: opušteno – in a relaxed way
  • comparative adverb: opuštenije – more relaxed(ly)

In osjećamo se opuštenije, we are modifying the verb osjećamo se (how do we feel?), so Croatian prefers the adverb:

• opuštenije – in a more relaxed way / more relaxedly

English often uses an adjective in this pattern (we feel more relaxed), but Croatian grammar treats osjećati se + kako? as needing an adverb.

You could also say:

• to smo opušteniji – then we are more relaxed (here smo
  • opušteniji is clearly an adjective with mi = we as subject).

If the subject were feminine or plural, would opuštenije change?

No, opuštenije would stay the same, because it’s an adverb.

Adverbs in Croatian:

• do not change for gender or number.
• remain the same regardless of who is doing the action.

So:

• Ja se osjećam opuštenije. – I (m./f.) feel more relaxed.
• Mi se osjećamo opuštenije. – We (m./f. / mixed group) feel more relaxed.
• One se osjećaju opuštenije. – They (all females) feel more relaxed.

If you used the adjective, then it would change:

• Mi smo opušteniji. – We (masc. or mixed) are more relaxed.
• Mi smo opuštenije. – We (all females) are more relaxed (adj. feminine plural).

Is the comma between the two parts necessary, and can we swap the order of the clauses?

In writing, you normally do use a comma between the two parts of a što … to … construction:

• Što češće vježbamo hrvatski, to se osjećamo opuštenije.

The comma separates the two correlated clauses, similar to English:

• The more we practice Croatian, the more relaxed we feel.

You can swap the order, although the original order (cause/effect) is more common:

• To se osjećamo opuštenije, što češće vježbamo hrvatski.

This is grammatically correct but sounds a bit less natural in everyday speech; it has a more literary or stylistic feel. In normal conversation, speakers strongly prefer:

• Što …, to … in that order.

Could we say Što više vježbamo hrvatski instead of Što češće vježbamo hrvatski? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Što više vježbamo hrvatski, to se osjećamo opuštenije.

Differences:

• češće – more often, focuses on frequency (how many times).
• više – more, focuses on amount/quantity or total time/effort.

Subtle nuance:

• Što češće vježbamo → we have more frequent practice sessions.
• Što više vježbamo → we spend more time or put in more effort overall (could be longer sessions, more homework, etc.).

Both are natural; they just highlight slightly different aspects.

Why is the verb vježbamo in the present tense, even though this sounds like a general rule?

Croatian, like English, uses the present tense for general truths, habits, and regular patterns. This is often called the gnomic or habitual present.

• Što češće vježbamo hrvatski, to se osjećamo opuštenije.
  • Not about one specific situation in time.
  • It states a general rule: Whenever/in general, the more we practice, the more relaxed we feel.

If you wanted to talk about a future tendency, you could use the future tense:

• Što ćemo češće vježbati hrvatski, to ćemo se osjećati opuštenije.
  • The more often we will practice Croatian, the more relaxed we will feel.

This is grammatically correct but much heavier. For general principles, the present is strongly preferred.

Is there any aspect nuance in vježbamo? Why not a different verb or aspect?

Vježbamo is the present tense, 1st person plural of vježbati, which is imperfective.

Imperfective verbs are used for:

• ongoing, repeated, habitual actions
• general statements like “we (regularly) practice”

That fits our meaning perfectly: practicing Croatian as a repeated activity.

A related perfective verb (e.g. uvježbati) would focus on finishing or achieving something by practice:

• Uvježbali smo prezent. – We have mastered/practiced (and finished learning) the present tense.

In the pattern Što …, to … describing a habit or general rule, the imperfective is the natural choice:

• Što više radimo, to više naučimo.
• Što češće vježbamo hrvatski, to se osjećamo opuštenije.