Breakdown of Nadam se da ću zapamtiti sve nove riječi.
Questions & Answers about Nadam se da ću zapamtiti sve nove riječi.
In Croatian, “nadati se” is a reflexive verb that means “to hope”. The reflexive pronoun “se” is part of the verb; you can’t drop it.
- Nadam se = I hope
- Nadam on its own is not used with this meaning and sounds wrong in standard Croatian.
So you should always learn and use the full expression “nadati se” when you mean to hope.
There is no separate word for “I” in the Croatian sentence. The subject “I” is contained in the verb ending:
- nadam → 1st person singular present → I hope
- English: I hope
- Croatian: (Ja) se nadam or simply Nadam se
In everyday Croatian, subject pronouns (ja, ti, on, ona, mi…) are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action. Ja is optional:
- Ja se nadam da ću zapamtiti… (more emphatic: I hope)
- Nadam se da ću zapamtiti… (neutral, most common)
“Da” here is a subordinating conjunction, like English “that” introducing a clause:
- Nadam se da ću zapamtiti sve nove riječi.
= I hope *that I will remember all the new words.*
This “da” + clause construction is extremely common after verbs like:
- nadati se (to hope): Nadam se da…
- misliti (to think): Mislim da…
- reći (to say): Kažem da…
In English we can often drop “that” (I hope I’ll remember…), but in Croatian you normally keep “da”.
Both structures are possible in Croatian, but the rules depend on clause type and word order:
In a main clause, the clitic “ću” (future auxiliary) normally goes in second position:
- Zapamtit ću sve nove riječi. (I’ll remember all the new words.)
In a “da”-clause, “da” counts as the first element, so clitics like “ću” usually come right after “da”:
- Nadam se da ću zapamtiti sve nove riječi.
So in this subordinate clause, the most natural order is:
- da + ću + infinitive → da ću zapamtiti
This is Future I in Croatian. It’s usually formed as:
[present of “htjeti” as a clitic] + infinitive
For 1st person singular:
- htjeti → ću
- infinitive: zapamtiti (to remember)
So:
- ću zapamtiti = I will remember
Other persons (for reference):
- ja ću zapamtiti – I will remember
- ti ćeš zapamtiti – you will remember
- on/ona će zapamtiti – he/she will remember
- mi ćemo zapamtiti – we will remember
- vi ćete zapamtiti – you (pl.) will remember
- oni će zapamtiti – they will remember
Croatian distinguishes aspect: imperfective vs perfective verbs.
- pamtiti – imperfective: to remember / to keep in memory (ongoing or repeated)
- zapamtiti – perfective: to memorize, to successfully remember (completed action)
In “Nadam se da ću zapamtiti sve nove riječi”, you are hoping for the successful completion of learning/remembering. So the perfective verb “zapamtiti” is natural:
- I hope I’ll (manage to) remember all the new words (at some point).
If you said:
- Nadam se da ću pamtiti sve nove riječi.
it would sound odd; it would mean something like “I hope I will be remembering / will keep remembering all the new words” – much less natural in this context.
“Sve nove riječi” is in the accusative plural feminine.
Why accusative? Because it’s the direct object of the verb zapamtiti:
- (Ja) ću zapamtiti što? → sve nove riječi
(I will remember what? → all the new words)
Breakdown:
- riječi – accusative plural of riječ (a word), feminine
- nove – accusative plural feminine of nov (new), agrees with riječi
- sve – “all”, here modifying a feminine plural noun in accusative
So all three words line up in gender (feminine), number (plural), and case (accusative).
The base form (dictionary form) is:
- riječ – singular, nominative, feminine = a word
In your sentence:
- riječi is plural: words
For riječ, the form “riječi” can serve as:
- nominative plural: riječi – words
- accusative plural (for inanimate nouns): riječi – words
- genitive singular: riječi – of a word
In “sve nove riječi”, context and agreement (with sve / nove) make it clear that this is accusative plural = all the new words.
Yes, that’s also correct and natural:
- Nadam se da ću sve nove riječi zapamtiti.
Here the object “sve nove riječi” is placed between ću and zapamtiti. Croatian word order is fairly flexible, and both of these are fine:
- Nadam se da ću zapamtiti sve nove riječi.
- Nadam se da ću sve nove riječi zapamtiti.
Version 2 often gives a slight emphasis to “sve nove riječi”, but in everyday speech both are common.
This structure is not standard for expressing this future-oriented hope.
In standard Croatian, after “Nadam se da…” you normally use:
- future: da ću zapamtiti – I hope (that) I will remember
“Da zapamtim” uses a present tense form that can have a sort of wish/subjunctive-like feel in some contexts, but:
- Nadam se da zapamtim sve nove riječi.
sounds odd or non‑standard to most speakers.
For natural, standard Croatian, stick with:
- Nadam se da ću zapamtiti sve nove riječi.
Croatian reflexive pronouns like “se” are clitics; they tend to appear in second position in the clause.
In the main clause:
- First stressed word: Nadam
- Second position: se
So:
- Nadam se da ću zapamtiti sve nove riječi.
You wouldn’t say:
- ✗ Se nadam da ću… – this is wrong in standard Croatian.
The same rule applies to other verbs:
- Sjećam se. – I remember.
- Veselim se. – I’m looking forward / I’m glad.
Yes, a small but clear difference in meaning:
- sve riječi = all the words (no mention of them being new)
- sve nove riječi = all the *new words*
So your original sentence specifically refers to new vocabulary you have just learned or are learning:
- Nadam se da ću zapamtiti sve nove riječi.
= I hope I’ll remember all the new words (e.g. from this lesson).