Breakdown of On trči brže kad publika tiho pjeva.
Questions & Answers about On trči brže kad publika tiho pjeva.
No, it’s not necessary. Croatian is a pro‑drop language, so the verb ending already shows the subject.
- On trči brže kad publika tiho pjeva.
- Trči brže kad publika tiho pjeva.
Both are correct and mean the same. Adding On usually:
- emphasizes him (e.g. He runs faster, as opposed to someone else), or
- appears at the start of a new sentence just to make things clear.
Kad and kada both mean “when” and are interchangeable in this sentence.
- Kad publika tiho pjeva, on trči brže.
- Kada publika tiho pjeva, on trči brže.
Kad is a shorter, more colloquial form; kada feels a bit more formal or careful, but grammatically they’re the same here.
Dok also means “while”, but it tends to emphasize that two actions are happening at the same time and throughout the same time span. In many cases kad and dok overlap, but:
- On trči brže dok publika tiho pjeva.
= He runs faster during the time the audience is singing quietly
(focus on the overlap of actions)
In this specific sentence, kad is perfectly natural and perhaps a bit more neutral.
In this word order, a comma is not required:
- On trči brže kad publika tiho pjeva. ✅ (standard)
If the kad‑clause comes first, you normally do use a comma:
- Kad publika tiho pjeva, on trči brže. ✅
Sometimes a comma is added even in the original order for extra pause or emphasis, but in standard writing you usually leave it out when the kad‑clause follows directly and tightly belongs to the main clause.
Yes. Both are correct:
- On trči brže kad publika tiho pjeva.
- Kad publika tiho pjeva, on trči brže.
The meaning is the same. Putting the kad‑clause first slightly emphasizes the condition/situation (when the audience sings quietly), while starting with On trči brže focuses more directly on his running.
In Croatian, verb agreement follows grammatical number, not the real‑world number.
- publika is a singular noun (feminine, singular),
- so the verb is 3rd person singular: pjeva.
Even though an audience consists of many people, grammatically it behaves like a single collective unit:
- Publika tiho pjeva. = The audience is singing quietly.
If you explicitly talk about the individual people, you’d use a plural subject and a plural verb:
- Ljudi tiho pjevaju. = People are singing quietly.
No, publika pjevaju is ungrammatical.
- publika → 3rd person singular
- verb must match: pjeva
If you want a plural verb (pjevaju), you need a plural subject:
- Gledatelji tiho pjevaju. (The spectators sing quietly.)
- Ljudi u publici tiho pjevaju. (The people in the audience sing quietly.)
Tiho is an adverb meaning “quietly”, modifying the verb pjeva (“sings”).
- Adjective: tih (quiet)
- tih čovjek – a quiet man
- tiha publika – a quiet audience
- Adverb: tiho (quietly)
- On tiho govori. – He speaks quietly.
- Publika tiho pjeva. – The audience sings quietly.
Adverbs in Croatian are usually invariable (they don’t change for gender, number, or case), which is why you see tiho, not tiha / tihe / tihoj, etc.
Yes. Both are correct:
- publika tiho pjeva
- publika pjeva tiho
They mean the same thing. The difference is more about rhythm and slight emphasis:
- tiho pjeva mildly emphasizes how she/it sings (typical, neutral order).
- pjeva tiho can be used if you’ve already mentioned singing and now you want to stress that it is quiet.
In ordinary speech, both orders sound natural.
In this sentence, brže is an adverb in the comparative degree, meaning “faster”, describing how he runs.
Base word: the adjective brz (fast, quick).
Forms (simplified):
- Adjective (masculine singular): brz
- Adverb (positive): brzo = fast / quickly
- Adverb (comparative): brže = faster / more quickly
So:
- On trči brzo. – He runs fast.
- On trči brže. – He runs faster.
No. Croatian generally uses synthetic comparatives (single‑word forms), not više + adjective/adverb in cases like this.
Correct:
- On trči brže. – He runs faster.
više brzo sounds very unnatural. You use više + adjective/adverb mainly:
- with some adjectives that don’t have a regular comparative, or
- in more complex comparative constructions (e.g. više nego prije – more than before).
For ordinary “fast → faster”, use brz → brži (adjective) and brzo → brže (adverb).
Yes, both are correct:
- On trči brže kad publika tiho pjeva.
- On brže trči kad publika tiho pjeva.
The meaning is the same; word order just affects nuance:
- trči brže – more neutral, verb first, adverb second.
- brže trči – puts a bit more focus on brže (the degree of speed).
Croatian word order is flexible, especially with adverbs.
In Croatian, the present tense is naturally used for:
- general truths/habits:
On trči brže kad publika tiho pjeva.
= He runs faster when the audience sings quietly (in general).
To talk about the past, you usually put both verbs in the past:
- On je trčao brže kad je publika tiho pjevala.
= He ran faster when the audience sang quietly.
So the tense of each verb changes according to the time you are talking about, but they still typically match each other.
You can:
Omit On:
- Trči brže kad publika tiho pjeva.
→ fully correct, subject of trči is clear from context or previous sentences.
- Trči brže kad publika tiho pjeva.
Omit publika:
- On trči brže kad tiho pjeva.
→ He runs faster when (someone) sings quietly.
This is grammatically fine, but now the subject of pjeva becomes ambiguous (it could be “he” or “someone else”). If you want to keep the meaning “when the audience sings”, it’s better to keep publika.
- On trči brže kad tiho pjeva.
Omit both only if context is absolutely clear:
- Trči brže kad tiho pjeva.
In isolation, this is grammatical but very vague:
He runs faster when (he/they/someone) sings quietly.
- Trči brže kad tiho pjeva.
For learners, it’s safest to omit only On, and keep publika.