Breakdown of Djeca pamte zadatak bolje kad učiteljica govori polako.
Questions & Answers about Djeca pamte zadatak bolje kad učiteljica govori polako.
Djeca means children and is the nominative plural form, used for the subject of the sentence.
The singular is dijete (child), which is irregular:
- singular: dijete
- plural: djeca
Even though the singular ends in -e and looks neuter, djeca behaves like a normal plural noun and takes plural verb agreement, so we say:
- Djeca pamte… = The children remember… (verb in 3rd person plural)
You would only change djeca to another case (like djecu, accusative) if it were an object, but here it’s the subject, so nominative djeca is correct.
Zadatak is the accusative singular of the masculine noun zadatak (task, assignment).
For many masculine nouns ending in a consonant, the nominative singular and accusative singular are identical:
- nominative: zadatak (subject)
- accusative: zadatak (direct object)
In this sentence, zadatak is the direct object of pamte (what do they remember? the task), so it’s accusative, even though it looks the same as the nominative form.
Pamte is the 3rd person plural present tense of the verb pamtiti (to remember, to memorize).
Basic present conjugation of pamtiti:
- ja pamtim – I remember
- ti pamtiš – you (sg.) remember
- on/ona/ono pamti – he/she/it remembers
- mi pamtimo – we remember
- vi pamtite – you (pl./formal) remember
- oni/one/ona pamte – they remember
Because the subject is djeca (children), the verb must be pamte (they remember).
Govori here is the 3rd person singular present tense of govoriti (to speak, to talk).
Present conjugation (short version):
- ja govorim
- ti govoriš
- on/ona/ono govori
- mi govorimo
- vi govorite
- oni/one/ona govore
In the sentence, the subject of govori is učiteljica (the teacher, she), so we use govori (she speaks).
Croatian marks the gender of many professions:
- učitelj = (male) teacher
- učiteljica = (female) teacher
Here, učiteljica is in nominative singular feminine, used as the subject of the verb govori. The sentence specifically speaks about a female teacher, so učiteljica is used.
If it were a male teacher, you would say:
- …kad učitelj govori polako.
Kad is a subordinating conjunction meaning when.
- kad and kada are effectively the same word; kada is slightly more formal or careful, kad is shorter and very common in speech and writing.
In this sentence:
- kad učiteljica govori polako = when the teacher speaks slowly
It does not ask a question (it’s not “when?” as in a question), but introduces a time clause, like English when in “When the teacher speaks slowly, children remember the task better.”
Yes. Croatian word order is relatively flexible, and your version is natural:
- Djeca pamte zadatak bolje kad učiteljica govori polako.
- Djeca bolje pamte zadatak kad učiteljica govori polako.
Both are correct. The difference is only a very slight emphasis:
- pamte zadatak bolje – a bit more neutral
- bolje pamte zadatak – slightly stronger focus on better (the quality of remembering)
In everyday speech, both versions sound fine.
Bolje means better and is the comparative form of the adverb dobro (well).
- positive: dobro – well
- comparative: bolje – better
- superlative: najbolje – best
So pamte zadatak bolje = they remember the task better.
Position-wise, bolje usually goes:
- before the verb: Djeca bolje pamte zadatak.
- or after the verb phrase, as in the original sentence: Djeca pamte zadatak bolje.
Polako is an adverb meaning slowly.
In this sentence:
- učiteljica govori polako = the teacher speaks slowly
You can also move polako before the verb:
- …kad učiteljica polako govori.
Both are grammatical. The most neutral and common in speech is govori polako, but polako govori is also fine and can slightly emphasize the manner of speaking.
Even though dijete (child) looks neuter in the singular, the plural djeca behaves as a normal plural subject. So verbs and adjectives with djeca are plural:
- Djeca su mala. – The children are small.
- Djeca pamte zadatak. – The children remember the task.
You never say Djeca pamti zadatak; that would be incorrect.
Croatian has no articles (no equivalents of English a/an or the). The nouns zadatak and učiteljica are bare forms, and context tells you whether you should understand a or the in English.
So:
- zadatak can mean a task or the task
- učiteljica can mean a (female) teacher or the (female) teacher
In this sentence, the context suggests we’re talking about the specific task and the teacher, so we translate that way in English, but nothing in the Croatian form itself forces “the” vs “a”.
Croatian present tense is used very similarly to English simple present when stating general truths or habitual actions.
- Djeca pamte zadatak bolje kad učiteljica govori polako.
= Children remember the task better when the teacher speaks slowly.
This describes a general tendency, not something happening right now, so present tense is appropriate in both languages. You don’t need any special tense or construction for “in general” statements.
You can, but it changes the meaning slightly:
kad učiteljica govori polako = when the teacher speaks slowly
(time-based, implies this is something that does happen; whenever that condition in time is met, children remember better)ako učiteljica govori polako = if the teacher speaks slowly
(a more hypothetical or conditional situation: if it happens that she speaks slowly, then…)
For a general rule about what happens whenever the teacher speaks slowly, kad is more natural.
Djeca is pronounced approximately [dje-tsa].
- dj represents a d sound followed by j (like English y in yes), pronounced together: d + j → dye.
- So dje is like dye in English but shorter and followed immediately by e.
Rough breakdown:
- dje ≈ dye
- ca ≈ tsa
So: dje-tsa → djeca.