Learn Hardcore Croatian: Internet može biti koristan, ali i štetan ako provodimo preveliku količinu vremena pred ekranom. - The internet can be useful, but also harmful if we spend too large an amount of time in front of the screen.

In Croatian, Internet is usually written with a capital I because it is treated as a proper name for the global network (similar to how English originally capitalized Internet). In everyday texts you may also see internet with a lowercase i; both appear in practice.

Grammatically, Internet is:

masculine
singular
in the nominative case here (it’s the subject of the sentence).

So you decline it like other masculine nouns:

Nominative: Internet
Genitive: Interneta
Dative/Locative: Internetu
Accusative: Internet
Instrumental: Internetom

Why is there no word for “the” before Internet or ekranom?

Croatian has no articles (a/an/the) at all. Definiteness and indefiniteness are understood from context, word order, and sometimes from adjective form, but never from a separate article word.

So:

Internet can mean the Internet or (an) internet, depending on context.
pred ekranom can mean in front of the screen, in front of a screen, etc.

Your translation supplies the in English, but Croatian simply doesn’t mark it.

Why is it može biti and not just je?

može biti = can be / may be (expresses possibility or potential)
je = is (a simple statement of fact)

Here:

može is the 3rd person singular of moći (to be able to, can),
biti is the infinitive to be.

So:

Internet je koristan = The Internet is useful. (statement)
Internet može biti koristan = The Internet can be useful. (it has the potential to be)

The sentence contrasts two possibilities: it can be useful, but it can also be harmful. Using može biti makes that contrast natural.

Why are koristan and štetan in that form? Why not korisno or štetno?

koristan and štetan are adjectives agreeing with Internet, which is:

masculine
singular
nominative

So the adjectives also take the masculine singular nominative form:

koristan (useful)
štetan (harmful)

If the noun were neuter, you would see:

To (neuter) može biti korisno / štetno – That can be useful / harmful.

If it were feminine:

Televizija može biti korisna / štetna.

So korisno/štetno are neuter forms; here you need masculine to match Internet.

What does ali i štetan mean exactly? Why is the i there?

ali = but
i = and / also / even

In this structure, ali i is best understood as but also:

koristan, ali i štetan
→ useful, but also harmful

The i emphasizes that harmful is an additional, contrasting property:

not only useful,
but also harmful.

Without i, ali štetan would still be correct, but slightly less emphatic:

Internet može biti koristan, ali štetan.
→ feels more like a simple but harmful, without highlighting the also aspect as strongly.

What is the difference between štetan and loš?

Both are negative, but:

štetan = harmful, damaging
It suggests that something causes harm, damage, or has negative effects (to health, mind, society, etc.).
loš = bad, poor (general negative quality)
It’s broader and less specific; something can be loš without necessarily being actively harmful.

In this context, štetan fits better because too much screen time is understood as harmful for you, not just bad in a vague way.

Why is ako used here? Could I use kad / kada instead?

ako = if (conditional)
kad / kada = when (time; can sometimes overlap with if in colloquial speech, but primarily temporal)

In this sentence:

ako provodimo preveliku količinu vremena…
→ if we spend too much time… (conditional: in that case, it can be harmful)

You could say kad provodimo… in some contexts, but it would sound more like:

when we spend (describing typical situations rather than a clear condition).

For a logical condition (if X happens, then Y), ako is the standard, most natural choice.

What exactly does provodimo mean here, and which aspect is it?

provodimo is:

1st person plural (we),
present tense,
imperfective aspect,
from provoditi (to spend [time], to pass time, to spend time doing something).

So provodimo (vrijeme) = we spend (time).

Imperfective aspect is used because:

it describes an ongoing, repeated, or habitual action (spending time in front of the screen),
not a single completed event.

The perfective form is provesti:

Ako provedemo previše vremena pred ekranom…
= If we (once, in a specific period) spend too much time in front of the screen…

Here, the sentence talks about a general habit, so imperfective provodimo is preferred.

Why is it preveliku količinu? What does that ending show?

preveliku količinu is:

preveliku – adjective prevelik (too big / too large) in feminine accusative singular
količinu – noun količina (quantity, amount) in feminine accusative singular

Together they form the object of provodimo:

we spend too large a quantity (of time).

Details:

količina is feminine, so the adjective must be feminine too.
Because it’s what we spend, it is in the accusative (direct object).
The ending -u on both preveliku and količinu marks feminine accusative singular.

Why is vremena used here, not vrijeme? What case is it?

vrijeme = time (nominative singular)
vremena here is the genitive singular form.

Reason: In Croatian, when you specify an amount/quantity of something, the thing measured is usually put in the genitive:

puno vremena – a lot of time
malo vremena – a little time
sat vremena – an hour of time
prevelika količina vremena – too large a quantity of time

So you have:

preveliku količinu (accusative – object we “spend”)
vremena (genitive – of time)

Literal structure: we spend too large a quantity of time.

Could we just say previše vremena instead of preveliku količinu vremena?

Yes. previše vremena is very natural and common:

Internet može biti koristan, ali i štetan ako provodimo previše vremena pred ekranom.

This is slightly simpler and more colloquial:

previše = too much,
followed by vremena (genitive) – too much time.

The original preveliku količinu vremena is a bit more formal and explicit (literally too large a quantity of time), but the meaning is essentially the same.

Why is it pred ekranom and not something like ispred ekrana or pred ekran?

pred is a preposition meaning in front of / before.

With location (where?), pred normally takes the instrumental:

pred ekranom – in front of the screen
pred kućom – in front of the house
pred školom – in front of the school

So:

ekranom is the instrumental singular of ekran.

ispred ekrana is also possible and quite common:

ispred is more clearly in front of (spatially),
it usually takes the genitive: ekrana.

Nuance:

pred ekranom and ispred ekrana both work in this sentence; pred ekranom is slightly shorter and more general.
pred ekran (accusative) would suggest movement to a position in front of the screen (where to?), not a static position.

Here we want location (we spend time being in front of the screen), so pred ekranom (instrumental) fits.

Can I change the word order, for example: ako provodimo pred ekranom preveliku količinu vremena?

Yes, Croatian allows flexible word order. All of these are grammatically correct:

ako provodimo preveliku količinu vremena pred ekranom
ako provodimo pred ekranom preveliku količinu vremena
ako pred ekranom provodimo preveliku količinu vremena

They all mean the same thing. Small differences in order can change what is slightly emphasized, but in normal speech they all sound natural.

The original order (preveliku količinu vremena pred ekranom) groups količina vremena together and then adds where (pred ekranom), which is very typical.

Why is provodimo in the present tense if we’re talking about a general or future situation?

Croatian often uses the present tense in real conditional sentences, even when English would say if we spend (will spend) time…:

Ako provodimo preveliku količinu vremena pred ekranom, Internet može biti štetan.
= If we spend too much time in front of the screen, the Internet can be harmful.

Present tense here expresses:

a general or habitual situation,
or a condition that is valid whenever it happens, including in the future.

Using a future form (ako ćemo provoditi…) is possible but is usually used for more specific planned future actions. For general truths and habits, simple present is preferred, just like in the English if + present, will/can + verb pattern.

Why is there no subject pronoun mi before provodimo?

Croatian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (ja, ti, on, mi, vi, oni…) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

provodimo clearly indicates we (1st person plural).
Adding mi is only needed if you want extra emphasis or contrast:
- Mi provodimo previše vremena pred ekranom, a oni ne.
  = We spend too much time in front of the screen, but they don’t.

In neutral sentences, dropping mi is more natural:

ako provodimo preveliku količinu vremena pred ekranom.