Sve ovisi o vremenu.

weather

Breakdown of Sve ovisi o vremenu.

• sve: everything
• ovisiti: to depend
• o: on

Questions & Answers about Sve ovisi o vremenu.

What does Sve ovisi o vremenu mean, and does vremenu here mean time or weather?

Literally, Sve ovisi o vremenu means “Everything depends on the time / weather.”

• vrijeme can mean:
  • time (abstract time)
  • weather

So o vremenu can be:

• about / on the weather → Everything depends on the weather.
• about / on time → Everything depends on time.

In real life, context tells you which one is meant. If people were already talking about the weather, it will be understood as weather; if they were discussing deadlines or schedules, it will be understood as time.

Why is it vremenu and not vrijeme or vremena?

Vrijeme is the base (dictionary) form, but Croatian nouns change their form (decline) depending on case.

Declension of vrijeme (singular):

• Nominative (who/what?): vrijeme
• Genitive (of what?): vremena
• Dative (to/for what?): vremenu
• Accusative (whom/what?): vrijeme
• Locative (about/at/on what?): vremenu (same form as dative)
• Instrumental (with what?): vremenom

The preposition o (about / on in this expression) takes the locative case, so we must use:

• o vremenu = about/on the time / about/on the weather

That’s why it is vremenu, not vrijeme or vremena.

Why is it o vremenu? I thought o usually means “about,” but here it means “on” like in “depends on.”

You’re right that o usually translates as “about”:

• pričamo o vremenu – we are talking about the weather

However, with the verb ovisi (to depend), Croatian uses o where English would use “on”:

• Sve ovisi o vremenu. – Everything depends *on the weather / time.*
• To ovisi o tebi. – That depends *on you.*

So:

• Verb ovisi → preposition o
  • locative
• Even though English uses “on”, you still use o in Croatian in this fixed pattern: ovisiti o nečemu (to depend on something).

What is ovisi exactly? What is the infinitive, and how is it conjugated?

Ovisi is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb ovisiti (to depend).

Infinitive: ovisiti – to depend

Present tense of ovisiti:

• (ja) ovisim – I depend
• (ti) ovisiš – you depend (sg.)
• (on/ona/ono) ovisi – he/she/it depends
• (mi) ovisimo – we depend
• (vi) ovisite – you depend (pl./formal)
• (oni/one/ona) ovise – they depend

In the sentence Sve ovisi o vremenu, the subject is Sve (Everything), so we use ovisi (3rd person singular).

Why is the subject Sve and not something like a pronoun Ono (“it”)?

In Croatian, you don’t usually use a dummy subject like English “it” (It depends on…).

Here:

• Sve literally means “everything, all (of it)” and is the real subject of the sentence:
  • Sve ovisi o vremenu. – Everything depends on the weather.

If you want the bare “It depends”, you usually just say:

• Ovisi o vremenu. – It depends on the weather. (literally: “Depends on the weather.”)

No pronoun like ono is needed. The verb form in Croatian already shows the person/number, so explicit pronouns or dummy subjects are often dropped.

What’s the difference between sve, svi, and svega? Why is Sve used here?

These are related but not interchangeable:

• sve

  • neuter, means “everything / all (things)” in general
  • Sve ovisi o vremenu. – Everything depends on the weather.

• svi

  • masculine plural, means “all (people or masculine/mixed group)”
  • Svi ovise o vremenu. – Everyone depends on the weather.

• svega

  • genitive form of sve; often means “(not) everything, not much, only a little of everything”, etc.
  • Nemamo svega. – We don’t have everything.
  • Ima svega. – There’s a bit of everything.

In Sve ovisi o vremenu, the meaning is general and abstract (“everything”), so the nominative Sve is the correct choice.

Can I change the word order? For example: O vremenu sve ovisi or Sve o vremenu ovisi?

Yes, Croatian word order is relatively flexible, and all of these are grammatical:

• Sve ovisi o vremenu. – neutral, most common
• O vremenu sve ovisi. – emphasizes o vremenu (the weather/time)
• Sve o vremenu ovisi. – emphasizes that everything is tied to the weather/time

The core structure remains:

• subject: Sve
• verb: ovisi
• prepositional phrase: o vremenu

Changing the order mainly affects emphasis and rhythm, not basic meaning.

I’ve also seen zavisi od in other materials. What’s the difference between ovisi o and zavisi od?

Both can mean “to depend”, but there are some usage and regional differences:

• In standard Croatian, the more typical and recommended form is:

  • ovisiti o (čemu) – to depend on (something)
  • Sve ovisi o vremenu.

• zavisiti od (čega) is also understood and used, but:

  • it’s more frequent in Serbian and some regional varieties
  • in strictly Croatian-oriented materials, ovisi(o) is preferred

Equivalent sentences:

• Sve ovisi o vremenu. – standard Croatian
• Sve zavisi od vremena. – fully understandable; more typical in Serbian / some speakers

If you are specifically learning Croatian, it’s safer to stick with ovisi o.

How would I say simply “It depends on the weather” without “everything”?

You would say:

• Ovisi o vremenu.

There is no explicit “it” in Croatian; the verb form alone is enough. So:

• Ovisi o vremenu. – It depends on the weather.
• Ovisi o tebi. – It depends on you.
• Ovisi o situaciji. – It depends on the situation.

How would I make this sentence negative, like “Not everything depends on the weather”?

There are a couple of natural options:

1. Ne ovisi sve o vremenu.

   • literally: Does not depend everything on the weather.
   • meaning: Not everything depends on the weather.
   • The ne goes before the verb ovisi, and sve is moved after the verb.

2. Ne ovisi baš sve o vremenu.

   • Not absolutely everything depends on the weather. (adds nuance)

What you generally don’t say is “Sve ne ovisi o vremenu”; the ne usually comes right before the verb, and word order is adjusted for clarity and emphasis.