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Ponekad se pitam učim li dovoljno hrvatski.

Ponekad se pitam učim li dovoljno hrvatski.
Sometimes I wonder if I am studying Croatian enough.
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Questions & Answers about Ponekad se pitam učim li dovoljno hrvatski.

What in this sentence corresponds to English “if / whether”? Why isn’t ako used?

The “if / whether” meaning is carried by the little word li, attached to the verb:

  • učim li ≈ “if/whether I am studying”

In Croatian, li is a question particle used in yes/no questions, including indirect questions like this one.

  • Direct: Učim li dovoljno hrvatski? – “Am I studying enough Croatian?”
  • Indirect: Pitam se učim li dovoljno hrvatski. – “I wonder if I’m studying enough Croatian.”

The word ako means “if” only in the conditional sense:

  • Ako učim svaki dan, napredovat ću. – “If I study every day, I will make progress.”

So in “I wonder if I study enough Croatian”, you must use li, not ako.

What does se mean in ponekad se pitam, and why is it needed?

Se is a reflexive pronoun. Here it corresponds to English “myself”:

  • pitam se ≈ “I ask myself” / “I wonder”

Without se, pitam just means “I ask (someone else)”. With se, it’s reflexive: the action comes back to the subject (you are asking yourself).

So:

  • pitam učitelja – I ask the teacher
  • pitam se – I ask myself / I wonder

In this sentence, se is obligatory if you want the meaning “wonder” or “ask myself”.

Why is the word order “Ponekad se pitam” and not “Ponekad pitam se”?

In Croatian, short words like se, li, mi, ga, etc. are clitics. They almost always go in second position in the clause, after the first stressed word.

  • First stressed word: Ponekad
  • Then clitic: se
  • Then verb: pitam

So:

  • ✅ Ponekad se pitam…
  • ✅ Ja se ponekad pitam… (if you add ja)
  • ❌ Ponekad pitam se… – this breaks the clitic-position rule and sounds wrong.

You can move the adverb:

  • ✅ Pitam se ponekad učim li… – “I sometimes wonder if…”

but se must stay in its clitic slot, not after pitam in this particular structure.

Why is the order “učim li” and not “li učim”?

Again, because of the clitic rule. Li is also a clitic, and it has to appear right after the first stressed word of its clause.

Here the clause is učim li dovoljno hrvatski. The first stressed word is učim, so li must follow it:

  • ✅ učim li dovoljno hrvatski – correct
  • ❌ li učim dovoljno hrvatski – ungrammatical

The pattern for yes/no questions is usually:

[verb] + li + (rest of clause)

  • Dolaziš li sutra? – “Are you coming tomorrow?”
  • Ne znam dolaziš li sutra. – “I don’t know if you’re coming tomorrow.”
Can I say “Ponekad se pitam da li učim dovoljno hrvatski” or “Ponekad se pitam ako učim dovoljno hrvatski”?

  • da li:

    • Ponekad se pitam da li učim dovoljno hrvatski.
      This is very common in everyday speech and widely understood.
      However, in more formal / standard Croatian, people prefer just li without da:
      • More standard: Ponekad se pitam, učim li dovoljno hrvatski.

  • ako:

    • Ponekad se pitam ako učim dovoljno hrvatski is wrong for the intended meaning.
      Ako introduces a real condition (“if I study enough Croatian, then something will happen”), not an indirect question.

So:

  • Colloquial but common: da li učim dovoljno hrvatski
  • More standard: učim li dovoljno hrvatski
  • Not correct here: ako učim dovoljno hrvatski
Why is it just hrvatski at the end? Why not hrvatskog or hrvatski jezik?

Here hrvatski is an adjective used as a noun, meaning “(the) Croatian language”.

Grammatically:

  • It’s masculine singular and inanimate.
  • In Croatian, for masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative form is the same as the nominative:
    • nominative: hrvatski (Croatian)
    • accusative: hrvatski (I learn Croatian)

So:

  • Učim hrvatski. – “I study Croatian.” (object in accusative)
  • Hrvatski je težak. – “Croatian is hard.” (subject in nominative)

You can also say:

  • učim hrvatski jezik – literally “I study the Croatian language”
  • učim hrvatski – shorter, very common in speech

If you say dovoljno hrvatskog, that shifts the meaning slightly to “enough of Croatian” (as a quantity of language, e.g. in a text), rather than “enough Croatian (in general)”. The given sentence uses the more neutral hrvatski.

Where is the subject “I” in the Croatian sentence?

It’s built into the verb ending, so the pronoun ja is normally omitted.

  • pitam = “I ask” / “I am asking”
    • stem: pita-
    • ending: -m (1st person singular)
  • učim = “I learn / I study”
    • stem: uči-
    • ending: -m

Croatian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are usually left out unless you want to emphasize or contrast them.

You could say:

  • Ja se ponekad pitam učim li dovoljno hrvatski.

but it sounds like you’re stressing “I (as opposed to someone else)”. In neutral sentences, ja is dropped.

What exactly is dovoljno here? Does it agree with hrvatski?

In this sentence, dovoljno is an adverb meaning “enough / sufficiently” modifying the verb učim:

  • učim dovoljno – “I study enough / sufficiently”

Because it’s an adverb, it does not change its form and does not agree with hrvatski.

Compare:

  • Učim dovoljno hrvatski. – I study Croatian enough. (adverb modifying učim)
  • Imam dovoljno knjiga. – I have enough books. (here dovoljno functions more like a “quantifier” with a noun)
  • Dovoljan je. – He is enough / sufficient. (dovoljan is an adjective and does agree with the noun.)

You can move dovoljno a bit for emphasis:

  • Ponekad se pitam učim li dovoljno hrvatski. (neutral)
  • Ponekad se pitam dovoljno li učim hrvatski. (possible but unusual, strong focus on “enough”)

The given order is by far the most natural.

Why is učim used, and not something like naučim?

Croatian distinguishes aspect:

  • učiti – imperfective: to be studying/learning (process, ongoing)
  • naučiti – perfective: to learn something completely (achievement, result)

In this sentence, you are talking about how much you study in general / over time, so the imperfective is correct:

  • Ponekad se pitam učim li dovoljno hrvatski.
    – “Sometimes I wonder if I am studying Croatian enough.” (ongoing process)

If you say:

  • Ponekad se pitam hoću li naučiti hrvatski.
    – “Sometimes I wonder if I will (ever) manage to learn Croatian.” (achieve the final result)

So učim focuses on effort/study amount, naučim focuses on successful completion of learning.

Should there be a comma before “učim li dovoljno hrvatski”?

You will see it both with and without a comma:

  • Ponekad se pitam, učim li dovoljno hrvatski.
  • Ponekad se pitam učim li dovoljno hrvatski.

According to more traditional / formal punctuation rules, an object clause like učim li dovoljno hrvatski is usually set off by a comma, so the first version is more “school‑book correct”.

In everyday writing, many native speakers leave the comma out in short, simple sentences like this. For learning purposes, it’s safest to include the comma, but you should recognize both variants as normal in real texts.