Learn Hardcore Croatian: On želi više vremena za odmor.

to emphasize he (as opposed to someone else):
On želi više vremena za odmor, ali ja ne. – He wants more time to rest, but I don’t.
at the start of a story or when introducing a new person.

In neutral everyday speech, many people would just say Želi više vremena za odmor when it’s clear who you’re talking about from context.

Why is it želi and not another verb like hoće? Are želi and hoće the same?

Both željeti (to want, to wish) and htjeti (commonly used as hoće in speech) express wanting, but there is a nuance:

želi (from željeti) is:
- a bit more polite/neutral, slightly softer: “he would like / he wants”.
- common for wishes, desires, preferences.
hoće (from htjeti) is:
- often more direct, sometimes sounds a bit stronger: “he insists / he’s determined / he wants (and will act on it)”.
- used a lot in colloquial speech, also used as an auxiliary in the future tense.

So:

On želi više vremena za odmor. – neutral: he wants/would like more time to rest.
On hoće više vremena za odmor. – can sound more insistent, like “he insists on more time to rest.”

Both are grammatically correct; želi is a comfortable default in many contexts.

Why is it više vremena and not više vrijeme? What case is vremena?

Vremena is the genitive singular of vrijeme (time, weather).

In Croatian:

Quantifiers like više (more), manje (less), puno (a lot of), malo (a little) usually require the genitive case:
- više vremena – more time
- manje novca – less money
- puno posla – a lot of work

So:

vrijeme – nominative singular (dictionary form)
vremena – genitive singular

You cannot say više vrijeme here; it must be više vremena because of više + genitive.

Is vrijeme irregular? Why does the genitive form look like vremena?

Yes, vrijeme is a bit irregular.

Basic forms:

Nominative singular: vrijeme
Genitive singular: vremena

The change from vrijeme → vremena is a normal but irregular-looking pattern for this noun; you simply have to memorize it.

A similar pattern appears in some other neuter nouns in -me / -nje, but vrijeme → vremena is particularly common and worth learning early.

What case is odmor in za odmor, and why?

Odmor is in the accusative singular after the preposition za.

General rule:

za
- accusative often means “for (the purpose of)”:
  - za odmor – for rest
  - za posao – for work
  - za doručak – for breakfast

For a masculine inanimate noun like odmor, nominative and accusative singular look the same:

Nominative: odmor
Accusative: odmor

So the form doesn’t change, but grammatically it’s accusative because of za.

Could I change the word order, like On želi za odmor više vremena or Više vremena za odmor on želi?

Croatian word order is more flexible than English, but not every order sounds equally natural.

Most natural here:

On želi više vremena za odmor.
Želi više vremena za odmor.

Other possibilities:

On više želi vremena za odmor. – slightly different focus: he wants more (rather than just wants).
Više vremena za odmor on želi. – possible, but sounds stylized or emphatic, often in written or poetic language.

On želi za odmor više vremena is understandable but feels awkward and unnatural to most native speakers.

As a learner, stick to:

On želi više vremena za odmor.
Želi više vremena za odmor.

How would the sentence change if I’m talking about “she” or “they”?

You change the subject pronoun and the verb form:

He wants more time to rest.
On želi više vremena za odmor.
She wants more time to rest.
Ona želi više vremena za odmor.
They (masculine or mixed group) want more time to rest.
Oni žele više vremena za odmor.
They (all female) want more time to rest.
One žele više vremena za odmor.

Notice:

3rd person singular: želi
3rd person plural: žele

Can I drop za odmor and just say On želi više vremena? Does the meaning change?

Yes, you can say:

On želi više vremena. – He wants more time.

This is fully correct. The meaning becomes more general:

with za odmor: specifically more time for rest.
without za odmor: just more time (for anything; context might specify).

If you want to emphasize that the time is specifically for resting, keep za odmor.

What’s the difference between odmor and odmaranje? Could I say više vremena za odmaranje?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

odmor – “rest” as a thing/state, like a break, a holiday, a period of rest:
- više vremena za odmor – more time for rest (for a break, for relaxing).
odmaranje – “resting” as an activity, a verbal noun:
- više vremena za odmaranje – more time for the activity of resting.

In many everyday contexts, za odmor sounds a bit more natural and common than za odmaranje, but za odmaranje is not wrong. It just highlights the action “resting” a bit more.

What tense is želi? Could it also mean “he would like” or “he is wanting”?

Želi is present tense, 3rd person singular of željeti.

In Croatian, the present tense of željeti can cover:

simple present: On želi više vremena za odmor. – He wants…
a polite/softer meaning similar to English would like, depending on tone and context.

Croatian doesn’t normally use a continuous form like “is wanting”, so želi covers both “wants” and contexts where English might say “is wanting” or “would like”.

For past desire:

On je želio više vremena za odmor. – He wanted more time to rest.

How do I pronounce želi and odmor? I’m not sure about the ž sound.

Pronunciation tips:

želi: Ž is pronounced like the s in English measure or vision.
- že – like “zhe” in “measure”.
- li – like “lee”.
- Stress is usually on the first syllable: ŽE-li.
odmor:
- od like English “odd”, but with a shorter o.
- mor like “more” but with a rolled or tapped r.
- Stress is typically on the first syllable: OD-mor.

So roughly:

želi ≈ “ZHEH-lee”
odmor ≈ “OD-mor”

Can više also mean “no more”? How do I know it means “more” here?

Više by itself usually means “more”.

It can be part of the phrase više ne / ne više, which means “no longer / no more”:

On više ne želi raditi. – He no longer wants to work.
On ne želi više raditi. – He doesn’t want to work anymore.

In your sentence:

više vremena – there is a noun in the genitive (vremena) after više, so it clearly means more time.

If više meant “no more / no longer”, you’d expect ne somewhere:

On više ne želi odmor. – He no longer wants rest.