Questions & Answers about Imamo još vremena za kavu.
Word‑by‑word:
- Imamo – we have (1st person plural present of imati = to have)
- još – still / more (here: still, as in there is still time left)
- vremena – time (a special case form of vrijeme, used here like (some) time)
- za – for
- kavu – coffee (accusative case of kava)
So the sentence is literally something like: We have still (some) time for coffee.
Vrijeme is the basic dictionary form (nominative singular) for time.
However, when you say that you have some time (not the specific, exact time), Croatian normally uses the genitive singular:
- Imamo vremena. – We have (some) time.
- Nemam vremena. – I don’t have (any) time.
So in Imamo još vremena za kavu, vremena is the genitive singular of vrijeme, expressing an indefinite amount of time, similar to English some time or any time.
If you said Imamo vrijeme, it would sound odd, as if you were talking about having the time (slot) in a very concrete, scheduled sense. In everyday speech, with imati, people almost always say imati vremena instead of imati vrijeme.
Još has several related meanings, but in this sentence it is best understood as:
- still – We still have time for coffee.
- or some more – We have some more time for coffee.
It implies that the time has not run out yet.
About position: Croatian word order is flexible. All of these are grammatically correct:
- Imamo još vremena za kavu. – neutral, very common.
- Još imamo vremena za kavu. – slightly more emphasis on still.
- Imamo vremena još za kavu. – possible, but sounds a bit unusual; usually you’d keep još before vremena or before the verb.
The most natural everyday options are:
- Imamo još vremena za kavu.
- Još imamo vremena za kavu.
Vremena is genitive singular of vrijeme.
- Used here because with imati (to have), when you talk about an indefinite amount of a mass noun like time, you normally use the genitive:
- Imamo vremena. – We have (some) time.
- Nemamo vremena. – We don’t have (any) time.
- Used here because with imati (to have), when you talk about an indefinite amount of a mass noun like time, you normally use the genitive:
Kavu is accusative singular of kava (feminine noun).
- The preposition za (for) in this meaning always takes the accusative:
- za kavu – for coffee
- za ručak – for lunch
- za sastanak – for a meeting
- The preposition za (for) in this meaning always takes the accusative:
So:
- vremena – genitive (amount of time we have)
- kavu – accusative (object of the preposition za)
Kava is the base form (nominative singular).
In za kavu, the noun is in the accusative singular, because:
- The preposition za requires the accusative when it means for (purpose).
- Feminine nouns ending in -a usually change -a → -u in the accusative singular:
Examples:
- kava → kavu (coffee → for coffee)
- voda → vodu (water → for water)
- pica → picu (pizza → for pizza)
So za kavu is simply for coffee with the correct case form.
No, that sounds wrong to a native speaker.
With imati and the meaning to have time (available), Croatian strongly prefers the genitive:
- Imamo vremena za kavu. ✅
- Nemamo vremena za kavu. ✅
- Imamo vrijeme za kavu. ❌ (sounds unnatural in this context)
Think of imati vremena as a fixed pattern when you mean to have (some) time in a general sense.
You can change the word order. Both of these are natural:
- Imamo još vremena za kavu.
- Još imamo vremena za kavu.
Differences:
- Imamo još vremena za kavu.
- More neutral; common in speech.
- Još imamo vremena za kavu.
- Slightly emphasizes that still there is time; can sound a bit more reassuring or contrastive (for example: We’re not late yet).
Other major rearrangements are technically possible, but these two are the most natural and common in everyday conversation.
Croatian verb endings already show who is doing the action, so subject pronouns are usually omitted unless you want extra emphasis.
- Imamo još vremena za kavu. – We still have time for coffee. (normal)
- Mi imamo još vremena za kavu. – We (as opposed to someone else) still have time for coffee.
So:
- Imamo alone is normally enough.
- Add mi only if you want to stress that it is us who have the time.
Yes. Croatian often uses an impersonal construction with ima:
- Još ima vremena za kavu. – There is still time for coffee.
Compare:
- Imamo još vremena za kavu. – We still have time for coffee. (focus on us having time)
- Još ima vremena za kavu. – There is still time for coffee. (focus on time existing in general)
Both are natural; the choice depends on whether you want to emphasize we or simply the existence of enough time.
Yes, you can express the same idea with an infinitive popiti (to drink up) or piti (to drink). For example:
- Imamo još vremena popiti kavu. – We still have time to drink (finish) a coffee.
- Imamo još vremena piti kavu. – We still have time to drink coffee. (more about the activity, less about finishing it)
Differences:
- za kavu – literally for coffee, very common and neutral.
- popiti kavu – to drink a coffee (to the end), perfective aspect.
- piti kavu – to drink coffee (as an ongoing activity), imperfective.
Your original sentence with za kavu is probably the most typical everyday way to say it.