Autobus danas ide presporo.

The bus is going too slowly today.

Breakdown of Autobus danas ide presporo.

• ići: to go
• danas: today
• autobus: bus
• presporo: too slowly

Questions & Answers about Autobus danas ide presporo.

Why is the verb ide used here instead of je (like “is”)?

In Croatian you normally talk about how something moves using a motion verb, not the verb “to be”.

• ići = to go

  • Autobus danas ide presporo. = The bus is going too slowly today.
    Here the focus is on the action of moving and its speed.

• biti = to be

  • Autobus je danas prespor. = The bus is too slow today.
    This sounds more like a general description of the bus (as if “the bus is a slow bus today”).

Both are grammatically correct, but:

• ide presporo = “is going too slowly” (movement-focused)
• je prespor = “is too slow” (state / property-focused)

What are the grammatical roles of each word in Autobus danas ide presporo?

• Autobus – noun, nominative singular, masculine; the subject.
• danas – adverb of time (“today”); invariable (no cases).
• ide – 3rd person singular present of ići (“to go”); the main verb.
• presporo – adverb of manner (“too slowly”); describes how the bus goes.

So the structure is:
[Subject] [Time adverb] [Verb] [Manner adverb]

What exactly is presporo, and why not just sporo?

• spor = slow (adjective)
• sporo = slowly (adverb)
• presporo = too slowly (adverb)

presporo is pre- + sporo:

• pre- is a prefix meaning “too, overly” (more than is good/acceptable).
• Adding it to sporo gives presporo: “too slowly”.

Compare:

• Autobus danas ide sporo. – The bus is going slowly today. (neutral)
• Autobus danas ide presporo. – The bus is going too slowly today. (it’s a problem)

Why is presporo one word? Can I write pre sporo as two words?

In standard Croatian, pre- as “too/overly” is written together with the adjective or adverb:

• presporo – too slowly
• prebrzo – too fast
• preskupo – too expensive
• prejako – too strong

Writing pre sporo as two words is considered non‑standard or dialectal.
For correct, standard writing, keep it as one word: presporo.

Why is it presporo and not prespor here?

Because here you are describing the verb (ide), not the noun (autobus).

In Croatian:

• Adjectives match nouns:

  • spor autobus – a slow bus
  • Autobus je prespor. – The bus is too slow. (adjective describing autobus)

• Adverbs describe verbs:

  • Autobus ide sporo. – The bus goes slowly.
  • Autobus ide presporo. – The bus goes too slowly.

So:

• prespor – adjective ( “too slow” as a quality of a thing/person)
• presporo – adverb (“too slowly” as a way of doing something)

Can danas (“today”) go in a different position in the sentence?

Yes. Croatian word order is fairly flexible, and adverbs of time like danas can move. All of these are grammatically correct:

• Autobus danas ide presporo. – neutral, very natural.
• Danas autobus ide presporo. – slight emphasis on today (“Today, the bus is going too slowly”).
• Autobus ide danas presporo. – possible, but less common; sounds a bit marked or stylistic.
• Danas ide autobus presporo. – strong emphasis on danas, more stylistic or spoken.

The most natural everyday versions are:

• Autobus danas ide presporo.
• Danas autobus ide presporo.

Could I say Autobus danas vozi presporo instead of ide presporo? What’s the difference between ići and voziti?

Both sentences are understandable, but there is a nuance:

• ići – “to go, to move, to travel”

  • Autobus danas ide presporo.
    Neutral, very common way to talk about how fast the bus is moving.

• voziti – “to drive / to transport / to run (as a vehicle)”

  • Autobus danas vozi presporo.
    Focuses more on the bus running as a service / driving along its route.

In practice:

• For talking about how fast a vehicle is moving, ići is extremely common and sounds very natural.
• voziti can also be used, but many learners are safest defaulting to ići in this kind of sentence.

Why is there no word for “the” in Autobus danas ide presporo?

Croatian has no articles (no “a/an” or “the”). The noun autobus can mean:

• a bus
• the bus

Which one is meant depends on context, not on a separate word:

• Autobus danas ide presporo.
  In most realistic contexts, this will be understood as “The bus is going too slowly today” (a specific bus you’re talking about).

To make it more specific, Croatian can add a demonstrative:

• Taj autobus danas ide presporo. – That bus is going too slowly today.

Why isn’t there a pronoun like on (“he/it”) before ide?

Croatian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are usually omitted, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• ide (3rd person singular) already tells you “he / she / it goes”.
• The noun Autobus is given explicitly, so you don’t need on.

So:

• Autobus danas ide presporo. – normal, natural.
• On danas ide presporo. – “He is going too slowly today.” (about a male person)
• On, autobus, danas ide presporo. – would sound like you’re personifying the bus and really emphasizing “he, the bus…”, and is not normal in everyday speech.

In short: Croatian usually drops subject pronouns unless you want to emphasize them.

How would I say “The bus is not going too slowly today” in Croatian?

You negate the verb by adding ne directly before it:

• Autobus danas ne ide presporo.
  = The bus is not going too slowly today.

Pattern:

• ide → ne ide
• vozi → ne vozi
• radi → ne radi

How would I turn this into a yes/no question: “Is the bus going too slowly today?”

The standard way is to use li after the verb and invert verb + subject:

• Ide li autobus danas presporo?
  = Is the bus going too slowly today?

You can also keep the word order and rely on intonation in spoken language:

• Autobus danas ide presporo? – with rising question intonation.

But the clear, standard question form is:

• Ide li autobus danas presporo?