Breakdown of Narudžba još nije stigla, pa ću ih zvati odmah.
Questions & Answers about Narudžba još nije stigla, pa ću ih zvati odmah.
Stigla is the past participle (l-participle) of stići (to arrive), and it agrees in gender and number with the subject narudžba (order), which is feminine singular.
So you get narudžba … stigla.
If the subject were masculine, you’d see stigao; neuter stiglo; plural stigli/stigle/stigla.
It’s the standard Croatian past tense built with biti (to be) + l-participle: nije stigla = hasn’t arrived / didn’t arrive (depending on context).
Croatian doesn’t label it “present perfect” the way English does; it’s simply the normal past tense form used for many meanings English splits across didn’t vs hasn’t.
Croatian commonly places the clitic auxiliary (je/nisam/nije, etc.) early in the clause, often in “second position” (after the first stressed element).
Here još is first, so the clitic nije follows it: još + nije + stigla.
You may also see: Narudžba nije još stigla, but još nije stigla is very natural.
Još here means yet / still. With a negative verb it often corresponds to English not … yet:
- još nije stigla = hasn’t arrived yet.
Here pa is a connector meaning so / therefore / in that case.
It often introduces a consequence: X, pa Y = X, so Y.
It can also mean “and then” in some contexts, but in this sentence it’s clearly causal: the order hasn’t arrived, so I’ll call.
That’s Future I: the clitic form of htjeti (will) + infinitive.
- ću (I will) + zvati (to call) = ću zvati (I will call).
Other persons: ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će.
Both are correct and common.
- ću ih zvati odmah (auxiliary first)
- zvat ću ih odmah (infinitive first; zvat is a shortened colloquial infinitive of zvati)
Clitic placement rules still apply: the clitic cluster (ću ih) typically comes right after the first stressed element in the clause.
Ih is the unstressed (clitic) accusative form meaning them.
Clitic pronouns in Croatian usually come early in the clause, often right after the first stressed element, and before the main verb/infinitive:
- ću ih zvati = I’ll call them.
Narudžba is the order, but you don’t usually “call an order”; you call the people responsible for it (a shop, courier service, customer support, etc.). That’s why ih = them (the staff/people/company).
If you meant calling one person, you’d use ga (him) / je (her) / vas (you-pl./formal), etc.
Related, but not identical:
- zvati = to call (general; includes phone calls and “call someone by a name”)
- nazvati (nekoga) often emphasizes “to phone/call” and is very common for phone calls
- pozvati (nekoga) = to invite / to call on (summon)
In this sentence, zvati works fine for “phone them,” but nazvati could also fit: pa ću ih nazvati odmah.
Odmah means immediately / right away.
It’s fairly flexible in position:
- pa ću ih zvati odmah
- pa ću ih odmah zvati
Both are natural; placement can slightly affect emphasis.
Two key letters:
- ž (as in narudžba) sounds like the s in measure (/ʒ/).
- š (as in još) sounds like sh (/ʃ/).
Also, Croatian r can act like a vowel in some words, but not in these.