Questions & Answers about Zapravo, možemo doći kasnije.
Zapravo most often means actually / in fact / to be honest. In this sentence it signals a correction or clarification: “Actually, we can come later.” It commonly appears:
- at the start of a sentence: Zapravo, možemo doći kasnije.
- or after the first element (especially in speech): Možemo zapravo doći kasnije. With commas, it’s treated like a discourse marker (similar to “actually,” in English).
Because zapravo is functioning as a sentence adverb/discourse marker—it comments on the whole statement rather than being tightly integrated into the clause. In writing, it’s often set off by a comma: Zapravo, ... In informal text, people sometimes omit the comma, but in standard punctuation it’s common to include it.
Možemo is a statement: “We can…” Možemo li…? makes it a question: “Can we…?” Compare:
- Možemo doći kasnije. = We can come later.
- Možemo li doći kasnije? = Can we come later?
Možemo is present tense, 1st person plural (“we”) of the verb moći = to be able to / can. Conjugation (present):
- ja mogu
- ti možeš
- on/ona/ono može
- mi možemo
- vi možete
- oni/one/ona mogu
Croatian modal verbs like moći typically take another verb in the infinitive:
- moći + infinitive = “can + verb” So: možemo doći = “we can come” Other common modals work similarly: morati (must), htjeti (want), smjeti (be allowed), etc.
Approximate pronunciation:
- možemo: MO-zhe-mo (the ž is like the s in “measure” or “pleasure”)
- doći: roughly DO-chee (the ć is a soft “ch” sound; many learners hear it as a lighter, “tighter” č)
- kasnije: KAS-nye-ye (the nj is like “ny” in “canyon”)
Both can mean later, but the usage differs:
- kasnije is the most direct for “later (than expected / than before / at a later time)” and is very common with time comparisons.
- poslije often means afterwards / after (something) and is also used as a preposition: poslije ručka = “after lunch.” In your sentence, kasnije is the most natural for “come later.”
Kasnije is an adverb, and yes—it’s the comparative form of the adverb/adjective kasno (“late”).
- kasno = late
- kasnije = later
- najkasnije = latest / at the latest
Even when there’s no explicit comparison stated, Croatian (like English) often uses the comparative for “later” as a general idea.
Yes. Word order is fairly flexible, and moving zapravo changes emphasis slightly:
- Zapravo, možemo doći kasnije. = correction/realization comes first
- Možemo zapravo doći kasnije. = “actually” is more embedded, a bit softer
- Možemo doći kasnije, zapravo. = afterthought, like “...actually.”
No. Croatian typically drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person/number.
- Možemo doći kasnije. is normal. You can add mi for contrast or emphasis:
- Mi možemo doći kasnije. = We can come later (maybe others can’t).
Common softer/politer options include:
- Možemo doći malo kasnije. = We can come a little later.
- Možemo doći kasnije, ako vam odgovara. = We can come later, if that suits you.
- Mogli bismo doći kasnije. = We could come later. (conditional mogli bismo = “we could”)
Yes, doći is typically perfective (“to arrive/come (once)”). Here it fits because the action is a single completed event: arriving later. The imperfective counterpart often used is dolaziti (“to be coming / to come regularly”), but with moći you’ll most often hear:
- možemo doći = we can come (arrive) If you mean repeated/regular coming later, you might choose dolaziti depending on context.
Yes. Doći often corresponds to both come and arrive in English. The context decides:
- meeting/visiting someone: “come”
- reaching a destination: “arrive” Croatian doesn’t distinguish those as strictly in this verb; it’s covered by doći.
Both are correct and very close in meaning. The difference is mostly emphasis/rhythm:
- Možemo doći kasnije. = neutral
- Možemo kasnije doći. = slightly more emphasis on later (kasnije), like “We can come later.”