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Ako ne budemo žurili, nećemo stići kući prije ponoći.

Ako ne budemo žurili, nećemo stići kući prije ponoći.
If we don’t hurry, we won’t get home before midnight.

Breakdown of Ako ne budemo žurili, nećemo stići kući prije ponoći.

biti
to be
ne
not
kući
home
prije
before
ponoć
midnight
htjeti
will
ako
if
žuriti
to hurry
stići
to make it / to manage
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Questions & Answers about Ako ne budemo žurili, nećemo stići kući prije ponoći.

Why does the sentence use budemo + žurili instead of just žurimo?

Ne budemo žurili is a conditional use of future II (also called future perfect in some grammars):

  • ako + future II is very common in Croatian when talking about a future condition.
    So Ako ne budemo žurili... means “If we don’t end up hurrying / if we are not going to be in a hurry (in that future situation)...”.
    You can also hear Ako ne žurimo..., but Ako ne budemo žurili... is especially typical when the speaker is framing the condition as clearly future.
What exactly is budemo here—does it mean “we will be”?

It’s the present tense of biti (to be) used as an auxiliary to form future II:

  • budem, budeš, bude, budemo, budete, budu
    • past participle
      So budemo žurili is not literally “we will be”; it functions like “we will have hurried / we will be hurrying (as required)”, depending on context.
Why is žurili in the past form if the meaning is about the future?

Because future II in Croatian is built with an auxiliary + past participle (the so-called l-participle):

  • budemo žurili (we—masc/mixed plural)
  • budemo žurile (we—feminine plural)
    Even though the participle looks “past-like”, the whole construction refers to a future condition.
Why does the main clause use nećemo stići (future I) and not something else?

The result clause is a straightforward future prediction, so Croatian normally uses future I:

  • nećemo stići = “we won’t arrive / we won’t make it”
    Structure-wise this is very typical:
  • Ako + future II, then future I in the main clause.
What does stići mean here, and why this verb (not doći)?

stići is perfective and often means “to arrive” or “to manage to get somewhere in time” (like “make it”).
So nećemo stići kući prije ponoći strongly implies a deadline: we won’t make it home before midnight.
doći is more neutral “to come/arrive” and can sound less “deadline/time-limit” focused.

Why is kući used instead of kuća?

kući is a special form meaning “(to) home / at home”, depending on the verb:

  • with motion verbs: ići kući, stići kući = “go/get home”
    It’s historically related to a locative/dative-type form and functions like an adverbial “home(wards)”.
    You generally don’t say stići kuća.
How does negation work in nećemo and ne budemo?

Croatian negation is normally ne + verb, but htjeti (used to form future I) has a fused negative form:

  • ćemo → nećemo (we won’t)
    In ne budemo, it’s the normal pattern:
  • budemo → ne budemo (we are not going to / we won’t be in the state of…)
Why is there a comma after žurili?

Because the sentence starts with a subordinate conditional clause:

  • Ako ne budemo žurili, (condition)
  • nećemo stići... (result)
    In Croatian, it’s standard to separate the introductory Ako... clause from the main clause with a comma.
What case is ponoći, and why does it look like that?

prije (“before”) requires the genitive case.
ponoć (midnight) in genitive singular is ponoći.
So: prije ponoći = “before midnight”.

Is prije ponoći the same as do ponoći?

Not exactly:

  • prije ponoći = “before midnight” (any time earlier than midnight; emphasizes not reaching that limit)
  • do ponoći = “by midnight / until midnight” (emphasizes the endpoint midnight as the latest time)
    Your sentence specifically says you won’t make it before midnight.
Could I also say Ako ne požurimo instead of Ako ne budemo žurili?

Yes, and it’s very common:

  • Ako ne požurimo, nećemo stići...
    Difference in feel:
  • ne budemo žurili focuses on “not being in a hurry / not hurrying (as a situation)”
  • ne požurimo uses a perfective verb and sounds more like “if we don’t hurry up (take action)”.
How do you pronounce ž and ć in žurili and stići?
  • ž is like the s in “measure” or “vision” (a voiced “zh” sound).
  • ć is a soft “ch” sound (a palatal affricate), usually lighter than English ch in “church”.
    So stići is roughly like STEE-chee, but with that softer Croatian ć.