Kad budemo imali više vremena, ponovit ćemo još jednom ovaj težak zadatak.

When we have more time, we will repeat this difficult task once again.

Breakdown of Kad budemo imali više vremena, ponovit ćemo još jednom ovaj težak zadatak.

• biti: to be
• imati: to have
• kad: when
• htjeti: will
• vrijeme: time
• više: more
• ovaj: this
• težak: difficult
• zadatak: task
• još jednom: once again
• ponoviti: to review

Questions & Answers about Kad budemo imali više vremena, ponovit ćemo još jednom ovaj težak zadatak.

What tense is budemo imali?

It is future II in Croatian.

Future II is formed with:

• the present-tense form of biti: budem, budeš, bude, budemo, budete, budu
• plus the active past participle of the main verb

So:

• budemo = we will be
• imali = participle of imati

Together, budemo imali means something like when we have / when we will have in this kind of sentence.

Croatian commonly uses future II in subordinate clauses introduced by words like kad, ako, čim, especially when the main clause is also about the future.

Why is it imali and not imati?

Because future II does not use the infinitive.

Compare:

• ćemo imati = future I
• budemo imali = future II

In future II, the second part must be the active past participle, not the infinitive. That is why you get imali, not imati.

Also, imali agrees with the subject:

• mi budemo imali = if the group is masculine or mixed, or gender is unspecified
• mi budemo imale = if the speakers are all female

So this sentence uses the standard masculine/mixed plural form imali.

Why do we use budemo imali after kad, and not ćemo imati?

In standard Croatian, after kad when referring to a future situation, the subordinate clause often uses future II, while the main clause uses future I.

So this pattern is very typical:

• Kad budemo imali... , ponovit ćemo...

This is different from English. In English, we normally say When we have more time, we’ll..., not When we will have more time.

Croatian does something different from English here:

• English uses present after when
• Croatian often uses future II after kad

So Kad ćemo imati više vremena... would not fit this sentence in standard grammar.

Why is it ponovit ćemo and not ponoviti ćemo?

Because of how Croatian writes the future I when the infinitive comes before the clitic auxiliary.

The basic future I is made with:

• infinitive of the verb
• clitic forms of htjeti: ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete

If the infinitive stands before the clitic, the final -i is dropped:

• ponoviti + ćemo → ponovit ćemo
• raditi + ću → radit ću

So:

• ponovit ćemo = standard
• ponoviti ćemo = nonstandard in standard Croatian

Why not just say ćemo ponoviti?

You can say ćemo ponoviti, but not in exactly this position by itself.

Croatian clitics such as ću, ćeš, ćemo normally cannot stand at the very beginning of a clause. After the comma, the main clause begins, so ćemo cannot simply come first there.

That is why ponovit ćemo works well here.

But you could restructure the sentence, for example:

• Kad budemo imali više vremena, još jednom ćemo ponoviti ovaj težak zadatak.
• Kad budemo imali više vremena, tada ćemo ponoviti ovaj težak zadatak.

So both patterns exist:

• ponovit ćemo
• ćemo ponoviti

But the clitic needs something before it in its clause.

What does još jednom mean here?

Još jednom means once more, one more time, or again.

Literally, još often means still / more / yet, and jednom means once / one time, but together još jednom is a very common expression meaning:

• again
• once again
• one more time

So it is a set phrase you should learn as a unit.

Why is it više vremena? What case is vremena?

Vremena is in the genitive.

After quantity words and expressions like:

• više = more
• manje = less
• puno = a lot of
• dosta = enough / a lot of

Croatian often uses the noun in the genitive.

So:

• više vremena = more time
• puno posla = a lot of work
• manje novca = less money

Here, vrijeme is a neuter noun, and vremena is its genitive singular form.

Why are ovaj and težak in that form?

Because they must agree with zadatak in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here, zadatak is:

• masculine
• singular
• accusative

Why accusative? Because it is the direct object of ponovit ćemo.

Now, for masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular. So:

• nominative: ovaj težak zadatak
• accusative: ovaj težak zadatak

That is why you do not see a different ending here.

If the noun were masculine animate, the accusative would look different.

Is zadatak masculine animate or inanimate, and why does that matter?

Zadatak is masculine inanimate.

That matters because in Croatian, masculine singular accusative behaves differently depending on animacy:

• masculine animate: accusative usually matches genitive
• masculine inanimate: accusative usually matches nominative

Since zadatak is inanimate, the direct object form stays:

• ovaj težak zadatak

If it were an animate noun, you would likely see different forms on the noun and modifiers.

What is the difference between kad and ako here?

They are close in meaning, but not the same.

• Kad budemo imali više vremena... = When we have more time...
• Ako budemo imali više vremena... = If we have more time...

So:

• kad sounds more like the speaker expects that situation to happen
• ako sounds more conditional or uncertain

In this sentence, kad suggests that having more time is expected at some point.

Could kad be replaced by kada?

Yes.

• Kad budemo imali više vremena...
• Kada budemo imali više vremena...

Both are correct and mean the same thing here.

The difference is mostly stylistic:

• kad is shorter and very common in everyday speech
• kada can sound a bit fuller or slightly more formal, depending on context

Is the word order fixed in this sentence?

No, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but it is not random.

This sentence is natural as written:

• Kad budemo imali više vremena, ponovit ćemo još jednom ovaj težak zadatak.

But other versions are also possible, for example:

• Kad budemo imali više vremena, još jednom ćemo ponoviti ovaj težak zadatak.
• Ovaj težak zadatak ponovit ćemo još jednom kad budemo imali više vremena.

What changes is usually:

• emphasis
• information structure
• placement of clitics like ćemo

So the meaning stays similar, but the focus can shift.

Why is there a comma after vremena?

Because the sentence begins with a subordinate clause:

• Kad budemo imali više vremena

Then comes the main clause:

• ponovit ćemo još jednom ovaj težak zadatak

In Croatian, when a subordinate clause comes first, it is normally separated from the main clause by a comma.

So the comma here is standard punctuation.

What aspect do imati and ponoviti have, and why are those aspects used?

• imati is imperfective
• ponoviti is perfective

Why?

Imati describes a state: to have. States are usually imperfective in Croatian.

Ponoviti means to repeat / do again once, as a completed action, so it is perfective. It fits well because the speaker is talking about one completed repetition in the future.

If you used an imperfective verb instead, the meaning would shift toward an ongoing, repeated, or habitual action rather than one completed act.

So the aspect choice is very natural here:

• budemo imali = a future state/situation
• ponovit ćemo = one completed future action