Kad dođeš, pokaži mi ga, jer želim vidjeti novi kofer prije puta.

Because after kad for a future situation, Croatian normally uses the present tense, not future tense.

So:

• Kad dođeš = When you come / when you arrive
• not usually Kad ćeš doći

This is similar to English, where we say When you come, not When you will come.

Also, dođeš is from the perfective verb doći, which emphasizes the completed arrival: when you have arrived / once you arrive.

These come from two different aspectual partners:

• doći = perfective, to come / arrive as a completed event
• dolaziti = imperfective, to be coming / to come repeatedly / to be in the process of coming

In this sentence, the speaker means a single completed event: when you arrive. That is why dođeš is the natural choice.

If you used dolaziš, it would sound more like focusing on the process or a habitual action, which does not fit as well here.

Pokaži is the imperative form, singular, from pokazati = to show.

So:

• pokaži! = show! said to one person
• pokažite! = show! said to more than one person, or politely to one person

In the sentence, Kad dođeš, pokaži mi ga means When you come, show it to me.

They are both short pronoun forms, often called clitics.

• mi = to me
• ga = him / it for a masculine singular noun in the accusative

So:

• pokaži mi ga literally = show me it
• natural English = show it to me

Here ga refers to kofer, which is a masculine noun, so Croatian uses masculine pronoun agreement.

Because Croatian clitics follow a fairly fixed order, and dative clitics like mi usually come before accusative clitics like ga.

So the normal order is:

• pokaži mi ga

not:

• pokaži ga mi

This is something learners usually need to memorize: short unstressed pronouns tend to cluster in a standard order.

Because Croatian pronouns reflect the grammatical gender of the noun, not natural gender in the English sense.

• kofer = a masculine noun
• therefore the accusative pronoun is ga

So ga can mean:

• him, if it refers to a male person
• it, if it refers to a masculine noun like kofer

The surrounding meaning tells you which one is intended.

Because after želim = I want, Croatian uses the infinitive.

So:

• želim vidjeti = I want to see

not:

• želim vidim

This works like English want to see.

Some common patterns are:

• želim jesti = I want to eat
• želim ići = I want to go
• želim vidjeti = I want to see

Because vidjeti takes a direct object in the accusative case, and kofer is a masculine inanimate noun.

For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is often the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: novi kofer
• accusative: novi kofer

That is why the form does not visibly change.

If it were a masculine animate noun, the accusative would usually look different. For example:

• nominative: novi čovjek
• accusative: novog čovjeka

Puta is in the genitive singular.

The preposition prije means before, and it requires the genitive case.

So:

• put = trip / journey in nominative
• prije puta = before the trip in genitive

This is a very common pattern:

• prije ručka = before lunch
• prije škole = before school
• prije puta = before the trip

Not in this sentence. The noun put can mean different things depending on context, such as:

• trip / journey
• way / route
• sometimes road/path in certain contexts

But with prije puta here, the intended meaning is clearly before the trip / before traveling.

Jer means because.

It introduces the reason:

• jer želim vidjeti novi kofer prije puta
• because I want to see the new suitcase before the trip

It is one of the most common ways to give a reason in Croatian.

Because jer introduces a subordinate clause, and in standard Croatian that clause is separated by a comma.

So the structure is:

• Kad dođeš, pokaži mi ga, jer želim vidjeti novi kofer prije puta.

There is also a comma after Kad dođeš because that opening time clause is also separated from the main clause.

Some parts can move, but not freely, especially the clitics.

The most neutral version is:

• Kad dođeš, pokaži mi ga, jer želim vidjeti novi kofer prije puta.

You could also say:

• Pokaži mi ga kad dođeš, jer želim vidjeti novi kofer prije puta.

That still sounds natural.

But the clitic group mi ga should stay together in its normal position. Croatian word order is more flexible than English, but short pronouns follow special placement rules.

In many contexts, kad means when, but it can also have related uses depending on the sentence.

Here it clearly means when in time:

• Kad dođeš = When you come / when you arrive

It is not the same as ako, which means if.

So:

• Kad dođeš = the speaker expects you to come
• Ako dođeš = the speaker is not sure whether you will come

That is an important difference.

You would change the verb forms for you and for the imperative.

Informal singular:

• Kad dođeš, pokaži mi ga...

Polite singular or plural:

• Kad dođete, pokažite mi ga...

So:

• dođeš / pokaži = one person, informal
• dođete / pokažite = plural, or polite singular

This is very common in Croatian and worth paying close attention to.