Kad je juha gotova, prelij je u drugu zdjelicu.

Here kad means when:

• Kad je juha gotova... = When the soup is ready...

In many everyday contexts, kad and when match very closely.

Sometimes in real life, kad can feel a bit like once or even whenever, depending on context, but in this sentence the natural reading is simply when the soup is ready.

You may also see kada, which means the same thing. Kad is just the shorter, very common form.

The two je forms do different jobs.

1. Kad je juha gotova

   • Here je means is
   • Literally: When the soup is ready

2. prelij je

   • Here je means it
   • It is a clitic object pronoun referring to juha (soup)

So:

• je = is in the first clause
• je = it in the second clause

This is very common in Croatian, and native speakers distinguish them automatically from context.

Because juha is a feminine singular noun.

Croatian adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

So:

• gotov = masculine singular
• gotova = feminine singular
• gotovo = neuter singular

Since juha is feminine, you say:

• juha je gotova = the soup is ready

Yes. In Kad je juha gotova, the subject is juha.

The structure is:

• juha = subject
• je gotova = predicate (is ready)

So the clause literally works like:

• When soup is ready

Or more naturally in English:

• When the soup is ready

Prelij is the imperative form, used for giving a command or instruction.

It means:

• pour
• pour over
• in this context, more naturally: pour it into / transfer it into

This is the 2nd person singular imperative, so it is what you say to one person:

• Prelij je... = Pour it...

The verb is from preliti.

Both are possible in principle, but prelij je uses a pronoun:

• je = it

Since juha was already mentioned, Croatian naturally replaces it with the object pronoun.

So:

• prelij juhu = pour the soup
• prelij je = pour it

Using the pronoun sounds natural because the soup is already known from the first part of the sentence.

Because je here is a clitic pronoun, and Croatian clitics usually go in a fixed position near the beginning of their clause, but they do not normally come first.

In an imperative clause like this, the clitic usually follows the imperative verb:

• Prelij je u drugu zdjelicu.

That word order is normal and natural.

So for a learner, the useful pattern is:

• Verb + clitic pronoun
• Daj mi... = Give me...
• Reci joj... = Tell her...
• Prelij je... = Pour it...

It is accusative singular.

That is because u can take different cases depending on meaning:

• u + accusative = movement into something
• u + locative = location in something

Here there is movement: the soup is being poured into another bowl, so Croatian uses the accusative:

• u drugu zdjelicu = into another bowl

Compare:

• u zdjelicu = into the bowl (movement)
• u zdjelici = in the bowl (location)

Because after u with the meaning of movement, the noun phrase goes into the accusative.

The dictionary/basic form is:

• druga zdjelica = another bowl / the second bowl (nominative)

But in this sentence we need the accusative:

• u drugu zdjelicu = into another bowl

Both the adjective and noun change:

• druga → drugu
• zdjelica → zdjelicu

It can mean either, depending on context.

Here u drugu zdjelicu most naturally means:

• into another bowl
• or into a different bowl

In some contexts, drugi/druga/drugo can also mean:

• second

But in an instruction like this, English usually translates it as another or a different bowl.

In this context, yes, prelij is best understood as pour or transfer by pouring.

The verb preliti / prelijevati often suggests pouring something from one container or surface to another, or pouring over something.

So here:

• prelij je u drugu zdjelicu
  = pour it into another bowl

It is a very natural cooking instruction.

Croatian has no articles like English the and a/an.

So:

• juha can mean soup, the soup, or sometimes a soup
• drugu zdjelicu can mean another bowl or the other bowl, depending on context

Croatian relies on context much more than English does for this.

In this sentence, English naturally uses:

• the soup
• another bowl

But Croatian does not need separate words for those ideas.

It is neutral and very natural, especially for recipes or spoken instructions.

Because prelij is the singular imperative, it is directed at one person. Croatian imperatives do not automatically sound rude; this is the normal way to give instructions.

In recipes and cooking instructions, imperatives like this are extremely common:

• dodaj
• promiješaj
• prelij

So the sentence sounds like a normal recipe step or practical instruction.

You could translate it literally that way, but gotova in cooking usually means ready, not necessarily finished in the sense of used up or ended.

So the best natural translation is:

• When the soup is ready, pour it into another bowl.

That matches the Croatian meaning more closely in this context.