Zašto pojačavaš televizor kad beba spava?

Not literally. In everyday Croatian, pojačati / pojačavati televizor means to turn up the TV, especially to increase the volume.

So in this sentence, pojačavaš televizor is understood as:

• you’re turning up the TV
• you’re making the TV louder

Croatian often uses the device itself as the object, where English usually says turn up the TV or turn up the volume on the TV.

Pojačavaš is the imperfective present form, from pojačavati.

That matters because Croatian aspect is very important:

• pojačavati = imperfective, focusing on the process, repeated action, or ongoing action
• pojačati = perfective, focusing on completing the action

In this sentence, Zašto pojačavaš televizor...? sounds like:

• Why are you turning up the TV...?
• or Why do you turn up the TV...?

If you said Zašto pojačaš televizor...?, that would sound less natural here, because the perfective form usually points to a completed single action and is not the usual choice for this kind of complaint about what someone is doing.

Because Croatian usually does not need subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Here, pojačavaš ends in -š, which tells us the subject is:

• ti = you (singular, informal)

So pojačavaš already means you are turning up / you turn up.

You could say Zašto ti pojačavaš televizor...?, but that adds emphasis, as if you are stressing you specifically.

Here televizor is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case.

The noun televizor is:

• masculine
• singular
• inanimate

For many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks exactly the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: televizor
• accusative: televizor

That is why the form does not change.

Yes. Here kad means when.

So:

• kad beba spava = when the baby is sleeping / when the baby sleeps

In conversation, kad is extremely common. You may also see kada, which is a slightly fuller form.

So both are possible:

• kad beba spava
• kada beba spava

Both mean the same thing here.

Yes, and it would sound very natural.

There is a small nuance:

• kad = when
• dok = while

So:

• kad beba spava = when the baby is sleeping
• dok beba spava = while the baby is sleeping

In this sentence, both work well.
Dok may feel slightly more focused on the overlap in time: the TV is being turned up during the baby’s sleep.

Because Croatian present tense often covers both:

• simple present: sleeps
• present progressive: is sleeping

So beba spava can mean:

• the baby sleeps
• the baby is sleeping

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, the natural English translation is usually when the baby is sleeping, but Croatian does not need a separate progressive form like English does.

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

So beba can mean:

• a baby
• the baby

The context tells you which one is meant.
In this sentence, it is naturally understood as the baby.

Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order, because endings carry a lot of the grammatical information.

The neutral order here is:

• Zašto pojačavaš televizor kad beba spava?

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Zašto kad beba spava pojačavaš televizor?
• Zašto televizor pojačavaš kad beba spava?

These alternatives may sound more marked or emphatic. The original version is the most natural everyday wording.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Because pojačavaš is imperfective present, it can express:

• an action happening now: Why are you turning up the TV...?
• a repeated/habitual action: Why do you turn up the TV...?

Without extra context, English often chooses the progressive translation here because it sounds like someone is reacting to what is happening right now.

It is informal, because pojačavaš is the 2nd person singular form, used with ti.

If you wanted to address someone formally or politely, you would use the plural/formal form:

• Zašto pojačavate televizor kad beba spava?

That means Why are you turning up the TV when the baby is sleeping? said to you in the formal sense, or to you all.

Usually, yes, especially in a normal direct question.

• Zašto = why

Putting it first is the most natural and neutral choice:

• Zašto pojačavaš televizor kad beba spava?

Croatian can move words around more than English, but question words like zašto, tko, što, gdje, kada normally appear near the beginning of the question.

Not as a direct replacement for the whole verb, but you can build a similar sentence with it.

Glasnije means more loudly / louder.

For example:

• Zašto puštaš televizor glasnije kad beba spava?

This also means something like Why are you playing the TV louder when the baby is sleeping?

But in the original sentence, pojačavaš televizor is the most straightforward everyday way to say turn up the TV.