Ako valovi budu veliki, nećemo plivati blizu stijena.

to be

Breakdown of Ako valovi budu veliki, nećemo plivati blizu stijena.

• velik: big
• ne: not
• htjeti: will (future auxiliary)

Questions & Answers about Ako valovi budu veliki, nećemo plivati blizu stijena.

Why is budu used after ako? Why not su or će biti?

In this sentence, budu is used because Croatian often uses future II in an if-clause when talking about a future situation.

• Ako valovi budu veliki... = If the waves are big / if the waves turn out to be big
• Main clause: nećemo plivati... = we will not swim...

This is a very common pattern:

• Ako bude kiše, ostat ćemo doma.
• Ako dođu rano, krenut ćemo odmah.

Why not the others?

• Ako su valovi veliki usually sounds more like a general or present-time statement: If the waves are big
• Ako će biti veliki is generally not the normal choice here in standard Croatian

So the pattern is:

• ako + future II
• main clause + future I

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What tense is budu veliki exactly?