Breakdown of Kad sve završimo, objesit ćemo kapute, sjesti za stol i probati juhu od celera i leće.
Questions & Answers about Kad sve završimo, objesit ćemo kapute, sjesti za stol i probati juhu od celera i leće.
Why is it Kad sve završimo and not a future tense like Kad ćemo sve završiti?
Because Croatian normally uses the present tense of a perfective verb after time words like kad when the meaning is future.
So:
- Kad sve završimo = When we finish everything / When we’ve finished everything
Here završimo is the 1st person plural present form of the perfective verb završiti.
For an English speaker, this can feel odd, because English often uses a present form too in time clauses: When we finish everything..., not When we will finish everything.... Croatian works in a similar way here.
What does sve mean here?
Sve means everything or all of it.
In Kad sve završimo, it is the object of završimo, so the phrase means:
- when we finish everything
- when we get everything done
The word order is natural as written. You could also hear Kad završimo sve, but Kad sve završimo is very common and neutral.
Why is there no word for we?
Because Croatian usually does not need a subject pronoun when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
Here:
- završimo = we finish
- ćemo = we will
So mi is unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast:
- Mi ćemo objesiti kapute... = We will hang the coats...
This sounds more emphatic, as if contrasting we with someone else.
Why is it objesit ćemo instead of ćemo objesiti?
This is about how the future tense works in Croatian.
The future is formed with:
- the infinitive
- plus the clitic forms of htjeti: ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete
When the infinitive comes before the auxiliary, an infinitive ending in -ti usually drops its final -i in writing:
- objesiti + ćemo → objesit ćemo
Also, ćemo is a clitic, so it normally cannot stand at the very beginning of the clause by itself. That is why after the comma, starting directly with objesit ćemo is very natural.
You could say Mi ćemo objesiti kapute or Onda ćemo objesiti kapute, because then ćemo is not first.
Why is there only one future marker for three verbs?
Because one future form can govern several coordinated infinitives.
So this part:
- objesit ćemo kapute, sjesti za stol i probati juhu...
means:
- we will hang the coats, sit down at the table, and try the soup...
Croatian does not need to repeat ćemo before every infinitive. English works similarly:
- We’ll hang the coats, sit down, and try the soup.
You could repeat it for emphasis or clarity, but normally you do not.
Why is kapute used here?
Kapute is the accusative plural of kaput.
It is accusative because it is the direct object of objesiti:
- objesiti kapute = to hang the coats
Useful comparison:
- kaputi = nominative plural
- kapute = accusative plural
So Croatian changes the noun form according to its role in the sentence.
Why is it sjesti and not sjediti?
Because sjesti means to sit down, while sjediti means to be sitting / to sit in an ongoing sense.
In this sentence, the actions happen in sequence:
- finish everything
- hang the coats
- sit down at the table
- try the soup
So sjesti is the right choice because it expresses a completed action: moving into a seated position.
Compare:
- sjesti za stol = to sit down at the table
- sjediti za stolom = to be sitting at the table
Why is it za stol? Why not na stol or za stolom?
With verbs of movement like sjesti, Croatian uses za + accusative to mean to sit down at the table.
So:
- sjesti za stol = to sit down at the table
This is an idiomatic expression. It does not mean physically going behind a table in the English sense.
Compare:
- sjesti za stol = sit down at the table
- sjediti za stolom = be sitting at the table
- na stol = onto the table surface
So na stol would mean something very different, like climbing onto the table.
What does probati mean here? Is it try or taste?
Here it means try in the sense of taste some food.
Because the object is juhu (soup), the meaning is clearly:
- to try the soup
- to taste the soup
In other contexts, probati can also mean to try to do something:
- Probat ću otvoriti vrata. = I’ll try to open the door.
So the exact English translation depends on the context.
Why is it juhu od celera i leće? What cases are those words?
There are two things happening here.
First, juhu is the accusative singular of juha, because it is the direct object of probati:
- probati juhu = to try the soup
Second, od normally takes the genitive case:
- od celera = of/from celery
- od leće = of/from lentils
So:
- celer → celera
- leća → leće
The whole phrase means something like:
- celery and lentil soup
- literally, soup of celery and lentils
Why is there a comma after Kad sve završimo?
Because Kad sve završimo is a subordinate time clause placed before the main clause.
Croatian normally separates that introductory subordinate clause with a comma:
- Kad sve završimo, objesit ćemo kapute...
This is very similar to English punctuation in a sentence like:
- When we finish everything, we’ll hang the coats...
Can I say kada instead of kad?
Yes. Kad and kada both mean when.
- Kad sve završimo...
- Kada sve završimo...
Both are correct. Kad is simply the shorter form and is very common in everyday Croatian. Kada can sound a little fuller or slightly more formal, depending on context, but in many situations they are interchangeable.
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