Sve dok ne nađem bušilicu, neću bušiti novu rupu u zidu.

Yes. Sve dok means as long as / until in this kind of sentence.

In Sve dok ne nađem bušilicu, the idea is:

• up to the moment when I find the drill
• so in natural English: Until I find the drill

Croatian often uses sve dok for emphasis, a bit like right up until or for as long as depending on context.

You may also see just dok in some sentences, but sve dok makes the limit clearer and stronger.

This is one of the most common learner questions.

In Croatian, after dok or sve dok meaning until, it is normal to use ne even when English does not use a negative.

So:

• Sve dok ne nađem bušilicu = Until I find the drill

Here, ne is not a normal logical negation in the English sense. It is part of the standard Croatian structure after until.

Compare:

• Čekat ću dok ne dođe. = I’ll wait until he/she comes.
• Neću početi dok ne završiš. = I won’t start until you finish.

So the learner should think of dok ne + verb as a common pattern meaning until + verb.

Nađem is the 1st person singular present tense form of the verb naći / pronaći meaning to find.

So:

• nađem = I find

But in this sentence it refers to the future because it comes after sve dok ne:

• Sve dok ne nađem bušilicu = until I find the drill

This is very normal in Croatian: a present-tense form can be used in subordinate clauses to refer to a future event.

Because Croatian forms the future with:

• htjeti in a short form
• plus the infinitive

So:

• neću = I will not
• bušiti = infinitive, to drill

Together:

• neću bušiti = I will not drill

You cannot say neću bušim, because bušim is a present-tense form, not an infinitive.

A few examples:

• Neću raditi. = I will not work.
• Neću čekati. = I will not wait.
• Neću bušiti. = I will not drill.

Good question. Bušiti is the imperfective verb, meaning the action is viewed as a process or activity: to drill.

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about the action in general:

• I won’t be drilling / I won’t drill a new hole in the wall

The focus is not strongly on the completed result, but on not doing the activity before finding the drill.

If you used a perfective verb such as probušiti, the meaning would shift more toward drilling through / making the hole as a completed act.

So:

• neću bušiti = I won’t do the drilling
• neću probušiti = I won’t drill through / I won’t make it through as a completed result

The imperfective is very natural here.

Bušilicu is accusative singular.

The basic dictionary form is:

• bušilica = drill

Since naći takes a direct object, bušilica must go into the accusative:

• naći bušilicu = to find a drill / the drill

For many feminine nouns ending in -a, the accusative singular ends in -u:

• žena → ženu
• knjiga → knjigu
• bušilica → bušilicu

So ne nađem bušilicu literally means I do not find the drill in form, but in this structure it means until I find the drill.

Both words are in the accusative singular, because they are the direct object of bušiti.

Base forms:

• nova rupa = a new hole

In the sentence, after the verb bušiti, we need the object in the accusative:

• bušiti novu rupu = to drill a new hole

Changes:

• nova → novu
• rupa → rupu

This is standard adjective-noun agreement: the adjective must match the noun in case, gender, and number.

Because here u means in or inside, not into.

Croatian uses:

• u + locative for location: in, inside
• u + accusative for motion toward/into something

So:

• u zidu = in the wall / inside the wall → location
• u zid = into the wall → direction

In this sentence, the hole is located in the wall, so Croatian uses the locative:

• zid → zidu

Compare:

• Rupa je u zidu. = The hole is in the wall.
• Udario je u zid. = He hit into the wall / the wall.

The comma separates the subordinate clause from the main clause.

Structure:

• Sve dok ne nađem bušilicu, = subordinate clause
• neću bušiti novu rupu u zidu. = main clause

This is similar to English:

• Until I find the drill, I won’t drill a new hole in the wall.

Croatian normally uses a comma here.

Yes. Croatian word order is relatively flexible.

The given sentence is very natural:

• Sve dok ne nađem bušilicu, neću bušiti novu rupu u zidu.

But you could also say:

• Neću bušiti novu rupu u zidu sve dok ne nađem bušilicu.

This means the same thing: I won’t drill a new hole in the wall until I find the drill.

The difference is mostly about focus and style:

• starting with Sve dok... puts the time condition first
• starting with Neću bušiti... puts the main action first

In this sentence, bušilica most naturally means drill, the tool.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• a hand drill
• an electric drill
• a drilling machine

In everyday speech, if someone says naći bušilicu, most people will understand find the drill.

Yes.

• Neću bušiti rupu u zidu. = I won’t drill a hole in the wall.
• Neću bušiti novu rupu u zidu. = I won’t drill a new hole in the wall.

Adding novu makes it clear that there is already an old hole, or that the speaker is specifically talking about making an additional one.

So novu adds useful meaning, not just decoration.

It is actually quite close to English once you understand the Croatian patterns.

Word-for-word-ish:

• Sve dok = as long as / until
• ne nađem = I don’t find in form, but until I find
• bušilicu = the drill / a drill
• neću = I will not
• bušiti = drill
• novu rupu = a new hole
• u zidu = in the wall

So the full sense is:

• Until I find the drill, I won’t drill a new hole in the wall.

The main thing that feels unusual to English speakers is the ne after dok. Once you learn that pattern, the sentence becomes much easier to understand.