Djeca već pitaju kada počinje raspust, iako je tek početak proljeća.

Djeca means children and here it is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

A useful thing to know is that djeca is a collective plural noun. It refers to more than one child, but grammatically it behaves a bit differently from many regular plural nouns. In this sentence, though, the key point is simple: it is the nominative subject, so djeca is the correct form.

Because the subject is djeca = children, so the verb must agree with it in number and person.

• pitati = to ask
• pitaju = they ask / are asking

So Djeca pitaju means The children ask / are asking.

Croatian present tense often covers both ideas that English separates into:

• ask
• are asking

Već usually means already.

So:

• Djeca već pitaju... = The children are already asking...

It gives the idea that this is happening sooner than expected. In this sentence, that fits well with the second clause: it is only the beginning of spring, but they are already asking about the school break.

That word order is very natural in Croatian.

• Djeca već pitaju... is the neutral, ordinary order.

Croatian word order is more flexible than English, but not random. Putting već after the subject sounds natural and keeps the focus on the fact that the children are already asking.

Other orders may be possible in different contexts, but Djeca već pitaju is the most straightforward version here.

Both are possible, but kada počinje raspust sounds very natural and common.

Croatian often places the verb before the subject in subordinate clauses, especially after question words like kada.

So:

• kada počinje raspust = when the break starts / when the holiday begins

Here:

• počinje = starts, begins
• raspust = school break / school holidays

This word order feels smooth and idiomatic.

Yes, kad could be used here.

• kada = when
• kad = when

The difference is mostly one of style:

• kada is a bit fuller and sometimes slightly more formal or careful
• kad is very common in everyday speech

So both of these work:

• Djeca već pitaju kada počinje raspust.
• Djeca već pitaju kad počinje raspust.

Počinje is the 3rd person singular present tense of počinjati / početi = to begin / to start.

It is singular because the subject of that clause is raspust:

• raspust počinje = the break begins

So:

• kada počinje raspust = when the break begins

Even though the main subject is djeca, the verb počinje belongs to the subordinate clause and agrees with raspust, not with djeca.

It is in the nominative case.

In the clause kada počinje raspust, the noun raspust is the subject of počinje:

• raspust počinje = the break begins

Because it is the subject, it stays in the nominative.

Because Croatian has no articles.

English uses:

• the break
• the beginning of spring

Croatian simply says:

• raspust
• početak proljeća

Whether something means a or the is understood from context.

So raspust here naturally means the school break because the context makes it clear.

Iako means although / even though.

It introduces a concessive clause: a clause that expresses contrast.

So:

• iako je tek početak proljeća = although it is only the beginning of spring

The idea is:

• The children are already asking about the break,
• even though it is still only early spring.

Here tek means only, just, or as little as this point.

So:

• tek početak proljeća = only the beginning of spring

It emphasizes that it is still very early.

This works together nicely with već:

• već = already
• tek = only / just

So the sentence contrasts:

• already asking with
• it is only the beginning of spring

Croatian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed.

English says:

• it is only the beginning of spring

Croatian says:

• je tek početak proljeća

The verb je = is is enough to express the idea. Croatian does not need a dummy subject like English it.

So the structure is perfectly normal:

• je = is
• početak proljeća = the beginning of spring

Proljeća is in the genitive case.

The noun početak means beginning, and nouns like this are often followed by a genitive noun to mean beginning of something.

So:

• početak = beginning
• proljeća = of spring

Together:

• početak proljeća = the beginning of spring

This is a very common Croatian pattern:

• kraj godine = the end of the year
• početak škole = the beginning of school
• sredina dana = the middle of the day

Because iako je tek početak proljeća is a subordinate clause, and in Croatian such clauses are normally separated by a comma.

So:

• Djeca već pitaju kada počinje raspust, iako je tek početak proljeća.

This punctuation is standard and expected.

Croatian present tense is often broader than English present tense.

• Djeca već pitaju... can mean The children already ask... or, more naturally in English, The children are already asking...
• Depending on context, English may choose have already started asking, but Croatian does not need a separate perfect form here.

So the Croatian present tense expresses a current situation very naturally.

Yes, that is close to the Croatian structure, but it sounds unnatural in English.

A more natural English translation would be something like:

• The children are already asking when the school break starts, even though it’s only the beginning of spring.

That is a good example of how Croatian and English often use different grammar to express the same meaning naturally.