Poslije raspusta učenici će dobiti svjedodžbe, pa već sada svi pitaju kakve će ocjene imati.

Questions & Answers about Poslije raspusta učenici će dobiti svjedodžbe, pa već sada svi pitaju kakve će ocjene imati.

What does poslije raspusta mean, and why is it raspusta instead of raspust?

Poslije means after.

It requires the genitive case, so raspust changes to raspusta.

  • raspust = school break / holidays / vacation break
  • raspusta = of the break / after the break form

So poslije raspusta means after the school break/holidays.

Can I say nakon raspusta instead of poslije raspusta?

Yes. Nakon raspusta and poslije raspusta both mean after the break.

A rough difference:

  • poslije = very common and natural in everyday speech
  • nakon = also very common, sometimes a bit more neutral or formal

In this sentence, either works.

Why is it učenici? Is that singular or plural?

Učenici is plural. It is the nominative plural of učenik.

  • učenik = student / pupil
  • učenici = students / pupils

Here it is the subject of the verb će dobiti.

Does učenici mean only male students?

Not necessarily.

Croatian often uses the masculine plural for a mixed group or when gender is not being specified. So učenici can mean:

  • male students
  • a mixed group of students
  • students in general

If the group were entirely female, you would say učenice.

How is the future tense formed in će dobiti and će imati?

This is the Croatian future I tense.

It is formed with:

So:

  • će dobiti = will receive
  • će imati = will have

This is one of the most common ways to form the future in Croatian.

Why is će placed after učenici and after kakve?

Because će is a clitic. In Croatian, clitics usually go in the second position of their clause.

So:

  • učenici će dobiti = učenici is first, so će comes next
  • kakve će ocjene imati = kakve is first, so će comes next

This second-position behavior is very typical of Croatian clitics such as će, se, sam, je, and so on.

Could the future also be written as dobit će or imat će?

Yes.

In standard Croatian, when the infinitive comes before the future clitic, the final -i of the infinitive is usually dropped:

  • dobiti će → standard: dobit će
  • imati će → standard: imat će

So these are both standard:

  • Učenici će dobiti svjedodžbe.
  • Učenici dobit će svjedodžbe. (much less natural word order here, but the future form itself is possible)

In your sentence, the auxiliary comes first, so the full infinitive stays:

  • će dobiti
  • će imati
Why is it dobiti in the first clause but imati in the second? Is aspect important here?

Yes, aspect matters.

  • dobiti is perfective: it refers to a single completed event — they will receive the report cards
  • imati is imperfective: it describes a state or possession — what grades they will have

So the sentence naturally combines:

  • a one-time event: dobiti svjedodžbe
  • a resulting situation/state: imati ocjene
What exactly does svjedodžbe mean?

Svjedodžbe is the plural of svjedodžba.

In a school context, it usually means:

  • report cards
  • school certificates
  • grade reports

In this sentence, svjedodžbe is the direct object of dobiti, so it is in the accusative plural. For this noun, nominative plural and accusative plural look the same:

  • svjedodžbe
What does pa mean here?

Here pa means something like:

  • so
  • and so
  • which is why

It connects the two clauses and shows a natural consequence:

After the break the students will get their report cards, so everyone is already asking...

It is stronger than just a simple and.

Why does the sentence use both već and sada? Aren’t they similar?

They are similar, but together they add emphasis.

  • već = already
  • sada = now

So već sada means:

  • already now
  • even now
  • as early as now

The idea is that people are asking about grades before the report cards are even given out.

Why is it svi pitaju?

Svi means everyone or all of them.

It is the nominative plural form, used here as the subject of pitaju:

  • svi pitaju = everyone is asking / they are all asking

A learner may confuse it with sve, but sve is a different form and would not work as the subject here.

What does kakve mean here?

Kakve comes from kakav, which means what kind of or what sort of.

So literally:

  • kakve ocjene = what kind of grades

In natural English, we usually just say what grades, but Croatian often uses kakav in this situation.

Why is it kakve, not koje?

Because kakve asks about the type/quality/result of the grades, not which specific items from a known list.

So:

  • kakve ocjene? = what grades? / what kind of grades?
  • koje ocjene? = more like which grades?

When talking about school results, kakve ocjene is the idiomatic choice.

Also, kakve agrees with ocjene in:

Why is ocjene in that form?

Ocjene is the accusative plural of ocjena.

  • ocjena = grade / mark
  • ocjene = grades

It is in the accusative because it is the direct object of imati:

  • imati ocjene = to have grades

And kakve matches it:

  • kakve ocjene
Why is there no word for they before će imati?

Because Croatian often omits subject pronouns when the subject is clear from context.

Here, the understood subject is the people being talked about — most naturally the students / everyone mentioned in the sentence.

So Croatian can simply say:

English usually needs:

  • what grades they will have

Croatian does not need an explicit oni unless you want extra emphasis.

Why is there a comma before pa, but not before kakve će ocjene imati?

The comma before pa separates two main clauses:

  • Poslije raspusta učenici će dobiti svjedodžbe
  • pa već sada svi pitaju...

But kakve će ocjene imati is a dependent question attached directly to pitaju. It functions as the object of pitaju, so in standard Croatian it is normally not separated by a comma.

Why are there no words for the or a anywhere?

Because Croatian has no articles.

English says:

  • the students
  • the break
  • the grades
  • a report card

Croatian simply uses the noun:

  • učenici
  • raspusta
  • ocjene
  • svjedodžbe

Whether something is definite or indefinite is usually understood from context.

AI Language TutorTry it ↗
Your avatar
What's the best way to learn Croatian grammar?
Croatian grammar becomes intuitive with practice. Focus on understanding the core patterns first — how sentences are structured, how verbs change form, and how words relate to each other. Our course breaks these concepts into small lessons so you can build understanding step by step.

Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor

Start learning Croatian

Master Croatian — from Poslije raspusta učenici će dobiti svjedodžbe, pa već sada svi pitaju kakve će ocjene imati to fluency

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
  • Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
  • Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
  • AI tutor to answer your grammar questions