Kad pada jaka kiša, oblačim kabanicu i nosim čizme.

Yes. Kad means when here.

In this sentence, Kad pada jaka kiša means When heavy rain is falling or more naturally When it rains heavily.

A learner should also know that Croatian has both kad and kada. They both mean when, but:

• kad = shorter, very common in everyday speech
• kada = slightly fuller/more formal

So this sentence could also begin with Kada pada jaka kiša... with basically the same meaning.

Yes, literally it is rain falls.

Croatian often expresses it is raining as:

• Pada kiša = Rain is falling / It is raining

This is a very normal Croatian structure. English uses the dummy subject it in it is raining, but Croatian does not need that here.

So:

• Pada kiša. = It is raining.
• Pada jaka kiša. = Heavy rain is falling / It is raining hard.

Because jaka has to agree with kiša.

• kiša = a feminine singular noun
• jaka = the feminine singular form of jak (strong/heavy)

In Croatian, adjectives change form to match the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

So here:

• jak = basic dictionary form
• jaka kiša = heavy rain

Even though jak literally means strong, with weather it often corresponds to English heavy, so jaka kiša = heavy rain.

Kiša is in the nominative singular.

That is because it is the subject of pada:

• Kiša pada. = Rain falls.

In Kad pada jaka kiša, the word order is different, but kiša is still the subject, so it stays in the nominative.

Because the sentence describes a habitual or general action.

English also uses the present for habits:

• When it rains heavily, I put on a raincoat and wear boots.

Croatian does the same:

• Kad pada jaka kiša, oblačim kabanicu i nosim čizme.

So this does not mean only right now. It means something like:

• Whenever it rains heavily, I put on a raincoat and wear boots.

Because Croatian usually does not need the subject pronoun when the verb form already shows who is doing the action.

Here:

• oblačim = I put on / I am putting on
• nosim = I wear / I am wearing

The ending -m tells you the subject is I.

You could say ja oblačim or ja nosim, but that would usually add emphasis:

• Ja oblačim kabanicu, a ti ne. = I put on a raincoat, but you don’t.

In a neutral sentence, leaving out ja is normal.

This is an important distinction.

• oblačiti / obući = to put on, to dress oneself
• nositi = to wear

So in the sentence:

• oblačim kabanicu = I put on a raincoat
• nosim čizme = I wear boots

Croatian separates these ideas more clearly than English sometimes does.

Compare:

• Oblačim jaknu. = I am putting on a jacket.
• Nosim jaknu. = I am wearing a jacket.

Also, nositi can sometimes mean to carry, but here with clothes it clearly means to wear.

Because kabanicu is the accusative singular form.

• kabanica = nominative singular, dictionary form
• kabanicu = accusative singular

It changes because it is the direct object of oblačim:

• Oblačim kabanicu. = I put on a raincoat.

This is a common pattern for feminine nouns ending in -a:

• nominative: jakna

• accusative: jaknu

• nominative: kabanica
• accusative: kabanicu

Čizme here is accusative plural.

The singular is:

• čizma = boot

The plural is:

• čizme = boots

In this sentence, čizme is the direct object of nosim, so it is in the accusative plural. For many feminine nouns, the nominative plural and accusative plural look the same, so:

• nominative plural: čizme
• accusative plural: čizme

That is why there is no visible change here.

Yes, absolutely.

That would change the meaning slightly:

• oblačim kabanicu = I put on a raincoat
• nosim kabanicu = I wear a raincoat

In your sentence, using oblačim suggests the action of putting it on when the rain starts. Using nosim would focus more on the state of wearing it.

Both are natural, depending on what you want to say.

Because Kad pada jaka kiša is a subordinate clause placed before the main clause.

So the structure is:

• Kad pada jaka kiša, = subordinate clause
• oblačim kabanicu i nosim čizme. = main clause

In standard written Croatian, it is normal to separate these with a comma.

Croatian word order is fairly flexible, though some versions sound more natural than others.

The original sentence is very natural:

• Kad pada jaka kiša, oblačim kabanicu i nosim čizme.

You could also say:

• Kad pada jaka kiša, nosim čizme i oblačim kabanicu.

That is grammatically fine, but it changes the order of the actions.

You could also front some words for emphasis, but the basic version is the best for a learner.

So the word order is not as rigid as in English, but not every rearrangement sounds equally natural.

Yes. In this context, that is a very natural interpretation.

Croatian kad often covers both:

• when
• whenever

depending on context.

Because the sentence uses the present tense to describe a habit, the meaning is really:

• Whenever it rains heavily, I put on a raincoat and wear boots.

So even though kad directly means when, the full sense here is habitual.

Yes, it is very natural.

Some useful weather expressions are:

• jaka kiša = heavy rain
• slaba kiša = light rain
• pada kiša = it is raining
• jako pada kiša = it is raining heavily

So Croatian can express the idea in more than one way:

• Kad pada jaka kiša...
• Kad jako pada kiša...

Both are natural, though they are structured a little differently:

• jaka kiša = adjective + noun
• jako pada = adverb + verb

Not exactly, though they can overlap.

• kabanica = raincoat
• kišna jakna = rain jacket / waterproof jacket

A kabanica is specifically a raincoat, while kišna jakna is more literally a jacket for rain. In everyday use, both can be relevant depending on the exact clothing item.

In your sentence, kabanica clearly means raincoat and is perfectly natural.

Yes.

• Kad pada kiša, oblačim kabanicu i nosim čizme.
  = When it rains, I put on a raincoat and wear boots.

Adding jaka makes it more specific:

• Kad pada jaka kiša... = When it rains heavily / when there is heavy rain...

So the version without jaka is simpler and also completely correct.