Kad dođe kući, prvo otkopča kaput, a onda pokuša odvezati mokre vezice.

When he comes home, he first unbuttons his coat, and then tries to untie the wet laces.

Breakdown of Kad dođe kući, prvo otkopča kaput, a onda pokuša odvezati mokre vezice.

• kući: home
• a: and
• kad: when
• doći: to come

Questions & Answers about Kad dođe kući, prvo otkopča kaput, a onda pokuša odvezati mokre vezice.

Why is there no subject pronoun in this sentence?

Croatian often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.

Here, dođe, otkopča, and pokuša are all 3rd person singular, so the sentence naturally means he/she does these actions. The exact gender depends on context. You would only add on or ona if you wanted emphasis, contrast, or extra clarity.

Why is it kad dođe kući and not kad dolazi kući?

Because dođe is a perfective verb form, and it focuses on the action as a completed point: when he/she gets home / once he/she arrives home.

With kad, Croatian very often uses a perfective present form like dođe to talk about:

• a completed future point
• or a repeated sequence, as in whenever he/she gets home

Dolazi is imperfective, and it would sound more like is coming home or refer to an ongoing/regular process rather than the moment of arrival.

So:

• kad dođe kući = when he/she gets home
• kad dolazi kući = more like when he/she is coming home or when he/she comes home regularly, depending on context

Why is it kući? What case is that?