Breakdown of Poslao je pismo liječniku.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
pismo
letter
liječnik
doctor
poslati
to send
Questions & Answers about Poslao je pismo liječniku.
Why does the word for doctor end in -u (liječniku)?
This is the dative case! In Croatian, the indirect object (the person receiving something, like a letter) takes the dative case. For most masculine nouns like liječnik, you form the dative singular by adding -u to the end.
Where is the word for "he" in this sentence?
It is hidden in the verb! Croatian usually drops subject pronouns like on (he) because the verb already tells us who is doing the action. The word poslao is the masculine singular form of the past tense, which tells us a single male did the sending.
Why hasn't the word pismo (letter) changed its ending, since it is the object being sent?
The word pismo actually is in the accusative case here because it is the direct object. However, pismo is a neuter noun ending in -o. In Croatian, all neuter nouns look exactly the same in the accusative case as they do in their normal dictionary form.
Could I change the order and say Poslao pismo je liječniku?
No, because je is a clitic (a small, unstressed word). Clitics must always go in the second position of a sentence. In this sentence, je must come immediately after the first word, Poslao.