Learn Croatian: To nam je jasno. - That is clear to us.

Nam is the dative case form of "us". In Croatian, when you want to express that something is clear "to" someone, you use the dative case. Nas is the accusative case, which is used for direct objects. Since the sentence literally means "That is clear to us", we need the dative clitic nam.

Why are both nam and je placed right after To?

Both nam (to us) and je (is) are clitics, which are short, unstressed words. A strict Croatian rule says clitics must go in the second position of a sentence, right after the first word. Here, To takes the first spot, so the clitics must immediately follow it.

Is there a specific rule for which clitic comes first between nam and je?

Yes! When you have multiple clitics together in that second position, they follow a strict order. Pronoun clitics, like the dative nam, always come before the auxiliary verb clitic je. This is why the order is nam je and never je nam.

Why does the word for "clear" end in "-o" (jasno)?