Learn Croatian: Nije se probudila jer je baterija prazna. - She didn't wake up because the battery is empty.

We use the negative helper verb nije (she didn't) and the past action word probudila (woke up). In the negative past tense, the helper verb and the negative word combine into a single word (nisam, nisi, nije, etc.) rather than staying separate.

How do we know it means "she" didn't wake up, since the word ona (she) isn't there?

In Croatian, you can usually drop pronouns like "he" or "she" because the rest of the sentence gives enough clues. Here, the past tense action word probudila ends in -la, which tells us it is a female doing the action. If it were a male, it would be nije se probudio.

What is the word se doing here, and why is it placed right after nije?

The verb for "to wake up" is reflexive in Croatian: probuditi se (literally "to wake oneself up"). The word se is a "clitic" (a short, unstressed word) that follows strict placement rules. Because the negative verb nije is a strong word, it takes the first spot in the sentence, and the weak se tucks in right after it: Nije se probudila.

Why does the second part of the sentence say je baterija prazna (the battery is empty) instead of using the past tense?