Breakdown of Tvoj brat nema punjač, moraš mu ga dati.
brat
brother
tvoj
your (informal)
nemati
to not have
ga
him, it (accusative clitic)
Questions & Answers about Tvoj brat nema punjač, moraš mu ga dati.
Why is the order mu ga instead of ga mu?
In Croatian, short pronoun words (clitics) must follow a strict order when they group together. The rule is that the dative pronoun always comes before the accusative pronoun. Here, the dative mu (to him) comes before the accusative ga (it).
Why do mu and ga go immediately after moraš?
Because they are clitics, they must take the second position in a sentence or clause. The comma starts a new clause, making moraš the first word. Therefore, the clitic cluster mu ga must jump into the second position right after it.
What exactly do the pronouns mu and ga refer to here?
The word mu (to him) refers to brat (brother). The word ga (it) refers to the charger. Because punjač is a masculine noun in Croatian, it takes the masculine accusative pronoun ga, even though a charger is just an object.
If punjač is the object of the sentence, why doesn't its ending change?
It is actually in the accusative case here because it is the direct object. However, for masculine nouns that are inanimate (not alive), the accusative form looks exactly the same as the basic nominative dictionary form. That is why it stays punjač.