Breakdown of Idemo ovuda jer je ulica na ovoj strani.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
ulica
street
jer
because
Questions & Answers about Idemo ovuda jer je ulica na ovoj strani.
Why does the sentence use ovuda instead of ovdje or ovamo?
Ovdje answers gdje (where at) and ovamo answers kamo (where to or destination). But here, you are talking about the path or route you are taking, meaning "this way". This answers the question kuda (which way or via where), so we use the matching adverb ovuda.
We are moving (idemo), so why do we use the locative case in na ovoj strani instead of the accusative for motion?
Even though the main verb idemo shows motion, the second part of the sentence after jer describes a static location: the street is on this side. Because the verb in this specific clause is je (is), indicating a state of being rather than motion, the preposition na takes the locative case instead of the accusative.
Could I change the word order to jer ulica je na ovoj strani?
It is strongly preferred to say jer je ulica. The word je is an enclitic, which is a "weak" word that naturally wants to sit in the second position of its clause. The conjunction jer counts as the first position of the new clause, so je immediately jumps in right after it.
What is the dictionary form of ovoj and why did it change here?