Breakdown of Ona mi ju je posudila.
posuditi
to lend
Questions & Answers about Ona mi ju je posudila.
Why is the word for "it" ju here instead of the usual je?
The normal short pronoun for "her" or "it" (when referring to a feminine noun) is je. However, the helping verb for "she" is also je. Croatian avoids saying je je right next to each other, so the pronoun changes to ju to make it sound better.
What dictates the strict order of the short words mi ju je?
These short words are called clitics, and they must sit in a specific order. Dative pronouns like mi (to me) always come before accusative pronouns like ju (it). Finally, the helping verb je is a special exception that always goes at the very end of the pronoun chain, unlike other helping verbs which go before.
How do we know from this sentence that the item being lent is feminine?
The pronoun ju specifically replaces a feminine noun in the accusative case. Even though it translates to "it" in English, it tells us she lent something like a knjiga (book). If she had lent a masculine object like a bicikl (bicycle), the sentence would use the masculine pronoun ga and be Ona mi ga je posudila.
Can I drop the subject Ona since the verb ending already tells us it's "she"?
Yes, it is very common to drop the subject! However, clitics like mi, ju, and je cannot start a sentence. If you remove Ona, you have to move the main verb to the front to support them, making the sentence Posudila mi ju je.
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