Breakdown of Ovu izdaju je planirao taj licemjer.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
ovaj
this (m) / ova (f), ovo (n)
taj
that (masculine)
planirati
to plan
Questions & Answers about Ovu izdaju je planirao taj licemjer.
Why is the object Ovu izdaju at the start of the sentence instead of the subject taj licemjer?
Croatian usually follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order. By pulling the direct object (Ovu izdaju) to the front, you emphasize it as the main topic of the sentence. It gives the feeling of "As for this betrayal, that hypocrite planned it."
With the object at the front, how does a listener know who is doing the planning?
Because Croatian uses grammatical cases, the word order can flip without blurring the meaning. Ovu izdaju has accusative case endings, proving it is the direct object receiving the action. Meanwhile, taj licemjer remains in the nominative case, identifying it as the subject who actually did the planning.
Why is the enclitic je placed after the two-word phrase Ovu izdaju instead of just after the first word Ovu?
Enclitics must go in the second position of a sentence, but "second position" can mean either after the first word or after the first complete phrase. Here, Ovu izdaju acts as a single unbroken noun phrase, so je sits naturally after it. You could legally say Ovu je izdaju... to split the phrase, but keeping it together is very common.
Wait, doesn't izdaju also mean "they betray"? How do we know it is a noun here?