Oduvijek je imala samopouzdanje.

Oduvijek means since always, from the very beginning, or more naturally in English, always / for as long as anyone can remember.

It is a little stronger and more deep-rooted than plain uvijek in many contexts:

• uvijek = always
• oduvijek = always, ever since the beginning, from way back

So Oduvijek je imala samopouzdanje suggests that her self-confidence is not something recent — she has had it for a very long time.

Imala is the past participle used in the Croatian perfect tense.

The sentence is built like this:

• je = auxiliary verb to be
• imala = past participle of imati (to have)

So together je imala means had / has had, depending on context in English.

With words like oduvijek, Croatian often uses the perfect tense for something that started in the past and has been true for a long time. In English, this may be translated as:

• She had self-confidence from the very beginning
• She has always had self-confidence

So even though it is grammatically past in Croatian, the English translation may sometimes sound like a present perfect.

Because Croatian forms the perfect tense with:

• the auxiliary biti (to be) in the present
• plus the past participle

So:

• je imala = has had / had

Also, je is a clitic, which means it usually stands in the second position of the sentence or clause.

In this sentence:

• Oduvijek = first element
• je = clitic in second position
• imala samopouzdanje = rest of the sentence

That is why the order is:

• Oduvijek je imala samopouzdanje

and not normally:

• Oduvijek imala je samopouzdanje

Because the past participle in Croatian agrees with the subject in gender and number.

Here:

• imala = feminine singular
• imao = masculine singular
• imala su / imala je? no — for neuter singular it would be imalo
• imali / imale = plural

So this sentence implies that the subject is feminine, most likely ona (she), even though the pronoun is omitted.

Compare:

• Oduvijek je imala samopouzdanje. = She has always had self-confidence.
• Oduvijek je imao samopouzdanje. = He has always had self-confidence.

It is omitted.

Croatian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are already clear from the verb form or the context. Here, the feminine participle imala tells you the subject is feminine singular, so ona is understood.

A full version would be:

• Ona je oduvijek imala samopouzdanje.

But in normal Croatian, leaving out ona is very common unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Yes, absolutely.

That version is correct and means the same thing. Adding ona makes the subject explicit.

The difference is mostly one of emphasis:

• Oduvijek je imala samopouzdanje. = neutral, natural
• Ona je oduvijek imala samopouzdanje. = more explicit; maybe contrasting her with someone else

For example:

• Njezina sestra je bila nesigurna, ali ona je oduvijek imala samopouzdanje.
  Her sister was insecure, but she always had self-confidence.

It is in the accusative singular because it is the direct object of imati (to have).

However, for this noun, the nominative and accusative singular look the same:

• nominative: samopouzdanje
• accusative: samopouzdanje

This happens because samopouzdanje is a neuter noun.

So in the sentence:

• imala samopouzdanje = had self-confidence

the word is grammatically the object, even though its form does not change.

Samopouzdanje usually works like an abstract noun meaning self-confidence, so it is typically not countable here.

Croatian also does not use articles like a, an, or the.

So:

• imala samopouzdanje literally = had self-confidence

English needs some article system or zero article depending on the noun, but Croatian does not.

If context required something more specific, Croatian would usually show that through word order, modifiers, or context rather than articles.

Yes, Croatian word order is relatively flexible, but not completely free.

This order is natural because:

• Oduvijek sets the time frame first
• je takes second position as a clitic
• imala samopouzdanje follows

Other orders are possible, but they change emphasis. For example:

• Ona je oduvijek imala samopouzdanje. = neutral with explicit subject
• Samopouzdanje je oduvijek imala. = emphasizes self-confidence
• Imala je samopouzdanje oduvijek. = possible, but less neutral in many contexts

So the original sentence is a very natural, standard way to say it.

Both can often be translated as always, but they are not identical.

• Uvijek je imala samopouzdanje. = She always had self-confidence.
• Oduvijek je imala samopouzdanje. = She has had self-confidence from the very beginning / for as long as one can remember.

So oduvijek adds the idea of long duration reaching back into the past. It often sounds more like a stable, lifelong characteristic.

Yes. In standard Croatian, it is written as one word:

• oduvijek

So the correct spelling is:

• Oduvijek je imala samopouzdanje.

not split into separate words.

Yes, in many contexts that would be a very natural English translation.

Literally, the Croatian says:

• She has/had self-confidence

But English often prefers:

• She has always been self-confident

So the Croatian noun samopouzdanje (self-confidence) can correspond naturally to either:

• have self-confidence
• be self-confident

depending on what sounds best in English.