Potpora je odobrena neovisno o tome je li kuća velika.

Because odobrena agrees with potpora, which is a feminine singular noun.

In this sentence, je odobrena is a passive-style construction:

• je = is/has been
• odobrena = approved

Since potpora is feminine, the participle must also be feminine:

• masculine: odobren
• feminine: odobrena
• neuter: odobreno

So:

• Potpora je odobrena = The support has been approved

Neovisno o tome means regardless of that, independently of that, or more naturally here, regardless of whether...

It is a fixed expression:

• neovisno = independently / regardless
• o = about / on
• tome = that in the locative case

So the phrase introduces something that does not affect the result:

• Potpora je odobrena neovisno o tome...
  = The support was approved regardless of whether...

A very similar and very common alternative is:

• bez obzira na to

So this sentence could also be phrased as:

• Potpora je odobrena bez obzira na to je li kuća velika.

Because the preposition o requires the locative case.

The pronoun to changes like this:

• nominative/accusative: to
• locative: tome

So:

• o to ❌
• o tome ✅

This is just normal case government after the preposition o.

In standard Croatian, je li is the normal way to form a yes/no question with biti in this kind of clause.

Here it introduces an indirect yes/no question:

• je li kuća velika = whether the house is big

So the sentence literally contains something like:

• regardless of that whether the house is big

That sounds strange in English if translated word-for-word, but in Croatian it is completely normal.

For learners, it is best to remember:

• je li = whether / if
• li is a question particle

You may also hear da li in speech:

• ...neovisno o tome da li je kuća velika But je li is generally preferred in standard usage.

Not here. It is an embedded question or indirect question.

Compare:

Direct question:

• Je li kuća velika?
  = Is the house big?

Embedded question:

• ...neovisno o tome je li kuća velika.
  = ...regardless of whether the house is big.

So the structure is interrogative in form, but it functions as part of a larger sentence.

Because velika here is not directly modifying the noun inside a noun phrase. It is the predicate adjective after biti.

Compare:

1. velika kuća = a big house
   Here the adjective is inside the noun phrase.

2. kuća je velika = the house is big
   Here the adjective describes the subject through the verb je.

In your sentence, the structure is the second one:

• je li kuća velika = whether the house is big

So velika stays separate because it is part of the predicate.

Kuća is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the embedded clause:

• kuća je velika = the house is big

Even though this whole clause comes after o tome, the noun kuća is not governed by o.
The preposition o only affects tome.

So the structure is:

• o tome = prepositional phrase
• je li kuća velika = separate subordinate clause

It is a past passive participle used with je.

So je odobrena functions like a passive verbal expression:

• potpora je odobrena = the support has been approved / was approved

In practice, forms like this often feel adjective-like because they agree in gender and number, but grammatically they are part of a verbal passive-type construction.

Grammatically, yes, but in English the most natural translation often depends on context.

Croatian je odobrena can correspond to:

• has been approved
• was approved
• sometimes is approved

If this is an administrative decision already made, English usually prefers:

• The support has been approved regardless of whether the house is large. or
• The support was approved regardless of whether the house is large.

So the Croatian form does not always map neatly onto one single English tense.

Yes. A very common alternative is:

• bez obzira na to je li kuća velika

This means almost exactly the same:

• regardless of whether the house is big

Another possible variant is:

• bez obzira na to što je kuća velika/mala but that changes the structure and may change the nuance, so it is not always interchangeable.

For your sentence, the closest equivalent is:

• neovisno o tome je li kuća velika
• bez obzira na to je li kuća velika

Because Croatian has no articles like a or the.

So:

• kuća can mean a house or the house
• potpora can mean support, a subsidy, the support, depending on context

Croatian relies on context, word order, and the situation to make this clear.

Here velika is correct because it agrees with kuća:

• feminine singular nominative: velika

Other forms would be used in other grammatical contexts:

• velik = masculine nominative singular
• veliko = neuter nominative singular
• velike = feminine genitive/dative/locative singular, or plural forms depending on context
• velikog = masculine/neuter genitive singular

Since the clause is:

• kuća je velika the adjective must be feminine nominative singular.

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, though not completely free.

For example, you could also see:

• Potpora je odobrena, neovisno o tome je li kuća velika.
• Neovisno o tome je li kuća velika, potpora je odobrena.

These versions are still natural, though the emphasis changes slightly.

What usually stays fixed is the clitic behavior:

• je tends to appear in second position in its clause
• je li behaves as a set expression in questions and embedded yes/no clauses

So while Croatian allows movement for style or emphasis, not every rearrangement sounds equally natural.