Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ona mi pomaže svaki dan.

mi is the unstressed dative pronoun meaning to me. The verb pomagati (to help) takes the person being helped in the dative case: someone helps to someone.

I (subject): ja
me (object, Acc/Gen): me / mene
to me (Dative): mi (clitic), meni (stressed/full form)

Why can’t I say Ona pomaže mi?

Because short pronouns like mi are clitics and must sit in “second position,” right after the first stressed word/phrase in the clause. Good options:

Ona mi pomaže svaki dan.
Pomaže mi svaki dan.
Svaki dan mi pomaže.
Ona mi svaki dan pomaže. Unnatural/wrong: Ona pomaže mi.

Can I drop ona?

Yes. Croatian usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows person/number: Pomaže mi svaki dan. Keep ona for clarity or emphasis (e.g., “She, not someone else, helps me”).

What’s the difference between mi and meni?

mi = clitic dative (“to me”), used in second position.
meni = stressed/full dative, used for emphasis or after prepositions. Examples:
Neutral: Ona mi pomaže.
Emphatic: Ona meni pomaže (a tebi ne).
Fronted emphasis: Meni pomaže svaki dan. Don’t double them in standard Croatian (avoid: Ona mi meni pomaže).

Why is it svaki dan sometimes and svakog(a) dana other times?

Both mean “every day” and are correct:

svaki dan = Accusative of time
svakog(a) dana = Genitive of time Style-wise, svakog(a) dana can feel a bit more formal/literary, but both are very common.

Is dan the direct object here?

No. The person helped is the (indirect) object in the dative (mi). svaki dan is an adverbial time expression (Accusative of time). You can also use Genitive of time: svakog(a) dana.

Can I use an adverb instead of svaki dan?

Yes: Ona mi pomaže svakodnevno (“She helps me daily/every day”). Word order follows the same clitic rules.

Why is it pomaže and not pomogne?

Aspect. pomagati (imperfective) = ongoing/habitual help, which matches svaki dan. pomoći/pomognuti (perfective) is for single, completed events. So:

Habitual: Ona mi pomaže svaki dan.
Single/once: Ona mi je pomogla jučer. Using perfective present with a habitual adverbial (e.g., Ona mi pomogne svaki dan) is ungrammatical.

How do I say “She helped me every day / She used to help me every day”?

Use the past of the imperfective: Ona mi je pomagala svaki dan. This shows repeated/habitual action in the past. Note clitic order: mi je.

Where do the clitics go in the past tense?

They still go to second position, and the cluster keeps a fixed order. In practice for this sentence:

Ona mi je pomogla jučer.
Jučer mi je pomogla.
Je li mi pomogla jučer? (Yes/no question with li) Avoid: Ona je mi pomogla.

How do I negate it?

Ona mi ne pomaže svaki dan.
Ne pomaže mi svaki dan. The negative ne does not host the clitic; mi still goes after the first stressed word (often the verb).

How do I ask “Does she help me every day?”

Neutral/standard: Pomaže li mi svaki dan?
Informal speech can also just use rising intonation: Ona mi pomaže svaki dan?

Can pomaže stand without a dative pronoun?

Yes, if the context makes sense:

With a prepositional phrase: Ona pomaže u kuhinji. / Ona mi pomaže s (sa) domaćom zadaćom. / Ona mi pomaže oko zadaće.
Generic statement: Ona rado pomaže.

How do I say “She helps me with homework”?

Common options:

Ona mi pomaže s domaćom zadaćom. (Instrumental after s/sa)
Ona mi pomaže oko zadaće. (Genitive after oko, idiomatic “with/regarding”) Both are natural.

Is there any ambiguity with mi meaning “we”?

In this sentence, no. Mi = “we” only as a stressed subject pronoun (usually at the start and capitalized when sentence-initial). Here mi is the short, unstressed dative “to me,” sitting in second position: Ona mi pomaže...

How do I pronounce ž in pomaže?

ž sounds like the “s” in English “measure” or “vision.” So pomaže ≈ po-MAH-zhe.