Roditelji su rekli da im se sviđa naš plan.

to be

Breakdown of Roditelji su rekli da im se sviđa naš plan.

• im: them (dative short form)
• naš: our
• da: that

Questions & Answers about Roditelji su rekli da im se sviđa naš plan.

Why do we use da after rekli instead of an infinitive like in English (they said to like)?

In Croatian, verbs like reći (to say) are normally followed by a da‑clause rather than an infinitive when you report what someone said.

• English: They said that they like our plan.
• Croatian: Rekli su da im se sviđa naš plan.

Here da means that and introduces a full subordinate clause (da im se sviđa naš plan = that they like our plan).

Using an infinitive here (e.g. rekli su sviđati) would be ungrammatical. The natural structure is:

• [main clause] + da + [finite verb clause]
  Roditelji su rekli
  • da im se sviđa naš plan.

What does im mean in this sentence, and why is it needed?