Learn Hardcore Croatian: Jučer smo se dogovorili s njom, ali je netko zaboravio reći vrijeme. - Yesterday we made an arrangement with her, but someone forgot to say the time.

an auxiliary: present tense of biti (to be) → smo = we are
a past participle of the main verb → dogovorili = past participle of dogovoriti se

So:

Jučer smo se dogovorili… = Yesterday we agreed…
- smo shows person and number (1st person plural = we)
- dogovorili shows gender and number (masculine plural here)

This is normal in Croatian; it’s not redundant, it’s just how the perfect tense is built.

What is se doing in smo se dogovorili? Can I leave it out?

Se is the reflexive pronoun. The verb dogovoriti se is a reflexive verb meaning to make an agreement / to agree (on something).

dogovoriti nešto = to arrange / agree something (transitive)
dogovoriti se (s nekim) = to agree / make an arrangement with someone

In this sentence we need the reflexive form:

✅ Jučer smo se dogovorili s njom.
❌ Jučer smo dogovorili s njom. (wrong; sounds like you arranged her as an object)

So no, you can’t drop se here; it’s part of the verb’s basic meaning.

Why is it dogovorili (masculine plural) and not dogovorile?

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

mi (we) is grammatically unspecified gender, so:
- if the group is all female → dogovorile smo se
- if the group is all male or mixed / unknown → dogovorili smo se

By default, if gender is mixed or not specified, Croatian uses the masculine plural. That’s why the sentence uses dogovorili.

Why is the word order Jučer smo se dogovorili… and not Jučer se smo dogovorili… or Jučer dogovorili smo se…?

Croatian has clitic words (short unstressed words) that like to stand in the second position in the clause. In this sentence, the clitics are:

smo (auxiliary)
se (reflexive)

The typical order is:

First stressed element: Jučer
Then the cluster of clitics: smo se
Then the main verb: dogovorili

So:

✅ Jučer smo se dogovorili s njom.
❌ Jučer se smo dogovorili s njom. (wrong order of clitics)
❌ Jučer dogovorili smo se s njom. (clitics too late)

Word order is flexible in Croatian, but clitics almost always stay in second position in their clause.

Why is it s njom and not s ona or sa njom? What case is used here?

The preposition s (or sa) meaning with normally takes the instrumental case.

The pronoun ona (she) has this instrumental singular form:

Nominative: ona (she)
Genitive: nje / njezine
Dative: njoj
Accusative: nju
Instrumental: njom (with her)

So we must say:

✅ s njom = with her (instrumental)
❌ s ona (nominative; wrong case)

About s vs sa:

Both s njom and sa njom are grammatically correct.
s is more common; sa is often used:
- before certain consonant clusters, for euphony: sa psom, sa mnom
- or in some dialects / styles more generally.

Here s njom is perfectly standard.

What is je doing in ali je netko zaboravio and why does it come after ali and before netko?

Je is the 3rd person singular present of biti (to be), used as the past auxiliary:

netko je zaboravio = someone has forgotten / someone forgot

Again, je is a clitic, so it wants to stand in the second position in its clause.

Second clause: (Ali) je netko zaboravio reći vrijeme.

First element: ali (but)
Second position: je (clitic auxiliary)
Then the subject: netko (someone)
Then participle and rest: zaboravio reći vrijeme

If you say ali netko je zaboravio, you change the rhythm and often the focus (now stressing netko more). The neutral, unmarked pattern is ali je netko zaboravio… with je right after ali.

Why is it zaboravio (masculine singular)? Doesn’t netko just mean “someone”, not specifically a man?

Netko (someone) is grammatically masculine singular by default, so the past participle agrees:

netko je zaboravio (masc. sg.)
Compare: neka žena je zaboravila (a woman has forgotten – feminine sg.)

If you know the person is female, you can make that clear:

Neka cura je zaboravila reći vrijeme.
Some girl forgot to say the time.

But with neutral netko, Croatian uses the masculine form by default.

Why is it zaboravio reći and not zaboravio da kaže? Are both possible?

Both are possible, but there’s a nuance:

Infinitive construction (used in the sentence)
- netko je zaboravio reći vrijeme
  Literally: someone forgot to say the time
  Very natural, direct; like English forget to do something.
Da + present construction
- netko je zaboravio da kaže vrijeme
  Literally: someone forgot that he/she should say the time
  Sounds more “sentential”, sometimes a bit heavier or more explicit.

In everyday speech, after zaboraviti, the infinitive (zaboraviti reći / napraviti / ponijeti…) is extremely common and perfectly idiomatic.

What does reći vrijeme mean exactly? Is it the same as English “tell the time”?

In this context, reći vrijeme means “say what time (something is)” – e.g.:

We agreed to meet, but someone forgot to say what time.

It’s not the usual phrase for telling the time on the clock.

For “tell the time” (read the clock), you’d more typically say:

reći koliko je sati – say what time it is
znati koliko je sati – know what time it is

But in the sentence given, reći vrijeme is understood as “give the time of the meeting/appointment.”

What case is vrijeme in here, and why doesn’t it change form?

Vrijeme is a neuter noun:

Nominative singular: vrijeme
Accusative singular: vrijeme (same form)

In the sentence it’s the direct object of reći, so it’s in the accusative:

reći što? → vrijeme (accusative)

Because for neuter singular nouns, nominative and accusative look identical, you don’t see a visible change.

Could I say Jučer smo se s njom dogovorili instead of Jučer smo se dogovorili s njom? Does the position of s njom matter?

Yes, you can say both:

Jučer smo se dogovorili s njom.
Jučer smo se s njom dogovorili.

Both are grammatically correct. The difference is focus / emphasis:

dogovorili s njom (PP at the end) is a very neutral order.
s njom dogovorili can slightly highlight with her – e.g. contrasting with her vs with someone else.

Croatian allows relatively free word order, as long as:

Clitics (smo, se, je, ga, mu…) keep their second position, and
The sentence remains clear.

Here, both versions are natural.