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Ona se ponekad smije sama sebi jer sanja čudne, ali smiješne snove.

Ona se ponekad smije sama sebi jer sanja čudne, ali smiješne snove.
She sometimes laughs at herself because she dreams strange but funny dreams.
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Questions & Answers about Ona se ponekad smije sama sebi jer sanja čudne, ali smiješne snove.

In "Ona se ponekad smije...", what does "se" mean, and can I leave it out?

"se" is a reflexive clitic that is part of the verb smijati se = to laugh.

  • smijati se = to laugh (neutrally)
  • smijati (nekoga) (without se) = to mock someone, make fun of someone

So:

  • Ona se smije. = She is laughing.
  • Ona ga smije. = She is mocking him / making fun of him.

In your sentence, you must keep "se".
Without it, the verb changes meaning from normal laughing to mocking someone, which would be wrong here.

Why is it "Ona se ponekad smije" and not "Ona ponekad se smije"?

In Croatian, short pronouns like se, mi, ti, ga, je, mu are clitics. They normally want to be in second position in the clause (the so‑called Wackernagel position).

In the clause:

Ona se ponekad smije

the elements are:

  1. Ona (1st position – full word)
  2. se (2nd position – clitic)
  3. ponekad
  4. smije

So "Ona se ponekad smije" is natural and standard.

"Ona ponekad se smije" sounds wrong to native speakers because se is no longer in that preferred second position.

What exactly does "sama sebi" mean here? Does it mean she is alone, or that she is laughing at herself?

In this sentence, "sama sebi" means “at herself / at her own expense”, not “while she is alone”.

  • sama (fem. sg.) = herself, on her own (agreeing with ona)
  • sebi = to herself (dative of the reflexive pronoun)

So:

Ona se ponekad smije sama sebi...
She sometimes laughs at herself...

If you wanted to emphasise that she is alone when she laughs, you would typically phrase it differently, e.g.:

  • Ponekad se smije kad je sama. – Sometimes she laughs when she is alone.
Why do we have both "se" and "sebi"? Isn’t that double reflexive?

It looks “double”, but the two forms have different roles:

  • se is a clitic that belongs to the verb smijati se (“to laugh”).
  • sebi is a full reflexive pronoun in the dative case, functioning as the object of the verb (laugh to/at whom? → at herself).

Compare:

  • Smijem se Marku. – I laugh at Marko.

    • se = part of the verb
    • Marku = dative object

  • Smijem se sebi. – I laugh at myself.

    • se = part of the verb
    • sebi = dative object (to myself)

So both are needed:

  • without se, the verb changes meaning,
  • without sebi, you lose the information that she laughs at herself.
Why is it "sama sebi" and not "samoj sebi" or "sebe"?

Break it down:

  1. sebi

    • This is dative singular of the reflexive pronoun (tko? / kome? čemu? → sebi).
    • The verb smijati se takes an object in the dative:
      • Smijem se njemu. – I laugh at him.
      • Smijem se sebi. – I laugh at myself.

  2. sama

    • This is the nominative feminine singular of sam “(by) myself / alone”, agreeing with ona.
    • It emphasises that she herself is the one being laughed at:
      • Smijem se sama sebi. – I, myself, laugh at myself.

So:

  • sama sebi = she (fem.) herself, to herself
  • samoj sebi would put samoj also in the dative; that would be ungrammatical in this idiom.
  • sebe is accusative/genitive form. Here we need dative (laugh to/at whom? → sebi), not accusative.
What case are "snovE", "čudnE", "smiješnE", and "sebI", and why?

  • snove

    • masculine plural accusative of san (dream)
    • it is the direct object of sanja (sanja što? → čudne, ali smiješne snove).

  • čudne, smiješne

    • both are adjectives agreeing with snove in:
      • gender: masculine
      • number: plural
      • case: accusative
    • masc. pl. acc. adjective ending here is -e → čudne, smiješne.

  • sebi

    • dative singular of the reflexive pronoun
    • required by smijati se komu/čemu? → sama sebi (“to herself”).

So structurally:

  • sanja
    • (što?) čudne, ali smiješne snove → accusative object
  • smije se
    • (kome?) sama sebi → dative object
Can I move "ponekad" to another place, like "Ponekad se ona smije..." or "Ona se smije ponekad..."?

Yes, ponekad (“sometimes”) is flexible. All of these are possible, with slightly different emphasis:

  1. Ona se ponekad smije sama sebi...

    • Neutral; “she sometimes laughs at herself”.

  2. Ponekad se ona smije sama sebi...

    • Slight extra emphasis on sometimes:
      • “Sometimes she (of all people) laughs at herself...”

  3. Ona se smije ponekad sama sebi...

    • Also understandable, but the placement sounds a bit less natural; speakers more often put ponekad earlier.

Most natural are usually:

  • Ponekad se smije sama sebi...
  • Ona se ponekad smije sama sebi...
What is the exact difference between "san", "sanjati" and "sanja"?

  • san (noun) = a dream

    • plural: snovi
    • accusative plural: snove
    • čudne snove = strange dreams

  • sanjati (verb, infinitive) = to dream

    • Volim sanjati. – I like to dream.

  • sanja (3rd person singular, present tense of sanjati) = (he/she) dreams

    • Ona sanja čudne snove. – She dreams strange dreams.

So in your sentence:

...jer sanja čudne, ali smiješne snove.
...because she dreams strange but funny dreams.

Why is "jer" used for “because” here? Could I also say "zato što"?

Both jer and zato što can mean “because”, but they behave a bit differently.

  • jer

    • simple conjunction, neutral “because”
    • very common in spoken and written language
    • fits perfectly here:
      • Ona se ponekad smije sama sebi jer sanja čudne...

  • zato što

    • literally: “because of that that...”
    • often used when you want a slightly stronger or more explicit logical link:
      • Smije se sama sebi zato što sanja čudne snove.

In this sentence you can replace jer with zato što without changing the basic meaning:

Ona se ponekad smije sama sebi zato što sanja čudne, ali smiješne snove.

It sounds a bit more explicit, but is still perfectly natural.

Why is there a comma before "ali" in "čudne, ali smiješne snove"?

In Croatian, you normally put a comma before "ali" (“but”) because it introduces contrast.

Here, the comma separates two adjectives that describe the same noun snove:

  • čudne – strange, weird
  • smiješne – funny, amusing

So:

čudne, ali smiješne snove
strange but funny dreams

The comma before ali is standard punctuation in Croatian whenever ali connects two clauses or two contrasted parts of the same clause.

Do I really need "ona" at the beginning, or can I just say "Ponekad se smije sama sebi jer sanja čudne, ali smiješne snove"?

You do not have to use "ona". Croatian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already shows person and number.

So:

  • Ona se ponekad smije sama sebi...
  • Ponekad se smije sama sebi...

Both are correct. The version with "ona":

  • can be used when you want to emphasise or clarify who you’re talking about, especially if there are several people in the context.

The version without "ona":

  • sounds very natural and typical in normal conversation when the subject is already clear from context.