Learn Hardcore Croatian: Učiteljica nam daje kratak primjer i pita jesu li naši odgovori točni. - The teacher gives us a short example and asks whether our answers are correct.

Croatian has no articles like English the or a/an.
The bare noun učiteljica can mean “a (female) teacher” or “the (female) teacher”, depending on context. You don’t add any extra word to show definiteness or indefiniteness; it’s understood from the situation.

Why učiteljica and not učitelj?

Both are nouns meaning teacher, but:

učitelj = male teacher
učiteljica = female teacher

The suffix -ica is a common feminine ending. The sentence is specifically talking about a female teacher, so učiteljica is used.

What does nam mean here, and which case is it?

nam is the unstressed (clitic) form of the pronoun mi (we).
It is:

dative plural = to us / for us

In this sentence, nam is the indirect object of daje:

Učiteljica nam daje kratak primjer.
= The teacher gives a short example to us.

So nam answers “to whom?” → to us.

Why does nam come right after učiteljica instead of after the verb (daje)?

Croatian clitic pronouns (like mi, ti, mu, joj, nam, vam, im) normally go in “second position” in the clause:

First comes (usually) the first full word (here Učiteljica),
then the clitic(s),
then the rest of the sentence.

So:

Učiteljica nam daje kratak primjer. (normal)
❌ Učiteljica daje nam kratak primjer. (possible but sounds marked/unnatural in neutral speech)

Word order in Croatian is somewhat flexible, but clitics like nam strongly prefer that second position.

What is the verb daje, and what infinitive does it come from?

daje is the 3rd person singular present tense:

Infinitive: davati (to give, imperfective)
Present: (ja) dajem, (ti) daješ, (on/ona) daje, (mi) dajemo, ...

So učiteljica daje = the teacher gives (a general/ongoing action).

There is also a related perfective verb dati (to give in a single, completed event), but the present of dati is different: dam, daš, da etc. Here we clearly have davati → daje.

Why is it kratak primjer, not kratki primjer?

kratak is the basic (indefinite) masculine singular form of the adjective kratak (short). It agrees with primjer (masculine singular).

kratak primjer = a short example

Forms:

masculine singular nominative: kratak
masculine singular accusative (inanimate noun): kratak (same form)
masculine plural nominative: kratki (short examples = kratki primjeri)

You will also occasionally see kratki primjer in real usage, because some speakers use kratki as a kind of “default” masculine form, but kratak primjer is textbook-correct here.

Which case is kratak primjer, and why?

primjer is the direct object of the verb daje (gives), so it must be in the accusative case:

(Što?) daje kratak primjer. → She gives what? A short example.

Masculine inanimate nouns have the same form in nominative and accusative singular, so:

nominative: primjer
accusative: primjer

The adjective kratak agrees in case, gender, and number, and for masculine inanimate singular, nominative = accusative, so it also appears as kratak.

What does pita jesu li mean structurally? Why not just pita jesu or pita li jesu?

pita jesu li naši odgovori točni is an indirect question:

jesu = are (3rd person plural of biti, to be)
li = a question particle that marks yes/no questions

In a direct yes/no question, you would say:

Jesu li naši odgovori točni? = Are our answers correct?

When you turn this into an embedded/indirect question after pita (she asks), you keep the same jesu li order:

pita jesu li naši odgovori točni
= she asks whether our answers are correct

You don’t say pita jesu (missing li), and pita li jesu would sound wrong because li attaches to the verb (here jesu) and triggers inversion: jesu li.

Can I say pita da li su naši odgovori točni instead of pita jesu li naši odgovori točni?

You will hear and read da li in everyday Croatian:

Pita da li su naši odgovori točni.

However:

More formal / standard Croatian prefers jesu li and similar forms (je li, hoće li, može li, etc.).
Some grammars and teachers consider da li less elegant or “colloquial”.

So:

In casual speech: pita da li su naši odgovori točni is widely used.
In careful / standard writing: pita jesu li naši odgovori točni is better.

Why is it naši odgovori, and what exactly is naši?

naši is the possessive pronoun naš (our) in the:

masculine plural nominative form

It agrees with odgovori:

odgovor = answer (masculine singular)
odgovori = answers (masculine plural nominative)

So:

naš odgovor = our answer
naši odgovori = our answers

Because odgovori is the subject of jesu (are), it is in the nominative, and naši must match that case, number, and gender.

Why is točni used here, and which form is it?

točni is the adjective točan (correct, exact) in the:

masculine plural nominative form

It functions as a predicate adjective, describing the subject naši odgovori:

Naši odgovori su točni. = Our answers are correct.

In the indirect question:

jesu li naši odgovori točni
we still need nominative, because it’s essentially the same as the direct question:
Jesu li naši odgovori točni?

So točni agrees with odgovori: masculine, plural, nominative.

Why isn’t there a comma before i pita?

In Croatian, you do not normally put a comma before i (and) when it connects two verbs that share the same subject in a simple coordinated clause:

Učiteljica nam daje kratak primjer i pita...

Both daje and pita have the same subject (učiteljica), so no comma is needed.

You would use a comma with i in more complex cases (e.g. when connecting whole clauses with different subjects, or for emphasis), but not in this basic structure.