Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ona rijetko jede rižu za večeru, jer više voli juhu i povrće. - She rarely eats rice for dinner because she prefers soup and vegetables.

In the sentence Ona rijetko jede rižu za večeru, rižu is the direct object of the verb jede (she eats what? → rice). In Croatian, direct objects are normally in the accusative case.

For a feminine noun ending in -a in the singular:

Nominative: riža (subject)
Accusative: rižu (object)

So:

Riža je skupa. – Rice is expensive. (subject → nominative)
Ona jede rižu. – She eats rice. (object → accusative)

Why is večeru used here instead of večera?

Same reason as with riža/rižu: večera is a feminine noun ending in -a, so its accusative form is večeru.

The phrase za večeru literally means for dinner, and in Croatian, the preposition za usually takes the accusative case.

So:

Nominative: večera – Dinner is ready. → Večera je gotova.
Accusative: večeru after za – for dinner → za večeru

Structure:

Ona rijetko jede rižu za večeru.
She rarely eats rice for dinner.

Why is ona used? Could we just say Rijetko jede rižu za večeru?

Yes, you can absolutely drop ona.

Croatian is a pro-drop language: the verb ending usually shows who the subject is, so personal pronouns (like ona, on, oni) are often omitted unless you want to:

emphasize the subject, or
avoid ambiguity.

Compare:

Ona rijetko jede rižu za večeru.
Emphasis on she (maybe someone else eats it more often).
Rijetko jede rižu za večeru.
Just a neutral statement: She rarely eats rice for dinner, where she is understood from context and from the verb ending -e (3rd person singular).

Both are grammatically correct.

What exactly does rijetko mean, and where does it go in the sentence?

Rijetko is an adverb of frequency meaning rarely, seldom.

Typical neutral word order is:

[Subject] + [adverb] + [verb] + [rest]

So:

Ona rijetko jede rižu za večeru. – She rarely eats rice for dinner.

You can move rijetko for emphasis:

Rijetko ona jede rižu za večeru. – Putting rijetko first gives it stronger emphasis: Rarely does she eat rice for dinner.
This is more marked and less neutral, but still possible.

In everyday speech, Ona rijetko jede… is the most natural ordering.

What is the difference between više voli and just voli?

voli = likes / loves
više voli = literally likes more, used to mean prefers

In this sentence:

jer više voli juhu i povrće = because she prefers soup and vegetables.

You could say:

Ona voli juhu i povrće. – She likes soup and vegetables.
(Just states she likes them.)
Ona više voli juhu i povrće (nego rižu). – She likes soup and vegetables more (than rice). → She prefers soup and vegetables (to rice).

Often the nego… (than…) part is omitted when it’s obvious from context, as it is here.

Could we say voli više juhu i povrće instead of više voli juhu i povrće?

You can, but the nuances change slightly.

više voli juhu i povrće – više directly modifies voli (she more-likes them = prefers them).
voli više juhu i povrće – više is closer to juhu i povrće, and can sound more like she likes soup and vegetables more (for example, more than she used to), or with focus on the quantity/degree of liking rather than a contrast with something else.

In practice, for the meaning prefers X (to Y), više voli X is the usual and clearest pattern:

više voli juhu i povrće (nego rižu).

What does jer mean, and why is there a comma before it?

jer is a conjunction meaning because.

In Croatian, subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like jer are usually separated by a comma from the main clause, even when English often doesn’t use a comma.

Structure here:

Main clause: Ona rijetko jede rižu za večeru,
Subordinate clause (reason): jer više voli juhu i povrće.

So the comma before jer is required in standard Croatian punctuation.

Why is juhu and not juha used?

Juha (soup) is another feminine noun in -a. Here it’s the direct object of voli (she likes what?), so it’s in the accusative.

Nominative: juha – Soup is hot. → Juha je vruća.
Accusative: juhu – She likes soup. → Ona voli juhu.

That’s why the sentence has:

…jer više voli juhu i povrće.

Why doesn’t povrće change form like riža → rižu and juha → juhu?

Povrće (vegetables / veg) is a neuter noun that ends in -e in the nominative singular.

For many neuter nouns in -e, the nominative and accusative forms are identical in the singular:

Nominative: povrće – Vegetables are healthy. → Povrće je zdravo.
Accusative: povrće – She eats vegetables. → Ona jede povrće.

In our sentence:

voli što? → juha i povrće
Both juhu (accusative of juha) and povrće (same as nominative) are in the accusative case, but only juha actually changes form.

How are the verbs jede and voli formed?

Both are 3rd person singular, present tense.

jesti (to eat) – irregular
- infinitive: jesti
- 1st sg: ja jedem
- 2nd sg: ti jedeš
- 3rd sg: on/ona/ono jede
  So ona jede = she eats.
voljeti (to like / to love)
- infinitive: voljeti
- 1st sg: ja volim
- 2nd sg: ti voliš
- 3rd sg: on/ona/ono voli
  So ona voli = she likes.

Combined:

Ona rijetko jede… jer više voli…
She rarely eats… because she prefers…

Is the present tense here similar to English “present simple for habits”?

Yes. Croatian present tense (for these verbs) is used in almost the same way as English present simple when talking about habits and routines.

Ona rijetko jede rižu za večeru.
She rarely eats rice for dinner. → habitual action, not something happening right now.

If you wanted to stress that something is happening right now, you’d usually add an adverb or context:

Sada jede rižu. – She is eating rice now.
Croatian still uses the present tense form jede, but sada (now) provides the progressive meaning.

Does ona always refer to a female person? How would this change for a male?

Yes, ona is the 3rd person singular feminine pronoun, equivalent to she.

For a male subject, you would use on (he), but the verb forms jede and voli stay the same in the 3rd person singular:

Feminine: Ona rijetko jede rižu za večeru, jer više voli juhu i povrće.
Masculine: On rijetko jede rižu za večeru, jer više voli juhu i povrće.

Only the pronoun changes; the rest of the sentence is identical.