Learn Hardcore Croatian: Turistkinja iz druge zemlje pita nas za smjer do jezera. - A female tourist from another country asks us for the way to the lake.

Croatian does not use articles (no equivalents of a / an / the). The noun form and the context tell you whether it would be understood as a tourist or the tourist in English.

So:

Turistkinja iz druge zemlje... can mean a tourist from another country or the tourist from another country, depending on context.
Croatian simply doesn’t mark that difference with a separate word.

Why do we say iz druge zemlje and not iz druga zemlja? What case is that?

iz (“from, out of”) requires the genitive case.

The base forms are:

druga zemlja = another / second country (nominative, dictionary form)

After iz, both words must change to genitive:

iz druge zemlje

Breakdown:

druga → druge (genitive feminine singular)
zemlja → zemlje (genitive feminine singular)

So iz druge zemlje literally means from another country and is grammatically correct because of the genitive after iz.

What exactly does pita nas mean, and why is the order pita nas, not nas pita?

pita is the 3rd person singular of pitati = to ask.
nas = us (accusative form of mi = we).

So pita nas = (she) asks us.

About word order:

The default neutral order here is pita nas.
nas is a short pronoun (a “clitic”), and in Croatian these usually appear in the second position in the clause, right after the first stressed word or phrase.

You can say Turistkinja nas pita za smjer do jezera, and this is also correct. It slightly emphasizes nas (“she asks us (rather than someone else)”), but in many contexts there is little or no difference in meaning.

Why is it nas and not mi for us?

Croatian pronouns change form depending on their grammatical role (case).

mi = we (nominative, subject)
nas = us (accusative or genitive, object)

In this sentence, we are the object of the verb pitati (ask someone), so the object form nas is required:

Turistkinja ... pita nas... → The (female) tourist asks us.

If we were the subject, you’d use mi, for example:

Mi pitamo turistkinju. = We are asking the (female) tourist.

What is going on with za smjer do jezera? Why do we need two prepositions (za and do)?

There are actually two separate prepositional phrases:

za smjer
- za
  - accusative
- smjer (accusative singular)
  → for (the) direction
do jezera
- do
  - genitive
- jezero (nominative) → jezera (genitive singular)
  → to / up to the lake

Combined, za smjer do jezera literally means for the direction to the lake → idiomatic English: for directions to the lake.

So:

za governs smjer (accusative),
do governs jezera (genitive).

Why is it jezera and not jezero?

The base form is:

jezero = lake (nominative singular)

The preposition do (“to, up to, as far as”) requires the genitive case, so jezero must change to genitive:

jezero → jezera (genitive singular)

So:

do jezera = to (the) lake / as far as the lake.

That’s why jezera appears here.

Is smjer really how you say directions in Croatian? I often hear put or pravac too.

smjer literally means direction (as a line or path you follow). In the context of asking for directions, za smjer do jezera is understandable and correct, though in everyday speech other options are often more natural.

Common alternatives:

put = way, route, journey
- pita nas za put do jezera – She asks us for the way to the lake (very idiomatic).
pravac = direction (more technical or stylistic)
upute / uputstva = instructions
- pita nas za upute do jezera – She asks us for directions to the lake.

So smjer is fine, but put is probably the most everyday choice in this exact situation.

Do you always say pitati za when asking for directions, or can you just use pitati?

pitati can be used:

With a direct object (without “za”)
- Pita nas put do jezera. – literally: She asks us the way to the lake.
  This sounds a bit stiff or bookish in modern speech.
With “za” + object (very common and natural):
- Pita nas za put do jezera. – She asks us for the way to the lake.
- Pita nas za smjer do jezera.

In everyday language, with this meaning (ask someone for something), pitati za + [noun] is extremely common and sounds very natural.

Can you change the word order in the whole sentence? For example, is Turistkinja nas iz druge zemlje pita za smjer do jezera okay?

You have some flexibility, but not every permutation sounds natural.

Very natural options:

Turistkinja iz druge zemlje pita nas za smjer do jezera. (original)
Turistkinja iz druge zemlje nas pita za smjer do jezera. (slight emphasis on nas)
Nas pita turistkinja iz druge zemlje za smjer do jezera. (strong emphasis on nas: It’s us she’s asking...)

Your version:

Turistkinja nas iz druge zemlje pita za smjer do jezera.

is grammatically possible, but sounds awkward because nas is splitting turistkinja from its description iz druge zemlje. It’s much more natural to keep turistkinja and iz druge zemlje together.

How would the sentence change if the tourist were male, or if there were several tourists?

One male tourist:
- Turist iz druge zemlje pita nas za smjer do jezera.
Changes:
- Turistkinja (female) → Turist (male)
Several female tourists:
- Turistkinje iz druge zemlje pitaju nas za smjer do jezera.
Changes:
- Turistkinja → Turistkinje (plural)
- pita → pitaju (3rd person plural verb form)
Several male or mixed-group tourists:
- Turisti iz druge zemlje pitaju nas za smjer do jezera.
Changes:
- Turist / Turistkinja → Turisti (masculine plural, used also for mixed groups)
- pita → pitaju

How do you pronounce turistkinja, smjer, and jezera? Where is the stress?

Approximate pronunciation (stress marked in CAPITALS):

turistkinja → tu-RÍST-ki-nja
- tu as in too
- rist like reest (short i)
- ki like key (short i)
- nja is a palatal nj, similar to the ny in canyon → nya
smjer → SMYER (one syllable)
- smj is like smy
- e is like e in pet
  So it’s like saying smyer in one quick syllable.
jezera → je-ZE-ra
- je like ye in yes
- ze like zeh
- ra with a rolled or tapped r
  Stress is on the second syllable: ZE.