Learn Hardcore Croatian: Jutros sam se probudila odmorena i osjećam novu energiju za dan. - This morning I woke up rested and I feel new energy for the day.

The subject “I” is implied and not written. Croatian often drops personal pronouns because the verb form already shows person (and in the past, also gender).

Full version: Jutros ja sam se probudila odmorena… (possible but sounds heavy / overly explicit)
Natural version: Jutros sam se probudila odmorena…

So the subject ja (“I”) is understood from sam (1st person singular of “to be”) and from the feminine -la ending.

Why do we say sam se and not se sam?

Both sam and se are clitics (short, unstressed words) that follow strict word order rules in Croatian. Clitics like sam, si, je, smo, ste, su, se, ga, mi, ti generally go in a fixed sequence after the first stressed element in the sentence.

In this sentence:

First stressed element: Jutros
Then clitics in correct order: sam se
Then the main verb: probudila

So you get: Jutros sam se probudila…

You cannot say:

✗ Jutros se sam probudila… (ungrammatical)

Why is the verb probudila se reflexive?

In Croatian, “to wake up” (when you wake yourself) is normally expressed with a reflexive verb:

probuditi se – to wake up (perfective)
buditi se – to be waking up / to wake up repeatedly (imperfective)

The reflexive pronoun se shows that the action reflects back on the subject:

probudila sam se = I woke (myself) up.

Without se, probuditi is used for waking someone/something else:

Probudila sam djecu. – I woke the children up.

So here se is necessary: you are waking up yourself.

What is the difference between probudila sam se and budila sam se?

They differ in aspect:

probudila sam se – perfective, a completed event:
“I woke up (once, completely).”
budila sam se – imperfective, ongoing/repeated:
“I was waking up / I used to wake up / I kept waking up.”

In your sentence, you describe one specific completed event this morning, so the perfective probudila sam se is appropriate.

Why is odmorena also feminine?

odmoren, odmorena, odmoreno is an adjective meaning “rested, refreshed”. It agrees with the noun it describes in gender, number, and case.

The implied subject is ja (I), and here the speaker is female, so:

feminine singular: odmorena
masculine singular: odmoren
neuter singular: odmoreno

Examples:

Jutros sam se probudila odmorena. (female speaker)
Jutros sam se probudio odmoren. (male speaker)

Why is there no se in osjećam novu energiju?

Croatian has two patterns with the verb osjećati (“to feel”):

osjećati + object (without se) – feel something
- Osjećam novu energiju. – I feel new energy.
- Osjećam bol u leđima. – I feel pain in my back.
osjećati se + adjective/adverb – feel in some way
- Osjećam se odmoreno. – I feel rested.
- Osjećam se bolje. – I feel better.

In your sentence, energiju is a direct object, so you use osjećam, not osjećam se.

Why is it novu energiju and not nova energija?

nova energija is the nominative singular (dictionary form), but after the verb osjećati, the thing you feel is a direct object, so it must be in the accusative case.

Feminine noun energija (ending in -a):

Nominative: nova energija (subject)
Accusative: novu energiju (direct object)

In your sentence:

Što osjećam? – novu energiju → accusative object

So osjećam novu energiju is the correct form.

What does za dan add to the meaning, and why is it accusative?

The preposition za with the accusative often expresses purpose or intended use:

energiju za dan – energy for the day
novac za put – money for the trip
vrijeme za učenje – time for studying

dan is masculine:

Nominative: dan
Accusative: also dan (same form)

So za dan is “for (the) day” in the sense of “for the whole coming day / ahead of me today”. It emphasizes that the new energy is meant to last through the day.

What is the difference between jutros, jutro, and ujutro?

They are related but used differently:

jutro – noun, “morning”
- Jutro je bilo hladno. – The morning was cold.
ujutro – adverb or prepositional phrase, “in the morning” (general time)
- Ujutro pijem kavu. – I drink coffee in the morning (as a habit).
jutros – adverb, “this morning” (today’s morning, specific)
- Jutros sam se probudila odmorena. – This morning I woke up rested.

In your sentence, jutros points to this specific morning (today).

Could the word order be Jutros se sam probudila or Sam se jutros probudila?

No:

Jutros se sam probudila – ✗ wrong clitic order (sam should come before se).
Sam se jutros probudila – sounds very unnatural; clitics normally follow the first stressed element, and sam is not stressed.

Correct, natural options:

Jutros sam se probudila odmorena… (most natural)
Jutros sam se odmorena probudila… (possible but less natural)
Ja sam se jutros probudila odmorena… (adding ja for emphasis: I woke up rested this morning.)

Is it possible to say osjećam se punom energije instead of osjećam novu energiju?

Yes, but the meaning shifts slightly.

osjećam novu energiju – focuses on the thing you feel: “I feel new energy.”
osjećam se punom energije – focuses on your state: “I feel full of energy.”

Patterns:

osjećam + object (energiju, bol, hladnoću…)
osjećam se + complement (odmoreno, dobro, pun/puna energije…)

Both are correct, just slightly different ways of expressing how you feel.

Can a male speaker use this sentence, and how would it change?

A male speaker must change the feminine forms to masculine:

probudila → probudio
odmorena → odmoren

So a man would say:

Jutros sam se probudio odmoren i osjećam novu energiju za dan.

Everything else (jutros, sam se, osjećam novu energiju za dan) stays the same.