Learn Hardcore Croatian: Roditelji su napokon prihvatili da se želim seliti u drugi grad. - My parents have finally accepted that I want to move to another city.

In Croatian, the auxiliary biti (to be) in the past tense is a clitic, and clitics normally go in second position in the clause, not necessarily right next to “their” verb.

Roditelji su napokon prihvatili…
- Roditelji = first element in the clause
- su = clitic, goes right after the first element
- napokon prihvatili = the rest of the predicate

You could also say:

Roditelji su prihvatili napokon… (also fine, just a slightly different rhythm)

But you normally wouldn’t put su at the very end:

✗ Roditelji napokon prihvatili su… (sounds wrong/very marked)

So: su is where it is because of the general “second position clitic” rule in Croatian.

Why is it prihvatili and not something like prihvatili su on its own or prihvatili su da as one unit?

Prihvatili is the past participle of prihvatiti (to accept).

The whole past tense form is made of:

auxiliary su (present tense of biti)
past participle prihvatili

Together: su prihvatili = accepted.

They do belong together semantically, but because su is a clitic, it is forced into second position in the clause. The verb itself (prihvatili) can be separated from su by adverbs or other material:

Roditelji su prihvatili da…
Roditelji su napokon prihvatili da…
Roditelji napokon su prihvatili da… (possible, but more marked)

So prihvatili is just the participle; the “full verb” in past tense is su prihvatili, even if they’re not touching each other.

Why is da used here? Why not just say prihvatili želim seliti se u drugi grad?

In Croatian, many verbs that introduce a that-clause in English require the conjunction da before the subordinate clause.

English:

They accepted *that I want to move to another city.*

Croatian:

Prihvatili su da se želim seliti u drugi grad.

You cannot simply attach a finite verb (želim) without da:

✗ Prihvatili su želim seliti se u drugi grad. (ungrammatical)

So after verbs like prihvatiti, misliti, reći, nadati se, you normally use da + a finite clause:

Prihvatili su da…
Mislimo da… (We think that…)
Rekao je da… (He said that…)

What is the role of se in da se želim seliti? Why isn’t it right next to seliti?

The verb seliti se means to move (house), to relocate oneself.
Without se, seliti usually means to move something/someone else.

seliti se = to move (one’s own place of living)
seliti namještaj = to move furniture

So se is the reflexive clitic pronoun that is part of the verb seliti se.

However, clitics in Croatian (including se) also obey the second position rule inside their clause. In the subordinate clause:

da se želim seliti u drugi grad
- da = first element
- se = clitic in second position
- želim seliti = the rest

Logically you might think it should be da želim seliti se, but Croatian prefers to pull se into that clitic slot:

da se želim seliti = natural
da želim se seliti = possible, but less natural, more stylistically marked
✗ da želim seliti se = wrong

So se belongs to seliti se, but its position is constrained by the clitic rule.

Why is it seliti and not preseliti? What’s the difference?

Both are related but differ in aspect and nuance:

seliti se (imperfective) – focuses on the process or ongoing action of moving.
preseliti se (perfective) – focuses on the single, completed act of moving (changing residence).

In your sentence:

da se želim seliti u drugi grad
– “that I want to be moving / to move (process) to another city”

More commonly, especially when you think of one definite move, you’ll hear:

Roditelji su napokon prihvatili da se želim preseliti u drugi grad.
= “Parents finally accepted that I want to (once and for all) move to another city.”

Both are grammatically fine. Preseliti se sounds more like to relocate (for good), while seliti se may feel a bit more process-like or repetitive (e.g. moving around, changing places).

Why don’t we say ja želim instead of just želim?

Croatian is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns (like ja, I) are usually omitted when the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

želim = I want
želiš = you (sg.) want
želi = he/she/it wants

So da se želim seliti is naturally understood as “that I want to move” without needing ja.

You would add ja only for emphasis or contrast:

Roditelji su napokon prihvatili da se ja želim seliti u drugi grad.
= “Parents finally accepted that I want to move to another city (as opposed to someone else).”

Why is prihvatili in the masculine plural form, even though roditelji includes a mother (female)?

Croatian, like many Slavic languages, uses masculine plural agreement whenever a group is:

all male, or
mixed gender (at least one male)

Roditelji (parents) usually refers to mother + father (mixed), so the verb participle is:

prihvatili (masculine plural)

If it were a group consisting only of women, you would use the feminine plural:

Učiteljice su prihvatile… (The (female) teachers accepted…)

But with roditelji, the default is masculine plural.

Why is it u drugi grad and not something like u drugom gradu?

The preposition u can take accusative or locative, depending on meaning:

u + accusative → movement into something / destination
- u drugi grad = into/to another city (you are going there)
u + locative → location in something / place where something is
- u drugom gradu = in another city (you are already there)

In your sentence, the action is moving to another city, so the destination is expressed with accusative:

seliti se u drugi grad = to move to another city (change of place)

Why is it napokon and not konačno? Are they different?

Napokon and konačno are very close in meaning; both can mean finally/at last.

Roditelji su napokon prihvatili…
Roditelji su konačno prihvatili…

Both are acceptable here and will be understood the same way in this context. Differences:

napokon – perhaps a bit more common in everyday conversational style in many regions.
konačno – sometimes feels slightly more neutral or can mean “definitively, once and for all” in some contexts.

In this sentence, they’re essentially interchangeable.

Could the word order be Roditelji napokon su prihvatili da se želim seliti…?

This is technically possible, but it sounds marked and less natural in everyday speech.

Standard, neutral orders are:

Roditelji su napokon prihvatili da se želim seliti…
Roditelji su prihvatili napokon da se želim seliti… (less common, but okay)

Putting su after napokon:

Roditelji napokon su prihvatili…

gives special emphasis or a “spoken, dramatic” rhythm. You might hear something like this in expressive speech or in literature, but for a learner it’s better to stick to:

Roditelji su napokon prihvatili…

Could we say Roditelji su napokon prihvatili da želim preseliti se u drugi grad instead? Is that correct?

The best, most natural version is:

Roditelji su napokon prihvatili da se želim preseliti u drugi grad.

Let’s look at your alternatives:

da želim preseliti se u drugi grad
- The position preseliti se at the very end is not good:
- ✗ preseliti se (clitic se after infinitive) is generally avoided.
If you want se after želim, you should place it in the clitic slot:
- da se želim preseliti u drugi grad (natural)
- da želim se preseliti u drugi grad (possible but less natural)

So grammatically and stylistically, the recommended pattern is:

da se + [finite verb] + [infinitive]
→ da se želim preseliti (u drugi grad)