Learn Hardcore Croatian: Svaki novi pokušaj mi pokazuje da je hrvatski lakši nego što sam očekivao na početku. - Each new attempt shows me that Croatian is easier than I expected at the beginning.

svak – more colloquial / shortened, usually in phrases like svak dan (every day).
svakog novog pokušaja – genitive form, used if the grammar of the sentence demands it, for example after certain prepositions or verbs:
- Bojim se svakog novog pokušaja. – I’m afraid of every new attempt.

In this sentence, because it’s the subject (each new attempt shows me…), the nominative Svaki novi pokušaj is correct.

What exactly does pokušaj mean, and why isn’t it a verb like pokušavam?

pokušaj is a noun: an attempt, a try
pokušavati / pokušati are verbs: to try, to attempt
- pokušavam = I am trying (imperfective)
- pokušat ću = I will try (perfective)

The sentence uses the noun because it talks about each new attempt as a thing:

Svaki novi pokušaj (noun) mi pokazuje…
Each new attempt shows me…

If you wanted a verb construction, you could say something like:

Svaki put kad pokušam, vidim da…
Every time I try, I see that…

Different structure, similar idea, but the original uses a noun phrase as the subject.

What does mi mean here, and why is it before pokazuje?

mi is the dative form of ja (I), and here it means “to me / for me”.
So pokazuje mi = shows me or shows to me.

In standard Croatian, short pronouns like mi, ti, mu, joj, im, se are clitics: they tend to go in the second position in the clause, usually right after the first word or phrase.

Svaki novi pokušaj mi pokazuje…
First phrase: Svaki novi pokušaj
Second position: mi
Then comes the main verb: pokazuje

You can hear Svaki novi pokušaj pokazuje mi…, but …mi pokazuje… is more natural and follows the usual clitic placement rule.

Without mi, the sentence would just mean “Every new attempt shows that…” and would lose the personal nuance “shows me that…” – it’s grammatically possible but less personal.

What’s the difference between pokazuje and a form like pokazuje se or pokazuje mi se?

pokazuje = shows (something)
- Svaki novi pokušaj mi pokazuje da…
  Every new attempt shows me that… (the subject is the “attempt”)
pokazuje se = it shows itself / it turns out (impersonal or reflexive)
- Svaki novi pokušaj pokazuje se lakšim.
  Each new attempt turns out to be easier.
pokazuje mi se = it appears to me / it seems to me
- Hrvatski mi se pokazuje lakšim.
  Croatian is turning out to be easier (to me).

In your sentence, the structure is straightforward: subject (pokušaj) + indirect object (mi) + verb (pokazuje).

What is the role of da in pokazuje da je hrvatski…?

da here is a subordinating conjunction meaning “that”, introducing a subordinate clause:

pokazuje da je hrvatski lakši…
= shows that Croatian is easier…

So the structure is:

Main clause: Svaki novi pokušaj mi pokazuje…
Subordinate clause: da je hrvatski lakši nego što sam očekivao na početku.

It’s very similar to English:

Every new attempt shows me *that Croatian is easier than I expected at the beginning.*

Why is it da je hrvatski lakši, with je right after da?

je is the 3rd person singular of biti (to be).

In Croatian, clitic forms like je, sam, si also prefer the second position in their clause. In the subordinate clause:

First word: da (the conjunction)
Second position: je (clitic form of to be)
Then the rest: hrvatski lakši…

So:

…da je hrvatski lakši…
literally: …that is Croatian easier…

If you remove da, the normal word order would be:

Hrvatski je lakši. – Croatian is easier.

So je is not random; it’s the verb “is”, just following the clitic‑placement rule after da.

Why is it just hrvatski, not hrvatski jezik or something with an article like “the Croatian”?

Croatian has no articles (no the, a, an).
The word hrvatski here is an adjective used as a noun, and it commonly stands in for hrvatski jezik (Croatian language).

So:

hrvatski = Croatian (language) in this context
Hrvatski je težak. = Croatian (language) is hard.
Učim hrvatski. = I’m learning Croatian.

You could say:

da je hrvatski jezik lakši…

That’s also correct, just slightly more explicit or formal. In everyday speech, hrvatski alone is very natural.

Why is the adjective lakši used instead of something like više lak?

Croatian normally forms comparatives of many adjectives with endings, not with više:

lak → lakši (easy → easier)
velik → veći (big → bigger)
dobar → bolji (good → better)

So:

hrvatski je lak = Croatian is easy
hrvatski je lakši = Croatian is easier

Using više lak would sound wrong or at best very odd here. više + adjective is used with some long or “borrowed” adjectives (e.g. više interesantan is heard, though even then zanimljiviji is more idiomatic), but lak has the regular comparative lakši.

What exactly does nego što do in lakši nego što sam očekivao?

nego is the usual “than” in comparisons.

When you compare not just two words, but two full ideas or clauses, Croatian often uses nego što (“than what/than that which”) to introduce the second clause:

lakši nego što sam očekivao
= easier than (what) I expected

A few patterns:

lakši nego prije – easier than before (simple phrase after nego)
lakši nego što je bio lani – easier than it was last year (full clause after nego što)
bolje nego što sam mislio – better than I thought

You could also say:

lakši nego što sam ga očekivao
easier than I expected it (to be)

But in everyday speech, nego što sam očekivao is very natural and complete.

Does što here mean “what”? Why is it used in nego što sam očekivao?

Literally, što is “what”, but in this comparison it works more like “than what / than that which” and is often not strongly felt in translation.

lakši nego što sam očekivao
literally: easier than what I expected
natural English: easier than I expected

You’ll see the same pattern a lot:

teže nego što sam mislio – harder than I thought
brže nego što smo planirali – faster than we planned

So što is part of a very common comparative-clause structure nego što + clause.

What tense is sam očekivao, and could it be očekivao sam instead?

sam očekivao is the perfect tense:

auxiliary verb biti (to be), present tense: sam = I am
past active participle: očekivao = expected

Together: sam očekivao = I expected / I had been expecting (context decides the nuance).

Word order:

sam očekivao and očekivao sam are both grammatically correct.
In neutral statements, očekivao sam is slightly more common in everyday speech.
Clitic sam normally wants to be in a second position in the clause, but with participles there is a lot of flexibility.

So you could say:

…nego što sam očekivao na početku.
…nego što očekivao sam na početku. (possible, but much less natural)

The first one (with sam before očekivao) is standard and idiomatic here.

Why is očekivao in the masculine form? What if the speaker is female?

The participle očekivao agrees in gender and number with the subject (I), not with hrvatski.

očekivao – masculine singular
očekivala – feminine singular
očekivali – masculine or mixed plural
očekivale – feminine plural

So:

A man: nego što sam očekivao na početku.
A woman: nego što sam očekivala na početku.

Croatian always marks this gender agreement in the perfect tense with sam/si/je/smo/ste/su + participle.

Why is it na početku and not something like u početku or just početkom?

početak = beginning (noun, masculine)

With the preposition na, and meaning “at the beginning (of something)” in a general or abstract sense, it takes the locative case:

na početku = at the beginning / in the beginning phase

Common patterns:

na početku godine – at the beginning of the year
na početku tečaja – at the beginning of the course

Alternatives, with slightly different nuances:

u početku – also in the beginning, somewhat more stylistic or literary.
početkom (genitive in an adverbial use) – at the beginning of (time period):
- Početkom godine sam mislio… – At the beginning of the year I thought…

In your sentence, na početku nicely corresponds to English “at the beginning” in the more general sense of when I first started with Croatian.

Could the whole sentence be rephrased more simply in Croatian without changing the meaning much?

Yes, for example:

Svaki novi pokušaj mi pokazuje da je hrvatski lakši nego što sam isprva očekivao.
(isprva = at first)

Or more colloquially:

Svaki novi pokušaj mi pokazuje da je hrvatski lakši nego što sam mislio na početku.
(mislio instead of očekivao)

All of these keep the same basic idea:
Every new attempt shows me that Croatian is easier than I expected at the beginning.