Learn Hardcore Croatian: Jučer sam dugo peglala hlače i čarape, pa sam bila umornija nego poslije treninga. - Yesterday I ironed pants and socks for a long time, so I was more tired than after training.

peglati = to iron (clothes)
So dugo peglala means (she) ironed for a long time or I (female) ironed for a long time, depending on context.

Why is sam placed after Jučer, and not before or after the main verb?

sam is a clitic form of the auxiliary verb biti (to be), used to form the past tense. Croatian clitics normally occupy the second position in the clause (the “second position rule”):

Jučer sam dugo peglala…

Here, Jučer is the first element, so sam comes next. You could also say:

Dugo sam jučer peglala hlače i čarape…

but sam still tries to be in second position within its clause. You generally don’t put it at the end of the clause like in English (I ironed yesterday).

Why is it sam dugo peglala and not dugo sam peglala? Is word order fixed?

Both Jučer sam dugo peglala… and Jučer sam dugo peglala… (with dugo before or after sam) are acceptable, but some orders sound more natural.

Key points:

The clitic sam wants to be in second position.
dugo is an adverb (for a long time), and can move around for emphasis.

Typical, natural orders include:

Jučer sam dugo peglala hlače i čarape… (very natural)
Jučer sam peglala hlače i čarape dugo… (emphasizes for a long time)

Putting dugo right after sam is very common and neutral.

Why is there sam again in pa sam bila umornija? Could you leave it out?

Each finite verb phrase in Croatian needs its own auxiliary in the past tense. There are two clauses:

Jučer sam dugo peglala hlače i čarape,
pa sam bila umornija nego poslije treninga.

Both peglala and bila are past participles and need sam to form the past tense (I was / I have type structure), so you repeat sam in the second clause.

You cannot omit sam here; pa bila umornija would be ungrammatical.

What does dugo mean here? Is it “a long time” or “long” (as in length)?

dugo is an adverb in this sentence and means for a long time:

dugo peglala = she/I (female) ironed for a long time.

As an adjective, dug, duga, dugo can mean long (in length or duration), but here it’s clearly the adverbial form describing how long the ironing lasted.

Why do hlače and čarape appear without a preposition?

In Croatian, many direct objects take the accusative case with no preposition. Here:

hlače = trousers (accusative plural = nominative plural form)
čarape = socks (accusative plural = nominative plural form)

The verb peglati (to iron) is transitive, so it takes a direct object:

peglati hlače = to iron trousers
peglati čarape = to iron socks

No preposition is needed; the objects directly follow the verb.

Why are hlače (trousers) and čarape (socks) in the plural?

In Croatian, as in many European languages, some items of clothing are normally used in the plural:

hlače = trousers / pants (literally “trousers” plural)
čarape = socks (plural)

This mirrors English (we also say pants and socks in the plural) but unlike English trouser, the singular hlača is rare in everyday speech.

What is the function of pa in …čarape, pa sam bila umornija…? How is it different from i?

pa here means something like so or and so, linking the first action to its consequence:

Jučer sam dugo peglala hlače i čarape, pa sam bila umornija…
= I ironed for a long time, so I was more tired…

Differences:

i = and, just adds another fact, often without cause–effect.
pa = and then / so, often implies sequence or consequence.

If you used i instead:

…, i bila sam umornija… = “…and I was more tired…” (weaker sense of cause)

Why is it bila umornija and not just umornija?

umornija is an adjective (comparative form of umorna = tired). You normally need a form of biti (to be) to make a verbal predicate:

bila sam umornija = I was more tired

If you said only umornija nego poslije treninga, that would sound like an adjective phrase, not a complete clause. In casual speech, Croatians might drop sam but bila is still expected in a full sentence.

How is umornija formed, and could you also say više umorna?

umornija is the comparative of umorna (feminine form of “tired”):

umoran, umorna, umorno = tired (m, f, n)
umorniji, umornija, umornije = more tired (m, f, n)

For many adjectives, Croatian prefers the suffix comparative (-iji/-ija/-ije) instead of an analytic form like više umorna.

You could say više umorna, and it’s understandable, but umornija is more idiomatic here.

Why is it nego poslije treninga and not od or kao?

In comparisons with the structure (adjective in comparative) + than, Croatian typically uses nego:

umornija nego poslije treninga = more tired than after training

Patterns:

bolji nego = better than
veći nego = bigger than
umorniji nego = more tired than

od can also appear in some comparative structures, especially with nouns (e.g. veći od mene = bigger than me), but nego is standard after a full phrase like poslije treninga.

kao means as / like, and is used for equality, not for “more … than”:

umorna kao poslije treninga = as tired as after training

Why is it poslije treninga and not poslije trening or something else?

poslije (after) is a preposition that requires the genitive case:

trening (nominative singular)
treninga (genitive singular)

So:

poslije treninga = after training

You can also say:

nakon treninga (also genitive) = after training
In some dialects or Serbian: posle treninga

Could you also say glačala instead of peglala?

Yes. peglati and glačati both mean to iron, but their usage is regional:

In much of Croatia, glačati / glačala is considered more standard.
peglati / peglala is also very common and widely understood, sometimes felt as more colloquial.

So an alternative sentence is:

Jučer sam dugo glačala hlače i čarape, pa sam bila umornija nego poslije treninga.