Learn Hardcore Croatian: Učiteljica odgovara da se hrvatski danas može učiti bilo kada, jer postoje digitalne platforme i online‑tečajevi. - The teacher female answers that today Croatian can be studied at any time, because there are digital platforms and online courses.

In this sentence, učiteljica tells us explicitly that the speaker is a woman. If you talk about teachers in general (mixed group or gender‑neutral), you typically use the masculine plural učitelji.

What does odgovara mean here, and how is it different from kaže or odgovori?

odgovara is the 3rd person singular present of odgovarati = to answer, to reply (imperfective).
kaže is from kazati = to say.
odgovori is 3rd person singular of odgovoriti = to answer (perfective).

odgovarati (imperfective) is used for ongoing, repeated, or “just reporting” an answer:

Učiteljica odgovara da… = The teacher answers/replies that…

odgovoriti (perfective) focuses on the completed act:

Učiteljica je odgovorila da… = The teacher answered (once, finished) that…

You could also say Učiteljica kaže da… (The teacher says that…), but that is more neutral: it doesn’t highlight the question–answer context.

What is the role of da in odgovara da se hrvatski danas može učiti? Is it like English that?

Yes. Here da is a conjunction that introduces a subordinate clause, like English that:

Učiteljica odgovara da… = The (female) teacher answers that…

In English we can often drop that:

She answers (that) Croatian can be learned…

In standard Croatian you cannot drop da in this structure. You must say:

Učiteljica odgovara da se hrvatski danas može učiti…
and not
✗ Učiteljica odgovara se hrvatski danas može učiti…

Why do we need se in da se hrvatski danas može učiti? Is this a passive?

Here se is part of a so‑called reflexive / middle / “se‑passive” construction:

hrvatski se može učiti ≈ Croatian can be learned.

Instead of using a long passive form like može biti učen (can be learned), Croatian very often uses verb + se to express a general, impersonal meaning where no specific person is mentioned:

Ovdje se puši. = People smoke here. / Smoking is allowed here.
Hrvatski se danas može učiti bilo kada. = Croatian can be learned at any time nowadays.

You could also say Danas možemo učiti hrvatski bilo kada (Nowadays we can learn Croatian anytime), but then you’re explicitly saying we. With se, the sentence talks about people in general.

Why is the word order da se hrvatski danas može učiti and not da hrvatski se danas može učiti?

Because se is a clitic (an unstressed short word) and in Croatian clitics like se, je, sam, ga, mi, ti want to stand in second position in the clause.

In the clause da se hrvatski danas može učiti:

da is the first (stressed) element,
se comes right after it in the second position,
then the rest: hrvatski danas može učiti.

If you say ✗ da hrvatski se danas može učiti, se is no longer in second position (it’s after da hrvatski), which sounds wrong to native speakers.

Other word orders that still keep se in second position are possible, for example:

da se danas hrvatski može učiti bilo kada
da se hrvatski može učiti danas bilo kada
but se must stay right after the first stressed word of that clause.

Which case is hrvatski here, and why does it look like the basic form?

In može učiti hrvatski, hrvatski is the direct object of učiti (to learn), so it’s in the accusative singular.

For masculine inanimate nouns and their adjectives, the accusative singular form often looks identical to the nominative:

nominative: (Tko? Što?) hrvatski (jezik) – Croatian (language)
accusative: (Koga? Što?) učim hrvatski (jezik) – I’m learning Croatian (language)

So the form hrvatski can be both nominative and accusative, depending on its function in the sentence. Here it’s accusative.

Does danas mean today or nowadays in this sentence?

Literally, danas means today, but it is very often used with the broader meaning nowadays / these days.

In this sentence:

hrvatski danas može učiti bilo kada

is best understood as:

Croatian can be learned *nowadays at any time*,

not only today (this particular day). It contrasts the present time with the past, suggesting that modern technology has changed things.

Is bilo kada written as one word or two, and how is it different from ikad or kad god?

In standard usage, bilo kada is normally written as two words (you may also see bilo kad; a fused form like bilokad(a) exists but is less common).

Meanings and nuances:

bilo kada = anytime, at any time
– neutral “you can choose any moment”
- Hrvatski se danas može učiti bilo kada.
ikad = ever / at any time (in one’s life / in general), often in questions and negatives:
- Jesi li ikad učio hrvatski? – Have you ever studied Croatian?
- Nitko to ikad nije rekao. – Nobody ever said that.
kad god = whenever (each time that):
- Možeš učiti hrvatski kad god želiš. – You can study Croatian whenever you want (every time you want).

So bilo kada here expresses a free choice of any time, not necessarily repeated occasions.

Why is there a comma before jer? Are commas always used before jer in Croatian?

Yes, in standard Croatian you normally put a comma before jer when it introduces a reason clause:

…, jer postoje digitalne platforme i online‑tečajevi.
= …, because there are digital platforms and online courses.

jer means because, and the part starting with jer is a subordinate clause explaining the reason, which is normally separated by a comma.

There are some special cases and fixed expressions where commas may vary, but as a learner you can safely follow this rule: put a comma before jer when it means because.

What does postoje mean and why isn’t there a word like English there (as in there are)?

postoje is the 3rd person plural present of postojati = to exist.

Croatian often uses postojati where English uses there is / there are:

Postoje digitalne platforme. = There are digital platforms. / Digital platforms exist.

Croatian doesn’t need a dummy subject like English there. The real subject (digitalne platforme i online‑tečajevi) is directly the subject of postoje, in the nominative case.

An alternative, more colloquial structure is:

…jer ima digitalnih platformi i online tečajeva.
Here ima (there is/are) is used and the nouns are in the genitive plural (platformi, tečajeva), but your sentence uses the more neutral postoje
- nominative.

Why are digitalne platforme and online‑tečajevi in the plural and in these specific forms?

They are the subject of the verb postoje, and there is more than one of each, so they’re in nominative plural:

platforma (singular, feminine) → platforme (plural)
- digitalna platforma → digitalne platforme
tečaj (singular, masculine) → tečajevi (plural; stem-tečaj → tečajevi)
- online tečaj → online‑tečajevi

The adjective digitalne agrees with platforme in gender (feminine), number (plural), and case (nominative).
online is an invariable foreign word functioning like an adjective; it doesn’t change form.

Could we say naučiti instead of učiti here? What is the difference?

Yes, grammatically you could say:

…da se hrvatski danas može naučiti bilo kada…

But there’s a nuance:

učiti (imperfective) = to learn / to be learning (process, activity)
naučiti (perfective) = to learn, to manage to learn, to have learned (completed result)

So:

može učiti hrvatski = can study/learn Croatian (engage in the process)
može naučiti hrvatski = can (eventually) learn it completely / achieve the result

In your sentence, učiti fits well because we’re talking about the possibility of studying Croatian at any time thanks to modern technology, not necessarily finishing the entire language.

Is online‑tečajevi the normal spelling, or should it be online tečajevi?

You will see both, but current recommendations in Croatian tend to prefer writing most recent foreign adjectives separately:

online tečajevi (more usual today)
online‑tečajevi (with a hyphen) is also seen and understood, especially in older texts or informal writing.

In everyday use, online tečajevi (no hyphen) is probably the best and most neutral choice. The important grammatical point is that tečajevi is nominative plural, while online itself does not change.