Mehaničar je jutros pregledao motor i rekao da je sve u redu.

The mechanic checked the engine this morning and said that everything is fine.

Breakdown of Mehaničar je jutros pregledao motor i rekao da je sve u redu.

• biti: to be
• i: and
• jutros: this morning
• da: that
• reći: to say
• sve: everything
• mehaničar: mechanic
• pregledati: to check
• motor: engine
• u redu: fine

Questions & Answers about Mehaničar je jutros pregledao motor i rekao da je sve u redu.

Why is there no word for the in Mehaničar?

Croatian does not have articles like the or a/an.

So Mehaničar can mean:

• the mechanic
• a mechanic

Which one is meant depends on context. In your sentence, English would usually translate it as the mechanic because the situation sounds specific.

Why is je placed after Mehaničar instead of directly before the verb?

This is because je is a clitic in Croatian. Clitics are short unstressed words that usually go in the second position of the clause.

So:

• Mehaničar je jutros pregledao motor.

is the normal pattern.

Even though je is part of the past tense, it does not have to stand right next to the main verb the way English has or is often does.

What exactly is jutros?

Jutros means this morning.

It is an adverb of time, and it does not change form here. It tells you when the mechanic checked the engine.

Compare:

• jutro = morning
• jutros = this morning

Why is it pregledao?

Pregledao is the past active participle of pregledati/pregledati in the masculine singular form, used to form the Croatian past tense.

It matches the subject:

• mehaničar = masculine singular

So:

• Mehaničar je pregledao = The mechanic inspected/checked

If the subject were feminine, you would get:

• Mehaničarka je pregledala

If the subject were plural:

• Mehaničari su pregledali

Why is motor unchanged? Shouldn’t the object have a different ending?

Motor is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case.

But for many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks exactly the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: motor
• accusative: motor

That is why you do not see a change here.

Compare with a masculine animate noun, where the accusative often changes:

• vidim čovjeka = I see the man

Does motor mean engine or motorcycle here?

It can mean different things in different contexts, but in this sentence motor most naturally means engine.

That fits well with:

• mehaničar = mechanic
• pregledao motor = inspected the engine

If the meaning were motorcycle, context would usually make that clearer.

Why is it rekao and not something more regular?

Because the verb reći (to say) is irregular.

Its past participle is:

• rekao for masculine singular
• rekla for feminine singular
• rekli for masculine personal plural

So:

• Mehaničar je rekao = The mechanic said

This is just one of those forms that learners need to memorize.

Why is there another je in da je sve u redu?

That second je belongs to the clause after da:

• rekao da je sve u redu
• said that everything is okay

So the sentence contains two past-related parts:

1. Mehaničar je ... rekao
   = The mechanic said

2. da je sve u redu
   = that everything is in order / that everything is okay

In the second clause, je means is, not has. It is the present tense of biti (to be).

Why is da used here?

Da often means that when introducing a subordinate clause after verbs like:

• reći = to say
• misliti = to think
• znati = to know

So:

• rekao da je sve u redu = said that everything is okay

This is a very common Croatian structure.

What does sve mean here, and why is it singular?

Sve means everything.

In Croatian, sve is treated grammatically as neuter singular in sentences like this, so it goes with:

• je = is

That is why you get:

• sve je u redu = everything is okay

not a plural verb.

What does u redu literally mean?

Literally, u redu means in order or in proper arrangement.

But very often it is simply an idiomatic way to say:

• okay
• fine
• all right

So:

• sve je u redu means:
• everything is okay
• everything is fine

This is an extremely common expression in Croatian.

What tense is the whole sentence in?

The main clause is in the Croatian past tense called perfekt.

It is formed with:

• present tense of biti (je, su, etc.)
• plus the past participle

So:

• je pregledao
• je rekao

Both mean past actions:

• inspected
• said

The clause da je sve u redu uses the present tense inside reported speech:

• that everything is okay

That is also natural in English.

Why is there no word for he before rekao?

Because Croatian usually does not need subject pronouns when the subject is already clear.

The subject is already stated:

• Mehaničar

So Croatian simply continues with:

• je ... rekao

Adding on (he) would usually be unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Can the word order be changed?

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but not completely free.

This sentence could be rearranged for emphasis, for example:

• Jutros je mehaničar pregledao motor i rekao da je sve u redu.

This puts more focus on jutros (this morning).

But you still have to respect clitic placement, so je usually stays in second position in its clause.

Are pregledao and rekao perfective verbs here?

Yes, both are understood as completed actions here.

• pregledao comes from pregledati and means he finished checking/inspecting the engine.
• rekao from reći also presents the act of saying as a completed event.

That fits the context well:

1. he inspected the engine
2. then he said everything was okay

So the sentence describes a sequence of completed past actions.