Ne mogu se sjetiti gdje je moja torba.

Ne mogu means I cannot / I can’t.

• mogu = I can, from the verb moći (to be able to / can)
• ne = the negation particle not

So:

• mogu = I can
• ne mogu = I cannot

In Croatian, ne usually goes before the verb and is written as a separate word with most verbs.

Because the verb here is not just sjetiti, but sjetiti se.

This is the normal Croatian verb meaning to remember / to recall in this sense. The se is part of the verb construction, so learners should treat sjetiti se as a unit.

So:

• sjetiti se = to remember, to recall
• Ne mogu se sjetiti = I can’t remember / I can’t recall

You should not think of se here as something optional.

This is mainly a question of aspect.

Croatian often has two related verbs:

• sjetiti se = perfective
• sjećati se = imperfective

In this sentence, sjetiti se is natural because it means to manage to recall something at a particular moment. The speaker is trying to remember, but cannot.

So:

• Ne mogu se sjetiti gdje je moja torba. = I can’t remember where my bag is.
  → I can’t bring it to mind right now.

Compare:

• Ne sjećam se gdje je moja torba.
  = I don’t remember where my bag is.

That version is also natural, but it is phrased a little differently.

Because se is a clitic in Croatian. Clitics are short unstressed words that usually go in a special position in the sentence.

In a sentence like this, the normal order is:

• Ne mogu se sjetiti...

not usually:

• Ne mogu sjetiti se...

So even though se belongs with sjetiti, it is placed earlier because Croatian clitics tend to come near the beginning of the clause, after the first stressed element.

For a learner, the safest thing is to memorize the pattern:

• mogu se sjetiti
• ne mogu se sjetiti

Because gdje je moja torba is the normal Croatian word order.

Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order, but it is not random. In a clause introduced by gdje (where), the verb je often comes early:

• gdje je moja torba

This is the most neutral and natural order here.

English also does something similar in indirect questions:

• direct question: Where is my bag?
• indirect clause: I can’t remember where my bag is.

Croatian uses:

• direct question: Gdje je moja torba?
• embedded clause: ...gdje je moja torba.

So the Croatian word order stays the same here.

Moja torba is in the nominative singular.

Why? Because inside the clause gdje je moja torba, moja torba is the subject:

• torba = bag
• moja torba = my bag

And subjects are normally in the nominative.

Also notice agreement:

• moja is feminine singular nominative
• torba is a feminine singular noun

They match, as Croatian adjectives and possessives usually do.

Gdje means where in the sense of location.

This sentence is asking about the bag’s location:

• gdje je moja torba = where my bag is / where my bag is located

You would not normally use kamo here, because kamo is about destination or motion toward a place:

• Kamo ideš? = Where are you going?

So:

• gdje = where something is
• kamo = where something is going

Since the bag is not moving anywhere in this sentence, gdje is the correct choice.

Yes. Je is the 3rd person singular present form of biti (to be).

So:

• moja torba je... = my bag is...

In the clause gdje je moja torba, the verb is still to be, just in normal Croatian word order.

Yes, absolutely. That is also a very natural sentence.

The difference is roughly:

• Ne mogu se sjetiti gdje je moja torba.
  = I can’t remember where my bag is.
  → emphasis on not being able to recall it now

• Ne sjećam se gdje je moja torba.
  = I don’t remember where my bag is.
  → more straightforward statement of not remembering

Both are common and correct.

A helpful way to break it down is:

• Ne mogu = I can’t
• se sjetiti = remember / recall
• gdje je moja torba = where my bag is

So the sentence has:

1. a main clause: Ne mogu se sjetiti
2. an embedded clause: gdje je moja torba

In other words:

• I can’t recall
  • where my bag is

This is a very common Croatian pattern: a main verb followed by a clause introduced by a question word such as:

• gdje = where
• što = what
• tko = who
• kada = when
• zašto = why

A rough pronunciation guide:

• sjetiti sounds approximately like syeh-tee-tee
• gdje sounds approximately like g-dyeh or g-jeh, depending on the speaker and accent

A few pronunciation notes:

• sj is pronounced together, not as two fully separate sounds
• j in Croatian is like English y in yes
• ti is pronounced clearly, not like English sh or ch

If you want to sound natural, it helps to practice the sentence in chunks:

• Ne mogu
• se sjetiti
• gdje je moja torba