Profesorica nam je danas te rečenice objasnila tako jasno da ih sada lakše pamtim.

Because the subject is a female professor.

• profesorica = female professor
• In the Croatian past tense, the main verb uses a past participle that agrees with the subject in gender and number
• So with a feminine singular subject, you get objasnila
• With a masculine subject, it would be objasnio
• With a plural subject, it would change again

So Profesorica ... je objasnila means The female professor ... explained.

Nam means to us.

It is the dative plural form of the pronoun mi (we).

Here it shows the indirect object:

• Profesorica nam je objasnila... = The professor explained ... to us

Croatian often uses a short clitic pronoun like nam instead of a full phrase such as nama.

Compare:

• objasnila nam = explained to us
• objasnila je nama = explained to us, with extra emphasis on us

Croatian past tense is usually made with:

• the auxiliary biti in the present tense
• plus the past participle

So:

• je = is/has here functioning as an auxiliary
• objasnila = past participle of objasniti

Together, je objasnila means explained / has explained depending on context.

This is the normal Croatian past tense pattern:

• sam rekao
• si vidio
• je objasnila
• smo došli

Because je is a clitic, and Croatian clitics usually go in the second position of the clause.

In this sentence, the clitic group is:

• nam je

So the sentence begins:

• Profesorica nam je...

This may feel strange to an English speaker, but it is very normal in Croatian.

You should think of nam je as part of the clitic package that tends to appear near the beginning of the sentence, not necessarily right next to the main verb.

Te is a demonstrative, roughly meaning those or sometimes these, depending on context.

So:

• te rečenice = those sentences

In this sentence, te rečenice is the direct object of objasnila, so it is in the accusative plural.

For feminine nouns like rečenica, the accusative plural looks the same as the nominative plural:

• nominative plural: te rečenice
• accusative plural: te rečenice

So the form does not change here, even though the function changes.

Yes. Ih means them, and it refers back to te rečenice.

It is the short accusative plural pronoun:

• ih = them

So:

• da ih sada lakše pamtim = that I now remember them more easily

Croatian often avoids repeating the noun and uses a short pronoun instead, just like English does.

This is a very common Croatian pattern:

• tako ... da ... = so ... that ...

So:

• tako jasno da ih sada lakše pamtim
• so clearly that I remember them more easily now

Here:

• tako = so
• jasno = clearly
• da = that

The second part expresses the result of the first part.

Because jasno is functioning as an adverb, not an adjective.

It describes how the professor explained the sentences:

• objasnila kako? → jasno = clearly

Compare:

• jasna profesorica = a clear / understandable professor or literally clear female professor → adjective
• objasnila je jasno = she explained clearly → adverb

In Croatian, many adverbs look like the neuter singular form of the adjective.

Lakše means more easily.

It is the comparative form of lako:

• lako = easily
• lakše = more easily

So:

• sada lakše pamtim = I remember more easily now

It does not mean lighter here. Croatian comparatives can function as adverbs as well as adjectives, and here it is clearly an adverb.

Because the sentence describes a present result of a past action.

• Past event: Profesorica nam je danas ... objasnila
• Present result: sada lakše pamtim

So the idea is:

• She explained them so clearly today that now I remember them more easily

This tense combination is very natural in both Croatian and English when a past action has a current effect.

This is about aspect, which is very important in Croatian.

• objasniti / objasnila = perfective
  • focuses on a completed action
  • she explained in the sense that the explanation was successfully given
• objašnjavati / objašnjavala = imperfective
  • focuses on the process, repetition, or ongoing action
  • she was explaining, she used to explain

In this sentence, objasnila is used because the explanation is seen as a completed act with a result: now the speaker remembers the sentences more easily.

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

The given sentence is natural:

• Profesorica nam je danas te rečenice objasnila tako jasno da ih sada lakše pamtim.

Some parts can move for emphasis:

• Danas nam je profesorica te rečenice objasnila...
• Te rečenice nam je profesorica danas objasnila...

But the clitics like nam, je, and ih still have strong placement rules, especially near the beginning of their clause.

So yes, word order can change, but the original version is a good, neutral model to learn from.