Moja prijateljica voli kampirati, ali ne voli spavati u šatoru kad puše jak vjetar.

Because moja has to agree with prijateljica in gender, number, and case.

• prijateljica is feminine singular
• so the possessive moj becomes moja

Compare:

• moj prijatelj = my male friend
• moja prijateljica = my female friend

This kind of agreement is very common in Croatian.

They mean friend, but the gender is different:

• prijatelj = male friend
• prijateljica = female friend

English usually does not mark this difference, but Croatian often does. The ending -ica is a common way to form a feminine noun.

In Croatian, voljeti often means to like / to love doing something, and it is commonly followed by an infinitive.

So:

• voli kampirati = likes camping / likes to camp
• voli spavati = likes sleeping / likes to sleep

This is very similar to English like + -ing or like + to + verb, but Croatian uses the infinitive much more directly here.

Because they depend on voli.

The main verb is:

• voli = she likes

The actions she likes or does not like are expressed by infinitives:

• kampirati = to camp
• spavati = to sleep

So the structure is:

• voli + infinitive
• ne voli + infinitive

This is a very common Croatian pattern.

In Croatian, the negative particle ne is placed before the verb.

So:

• voli = likes
• ne voli = does not like

This is the normal way to negate present-tense verbs. You do not need a separate helper like English do/does.

Because u can take different cases depending on meaning.

Here it means in in the sense of location, so it takes the locative:

• u šatoru = in the tent

If there were movement into the tent, Croatian would usually use the accusative:

• u šator = into the tent

So:

• spavati u šatoru = to sleep in a tent
• ući u šator = to go into the tent

Both kad and kada mean when.

• kada is the full form
• kad is a shorter, very common form

In everyday Croatian, kad is extremely common and completely natural. In this sentence, either would work:

• kad puše jak vjetar
• kada puše jak vjetar

The meaning does not really change.

Puše is the 3rd person singular present form of puhati = to blow.

Here the subject is jak vjetar:

• vjetar puše = the wind is blowing

So:

• kad puše jak vjetar = when a strong wind is blowing

English often uses weather expressions with it, but Croatian does not need a dummy subject like that here. The real subject is vjetar.

In standard Croatian, masculine singular adjectives can sometimes appear in a shorter and a longer form:

• jak
• jaki

In this sentence, jak vjetar is the normal, neutral choice: a strong wind.

You may also hear jaki vjetar, but jak vjetar is very natural here and is what learners should expect to see. At an early stage, the safest thing is simply to learn this as the usual form in this sentence.

Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order.

All of these are possible in different contexts:

• kad puše jak vjetar
• kad jak vjetar puše

The version in your sentence sounds very natural and smooth. Croatian often places the verb early, especially in subordinate clauses like this one.

So the word order is not random, but it is less rigid than in English.

Because ali means but, and in Croatian it normally introduces a new clause that is separated by a comma.

So:

• Moja prijateljica voli kampirati, ali ne voli spavati...

This is very similar to English punctuation before but when it joins two full clauses.

Yes, but it is not necessary.

Croatian often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb form already gives a lot of information, and here the subject is already explicitly stated as moja prijateljica.

So:

• Moja prijateljica voli kampirati... is perfectly natural
• Ona voli kampirati... would only be used if you wanted extra emphasis or contrast

For example, you might say Ona voli kampirati, ali ja ne to emphasize she.

These are sounds English speakers often notice right away:

• š sounds like sh in shoe
  • šatoru, puše
• č sounds roughly like ch in church
  • prijateljica
• lj is a single Croatian sound, similar to the lli in some pronunciations of million, though not exactly the same
  • prijate-lji-ca, vo-li

So a rough pronunciation guide would be:

• šatoru ≈ sha-to-ru
• puše ≈ poo-she
• prijateljica ≈ priya-telyi-tsa (very approximate)

The important thing is to notice that these letters are distinct and meaningful in Croatian spelling.