Jučer sam od trešanja i šljiva napravila kompot, a danas ću ispeći kolač s marelicama.

Because sam is a clitic in Croatian. Clitics are short, unstressed words that usually go in the second position of the sentence or clause.

So:

• Jučer sam napravila kompot. = Yesterday I made compote.

Here, Jučer is the first element, so sam comes right after it.

This second-position rule is very common in Croatian:

• Danas ću ispeći kolač.
• Ja sam napravila kompot.
• Od voća sam napravila sok.

English learners often expect something more like Jučer napravila sam, but that sounds unnatural in standard Croatian.

Because the past form agrees with the gender of the speaker.

In Croatian, the past tense is made with:

• a form of biti (sam)
• plus the past participle

For napraviti:

• napravio = masculine singular
• napravila = feminine singular
• napravilo = neuter singular

So:

• If a woman is speaking: sam napravila
• If a man is speaking: sam napravio

This is something English does not do, so it often feels unusual at first.

This is the Croatian perfect tense, which is the normal way to talk about completed past actions.

It is formed with:

• the present tense of biti = sam
• the past participle of the main verb = napravila

So:

• ja sam napravila
• ti si napravio / napravila
• on je napravio
• ona je napravila
• mi smo napravili / napravile

In this sentence, Jučer sam napravila kompot means Yesterday I made compote.

Here od means from or out of.

So:

• od trešanja i šljiva = from cherries and plums

It shows what the compote was made from.

This is very common in Croatian:

• sok od naranče = orange juice
• džem od jagoda = strawberry jam
• vino od grožđa = wine from grapes

After od, Croatian uses the genitive case, which is why the fruit words change form.

Because after od, Croatian uses the genitive plural here.

Base forms:

• trešnja = cherry
• šljiva = plum

In this sentence:

• od trešanja
• od šljiva

These are plural forms used after od.

For English speakers, the important point is:

• Croatian nouns change endings depending on their role in the sentence.
• After od, you usually expect the genitive.

The exact plural patterns can vary from noun to noun, so it is worth learning them gradually with vocabulary.

Both can be possible in some contexts, but they do not feel exactly the same.

In this sentence:

• kolač s marelicama = a cake with apricots

This suggests apricots are an ingredient or topping that the cake contains.

The preposition s here means with, and it takes the instrumental case:

• s marelicama

By contrast:

• kolač od marelica would sound more like a cake made from apricots
• that would suggest the apricots are the main substance or base

So the contrast is:

• kompot od trešanja i šljiva = compote made from cherries and plums
• kolač s marelicama = cake with apricots

Marelicama is in the instrumental plural.

That is because the preposition s meaning with normally takes the instrumental:

• s prijateljem = with a friend
• s mlijekom = with milk
• s marelicama = with apricots

So:

• singular: marelica
• plural basic form: marelice
• after s: s marelicama

This is a very useful pattern to remember:

• s + instrumental

This is the Croatian future tense.

It is formed with:

• the clitic form of htjeti = ću
• the infinitive or future construction of the main verb = ispeći

So:

• ja ću ispeći = I will bake
• ti ćeš ispeći = you will bake
• on/ona će ispeći = he/she will bake

In the sentence:

• danas ću ispeći kolač = today I will bake a cake

Just like sam, ću is also a clitic and usually appears in second position:

• Danas ću ispeći kolač.

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

• peći = imperfective, focusing on the process or repeated action
• ispeći = perfective, focusing on completing the action

In this sentence, the speaker means they will successfully bake and finish the cake today, so ispeći is natural.

Compare:

• Danas ću peći kolač. = Today I’ll be baking a cake / I’ll spend time baking a cake.
• Danas ću ispeći kolač. = Today I’ll bake a cake (and the action will be completed).

Similarly:

• praviti = to be making
• napraviti = to make, complete

That is why the first clause has napravila from napraviti, not from praviti.

A is a conjunction. Here it links two ideas and gives a mild contrast or shift in topic/time:

• Jučer ... , a danas ...
• Yesterday ... , and/but today ...

In English, depending on context, you might translate it as:

• and
• while
• but

Here it shows a natural contrast between yesterday and today.

It is softer than ali:

• ali = but, stronger contradiction
• a = and/but/whereas, lighter contrast

So a danas is very natural here.

Yes. Croatian word order is fairly flexible, although some positions sound more natural than others.

The original sentence is neutral and natural:

• Jučer sam od trešanja i šljiva napravila kompot, a danas ću ispeći kolač s marelicama.

You could also say:

• Od trešanja i šljiva sam jučer napravila kompot...
• Kompot sam jučer napravila od trešanja i šljiva...

These versions shift the emphasis:

• first one emphasizes what it was made from
• second one emphasizes kompot

But the clitics still tend to stay near the beginning of the clause:

• sam
• ću

So yes, the order can change, but not completely freely.

Croatian has no articles, so there is no direct equivalent of English a, an, or the.

So:

• napravila kompot can mean made a compote or made the compote
• ispeći kolač can mean bake a cake or bake the cake

The exact meaning depends on context.

English speakers often want to add something where a/the would go, but in Croatian nothing is needed.

You know from the endings and from the context.

Basic singular forms are:

• trešnja = cherry
• šljiva = plum
• marelica = apricot

In the sentence, the forms show plural case forms:

• trešanja = of cherries
• šljiva = of plums
• marelicama = with apricots

So even though they do not look like the dictionary form, they clearly refer to more than one fruit.

This is normal in Croatian: plural nouns often change quite a lot when cases are involved.

Yes, kompot is a masculine noun.

Its gender matters for things like adjectives and some number forms, for example:

• dobar kompot = good compote
• hladan kompot = cold compote

But in this sentence, the speaker’s past participle napravila does not agree with kompot. It agrees with the speaker.

So:

• napravila = feminine speaker
• kompot = masculine noun

Those are two separate grammar points.

A rough guide:

• š sounds like sh in shoe
  • šljiva
• č sounds like ch in church
  • jučer
• ć is a softer sound than č
  • ispeći

Also:

• lj is pronounced like a single soft sound, similar to the lli in some pronunciations of million
  • šljiva

Croatian spelling is quite consistent, so once you learn the letter sounds, pronunciation becomes much easier than in English.