Moja baka često pravi kompot od jabuka.

Because baka is a feminine singular noun, and the possessive adjective moj has to agree with it.

So:

• moj = my, masculine singular
• moja = my, feminine singular
• moje = my, neuter singular

Since baka is feminine, you say moja baka.

Baka is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence — the person doing the action.

In this sentence, moja baka is the one who pravi the compote, so nominative is the expected case.

Pravi is the 3rd person singular present tense form of praviti, meaning to make.

The subject is moja baka = my grandmother, which is she, so the verb must be in the he/she/it form:

• ja pravim = I make
• ti praviš = you make
• on/ona/ono pravi = he/she/it makes

So moja baka pravi = my grandmother makes.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Croatian present tense often covers both:

• she makes
• she is making

But in this sentence, because of često (often), the meaning is clearly habitual:

• Moja baka često pravi... = My grandmother often makes...

So here pravi is best understood as makes rather than is making.

Često is an adverb meaning often, and in Croatian adverbs like this commonly go before the verb.

So:

• Moja baka često pravi kompot od jabuka.

is the most neutral and natural order.

Croatian word order is fairly flexible, so other orders are possible, but they may sound more marked or emphasize something different.

For example:

• Moja baka pravi često kompot od jabuka. — possible, but less neutral
• Kompot od jabuka moja baka često pravi. — more emphasis on apple compote

The preposition od usually means from or made of, and it requires the genitive case.

So:

• od jabuka = from apples / made from apples

That is why jabuka changes to the genitive plural form in this phrase.

This structure is very common in Croatian:

• sok od naranče = orange juice
• pita od jabuka = apple pie
• džem od šljiva = plum jam

So kompot od jabuka literally means something like compote made from apples.

Because jabuka here is the genitive plural form.

This noun has these forms:

• nominative singular: jabuka = apple
• genitive singular: jabuke = of an apple
• nominative plural: jabuke = apples
• genitive plural: jabuka = of apples

So in od jabuka, the form is genitive plural, even though it looks identical to the singular nominative.

This is something learners simply have to get used to: some Croatian forms look the same but have different grammatical functions.

Because Croatian has no articles like English a/an or the.

So:

• baka can mean a grandmother, the grandmother, or just grandmother, depending on context
• kompot can mean a compote or the compote

Croatian relies on context, word order, and shared knowledge instead of articles.

That is why Moja baka često pravi kompot od jabuka sounds complete without any separate word for the or a.

Usually, no — not in this sentence.

Both raditi and praviti can relate to doing or making, but they are not always interchangeable.

Here, praviti is the natural verb because it means to make / prepare something such as food or drink.

So:

• praviti kompot = to make compote

By contrast, raditi more often means:

• to work
• to do
• to function

So Moja baka često radi kompot od jabuka would sound unnatural to most speakers.

Because the sentence describes a repeated, habitual action: your grandmother often makes apple compote.

In Croatian, habitual or ongoing actions normally use an imperfective verb, and praviti is imperfective.

A perfective verb would suggest a completed single action, which does not fit well with često.

So the choice of praviti matches the idea of something done regularly.

A rough guide:

• često ≈ CHES-toh
• jabuka ≈ YAH-boo-kah

A few useful pronunciation points:

• č sounds like ch in church, but a bit harder
• j sounds like English y in yes
• Croatian vowels are usually clear and short, not reduced like in English

So:

• moja ≈ MOH-yah
• baka ≈ BAH-kah
• često ≈ CHES-toh
• pravi ≈ PRAH-vee
• jabuka ≈ YAH-boo-kah

Yes, it is a very natural and idiomatic sentence.

It uses:

• normal word order
• a common adverb position
• the correct case after od
• a natural verb for making food or drink

So Moja baka često pravi kompot od jabuka. sounds like an ordinary, everyday Croatian sentence.