I meni se sviđa ova ideja.

this

Breakdown of I meni se sviđa ova ideja.

• sviđati se: to like
• ideja: idea
• meni: me (dative long form)

Questions & Answers about I meni se sviđa ova ideja.

Why does the sentence start with i?

Here i means and or also/too, depending on context.

So I meni se sviđa ova ideja can mean something like:

• And I like this idea too
• I also like this idea

At the beginning of a sentence, i often connects it to what was said before. For example:

• Njoj se sviđa ova ideja. I meni se sviđa ova ideja. = She likes this idea. And I like this idea too.

So this i is not the English pronoun I. It is the Croatian conjunction/particle i.

Why is it meni and not ja?

Because the verb pattern with sviđati se does not work like English to like.

In English, you say:

• I like the idea

But in Croatian, the structure is more like:

• The idea is pleasing to me

That is why the person who experiences the liking goes in the dative case, not the nominative.

• ja = I (subject form)
• meni = to me (dative form)

So:

• Meni se sviđa ova ideja literally works like This idea is pleasing to me

That is the normal Croatian structure.