Unatoč tome što sam bila zauzeta, jutros sam uspjela ubrati nekoliko marelica i jednu ružu.

Unatoč tome što means despite the fact that or even though. In this sentence, it introduces a contrast:

• Unatoč tome što sam bila zauzeta = Despite the fact that I was busy

A very common simpler alternative is iako:

• Iako sam bila zauzeta, ... = Although I was busy, ...

The difference is mostly in style and emphasis:

• iako is shorter and very common.
• unatoč tome što sounds a bit more explicit or formal, literally something like in spite of that, that...

Also note that unatoč normally takes the dative case, which is why you see tome.

This is the past tense in Croatian, formed with:

• the present of biti (sam = I am / I have as an auxiliary here)
• the l-participle of the main verb

So:

• sam bila = I was

The full part:

• što sam bila zauzeta = that I was busy

Here:

• sam = 1st person singular auxiliary
• bila = feminine singular past participle of biti
• zauzeta = feminine singular adjective meaning busy

Because the speaker is female, both bila and zauzeta are feminine.

A male speaker would say:

• što sam bio zauzet

Croatian past participles and many adjectives agree with the gender of the speaker or subject.

In this sentence, the speaker is I, and the form shows that the speaker is female:

• bila = feminine was
• zauzeta = feminine busy
• uspjela = feminine managed / succeeded

If the speaker were male, you would get:

• Unatoč tome što sam bio zauzet, jutros sam uspio ubrati nekoliko marelica i jednu ružu.

So this sentence is a good example of how Croatian often reveals the speaker’s gender in the past tense.

Because there are really two clauses, and each has its own verb phrase in the past tense:

1. što sam bila zauzeta = that I was busy
2. jutros sam uspjela ubrati... = this morning I managed to pick...

Each past-tense clause needs its own auxiliary:

• sam bila
• sam uspjela

So the repetition is completely normal.

Croatian has clitics, and sam is one of them. Clitics usually go in the second position of their clause.

So in:

• jutros sam uspjela ubrati...

the first element is jutros, and the clitic sam comes right after it.

That is why sam jutros uspjela sounds wrong in normal standard word order.

Compare:

• Jutros sam uspjela...
• Danas sam uspjela...
• Nekoliko marelica sam uspjela ubrati...

In each case, the clitic tends to come after the first stressed element or phrase.

Jutros means this morning.

It refers specifically to the morning of the current day or the relevant day being discussed.

Examples:

• Jutros sam rano ustala. = I got up early this morning.
• Što si jutros radio? = What were you doing this morning?

It is a very common time adverb. English often needs two words (this morning), but Croatian uses one word here.

This is a very common Croatian pattern:

• uspjeti
  • infinitive

It means to manage to do something or to succeed in doing something.

So:

• uspjela ubrati = managed to pick

Breakdown:

• uspjela = managed / succeeded (past, feminine)
• ubrati = to pick

So the structure is just like English:

• I managed to pick
• sam uspjela ubrati

This is mainly about aspect.

Croatian often has pairs like:

• brati = imperfective, to be picking / to pick in a general or ongoing sense
• ubrati = perfective, to pick, to pick successfully, to gather/pick completely or as a completed action

After uspjeti (to manage), Croatian often prefers a perfective verb if the action was completed successfully.

So:

• uspjela ubrati nekoliko marelica i jednu ružu = she successfully completed the action of picking them

If you used brati, it would sound more ongoing or less focused on completion.

Because nekoliko requires the following noun to be in the genitive plural.

So:

• nekoliko marelica = a few apricots

Here:

• singular: marelica = apricot
• genitive plural: marelica

This is one of those forms where the genitive plural looks the same as the nominative singular, which can be confusing.

Other examples:

• nekoliko jabuka = a few apples
• nekoliko knjiga = a few books
• nekoliko ljudi = a few people

So after nekoliko, think: genitive plural noun.

Because ruža is the direct object of ubrati, so it must be in the accusative case.

• nominative: jedna ruža = one rose
• accusative: jednu ružu = one rose as the object

So:

• ubrati jednu ružu = to pick one rose

Both words change:

• jedna → jednu
• ruža → ružu

This is normal for feminine singular nouns and adjectives/pronouns in the accusative.

Because in this sentence marelica is not directly in the simple singular accusative. It appears after nekoliko, which requires the genitive plural:

• nekoliko marelica

So the form is determined by nekoliko, not directly by the verb alone.

If you said one apricot, then you would see the accusative singular:

• jednu marelicu

Compare:

• Ubrala sam jednu marelicu. = I picked one apricot.
• Ubrala sam nekoliko marelica. = I picked a few apricots.

Unatoč normally takes the dative.

That is why you see:

• tome = dative singular of to / that

So:

• unatoč tome = despite that

Then što sam bila zauzeta explains what that refers to:

• unatoč tome što sam bila zauzeta

You can think of it as:

• despite that fact, namely that I was busy

This is a useful pattern:

• Unatoč tome što je padala kiša, izašli smo. = Despite the fact that it was raining, we went out.

Yes. A learner will often hear or use simpler versions like:

• Iako sam bila zauzeta, jutros sam uspjela ubrati nekoliko marelica i jednu ružu.
• Premda sam bila zauzeta, jutros sam uspjela ubrati nekoliko marelica i jednu ružu.

All of these mean roughly the same thing:

• although / even though / despite the fact that I was busy...

The original sentence is fully correct; it is just a bit more elaborate than the shortest option.

Because Croatian does not have articles like a and the.

Whether something is definite or indefinite is understood from:

• context
• word order
• demonstratives if needed
• the general situation

So:

• nekoliko marelica can mean a few apricots
• jednu ružu can mean one rose / a rose

If Croatian needs to be more specific, it can use words like:

• ta ruža = that rose
• ova ruža = this rose

But usually no article is used at all.