Ako doktorica preporuči antibiotik, uzet ću ga točno kako je rekla.

Ako means if.

So the first part, Ako doktorica preporuči antibiotik, is the if-clause:

• Ako = if
• doktorica = the female doctor / doctor
• preporuči antibiotik = recommends an antibiotic

Croatian uses ako very much like English if in ordinary conditional sentences.

Preporuči is a very common form here because Croatian often uses the present tense of a perfective verb after ako to talk about a future possible action.

So:

• Ako doktorica preporuči antibiotik... = If the doctor recommends an antibiotic...

Even though preporuči looks like a present-tense form, here it refers to a future completed event: if she ends up making that recommendation.

Compare:

• preporučuje = she is recommending / she recommends regularly or in an ongoing sense
• preporuči = she recommends once, as a completed act

This is a classic Croatian aspect difference:

• preporučivati / preporučuje = imperfective
• preporučiti / preporuči = perfective

In this sentence, the perfective verb fits better because the recommendation is seen as a single completed action.

Preporuči is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense form
• of the perfective verb preporučiti = to recommend

So it literally means she recommends, but in this kind of sentence it is understood as if she recommends / if she does recommend.

The subject is doktorica, so the verb is in the she form.

Both are possible, but uzet ću is extremely common.

This is the future tense of uzeti (to take):

• full infinitive: uzeti
• future auxiliary: ću = I will

In Croatian, when the future auxiliary comes after the infinitive, the final -i of the infinitive is usually dropped:

• uzeti + ću → uzet ću

You can also say:

• Ja ću uzeti...

That is also correct. The version in your sentence is just a very normal and natural word order.

Ga means it.

Here it refers back to antibiotik:

• antibiotik = antibiotic
• uzet ću ga = I will take it

Ga is a short unstressed pronoun, called a clitic. Croatian uses these short object pronouns very often.

Because antibiotik is masculine singular, the accusative pronoun is ga.

Because antibiotik is a masculine inanimate noun, and for many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: antibiotik
• accusative: antibiotik

That is why after preporuči you still see antibiotik unchanged.

If it were a masculine animate noun, the accusative would usually look different.

Both show that the doctor is female.

• doktorica = female doctor
• rekla = said in the feminine past form

Croatian past tense agrees with the subject’s gender in the singular:

• rekao = he said
• rekla = she said
• reklo = it said

So kako je rekla means exactly as she said, with she referring to the female doctor.

If the doctor were male, you would expect:

• Ako doktor preporuči antibiotik, uzet ću ga točno kako je rekao.

It means exactly as she said or exactly the way she said.

Breaking it down:

• točno = exactly, precisely
• kako = how / the way
• je rekla = she said

So the whole phrase means the speaker will take the antibiotic precisely according to the doctor’s instructions.

It is very natural Croatian for expressing following instructions accurately.

Je rekla means she said, so it presents the instructions as something the doctor has already stated.

That works well if the meaning is something like:

• If the doctor recommends an antibiotic, I’ll take it exactly as she said.

In real life, this suggests the doctor has already explained how it should be taken, or the speaker is referring to the doctor’s instructions as a completed statement.

Other possibilities are possible in different contexts:

• kako kaže = as she says / as she is saying
• kako bude rekla = as she says / whatever she ends up saying

But kako je rekla sounds very natural if the focus is on following the instructions already given.

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

So:

• doktorica can mean doctor, a doctor, or the doctor
• antibiotik can mean an antibiotic or the antibiotic

The exact meaning depends on the context.

In this sentence, English naturally uses the doctor and an antibiotic, but Croatian does not need separate words for that.

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but not completely free.

This sentence is very natural as written:

• Ako doktorica preporuči antibiotik, uzet ću ga točno kako je rekla.

You may also hear variations depending on emphasis, for example:

• Ako doktorica preporuči antibiotik, ga ću uzeti... → not correct
• Ako doktorica preporuči antibiotik, ja ću ga uzeti točno kako je rekla. → correct, with extra emphasis on I
• Antibiotik ću uzeti točno kako je rekla. → also possible in a different context

The important thing is that short words like ću and ga are clitics, and they tend to appear in specific positions, usually near the beginning of their clause.

So yes, word order can change, but clitics still have placement rules.

Both exist.

• doktorica = female doctor
• liječnica = female physician/doctor

In everyday Croatian, both can be used, though style and preference may vary by region or context.

Similarly:

• doktor = male doctor
• liječnik = male physician/doctor

So the sentence could also be built with liječnica instead of doktorica without changing the basic meaning.

You would change the nouns and past participle to the masculine forms:

• Ako doktor preporuči antibiotik, uzet ću ga točno kako je rekao.

Changes:

• doktorica → doktor
• rekla → rekao

Everything else stays the same.

It sounds neutral and natural.

It is perfectly normal spoken and written Croatian. Nothing in it is especially slangy or especially formal.

A few things make it sound natural and standard:

• Ako for if
• perfective preporuči
• future uzet ću
• clitic pronoun ga
• točno kako je rekla for following instructions

So this is a very good model sentence for everyday standard Croatian.