Cjedilo je još mokro, jer sam u njemu jutros oprala kelj za juhu.

Cjedilo means a strainer or colander. In a kitchen context, this sentence most naturally suggests a colander/strainer used for washing vegetables.

It is a neuter noun in Croatian.

Because mokro has to agree with cjedilo.

In Croatian, adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case:

• mokar = masculine
• mokra = feminine
• mokro = neuter

Since cjedilo is neuter singular, the adjective must also be neuter singular: mokro.

Je is the 3rd person singular present form of biti = to be.

So:

• Cjedilo je mokro = The strainer is wet

Croatian often uses biti just like English uses to be with adjectives.

Here još means still.

So:

• još mokro = still wet

It shows that the strainer remains wet at the time of speaking.

Croatian past tense is usually made with:

• a present form of biti as an auxiliary
• plus the l-participle

So:

• sam oprala = I washed

Here:

• sam = I am as an auxiliary, used to form the past tense
• oprala = past participle

Together they mean I washed.

Yes. Oprala shows that the speaker is female.

In Croatian past tense, the participle agrees with the subject’s gender:

• oprala sam / sam oprala = a female speaker: I washed
• oprao sam / sam oprao = a male speaker: I washed

So this sentence was said by a woman.

Because oprati is perfective, while prati is imperfective.

• oprati / oprala suggests a completed action
• prati / prala suggests the action as a process, habit, or repeated activity

In this sentence, the speaker means she finished washing the kale, so oprala is the natural choice.

U njemu means in it.

Here:

• u = in
• njemu = a case form of ono/on, here meaning it

Croatian uses u + locative for location:

• u njemu = in it

That fits the idea of washing the kale in the strainer.

Because ga would be a direct object form, but here the phrase means in it, which expresses location, not a direct object.

Compare:

• Vidim ga. = I see it/him.
• U njemu sam oprala kelj. = I washed the kale in it.

So u njemu is needed because the sentence is talking about the place/container where the washing happened.

It is in the accusative, but for many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: kelj
• accusative: kelj

Even though the form does not change, the case still does.

Za juhu means for soup.

The preposition za often takes the accusative case, especially when it means for in the sense of purpose or intended use.

So:

• juha = nominative
• juhu = accusative

That is why it is za juhu, not za juha.

Jutros means this morning.

It refers to the morning of the current day or the most recent morning relevant to the conversation.

It is an adverb, so it does not change form here.

A useful basic distinction is:

• jutros = this morning
• ujutro = in the morning

So:

• Jutros sam oprala kelj. = I washed the kale this morning.
• Obično perem povrće ujutro. = I usually wash vegetables in the morning.

In your sentence, jutros is used because the speaker is referring to one specific morning.

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible.

This sentence uses a very natural order, but other versions are possible, for example:

• Jer sam jutros u njemu oprala kelj za juhu
• Jutros sam u njemu oprala kelj za juhu

The meaning stays basically the same, but the focus or emphasis can shift.

Also, sam is a clitic, and clitics usually appear near the beginning of the clause, which is why sam comes so early.

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

So cjedilo can mean:

• a strainer
• the strainer

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, English would naturally say the strainer because both speaker and listener probably know which strainer is meant.

Yes, that is possible, depending on how you interpret cjedilo and kelj.

A few vocabulary notes:

• cjedilo can be strainer or colander
• kelj can refer to kale or sometimes a cabbage-type vegetable, depending on region and context

So several English translations can work, as long as the grammar and overall meaning are preserved.