Putnica je preko razglasa saznala da je odredište tog vlaka Rijeka.

Putnica means female passenger or traveler.

It is the feminine form of putnik (male passenger / traveler). Croatian often marks biological gender in nouns for people:

• putnik = male traveler
• putnica = female traveler

Because the verb also agrees with the subject, the sentence later uses saznala rather than saznao.

Je saznala is the perfect tense in Croatian, used very often for past actions.

It is made from:

• the auxiliary verb je = has / is (3rd person singular of biti, to be)
• the past participle saznala

So:

• putnica je saznala = the passenger found out / learned

Because the subject is feminine singular (putnica), the participle is also feminine singular:

• saznao = masculine
• saznala = feminine
• saznalo = neuter

This is a very common question.

• znati = to know
• saznati = to find out, to learn, to come to know

So saznala does not mean she already knew it. It means she obtained the information at that moment or in that situation.

Compare:

• Zna odredište. = She knows the destination.
• Saznala je odredište. = She found out / learned the destination.

Preko razglasa means over the loudspeaker / over the PA system.

Breakdown:

• preko = via, over, through
• razglas = loudspeaker system, public address system

So the phrase tells you how she found out the information: it was announced over the speaker system.

Because after preko, Croatian normally uses the genitive case.

So:

• razglas = nominative
• razglasa = genitive

That is why you get:

• preko razglasa = over / via the loudspeaker

This is a good phrase to remember as a set expression.

The second je belongs to the subordinate clause introduced by da.

The structure is:

• Putnica je saznala = The passenger found out
• da je odredište tog vlaka Rijeka = that the destination of that train is Rijeka

So this second je means is, not part of the first past tense.

You can think of it as:

• main clause: She found out
• subordinate clause: that the destination is Rijeka

Here da means that.

It introduces a content clause, just like English:

• Saznala je da... = She found out that...
• Znam da... = I know that...
• Rekao je da... = He said that...

So da connects the act of finding out with the information that follows.

Tog vlaka is in the genitive case.

The noun odredište means destination, and the phrase literally works like:

• odredište tog vlaka = the destination of that train

Here:

• taj vlak = that train in nominative
• tog vlaka = genitive singular, meaning of that train

So this is a possession/association relationship, similar to English of that train.

Because the phrase is not saying that train as the subject. It is saying the destination of that train.

After a noun like odredište, Croatian often uses the genitive to express of something:

• stan prijatelja = the friend’s apartment / the apartment of the friend
• boja auta = the color of the car
• odredište tog vlaka = the destination of that train

So taj vlak would be nominative, but here genitive is required:

• taj vlak → nominative
• tog vlaka → genitive

In this sentence, Rijeka is a predicate noun, not a destination after a motion verb.

The clause is:

• odredište tog vlaka je Rijeka
• the destination of that train is Rijeka

So Rijeka is naming what the destination is. That is why it appears without a preposition.

If you wanted to say the train is going to Rijeka, then you would use motion language such as:

• Vlak ide u Rijeku.

There, u Rijeku is correct because it expresses movement to a place.

But here the structure is simply:

• X is Y
• odredište je Rijeka

In this sentence, it clearly means Rijeka, the Croatian city.

The word rijeka with a lowercase r means river, but with a capital R it is a proper noun, the city name.

So:

• rijeka = river
• Rijeka = the city of Rijeka

Context also helps: the destination of that train is naturally a place name.

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, though some placements sound more natural than others.

This sentence is neutral and natural:

• Putnica je preko razglasa saznala da je odredište tog vlaka Rijeka.

But you could also see variations, for example:

• Putnica je saznala preko razglasa da je odredište tog vlaka Rijeka.
• Preko razglasa putnica je saznala da je odredište tog vlaka Rijeka.

The meaning stays basically the same, but the emphasis changes slightly.

One important point: the auxiliary je tends to appear in second position in the clause. Croatian clitics often follow that rule.

Because je is a clitic, and Croatian clitics usually go near the beginning of the clause, often in second position.

So in:

• Putnica je preko razglasa saznala...

the first element is Putnica, and then the clitic je comes right after it.

This is very typical in Croatian:

• Ivan je došao.
• Moja sestra je rekla...
• Putnica je saznala...

This can feel unusual to English speakers, because English auxiliaries do not follow the same placement rules.

Not exactly as a direct translation of saznala.

Saznala focuses on the result: she came to know the information.

If you wanted to emphasize the act of hearing, Croatian would more likely use a verb like čuti:

• Putnica je preko razglasa čula da... = The passenger heard over the loudspeaker that...

But the actual sentence with saznala means that she learned / found out the information through the announcement.

In natural English, over the loudspeaker or over the PA system is better.

A very literal translation might look like via the loudspeaker, but English usually prefers:

• over the loudspeaker
• over the intercom
• over the PA system

So while from the loudspeaker is understandable, it is not the most natural equivalent here.