Za svaki izostanak škola traži ispričnicu od roditelja.

Because za here takes the accusative case, and izostanak is a masculine inanimate noun.

So:

• nominative: svaki izostanak
• accusative: svaki izostanak

For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular.

That is why you get za svaki izostanak.

If the noun were feminine, the adjective would look different, for example za svaku...

Izostanak means absence.

In a school context, it means a pupil’s absence from school, class, or lessons. It is a very common word in school administration.

So in this sentence, it means each recorded absence that needs to be justified.

Škola is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative singular.

The verb traži is also singular, which matches škola:

• škola traži = the school requires / asks for

So škola is the thing doing the action.

Ispričnicu is in the accusative singular because it is the direct object of traži.

The school is requiring what? → ispričnicu

The dictionary form is:

• nominative: ispričnica

But as a direct object, it becomes:

• accusative: ispričnicu

This is a regular feminine noun pattern.

Ispričnica is a school excuse note or written justification for an absence.

In practice, it usually means a note from:

• a parent
• a guardian
• sometimes a doctor

It is not just a general apology. In this context, it is a specific school document or written excuse.

The preposition od takes the genitive case, so roditelja is genitive.

Here od roditelja means from the parents.

A useful thing to know is that roditelja can look the same in:

• genitive singular
• genitive plural

So the form itself can be ambiguous. In this sentence, the normal interpretation is from the parents because it is talking about a general school rule.

Yes, the form roditelja can theoretically mean either:

• from the parent
• from the parents

Context decides.

In this sentence, the most natural meaning is from the parents, because schools usually require a parental excuse as a general rule. If the context were about one specific child and one specific parent, singular would be possible.

Tražiti can mean several related things:

• to look for
• to ask for
• to demand
• to require

In this sentence, it means asks for or requires, not physically looks for.

So škola traži ispričnicu means the school requires an excuse note.

Also, traži is the present tense of the imperfective verb tražiti, which works well for a general rule or repeated practice.

Yes. Croatian word order is fairly flexible.

This version:

• Za svaki izostanak škola traži ispričnicu od roditelja.

puts emphasis first on for every absence.

A more subject-first version would be:

• Škola traži ispričnicu od roditelja za svaki izostanak.

Both are understandable, but the focus changes slightly.

So the original sentence is natural, especially if the speaker wants to foreground the condition for every absence.

Because Croatian has no articles.

There is no separate word for a or the like in English. Definiteness is usually understood from context.

So:

• škola can mean school or the school
• roditelja can mean parent/parents or the parent/the parents

English needs articles, but Croatian does not.

The cases show the roles:

• Za svaki izostanak = prepositional phrase, for every absence
• škola = nominative subject, the school
• traži = verb, requires / asks for
• ispričnicu = accusative direct object, an excuse note
• od roditelja = genitive phrase after od, from the parents

So even if word order moves around, the case endings help you understand the structure.