Specijalistica je jutros objasnila pacijentici da će se, ako bude mirno spavala, brže oporaviti.

Specijalistica is the feminine form of specijalist. It tells you that the specialist is a woman.

In this sentence, several forms show that the people involved are female:

• specijalistica = female specialist
• pacijentici = to the female patient
• spavala = slept, feminine form of the past participle

Croatian often marks gender more clearly than English does.

Je objasnila is the perfect tense, which is the normal past tense in Croatian.

It is formed with:

• a present form of biti (je = is/has as auxiliary here)
• the past participle (objasnila)

So:

• objasniti = to explain
• je objasnila = she explained

The participle objasnila ends in -la, which shows the subject is feminine singular.

Because objasniti takes an indirect object in the dative case: you explain to someone.

So:

• pacijentica = female patient
• pacijentici = to the female patient

Compare:

• Objasnila je pacijentici. = She explained to the patient.
• Dala je pacijentici lijek. = She gave the patient medicine.

This is a very common use of the dative in Croatian.

Da introduces a content clause, here meaning that.

So:

• objasnila pacijentici da... = explained to the patient that...

Everything after da is the thing that was explained.

This is very common in Croatian:

• Rekla je da dolazi. = She said that she is coming.
• Mislim da je u pravu. = I think that he/she is right.

Će se oporaviti is the future tense: will recover.

It contains:

• će = future auxiliary
• se oporaviti = recover

The basic verb is oporaviti se, which is a reflexive/pronominal verb meaning to recover.

So:

• oporaviti se = to recover
• će se oporaviti = will recover

The se is part of the verb here. It does not literally mean herself in the English sense; it is simply how this verb is used.

Because Croatian clitics often take a fixed position near the beginning of their clause.

The infinitive is:

• oporaviti se

But in a future construction with će, the clitic se usually appears before the infinitive:

• će se oporaviti

This is normal Croatian word order.

You will see the same kind of thing with other clitics too:

• On će se vratiti. = He will return.
• Ona će mu reći. = She will tell him.

Ako bude mirno spavala uses the future II form, which is common after ako when talking about something that may happen before or as part of a future situation.

Structure:

• bude = future form of biti
• spavala = past participle, feminine singular

Together:

• bude spavala = she sleeps / will have slept / if she sleeps, in a future-oriented conditional sense

In English, after if we normally use the present:

• if she sleeps well, she will recover faster

Croatian often uses future II here:

• ako bude mirno spavala, brže će se oporaviti

You may also hear present-tense versions in everyday speech, but bude spavala is a very standard and careful way to express this future condition.

Because in future II, Croatian uses budem/bude/budemo... plus the past participle.

So even though the participle looks like a past form, the whole expression is not past tense here.

Examples:

• ako bude došla = if she comes
• kad budu završili = when they finish / when they have finished
• ako bude mirno spavala = if she sleeps peacefully

Also, spavala is feminine singular because the understood subject is she.

The understood subject is the patient.

Croatian often omits subject pronouns when the verb form and context make the subject clear.

So instead of saying:

• ...da će se ona, ako bude mirno spavala, brže oporaviti

Croatian naturally leaves out ona.

We understand that it refers to the patient because:

• pacijentici was just mentioned
• spavala is feminine singular
• oporaviti also refers naturally to the person being discussed

Mirno is an adverb meaning something like peacefully, calmly, or soundly, depending on context.

It comes from:

• miran = calm, peaceful

So:

• mirno spavati = to sleep peacefully / sleep calmly

In this sentence, it describes how she sleeps.

Here brže is an adverb, the comparative form of brzo.

• brzo = quickly
• brže = more quickly / faster

It modifies the verb oporaviti se:

• brže se oporaviti = to recover faster

Compare:

• brz oporavak = a fast recovery (brz = adjective)
• brže se oporaviti = to recover faster (brže = adverb)

Because that part is an inserted subordinate clause: if she sleeps peacefully.

The main clause is:

• da će se brže oporaviti = that she will recover faster

The conditional clause is inserted into it:

• da će se, ako bude mirno spavala, brže oporaviti

Croatian punctuation often sets off inserted subordinate clauses with commas like this.

You could also place the conditional clause first:

• Specijalistica je jutros objasnila pacijentici da će se brže oporaviti ako bude mirno spavala.

That version is also natural.

Jutros means this morning and works as a time expression.

In the sentence:

• Specijalistica je jutros objasnila...

it naturally goes near the verb to show when the explaining happened.

Croatian word order is flexible, so other placements are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Jutros je specijalistica objasnila pacijentici...
• Specijalistica je objasnila pacijentici jutros...

But the original version is very normal and neutral.

Yes. That is also correct and natural.

The original sentence places the if-clause in the middle:

• da će se, ako bude mirno spavala, brže oporaviti

This gives the conditional clause a slightly more parenthetical, inserted feel.

The alternative:

• da će se brže oporaviti ako bude mirno spavala

is a bit more straightforward in word order.

Both mean essentially the same thing.

Grammatically, yes, it uses se; semantically, not in a strongly literal herself way.

Many Croatian verbs are built with se and are best learned as whole units:

• smijati se = to laugh
• nadati se = to hope
• oporaviti se = to recover

So it is best to memorize:

• oporaviti se = to recover

rather than trying to translate se word-for-word every time.

It helps to break it into parts:

• Specijalistica je jutros objasnila pacijentici
  = The specialist explained to the patient this morning

• da će se ... brže oporaviti
  = that she will recover faster

• ako bude mirno spavala
  = if she sleeps peacefully

So the full structure is:

main clause + da-clause + inserted ako-clause

That is why the sentence may feel long at first, but each piece is quite standard on its own.