Trudim se govoriti hrvatski svaki dan.

Because truditi se is a reflexive verb in Croatian. You normally learn it as a full expression: truditi se = to make an effort / to try hard.

So:

• ja se trudim = I am trying / I make an effort
• ti se trudiš = you are trying
• on se trudi = he is trying

In this sentence, se does not mean himself/herself in a literal English sense. It is just part of the verb.

Trudim is the 1st person singular present tense form of truditi se.

So it means I try / I am trying / I make an effort.

A short conjugation:

• ja se trudim = I try
• ti se trudiš = you try
• on/ona se trudi = he/she tries
• mi se trudimo = we try
• vi se trudite = you (plural/formal) try
• oni se trude = they try

Croatian often leaves out the subject pronoun, so ja is not needed here.

Croatian usually drops subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Here, trudim already tells you the subject is I.

So:

• Trudim se govoriti hrvatski svaki dan.
• Ja se trudim govoriti hrvatski svaki dan.

Both are correct, but the version without ja is more natural unless you want emphasis.

For example, Ja se trudim... might sound like I’m the one making the effort...

Because after truditi se, Croatian commonly uses an infinitive to say what someone is trying to do.

So the structure is:

• truditi se + infinitive

Examples:

• Trudim se učiti. = I’m trying to study.
• Trudimo se pomoći. = We’re trying to help.
• Trudi se govoriti sporije. = He/She is trying to speak more slowly.

So govoriti is the action the speaker is making an effort to do.

Because when naming a language in Croatian, you often use the adjective form as a kind of language name.

So:

• hrvatski = Croatian
• engleski = English
• njemački = German
• talijanski = Italian

After govoriti, this language word is typically used in a fixed, standard way:

• govoriti hrvatski
• govoriti engleski
• govoriti njemački

So hrvatski here means the Croatian language, even though it looks like an adjective.

Historically and grammatically, it is an adjective, but in this sentence it functions like the name of a language.

That is very common in Croatian.

Compare:

• hrvatski jezik = the Croatian language
• govorim hrvatski = I speak Croatian

In govorim hrvatski, the noun jezik is not stated, because it is understood.

So you can think of it as something like:

• govorim hrvatski (jezik)

Svaki dan is the normal way to say every day.

It is made of:

• svaki = every
• dan = day

Together they form a time expression.

Very often, expressions of repeated time use the accusative case in Croatian. In this phrase, dan looks the same as the nominative because it is a masculine inanimate noun, but functionally this is the usual time expression svaki dan = every day.

You will also see similar patterns like:

• cijeli dan = all day
• jedan dan = one day

Yes. Croatian word order is fairly flexible.

All of these are possible:

• Trudim se govoriti hrvatski svaki dan.
• Svaki dan se trudim govoriti hrvatski.
• Trudim se svaki dan govoriti hrvatski.

The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis changes a little.

• Svaki dan... puts early emphasis on every day
• ...govoriti hrvatski svaki dan sounds very natural and neutral
• ...se svaki dan trudim... can emphasize the regular effort

In Croatian, short unstressed words like se usually go in the second position area of the clause. They are called clitics.

That is why you often see:

• Trudim se...
• Moram se...
• Želim se...

If you add another word at the beginning, the position can shift:

• Danas se trudim više.
• Ja se trudim govoriti hrvatski.

So se follows Croatian clitic-placement rules rather than English-style word order.

Yes. That is also correct, but it is slightly different in tone.

• Trudim se... emphasizes effort
• Pokušavam... emphasizes trying / attempting

So:

• Trudim se govoriti hrvatski svaki dan.
  = I’m making an effort to speak Croatian every day.

• Pokušavam govoriti hrvatski svaki dan.
  = I’m trying to speak Croatian every day.

Both are good, but trudim se often sounds a bit more like ongoing dedication.

Yes, you may hear both patterns.

Common options are:

• govoriti hrvatski
• govoriti na hrvatskom

The first is very direct and common: to speak Croatian.

The second literally means something like to speak in Croatian and uses hrvatskom, which is a case form after the preposition na.

For a learner, govoriti hrvatski is a very useful standard pattern, especially when talking about knowing or using a language.

Because govoriti is the general verb for to speak.

It fits well with languages:

• govoriti hrvatski
• govoriti engleski
• govoriti sporo
• govoriti glasno

Another common verb is pričati, but that is more like to talk / to tell / to chat, and it is not the default choice when saying what language someone speaks.

So for languages, govoriti is the most natural verb.

Yes, a little.

Both truditi se and govoriti are imperfective verbs. That makes sense because the sentence describes an ongoing, repeated effort, not a single completed action.

• trudim se = I keep making an effort
• govoriti = to speak, as an ongoing activity
• svaki dan = every day

So the whole sentence naturally expresses a repeated habit or continuing effort.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

TROO-deem seh go-VO-ree-tee HR-vat-skee SVA-kee dan

A few notes:

• tr in Trudim begins with a real consonant cluster
• r in hrvatski is rolled or tapped
• hr at the start of hrvatski can feel difficult for English speakers
• stress can vary somewhat by region, but this approximation is good for learners

Word by word:

• Trudim ≈ TROO-deem
• se ≈ seh
• govoriti ≈ go-VO-ree-tee
• hrvatski ≈ HR-vat-skee
• svaki ≈ SVA-kee
• dan ≈ dahn

Yes, it sounds natural and idiomatic.

It is a very normal way to express:

• regular effort
• language practice
• a daily habit

A Croatian speaker would easily understand it, and it does not sound overly formal or strange.