Kad je djevojčica počela plakati, baka ju je uzela u naručje.

Kad means when. It introduces a time clause:

• Kad je djevojčica počela plakati = When the little girl started crying

So the whole sentence has two parts:

1. Kad je djevojčica počela plakati = the time/background part
2. baka ju je uzela u naručje = the main action

This is very similar to English When..., ....

Djevojčica means little girl.

It comes from djevojka / djevojčica-related forms, but in standard usage:

• djevojčica = a little girl, a female child
• djevojka = a girl/young woman, often older than a child

So here djevojčica tells you clearly that the person is a child.

Also, the ending -ica is very common in words referring to smaller or younger things.

Here, je is an auxiliary verb, part of the Croatian past tense.

Croatian past tense is usually formed with:

• the l-participle (past participle-like form)
• plus a form of biti (to be)

So:

• počela je = she started
• but because of Croatian word order with clitics, it appears as je počela

In the clause:

• Kad je djevojčica počela plakati

the je helps form the past tense of početi (to begin / start).

Because Croatian often uses početi + infinitive to mean to start doing something.

So:

• počela plakati = started to cry

Breakdown:

• počela = started (feminine singular)
• plakati = to cry

This is very natural in Croatian, just like English started crying / started to cry.

Because it agrees with djevojčica, which is a feminine noun.

In Croatian past tense, the main verb form changes for gender and number:

• počeo = masculine singular
• počela = feminine singular
• počelo = neuter singular
• počeli / počele = plural

Since djevojčica is feminine singular, you get:

• djevojčica je počela

After početi (to start), Croatian normally uses the infinitive:

• početi plakati = to start crying
• početi raditi = to start working
• početi govoriti = to start speaking

So plakati stays in its dictionary form, the infinitive.

Baka means grandmother or grandma.

Here it is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the main clause:

• baka ju je uzela u naručje = grandmother took her into her arms

So baka is the person doing the action.

Ju means her. It is the unstressed accusative pronoun for ona (she).

So:

• baka ju je uzela = grandmother took her

You may also see je used for her in some contexts, but here ju is especially helpful because the sentence already contains je as the auxiliary verb:

• ju je uzela

That makes the sentence clearer and avoids confusion between:

• ju = her
• je = has / is (auxiliary in the past tense)

They are doing two different jobs:

• ju = her (direct object)
• je = past tense auxiliary

So:

• baka ju je uzela literally = grandmother her has taken

Natural English:

• Grandmother took her

Croatian often packs a lot of grammar into these very short clitic words.

Uzela is the feminine singular past form of uzeti (to take).

It agrees with the subject baka, which is feminine.

Compare:

• baka je uzela = grandmother took
• djed je uzeo = grandfather took

So uzela tells you both the action and that the subject is feminine singular.

Uzeti u naručje is a common expression meaning:

• to take someone into one’s arms
• to pick someone up and hold them

So this is not just take in a general sense. It specifically suggests a comforting physical action, especially with a child.

In this sentence:

• baka ju je uzela u naručje = Grandma took her into her arms

Because u can take different cases depending on meaning:

• u + accusative = motion into somewhere
• u + locative = location in somewhere

Here there is movement:

• uzela ju je u naručje = took her into her arms

So naručje is in the accusative.

Compare:

• Dijete je u naručju bake. = The child is in grandma’s arms.
  Here there is no movement, so you use the locative: u naručju.

Naručje refers to the area of someone’s arms/lap where you hold a child or another person. In English, it is often translated as:

• arms
• embrace
• sometimes lap, depending on context

In this sentence, u naručje is best understood as:

• into her arms

It is a very natural and affectionate expression.

Because the sentence begins with a subordinate clause introduced by Kad:

• Kad je djevojčica počela plakati, ...

Croatian, like English, normally separates this introductory clause with a comma.

So the structure is:

• When the little girl started crying, grandma took her into her arms.

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but some positions are more natural than others.

For example, this sentence could also be understood with slightly different emphasis in another order, but the given version is very natural:

• Kad je djevojčica počela plakati, baka ju je uzela u naručje.

One important point is that short unstressed words like je and ju usually follow special clitic-placement rules, so you cannot move them completely freely.

That is why learners often memorize whole patterns such as:

• baka ju je uzela
• djevojčica je počela

rather than moving each word individually at first.

Yes. Croatian verbs often distinguish between perfective and imperfective aspect.

Here:

• početi is typically perfective: it marks the beginning of an action
• plakati is imperfective: it describes the ongoing action of crying
• uzeti is perfective: it describes a completed action, to take / pick up

So the sentence presents two completed events in sequence:

1. the girl started crying
2. grandma picked her up / took her into her arms

This is one reason the sentence feels very natural as a short past narrative.