Cvjećarka mi je pokazala bijele ljiljane i crvene karanfile, ali sam uzela samo ljiljane.

Cvjećarka means flower seller or florist (specifically a woman).

It is a feminine noun, and that matters because the verb later agrees with it:

• Cvjećarka ... je pokazala = The florist ... showed
• pokazala is the feminine singular past form

So this sentence tells you that the florist is female.

Mi here means to me.

The verb pokazati often works like this:

• pokazati komu što = to show someone something

So:

• mi = dative singular of ja = to me
• bijele ljiljane i crvene karanfile = the things being shown

You use mi, not mene, because mene is not the dative form. In this sentence, the person receiving the flowers-as-information is an indirect object, so dative is needed.

Croatian past tense is usually made with:

• a present-tense form of biti (to be)
• plus the l-participle

So here you have:

• je pokazala = she showed
• sam uzela = I took / I chose

Breakdown:

• je = is-form used as an auxiliary for he/she/it
• pokazala = feminine singular participle
• sam = auxiliary for I
• uzela = feminine singular participle

This also tells us something about gender:

• pokazala → the florist is female
• uzela → the speaker is female

If the speaker were male, it would be uzeo.

Because Croatian often drops subject pronouns when they are already clear from the verb.

• sam uzela already means I took
• The ending and auxiliary make the subject obvious

So ja sam uzela is possible, but it would usually add emphasis, something like:

• I took only the lilies

Without ja, the sentence sounds more neutral and natural.

They are in the accusative plural because they are direct objects.

The florist showed:

• bijele ljiljane
• crvene karanfile

And the speaker took:

• samo ljiljane

The verbs pokazati and uzeti both take direct objects, so the flower names appear in the accusative.

Also, the adjectives must agree with the nouns in:

• gender
• number
• case

So:

• bijele ljiljane = masculine plural accusative
• crvene karanfile = masculine plural accusative

Because the adjectives have to match the nouns in case and number.

Here the nouns are direct objects in the plural, so the adjectives take the matching accusative plural forms:

• bijele ljiljane
• crvene karanfile

A learner often first meets adjectives in dictionary-style or nominative forms such as:

• bijeli
• crveni

But in actual sentences, those forms change depending on grammar.

Because mi, je, and sam are clitics. In Croatian, clitics usually go near the beginning of the clause, often in second position.

So:

• Cvjećarka mi je pokazala ...
• ali sam uzela ...

This is very normal Croatian word order.

English speakers often expect something more like Cvjećarka je pokazala mi, but that sounds wrong in Croatian. The little unstressed words mi, je, sam have special placement rules.

Because Croatian, like English, often leaves out repeated information when it is already clear.

The florist showed:

• bijele ljiljane
• crvene karanfile

Then the speaker says:

• ali sam uzela samo ljiljane

That naturally means but I took only the lilies, with the contrast being lilies vs. carnations.

If you said samo bijele ljiljane, you would be emphasizing the color too. The shorter version is more natural if the important contrast is just between the two kinds of flowers.

It literally means took, but in context it can sound more natural in English as:

• I took only the lilies
• I chose only the lilies
• sometimes even I bought only the lilies

Croatian often uses uzeti in situations where English might prefer take, choose, or get, depending on the context.

So the exact English wording depends on the situation, even though the Croatian verb stays the same.

Because Croatian does not have articles like English the and a/an.

Whether something is definite or indefinite is understood from:

• context
• word order
• demonstratives like ovaj (this) or taj (that) when needed

So ljiljane can mean:

• lilies
• the lilies

depending on context.

In this sentence, the situation makes it natural in English to say the lilies, because they are the specific lilies the florist showed.

Because the sentence describes completed, single actions:

• the florist showed the flowers
• the speaker took/chose only the lilies

So perfective verbs fit well:

• pokazati → pokazala
• uzeti → uzela

If imperfective forms were used instead, the meaning would shift toward an ongoing, repeated, or less bounded action. In this sentence, the completed-result meaning is the natural one.