Policajka očito zna odgovor.

• Policajka = a noun, feminine singular, in the nominative case. It is the subject of the sentence.
• očito = an adverb. It modifies the verb and adds the idea of obviously / evidently / clearly.
• zna = a verb, 3rd person singular present tense of znati (to know).
• odgovor = a noun, masculine singular. It is the direct object of the verb.

So the basic structure is:

subject + adverb + verb + object

Policajka is the feminine word for policewoman / female police officer.

The masculine form is policajac.

So:

• Policajka zna odgovor. = a female officer knows the answer.
• Policajac zna odgovor. = a male officer knows the answer.

Croatian often marks gender directly in the noun, so this is something English speakers notice quickly.

Policajka is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence — the person doing the action of knowing.

In Croatian, the subject of a sentence is normally in the nominative case.

Here:

• policajka = the one who knows
• zna = knows
• odgovor = what she knows

Because odgovor is the direct object of zna, and with this noun the accusative singular looks exactly the same as the nominative singular.

Odgovor is a masculine inanimate noun. For masculine inanimate nouns, nominative and accusative are usually the same.

So:

• nominative: odgovor
• accusative: odgovor

That is why the sentence uses odgovor, even though it is the object.

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

So odgovor can mean:

• an answer
• the answer

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English will usually translate it as the answer, but Croatian does not need a separate word for that.

This is very common in Croatian and other Slavic languages.

Očito is an adverb meaning something like:

• obviously
• evidently
• clearly
• sometimes apparently, depending on context

In this sentence, it suggests that it is clear from the situation that the policewoman knows the answer.

A useful distinction:

• očito often suggests that something is evident from the facts or situation
• English obviously can sometimes sound stronger or more emotional than Croatian očito

So očito is often a calm, matter-of-fact word.

No, Croatian word order is fairly flexible.

This version is natural and neutral:

• Policajka očito zna odgovor.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Očito policajka zna odgovor.
• Policajka zna odgovor, očito.
• Odgovor policajka očito zna.

These versions can sound different in emphasis or style.

In general:

• the given sentence is a good neutral/default order
• changing the order often changes focus rather than basic meaning

English speakers often expect word order to carry most of the grammar, but in Croatian the case endings do a lot of that work.

The infinitive is znati = to know.

Zna is the 3rd person singular present tense form:

• ja znam = I know
• ti znaš = you know
• on/ona zna = he/she knows

Since policajka is a singular subject, the verb must also be singular:

• Policajka zna...

If the subject were plural, the verb would change:

• Policajke znaju odgovor. = The policewomen know the answer.

Yes, Croatian has more than one way to express know, and this is an important distinction.

Here we use znati because we mean know a fact / know information / know the answer.

So:

• znati odgovor = to know the answer

A different verb, poznavati / poznati, is used more for being familiar with a person, place, or thing.

Compare:

• Znam odgovor. = I know the answer.
• Poznajem tu policajku. = I know that policewoman / I am acquainted with that policewoman.

So in this sentence, znati is definitely the correct choice.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

po-lee-TSAI-ka O-chee-to zna OD-go-vor

A few useful sound notes:

• c in Croatian is like ts
• č is like ch in chocolate, but usually a bit firmer
• j is like English y
• z in zna is a normal z sound
• r in odgovor is rolled or tapped

So:

• Policajka ≈ po-lee-TSAI-ka
• očito ≈ O-chee-to
• zna ≈ zna
• odgovor ≈ OD-go-vor

Pronunciation can vary a little by region, but this will get you close.

You make it negative by putting ne before the verb:

• Policajka očito ne zna odgovor.

That means The policewoman obviously does not know the answer.

This is the normal Croatian way to negate a verb:

• zna = knows
• ne zna = does not know

Yes. Odgovor is a common Croatian noun that can mean both answer and response, depending on context.

For example:

• To je točan odgovor. = That is the correct answer.
• Čekam njegov odgovor. = I am waiting for his response.

In your sentence, the meaning is clearly answer.

Yes, very often.

Croatian is a language where the subject pronoun or noun can be omitted if it is clear from context. Since the verb form zna already tells you it is he/she/it knows, Croatian can often say:

• Očito zna odgovor. = Obviously, he/she knows the answer.

However, if you specifically want to identify who knows the answer, you keep policajka:

• Policajka očito zna odgovor.

So the noun is included here because the speaker wants to name the subject clearly.