Learn Croatian: Je li vam zima?

In Croatian, physical sensations like being cold or hot often use the dative case. Instead of saying 'You are cold', the structure is literally 'Is it cold to you?'. vam is the dative clitic form of vi (you, plural or formal).

Doesn't zima normally mean 'winter'?

Yes! But it is also used as a noun to mean 'coldness'. The literal translation of this sentence is 'Is winter to you?'. When talking about how someone feels, Croatian frequently uses nouns like zima rather than adjectives.

Can I just translate 'Are you cold?' literally, like 'Jeste li hladni?'

No, that would sound very strange! Saying someone is hladan (cold) usually means they have an unfriendly personality or their skin is literally freezing to the touch. For the internal feeling of being cold, you must use a dative pronoun with zima or hladno.

Why is vam placed right in the middle of the sentence?

vam is a clitic (a short, unstressed word). Croatian has a strict rule for clitics: they usually must go in the second position of the sentence. The question phrase Je li acts as the first piece of the sentence, so the clitic vam must immediately follow it.