Breakdown of Budući da je budžet ograničen, tek smo počeli projekt.
biti
to be (sam, si, je)
početi
to begin
projekt
project
budući da
since
Questions & Answers about Budući da je budžet ograničen, tek smo počeli projekt.
Why do we use tek here instead of samo for "only"?
While samo means "only" in the sense of exclusion (doing nothing else), tek refers to time, meaning "only just" or "barely." It emphasizes how recently the action happened, showing that you are at the very beginning of the project.
Could we start this sentence with jer instead of budući da to mean "because/since"?
No. A strict rule in Croatian is that jer cannot be the first word of a sentence. When the cause comes before the result (at the very beginning), you must use budući da or kako.
Why is the auxiliary verb smo placed immediately after tek?
Smo is an enclitic (a weak word without its own stress), so it must take the second position in its clause. Since the clause after the comma starts with tek, smo tucks in right behind it, pushing the main verb počeli to the third spot.
Why doesn't the ending of projekt change, considering it is the direct object of the verb počeli?