Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ako ne napravimo rezervaciju, možda nećemo naći mjesto u hotelu. - If we do not make a reservation, we may not find a place in the hotel.

Ako ne napravimo rezervaciju = If we don’t make a reservation (condition)
Kad(a) usually means “when” and is used for something expected or habitual, not hypothetical.
- Kad napravimo rezervaciju, bit će sve u redu. = When we make a reservation, everything will be fine.
Da can sometimes mean “if”, but in this type of simple conditional sentence, ako is the normal choice and sounds most natural.

So ako is correct here because we’re talking about a possible situation, not something certain or habitual.

Why is napravimo in the present tense if the sentence is about the future?

In Croatian, after ako (and also after kad(a)), the present tense is usually used to talk about future events.

Ako ne napravimo rezervaciju, možda nećemo naći mjesto u hotelu.
Literally: If we don’t make a reservation, we maybe will not find a place in the hotel.

English uses future in the if-clause (If we *don’t make a reservation… is actually present form but future meaning; for other structures English would say If we **will not do it…).
Croatian almost never uses *ću / ćemo in the ako-clause:

❌ Ako ne ćemo napraviti rezervaciju… – sounds wrong / ungrammatical
✅ Ako ne napravimo rezervaciju… – correct

So: present tense after “ako” is the normal way to talk about the future condition.

What exactly is the form napravimo? What verb is it from?

Napravimo is:

the 1st person plural form (we)
present tense
of the perfective verb napraviti (to make, to do, to create).

So:

napraviti rezervaciju = to make a reservation (one completed action)
napravimo = we (should / might / will) make (in this context, used in a future conditional sense).

The infinitive is napraviti, and the present tense forms are:

ja napravim
ti napraviš
on/ona/ono napravi
mi napravimo
vi napravite
oni/one/ona naprave

Why is it napravimo rezervaciju and not something like rezerviramo?

Both are possible; you’re seeing a common collocation:

napraviti rezervaciju = literally to make a reservation
rezervirati = to reserve / to book

You could also say:

Ako ne rezerviramo (sobu / smještaj)… – If we don’t reserve (a room / accommodation)…

Napraviti rezervaciju is a very natural phrase and close to English make a reservation, which is why you see napravimo rezervaciju here.

Why is it rezervaciju and not rezervacija?

Rezervacija is a feminine noun:

nominative (dictionary form): rezervacija
accusative singular (direct object): rezervaciju

In this sentence, rezervaciju is the direct object of the verb napravimo (we make what? a reservation), so it must be in the accusative:

(Mi) napravimo rezervaciju. – We make a reservation.

So:

rezervacija – subject (Rezervacija je potvrđena. – The reservation is confirmed.)
rezervaciju – object (Napravimo rezervaciju. – Let’s make a reservation.)

What is going on with nećemo? How is the future tense formed and negated?

The Croatian future tense is usually formed with:

the present of htjeti (to want, used as an auxiliary here)
plus the infinitive of the main verb.

For we will find:

auxiliary: ćemo (1st person plural of htjeti)
infinitive: naći (to find)

Affirmative:

Naći ćemo mjesto. or Mi ćemo naći mjesto. – We will find a place.

Negation:

ne + ćemo → nećemo (spelled as one word)
nećemo naći = we will not find

So in the sentence:

možda nećemo naći mjesto = maybe we will not find a place.

The usual word order is nećemo naći, not ne naći ćemo.

Can I say možda ne nađemo mjesto instead of možda nećemo naći mjesto?

You can, but there is a nuance:

možda nećemo naći (future tense, perfective naći)
- Focus on a single future event / outcome: maybe we won’t succeed in finding a place (then).
možda ne nađemo (present tense, perfective naći)
- Grammatically possible, especially in spoken language.
- However, for a clear, single future situation like making a reservation for a trip, nećemo naći is more standard and unambiguous.

For learners, možda nećemo naći is safer and more typical for a specific future result.

What is the difference between naći and nađemo?

naći is the infinitive: to find
nađemo is the 1st person plural present tense form: we find / we will find (in some contexts)

Conjugation (present of naći is irregular):

ja nađem
ti nađeš
on/ona/ono nađe
mi nađemo
vi nađete
oni/one/ona nađu

In the sentence you have:

nećemo naći (future auxiliary + infinitive) – we will not find

You could also say:

Ako ne napravimo rezervaciju, možda ne nađemo mjesto.
This is understandable, but stylistically nećemo naći is more clearly future and more typical here.

Why is mjesto used? I thought soba meant “room”.

You’re right: soba = room (in a hotel, apartment, etc.).

Mjesto literally means “place” or “spot”, and in this context it means a place/spot in the hotel – in other words, any available accommodation, not necessarily a specific type (room, bed, apartment).

You could say:

…nećemo naći sobu u hotelu. – we won’t find a room in the hotel
…nećemo naći mjesto u hotelu. – we won’t find a (free) place in the hotel (a bit more general / idiomatic)

Both are correct; mjesto is slightly broader in meaning.

Why is it u hotelu and not u hotel?

After u, Croatian uses two different cases, depending on the meaning:

Accusative – movement into something (direction):
- Idemo u hotel. – We are going to the hotel.
Locative – location in/at something (no movement, just position):
- Spavamo u hotelu. – We are sleeping in the hotel.
- naći mjesto u hotelu – find a place in the hotel.

Here, u hotelu expresses location (where we will find a place), so the locative case is used:

nominative: hotel
locative singular: u hotelu

Why is the subject “we” not written? Where is the “we” in the Croatian sentence?

Croatian usually drops subject pronouns, because the verb ending shows who the subject is.

napravimo – ending -imo = we (1st person plural)
nećemo – ćemo is also we (1st person plural) of the auxiliary htjeti

So:

Ako ne napravimo rezervaciju… – literally If (we) don’t make a reservation…
…možda nećemo naći mjesto… – (we) maybe will not find a place…

You could say Mi explicitly:

Ako mi ne napravimo rezervaciju…
But this is usually used only if you want to emphasize “we (as opposed to someone else)”.

Can možda move to another position in the sentence?

Yes, možda (maybe, perhaps) is quite flexible in position. All of these are possible:

Ako ne napravimo rezervaciju, možda nećemo naći mjesto u hotelu.
Ako ne napravimo rezervaciju, nećemo možda naći mjesto u hotelu. (less common, can sound a bit awkward)
Možda nećemo naći mjesto u hotelu, ako ne napravimo rezervaciju.

The most natural, neutral option is usually:

Ako ne napravimo rezervaciju, možda nećemo naći mjesto u hotelu.
or
Možda nećemo naći mjesto u hotelu ako ne napravimo rezervaciju.

For learners, keeping možda before the verb phrase (možda nećemo naći) is a good habit.

Is there any “double negation” here, like in other Croatian sentences?

In this specific sentence, there is only one negation:

nećemo = we will not

Croatian does normally use “double” (actually multiple) negation with words like nikad (never), nitko (nobody), ništa (nothing):

Nikad ništa ne radim. – literally: Never nothing not I-do. = I never do anything.

In your sentence:

Ako ne napravimo rezervaciju, možda nećemo naći mjesto u hotelu.

there is no nikad / ništa / nitko, so you just have the single ne in nećemo. The negative is carried entirely by that ne.