Taj film nije loš, ali knjiga je bolja.

That movie is not bad, but the book is better.

Breakdown of Taj film nije loš, ali knjiga je bolja.

• biti: to be
• ne: not
• knjiga: book
• ali: but
• film: movie
• bolji: better
• taj: that
• loš: bad

Questions & Answers about Taj film nije loš, ali knjiga je bolja.

What is the difference between taj, to, and onaj, and why is it taj film here?

Croatian has three basic demonstratives, similar to this/that in English but with an extra contrast:

• ovaj – “this” (near the speaker)
• taj – “that” (near the listener, or something just mentioned)
• onaj – “that (over there)” / “that (more distant, less present in context)”

In taj film, taj agrees with film:

• film is masculine, singular, nominative
• taj is the masculine singular nominative form

You could also hear taj film in a neutral way, just like English “that movie” without strongly focusing on distance. To is mostly a neuter pronoun (“that/this” as in “What is that?” – Što je to?), not used directly before film like this, so to film is not correct.

What grammatical form is taj film in?

Both words are in the nominative singular:

• taj – masculine nominative singular demonstrative
• film – masculine nominative singular noun

Nominative is used for the subject of a sentence. Here, taj film is the subject of nije loš (“is not bad”).

Why is it nije loš instead of ne je loš?

The verb biti (“to be”) is special in Croatian. In the present tense, you don’t say ne je; you use the single word nije:

• je = “is”
• nije = “is not”

So:

• Taj film je loš. – “That movie is bad.”
• Taj film nije loš. – “That movie is not bad.”

Ne je is ungrammatical in standard Croatian.

Why is it loš and not loše or loša?

Adjectives in Croatian agree with the noun in gender, number, and case, even when they come after the verb biti (“to be”).

• film is masculine singular nominative
• So the adjective must also be masculine singular nominative: loš

Other forms:

• loša knjiga – “a bad book” (feminine)
• loše dijete – “a bad child” (neuter)

In the sentence, because we talk about film (masculine), we must say loš, not loša or loše.

What does nije loš really imply? Is it exactly the same as English “not bad”?

Yes, nije loš is very similar to English “not bad”:

• Literally: “is not bad”
• Typical implication: “It’s actually okay / pretty good.”

Context and tone decide whether it’s neutral (“it’s acceptable”) or mildly positive (“it’s quite good”). The nuance is very close to English.

What does ali mean, and why is there a comma before it?

• ali means “but”.

• It connects two clauses that contrast with each other:

  • Taj film nije loš – That film isn’t bad
  • knjiga je bolja – the book is better

In standard Croatian punctuation, you normally put a comma before coordinating conjunctions like ali when they join two clauses:

• …, ali …

So Taj film nije loš, ali knjiga je bolja. follows this rule.

Why is it knjiga je bolja, not knjiga je bolje?

Here, bolja is the comparative form of the adjective dobar (“good”), and it must agree with knjiga:

• knjiga – feminine singular nominative
• comparative forms of dobar:
  • masculine: bolji
  • feminine: bolja
  • neuter: bolje

So we need the feminine form bolja to match knjiga:

• Knjiga je bolja. – “The book is better.”

Bolje can also be an adverb (“better” in the sense of doing something better), so knjiga je bolje would be wrong here.

How is bolja related to dobar? They look very different.

Bolja is the comparative of dobra (feminine form of dobar, “good”). The adjective dobar is irregular:

• masculine: dobar → bolji (“better”)
• feminine: dobra → bolja
• neuter: dobro → bolje

So:

• Knjiga je dobra. – The book is good.
• Knjiga je bolja. – The book is better.

The stem changes (dob- → bol-), but this is just an irregular pattern you have to memorize.

Why is je used in knjiga je bolja, but there is no je in the first part?

The first part actually does have the verb “to be”, but in its negative form:

• je – “is”
• nije – “is not”

So:

• Taj film nije loš – nije = “is not”
• knjiga je bolja – je = “is”

In the second clause the verb is positive, so we see je explicitly. You can’t normally drop je here in standard Croatian; knjiga bolja would be ungrammatical in this context.

Can I change the word order, for example: Knjiga je bolja, ali taj film nije loš?

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English. Both of these are correct:

• Taj film nije loš, ali knjiga je bolja.
• Knjiga je bolja, ali taj film nije loš.

The difference is emphasis:

• First version emphasizes the movie first, then adds that the book is better.
• Second version emphasizes the book first, then “defends” the movie a bit by saying it’s not bad.

Within each clause, you can also move parts slightly for emphasis, e.g.:

• Taj film loš nije, ali knjiga je bolja. (stronger emphasis that the film is really not bad)

Why isn’t film or movie repeated in the second clause? How do we know what bolja is compared to?

Croatian, like English, often leaves out repeated words when the comparison is clear from context.

• Taj film nije loš, ali knjiga je bolja. = “That movie isn’t bad, but the book is better (than the movie).”

The comparison target (film) is understood from the first clause, so it doesn’t need to be repeated. You could make it explicit with something like bolja od filma (“better than the movie”), but it isn’t necessary here.