Learn Hardcore Croatian: Miran park mi je draži od bučnog bara. - A quiet park is dearer to me than a noisy bar.

Is it necessary?
No, it can be left out if the context is clear:
- Miran park je draži od bučnog bara. – still understandable, but a bit less personal.
  Adding mi emphasizes that this is my preference.
This dative of interest (mi, ti, mu, joj…) is very common in Croatian with verbs like biti and adjectives of liking/feeling:
- Kava mi je draža od čaja. – Coffee is dearer to me than tea.
- On mi je simpatičan. – He is likeable to me / I find him nice.

Why is it je draži and not something like više drag?

Draži is the comparative form of the adjective drag (dear, beloved, cherished).

Positive: drag – dear
Comparative: draži – dearer / more dear
Superlative: najdraži – dearest / most dear

So:

Miran park mi je draži (od…)
= A quiet park is dearer / more dear (to me) than…

You could say više drag, and people would understand, but it sounds unnatural here. Croatian normally uses the synthetic comparative form (draži, veći, bolji, etc.), not više + adjective when the adjective has a standard comparative form.

A more colloquial way to say the same idea would be:

Više volim miran park nego bučan bar. – I like a quiet park more than a noisy bar.

But mi je draži is a very typical, idiomatic structure with drag.

Why is it miran park but bučnog bara? Why do the endings change?

The endings change because of case and agreement:

Miran park
- park is the subject → nominative singular masculine
- miran is an adjective describing park, so it agrees with it in:
  - gender: masculine
  - number: singular
  - case: nominative
    → miran park
bučnog bara
- The preposition od (“than, from”) requires the genitive case.
- bar after od must be in genitive singular masculine → bara
- bučan must then agree with bar in genitive singular masculine → bučnog

So:

Nominative: miran park (quiet park – subject of the sentence)
Genitive (after od): bučnog bara (of a noisy bar / than a noisy bar)

This nominative vs. genitive difference is the main reason you see miran vs. bučnog.

Why is it od bučnog bara and not something like od bučan bar or nego bučan bar?

Several things are happening here:

The preposition “od”
- Od always takes the genitive case.
- So you must say:
  - od bara, od čovjeka, od grada, etc.
    → Therefore, it must be od bučnog bara (genitive), not od bučan bar (nominative).
Comparative with “od” vs “nego”
With comparatives, Croatian allows both od and nego, but they behave a bit differently:
- od + genitive
  - Miran park mi je draži od bučnog bara.
    (A quiet park is dearer to me than a noisy bar.)
- nego + nominative (usually with a full phrase or when it’s more “A, not B”)
  - Miran park mi je draži nego bučan bar.

Both are acceptable here, but od + genitive is more common and neutral. Nego often has a slight “rather than / instead of” flavor.

Why is park in one form and bara in another? Which cases are these?

park is in the nominative case:
- It’s the subject of the sentence:
  - Miran park mi je draži… – A quiet park is dearer (to me).
bara is in the genitive case:
- It comes after the preposition od, which always requires genitive:
  - od bučnog bara – than (of) a noisy bar

So we have:

Subject (nominative): miran park
Term of comparison after “od” (genitive): bučnog bara

Why is the adjective draži masculine? How would it change with feminine or neuter nouns?

Draži agrees with park, which is masculine singular.
So:

masculine singular nominative: draži
- Miran park mi je draži.

If the noun were feminine or neuter, the form of drag would change:

Feminine:
- mirna plaža (quiet beach – plaža, f.)
- Mirna plaža mi je draža od bučnog bara. – A quiet beach is dearer to me than a noisy bar.
Neuter:
- mirno mjesto (quiet place – mjesto, n.)
- Mirno mjesto mi je draže od bučnog bara. – A quiet place is dearer to me than a noisy bar.

So the comparative forms are:

masculine: draži
feminine: draža
neuter: draže

Can I change the word order, for example put draži at the beginning?

Yes, Croatian word order is quite flexible, especially for emphasis. However, the clitics (mi, je, se, ga…) have preferred positions.

Your original sentence:

Miran park mi je draži od bučnog bara.

Possible variants, all grammatical but with slightly different emphasis:

Draži mi je miran park od bučnog bara.
– Emphasizes draži (the comparison itself).
Meni je miran park draži od bučnog bara.
– Using meni instead of mi (stressed form), emphasizing it’s me who prefers it.
Miran mi je park draži od bučnog bara.
– A bit more marked/sentence-like cadence; still fine.

General guidelines:

Short unstressed forms (mi, ti, mu, joj, im, je, ga, ju…) usually sit right after the first stressed element (often the first word).
You don’t usually break mi je in the middle with another important word.

The safest, most neutral versions for learners are:

Miran park mi je draži od bučnog bara.
Draži mi je miran park od bučnog bara.

What is the difference between miran and other words for “quiet” like tih or tiha?

Croatian has several adjectives that can translate as quiet, but they have slightly different typical uses:

miran (f. mirna, n. mirno)
- Literally “calm, peaceful”.
- Often used for places, situations, and also for people (calm personality):
  - miran park – a peaceful park
  - mirna večer – a peaceful evening
  - mirno dijete – a calm child
tih (f. tiha, n. tiho)
- Literally “silent, low in noise”.
- Often focuses more on low volume, not necessarily emotionally peaceful:
  - tiha glazba – quiet (soft) music
  - tiha ulica – a quiet street (little noise)

In your sentence, miran park suggests not just lacking noise, but also a peaceful, calm atmosphere, which contrasts nicely with bučan bar (noisy bar).
You could also say tih park, but miran park is more idiomatic for a peaceful place to relax.

How do you pronounce draži and bučnog? What do the special letters mean?

Croatian spelling is mostly phonetic: each letter represents one sound.

draži
- d – like d in dog
- r – trilled r
- a – like a in father
- ž – like s in measure, vision (IPA /ʒ/)
- i – like ee in see
  → roughly: DRAH-zhee
bučnog
- b – as in boy
- u – like oo in food
- č – like ch in church (IPA /tʃ/), not like English c in cat
- n – as in no
- o – like o in more (shorter)
- g – always hard, like g in go
  → roughly: BOOCH-nog

Special letters:

č – ch (church)
ć – a slightly softer ch (you’ll learn the difference later)
ž – zh (measure)
š – sh (shoe)

Remember: Croatian g is always pronounced hard, never like English j (in giant).

Could I also say this using “više volim” instead of “je draži”?

Yes. A very natural, everyday alternative would be:

Više volim miran park nego bučan bar.

This literally means “I like a quiet park more than a noisy bar”, i.e. “I prefer a quiet park to a noisy bar.”

Comparison of the two versions:

Miran park mi je draži od bučnog bara.
- Slightly more “descriptive” and perhaps a bit more literary / expressive.
- Uses the adjective drag (dear).
Više volim miran park nego bučan bar.
- Very common, straightforward.
- Uses the verb voljeti (to like/love) + više (more).

Both are fully correct; which you choose is a matter of style and what pattern you’re practicing.