Naš budući plan je drugačiji.

Our future plan is different.

Breakdown of Naš budući plan je drugačiji.

• biti: to be
• naš: our
• plan: plan
• drugačiji: different
• budući: future

Questions & Answers about Naš budući plan je drugačiji.

Why is it naš and not naša or naše?

In Croatian, possessive pronouns like naš (our) must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify.

• plan is a masculine singular noun in the nominative case.
• Therefore the correct form of naš is:
  • naš (masculine singular nominative), not naša (feminine) or naše (neuter).

Examples:

• naš plan – our plan (masc.)
• naša kuća – our house (fem.)
• naše dijete – our child (neut.)

What form is budući, and why does it end in -i?

budući is an adjective meaning future.

It’s in the form:

• masculine singular nominative (like drugačiji),
• agreeing with plan (which is masculine singular nominative).

Adjective endings by gender in nominative singular:

• Masculine: budući
• Feminine: buduća
• Neuter: buduće

So:

• budući plan – a future plan
• buduća odluka – a future decision
• buduće vrijeme – future time / tense

What case is plan, and what role does it play in the sentence?

plan is in the nominative singular.

In this sentence:

• Naš budući plan is the subject (what we are talking about).
• The verb is je (is).
• drugačiji is a predicate adjective, describing the subject.

Basic structure:

• [Subject] Naš budući plan
• [Verb] je
• [Complement] drugačiji

Why do we need je? Could we just say Naš budući plan drugačiji?

You need je, because in Croatian the present tense of biti (to be) is normally not dropped in standard language.

• Naš budući plan je drugačiji. – grammatically correct.
• Naš budući plan drugačiji. – sounds incomplete or very ungrammatical in standard Croatian.

You can, however, move je:

• Naš budući plan je drugačiji.
• Naš budući plan drugačiji je. (less neutral, more stylistic/emphatic)

Why is it drugačiji and not drugačija or drugačije?

drugačiji (different) is also an adjective that must agree with plan:

• plan – masculine singular nominative
• So the predicate adjective also uses masculine singular nominative:
  • drugačiji (masc.)
  • not drugačija (fem.) or drugačije (neut.)

If the noun changed, the adjective would change:

• Naša buduća odluka je drugačija. – decision (fem.)
• Naše buduće rješenje je drugačije. – solution (neut.)

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Naš plan budući je drugačiji or Budući naš plan je drugačiji?

Some word order changes are natural; some are odd.

✅ Natural / acceptable:

• Naš plan je drugačiji. (dropping budući if context is clear)
• Naš budući plan je drugačiji. (original)
• Naš budući plan drugačiji je. (slightly emphatic on drugačiji)

❌ Sounds wrong or very unnatural:

• Naš plan budući je drugačiji. – budući should come before the noun it modifies.
• Budući naš plan je drugačiji. – possible, but sounds stylistic / poetic; not normal everyday speech.

General rule:

• Adjectives and possessives normally come before the noun in Croatian:
  • naš budući plan (possessive + descriptive adjective + noun)

What’s the difference between budući plan and plan za budućnost?

Both can translate as “future plan”, but there’s a nuance:

• budući plan – literally “future plan”; sounds more compact, sometimes a bit more formal. Focuses on the plan as something that will exist in the future.
• plan za budućnost – “plan for the future”; emphasizes the future period you’re planning for.

Examples:

• Naš budući plan je drugačiji. – Our (next / upcoming) plan is different.
• Naš plan za budućnost je drugačiji. – Our plan for the future is different (focus on long‑term future).

What’s the difference between drugačiji, različit, drukčiji and drugi?

• drugačiji – different, not the same; very common, neutral.
• drukčiji – essentially the same meaning as drugačiji, just a variant form; also common.
• različit – different / distinct; slightly more formal or “standard” in some contexts.
• drugi – other / second, not “different” in the same way.

In this sentence, the most natural choices are:

• Naš budući plan je drugačiji.
• Naš budući plan je drukčiji.
• Naš budući plan je različit.

But:

• Naš drugi plan = our other plan / our second plan, not “our plan is different” in general.

How would this sentence look in the plural: “Our future plans are different”?

You’d need plural forms of all agreeing words:

• Naši budući planovi su drugačiji.

Breakdown:

• Naši – masculine plural nominative of naš (agreeing with planovi)
• budući – masculine plural nominative (same as masc. sg. in form here)
• planovi – nominative plural of plan
• su – 3rd person plural of biti (they are)
• drugačiji – masculine plural nominative, agreeing with planovi

Compare:

• Naš budući plan je drugačiji. – singular
• Naši budući planovi su drugačiji. – plural

Is budući here an adjective or a verb form (like a participle)?

In Croatian, budući can be:

1. A full adjective meaning future (as in this sentence).

   • budući plan – future plan
   • budući muž – future husband

2. A conjunction or participle-like form meaning “since / given that”:

   • Budući da je kasno, idemo kući. – Since it’s late, let’s go home.

In Naš budući plan je drugačiji, it is clearly an adjective modifying plan, not a conjunction.