Learn Hardcore Croatian: Planiramo putovanje, ali budžet nam je mali, pogotovo zbog hotela. - We are planning a trip, but our budget is small, especially because of the hotel.

Budžet nam je mali.
Literally: The budget to-us is small.
- nam is an unstressed dative pronoun meaning “to us / for us”.
- This construction sounds very natural and slightly more personal, like “The budget (for us) is small.”
Naš budžet je mali.
Literally: Our budget is small.
- Grammatically fine.
- Slightly more neutral and explicit about possession, less about the idea “for us personally”.
Imamo mali budžet.
Literally: We have a small budget.
- Also correct and common.
- Focuses on the fact of having a small budget, rather than the budget being small for us.

So the original “budžet nam je mali” is a natural, colloquial way to say the budget is small for us, with the dative pronoun nam adding that nuance.

What exactly does “nam” mean in “budžet nam je mali”, and why is it dative?

nam is the dative plural of mi (“we”). It corresponds to “to us / for us” in English.

Nominative: mi (we)
Dative: nama (full form), nam (clitic/short form)

In this sentence, the dative is used as a “dative of interest” (also called “dative of possession” or “dative of concern”):

Budžet nam je mali.
= The budget is small (to us / for us / for our purposes).

Croatian often uses a dative pronoun instead of a possessive adjective to express whose situation is being described, especially with things like problems, feelings, conditions:

Auto mi je star. – My car is old (to me).
Djeca mu su bolesna. – His children are ill.
Novac nam nedostaje. – We’re lacking money.

So nam here is perfectly natural and idiomatic.

Why is the word order “budžet nam je mali” and not “nam je budžet mali” or “budžet je nam mali”?

The placement is driven by the rule that short unstressed pronouns (clitics) like nam, je, se, ga, mu generally go in second position in the clause.

In Budžet nam je mali:

Budžet = first element
nam je = clitic cluster in second position
mali = rest of the predicate

Some points:

Budžet nam je mali – perfect, neutral word order.
Nam je budžet mali – possible, but sounds marked/emphatic and less neutral; normally you don’t start a clause with a clitic.
Budžet je nam mali – incorrect; je and nam should be together in the clitic slot: budžet nam je mali.

So you can think: first stressed element → then all clitics (in the conventional clitic order) → then everything else.

How does “zbog hotela” work grammatically? Why is it hotela and not hotel?

zbog is a preposition that always takes the genitive case.

hotel – nominative singular (dictionary form)
hotela – genitive singular

So:

zbog hotela = because of the hotel(s)

This is why you see the -a ending: it’s the genitive singular of a masculine noun (hotel).

A few more examples with zbog + genitive:

zbog posla – because of work
zbog kiše – because of the rain
zbog djece – because of the children (djece = genitive plural)

Whenever you use zbog, you must change the noun into the genitive form.

Does “zbog hotela” mean “because of the hotel” or “because of the hotels”? How do I know if it’s singular or plural?

Formally, zbog hotela is ambiguous between:

genitive singular of hotel: “because of the hotel”
genitive plural of hotel: “because of the hotels”

In practice, context tells you which one is meant.

In this sentence:

Planiramo putovanje, ali budžet nam je mali, pogotovo zbog hotela.

The most natural interpretation is plural: “especially because of (the cost of) the hotels” on the trip. You’re planning a trip, so you’re probably staying in several hotels or thinking of hotel costs in general.

If you needed to be crystal clear, you could add words:

zbog cijene hotela – because of the price of (the) hotels
zbog ovog hotela – because of this hotel (clearly singular)

What does “pogotovo” mean here, and can it move to other positions in the sentence?

pogotovo means “especially, particularly”.

In the sentence:

… budžet nam je mali, pogotovo zbog hotela.
= “… our budget is small, especially because of the hotels.”

It highlights zbog hotela as the main reason.

You can move pogotovo somewhat flexibly:

Pogotovo nam je mali budžet zbog hotela.
Budžet nam je, pogotovo zbog hotela, mali.
Budžet nam je mali, pogotovo zbog hotela. (most natural)

All of these are understandable; the original is the cleanest and most neutral.

Close synonyms:

posebno, naročito, osobito – all roughly “especially”, with small stylistic differences.

Why is “planiramo” (present tense) used, even though it’s talking about a future trip?

Croatian, like English, often uses the present tense to talk about ongoing plans that concern the near future:

Planiramo putovanje. – We’re planning a trip / We plan a trip.
Sutra idemo u Zagreb. – We’re going to Zagreb tomorrow.

You could also use the future tense:

Planirat ćemo putovanje. – We will plan a trip.

But that sounds more like “we will (at some later time) sit down and plan it,” emphasizing the time of planning itself.

Planiramo putovanje focuses on the current process of planning and implies that the trip is coming up.

Why is it “putovanje” and not “put” for “trip/journey”?

Both put and putovanje relate to travel, but they’re used differently:

put (masculine noun)
- basic meaning: “way, route, journey”
- often more abstract or about the path itself
- e.g. na putu – on the way
putovanje (neuter noun, from the verb putovati – to travel)
- “trip, travel, voyage” as an event/activity
- this is what you typically plan

So:

Planiramo putovanje. – We’re planning a trip.
Put je bio dug. – The journey/road was long.

In the context of organizing a holiday or trip, putovanje is the normal word.

Why is there a comma before “ali”?

ali is a coordinating conjunction meaning “but”. Croatian typically places a comma before “ali” when it connects two clauses or phrases that contrast:

Planiramo putovanje, ali budžet nam je mali.
Htio bih ići, ali nemam vremena.

The rule is: when ali joins two coordinate parts with a clear contrast, you write a comma before it.

So the comma here is standard and correct.

Could I say “mi planiramo putovanje” instead of just “planiramo putovanje”? Why is “mi” omitted?

Yes, you can say:

Mi planiramo putovanje, ali budžet nam je mali…

It’s grammatically fine. However, Croatian is a pro‑drop language: the personal pronoun is usually omitted because the verb ending already shows the person:

planiram – I plan
planiraš – you (sg) plan
planira – he/she/it plans
planiramo – we plan
etc.

You normally only include mi if you want to add emphasis or contrast:

Mi planiramo putovanje, a oni ne. – We are planning a trip, but they aren’t.

Without any special emphasis, Planiramo putovanje is the default, natural form.

Is “budžet” the only word for “budget,” or are there more “native” alternatives?

Budžet is very common and completely standard, but it is a loanword (from French/English).

Other options:

proračun – more formal/official, often used for state budgets, company budgets
- državni proračun – state budget
budžet – widely used in everyday speech, and also in media/business, including personal budgets

In this sentence, talking about a personal trip, budžet is the most natural and colloquial choice:

Planiramo putovanje, ali budžet nam je mali…

You could say proračun, but it would sound more formal or technical in this context.