Learn Hardcore Croatian: Na plakat pišemo ne samo datum, nego i cijeli program festivala. - On the poster we write not only the date, but also the whole program of the festival.

the idea is "we are writing onto the poster" (we are putting the information there), so it’s seen as motion toward a surface, even if in English we just say "on the poster".

Na plakat → na
- accusative (plakat) → direction / target
Na plakatu → na
- locative (plakatu) → location ("on the poster" as in "It is on the poster")

Compare:

Pišemo na plakat. – We write (onto) the poster.
Datum je na plakatu. – The date is on the poster.

What tense and person is pišemo, and why is there no word for we?

Pišemo is:

verb: pisati (to write)
tense: present
person: 1st person plural → we write / we are writing

In Croatian, subject pronouns (ja, ti, on, mi, etc.) are usually dropped, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Mi pišemo = We write
Pišemo = We write (pronoun omitted, still clear from the ending -emo)

So Na plakat pišemo… already means We write on the poster… even without mi.

How does the structure ne samo … nego i … work exactly?

Ne samo … nego i … corresponds to English "not only … but also …".

Pattern:

ne samo
- element A
nego i
- element B

In the sentence:

Na plakat pišemo ne samo datum, nego i cijeli program festivala.
→ On the poster we write not only the date, but also the whole program of the festival.

Breakdown:

ne samo datum = not only the date
nego i cijeli program festivala = but also the whole program of the festival

Notes:

nego is used here because of the preceding ne.
i after nego emphasizes also (you can often hear just nego in speech: ne samo datum, nego cijeli program…).

Why is there a comma before nego?

The comma separates the two contrasted parts in the ne samo … nego (i) … construction.

Ne samo datum, nego i cijeli program…

Croatian punctuation rules treat this similar to English:

not only X, but also Y
ne samo X, nego (i) Y

So you normally place a comma before nego in this pattern.

What case is datum in, and why?

Datum here is in the accusative singular.

We can see it as a direct object of pišemo:

(Mi) pišemo datum. – We (are) write the date.

So in the full sentence:

Na plakat pišemo ne samo datum, nego i cijeli program festivala.
- datum = what we write → direct object → accusative

What case is cijeli program festivala, and how is it structured?

The phrase is:

cijeli program festivala

Case breakdown:

cijeli – adjective, accusative singular masculine
program – noun, accusative singular masculine
festivala – noun, genitive singular masculine

Structure and roles:

cijeli program → accusative (direct object of pišemo)
festivala → genitive, showing possession or belonging (program of the festival)

So literally:

pišemo cijeli program festivala
→ we write the entire program of the festival

Why does cijeli come before program, not after it?

In Croatian, most descriptive adjectives normally come before the noun:

cijeli program = the whole program
novi plakat = the new poster
veliki festival = the big festival

Adjectives can come after the noun in special styles (poetic, emphatic, or when used predicatively), but the neutral order is:

adjective + noun → cijeli program, not program cijeli in regular speech.

What’s the difference between cijeli program and čitav program?

Both cijeli and čitav can mean "whole / entire", and in many contexts they’re interchangeable:

cijeli program festivala
čitav program festivala
→ the entire festival program

Subtle differences:

cijeli is slightly more neutral and very common.
čitav can feel a bit more emphatic or colloquial in some contexts, but this varies by region and style.

In this sentence, cijeli program festivala is the most typical, neutral choice.

Does program here mean a "software program" or a "schedule/programme" of events?

In this context, program means the program schedule / list of events of the festival, not software.

The noun program in Croatian can mean:

A schedule of events
- program festivala – festival program
- TV program – TV schedule / channel
A software program
- računalni program – computer program

Here, festival makes the meaning clear: program festivala = festival schedule.

Can the word order be Pišemo na plakat, ne samo datum… instead of Na plakat pišemo…?

Yes, that is possible.

Both:

Na plakat pišemo ne samo datum, nego i cijeli program festivala.
Pišemo na plakat ne samo datum, nego i cijeli program festivala.

are grammatically correct.

Differences:

Starting with Na plakat slightly emphasizes the place/target ("On the poster we write…").
Starting with Pišemo is a more neutral "subject–verb–other" flow.

Croatian word order is relatively flexible; the choice often depends on what you want to emphasize first.

Could you say Na plakat ćemo napisati… instead of pišemo? What changes?

Yes:

Na plakat pišemo… → present tense, pisati (imperfective)
- Focus: ongoing/habitual action (we are writing / we write).
Na plakat ćemo napisati… → future tense, napisati (perfective)
- Focus: a single, completed future action (we will write on the poster).

So:

pišemo = ongoing process / general statement
ćemo napisati = one-time, complete action in the future

Both are fine, but they describe different time/aspect.

Why is it program festivala and not program festival?

Because festivala is in the genitive singular, which is normally used to show possession or association:

program festivala = the program of the festival
- festival (nominative) → festivala (genitive)

Using plain festival without changing the ending would be wrong in standard Croatian; after another noun like program, you need genitive to show the relationship:

program filma – program of the film
program koncerta – concert program
program festivala – festival program

Could you use ali instead of nego: "ne samo datum, ali i cijeli program"?

No, that would be incorrect.

With ne samo … you must follow with nego (i), not ali.

✅ ne samo datum, nego (i) cijeli program – not only the date, but also the whole program
❌ ne samo datum, ali i cijeli program

Ali means "but" in a more general, contrastive way (A but B), while nego is required in constructions after a negation that contrast or add a different element:

ne X, nego Y – not X, but (rather) Y
ne samo X, nego (i) Y – not only X, but also Y