Learn Hardcore Croatian: Kultura našeg grada nije samo u muzeju, nego i u malim festivalima u dvorištima. - The culture of our city is not only in the museum, but also in small festivals in courtyards.

In English we say “our city’s culture” or “the culture of our city”; Croatian uses the genitive form grada (and the agreeing genitive adjective našeg).

What does the structure nije samo X, nego i Y mean, and is it fixed?

The pattern (ne) samo X, nego i Y means “not only X, but also Y”.

In this sentence:

nije samo u muzeju = it is not only in the museum
nego i u malim festivalima u dvorištima = but also in small festivals in courtyards

This is a very common, almost formulaic structure:

Ne samo da je zanimljivo, nego je i korisno.
= It’s not only interesting, but (also) useful.

Word order inside X and Y is flexible, but samo / nego i and the parallel structure are standard.

What is the difference between nego and ali? Could we use ali here?

Both nego and ali translate to “but”, but they’re used differently:

ali = simple contrast: but
nego = “but rather / but instead / but also” after a negation or in corrections/comparisons.

Examples:

On je umoran, ali izlazi.
He is tired, but (still) goes out.
On nije liječnik, nego učitelj.
He’s not a doctor, but (rather) a teacher.

In nije samo X, nego i Y, you must use nego, not ali.
So …nije samo u muzeju, nego i u malim festivalima… is correct; …ali i u malim festivalima… sounds off in this specific pattern.

Why is it u muzeju and not u muzej or u muzeja?

U muzeju uses the locative case, because we are talking about a location where something is.

In Croatian, u can be followed by:

Accusative = motion into:
- Idem u muzej. = I’m going to the museum.
Locative = location in:
- Kultura je u muzeju. = The culture is in the museum.

Here we describe where the culture is found (static location), so we need locative:

muzej (nom.) → u muzeju (loc.).
u muzej would mean “into the museum” (direction).
u muzeja is not correct here; muzeja is genitive, used for “of the museum” (e.g. ulaz muzeja = entrance of the museum).

What form is malim festivalima and why is it used?

Malim festivalima is dative/locative plural:

festival (nom. sg.)
festivali (nom. pl.)
festivalima (dat./loc. pl.)
mali → malim (dat./loc. pl. adjective agreement)

After u with static location, we use the locative:

u malim festivalima = in small festivals
Parallel to u muzeju = in the museum

So:

u muzeju (singular locative)
u malim festivalima (plural locative)

The adjective malim must match festivalima in case, number, and gender.

In English we’d usually say “at festivals”, not “in festivals”. Is u malim festivalima natural Croatian, or should it be na festivalima?

Both u and na are possible with events, but they feel a bit different:

na festivalima – the usual phrase for at festivals (as events)
u festivalima – focuses more on the festivals as containers/contexts where something exists

In everyday speech, Kultura je u malim festivalima sounds slightly unusual; many native speakers might naturally say:

…nego i na malim festivalima u dvorištima.

So for “at small festivals”, na malim festivalima is more idiomatic. The sentence as given is grammatically correct, but na would be stylistically more typical.

What does dvorištima mean exactly, and what form is it in?

Dvorište = yard, courtyard.

Dvorištima is dative/locative plural:

dvorište (nom. sg.)
dvorišta (nom. pl.)
dvorištima (dat./loc. pl.)

Because it comes after u and also expresses a location, it’s in the locative plural:

u dvorištima = in (the) courtyards/yards.

So u malim festivalima u dvorištima literally: in small festivals in courtyards.

Why is there a comma before nego? Is it required?

Yes, in this pattern a comma is standard and expected:

Ne samo X, nego i Y.

You’re separating two coordinated parts of the sentence and marking the contrast and addition. So:

Kultura našeg grada nije samo u muzeju, nego i u malim festivalima…

In normal writing, you should include the comma before nego in this kind of structure.

Could we leave out i in nego i u malim festivalima?

You really shouldn’t. The fixed pattern is ne (samo) X, nego i Y:

nije samo X, nego i Y = not only X, but also Y

If you say …nego u malim festivalima… (without i), it sounds incomplete or slightly wrong. The i is the part that corresponds to English “also” in “but also”.

Can the word order change, for example:
Kultura našeg grada nije samo u muzeju, nego je i u malim festivalima u dvorištima?

Yes, that’s possible and natural:

Kultura našeg grada nije samo u muzeju, nego je i u malim festivalima u dvorištima.

Here you repeat the verb je in the second part. Croatian word order is fairly flexible, so you can:

include je again (more explicit), or
omit it as in the original (more compact):
- …nije samo u muzeju, nego i u malim festivalima…

Both are grammatically correct. The original is already good, just slightly more elliptical.

Why is it kultura … nije and not nisu, even though we mention several places?

The subject of the sentence is kultura (singular, feminine), so the verb must agree with kultura, not with muzeju / festivalima / dvorištima.

kultura = singular → (ona) nije
If the subject were plural (e.g. festivali), then you’d use nisu.

Here we are saying where the culture is / is not, but there is still one culture, so:

Kultura našeg grada nije samo u muzeju, nego i u malim festivalima…
(Culture is not only in X, but also in Y.)

Could we say “Kultura našeg grada je ne samo u muzeju, nego i…” like in some other languages?

That word order (je ne samo) is possible but less natural in Croatian. The common patterns are:

Kultura našeg grada nije samo u muzeju, nego i…
Kultura našeg grada nije samo u muzeju, već i… (već = a bit more formal)

Putting je before ne samo ( je ne samo ) is not wrong grammatically, but it sounds awkward. Native speakers normally attach the negation to the verb directly:

nije samo rather than je ne samo.

Is kultura always feminine, and how would that affect adjectives or pronouns referring to it?

Yes, kultura is a feminine noun in Croatian.

So:

Pronoun: Ona je važna. = It (the culture) is important.
Adjective agreement:
- bogata kultura (rich culture)
- naša kultura (our culture)

In this sentence, the verb form nije does not show gender, but if you add an adjective, it would be feminine:

Kultura našeg grada nije samo u muzeju, nego je i vrlo živa u malim festivalima…
(živa = feminine singular form of “alive/lively”.)