Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ona traži stabilan posao u kojem će moći planirati budućnost bez velikog stresa. - She is looking for a stable job in which she will be able to plan the future without much stress.

posao = masculine singular, accusative (direct object of traži – “she is looking for”)
For the adjective stabilan (masc. sg. form), the endings are:
- nominative: stabilan posao
- accusative (for inanimate masculine): stabilan posao (same form as nominative)

So:

stabilan posao – correct (masc. sg. acc.)
stabilni posao – would be masc. plural, or a different style/form; wrong here
stabilno posao – stabilno is neuter, so it doesn’t agree with posao

In English we say “look for a job”. Why is it just traži posao and not traži za posao?

The verb tražiti already includes the meaning “to look for / to search for”.

tražiti posao = “to look for a job”
Adding za (tražiti za posao) is a literal copy of English for and is incorrect in standard Croatian in this sense.

So:

✅ Ona traži posao.
❌ Ona traži za posao.

What tense is traži here and what does it imply?

Traži is the present tense of tražiti (3rd person singular).

Here, present tense can mean:

an action happening right now
- “She is looking for a stable job…”
or a current, ongoing activity / situation
- “She’s in the process of job-hunting these days.”

Croatian present tense covers both English “is looking” and “looks”, depending on context.

Why is it u kojem and what exactly does kojem refer to?

U kojem is “in which” and introduces a relative clause.

It refers back to posao (“job”).
posao is masculine singular.
After u in this meaning, Croatian uses the locative case.
Masculine singular locative of koji (“which”) is kojem (or kojim, variant).

So:

posao u kojem (poslu) će moći planirati…
Literally: “a stable job in which she will be able to plan her future…”

Kojem agrees with posao in:

gender: masculine
number: singular
case: locative (because of u)

Could you say gdje instead of u kojem, like posao gdje će moći planirati budućnost?

You can sometimes hear gdje used this way in spoken language, but:

u kojem is more standard and precise here.
gdje literally means “where” (a place).
u kojem clearly refers to the job as a situation/position rather than a physical location.

So:

More natural/standard: stabilan posao u kojem će moći planirati budućnost…
gdje would sound more colloquial and can feel imprecise in careful, standard speech.

Why is the future written as će moći planirati with two verbs? Why not just će planirati?

Croatian future tense is formed with the auxiliary ću, ćeš, će… + infinitive:

ona će moći = “she will be able to”
planirati is another infinitive: “to plan”

So će moći planirati literally means:

“she will be able to plan”

This expresses possibility/ability, not just future action.
Compare:

u kojem će planirati budućnost
= “in which she will plan the future” (just a future action)
u kojem će moći planirati budućnost
= “in which she will be able to plan the future” (the job gives her the ability/conditions to plan)

Why is planirati in the infinitive and not conjugated, like planirovat će or something similar?

After modal and semi-modal verbs such as:

moći (can, to be able to)
morati (must, have to)
trebati (need to, should)

Croatian uses the infinitive of the following verb:

će moći planirati
= “will be able to plan”

So the pattern is:

ću moći raditi – I will be able to work
ćeš morati učiti – you will have to study
će moći planirati – she will be able to plan

Using a conjugated form instead of the infinitive in this position would be ungrammatical.

Why is it just budućnost, not svoju budućnost (“her own future”)?

You could say svoju budućnost, and it’s correct:

planirati budućnost – “to plan (the) future”
planirati svoju budućnost – “to plan her own future”

In this context, it is usually obvious that she is planning her own future, so Croatian often omits svoju if there is no risk of confusion.

Adding svoju makes it a bit more personal/emphatic:

u kojem će moći planirati svoju budućnost = “in which she will be able to plan out her own future.”

Why is it bez velikog stresa and not something like bez veliki stres?

The preposition bez (“without”) in Croatian requires the genitive case.

stres (stress), masculine singular
- nominative: stres
- genitive: stresa

The adjective velik (“big/great”) must also be in the genitive masculine singular:

nominative: velik stres
genitive: velikog stresa

So:

✅ bez velikog stresa – correct (both words in genitive)
❌ bez veliki stres – wrong (nominative forms used where genitive is required)

Does bez velikog stresa mean “without much stress” or “without big stress”? Could we say bez puno stresa?

Literally, bez velikog stresa = “without big/great stress”, but in natural English it’s often rendered as:

“without a lot of stress”
“without major stress”

You can also say:

bez puno stresa or bez mnogo stresa
= “without much / a lot of stress”

Nuance:

bez velikog stresa – emphasizes the intensity/seriousness of stress (no major stress)
bez puno/mnogo stresa – emphasizes quantity/amount of stress (not too much)

All are natural; which one you choose depends on the exact nuance you want.

Could the word order be different, for example: Ona traži stabilan posao bez velikog stresa u kojem će moći planirati budućnost?

Yes, Croatian word order is relatively flexible, and your version is grammatically correct:

Ona traži stabilan posao bez velikog stresa u kojem će moći planirati budućnost.

Differences:

Original: Ona traži stabilan posao u kojem će moći planirati budućnost bez velikog stresa.
Focus slightly more on planning the future without stress.
Your version: …stabilan posao bez velikog stresa u kojem…
Groups bez velikog stresa more tightly with posao (a job without big stress).

Both are understandable; native speakers often move these phrases around to highlight what they consider most important. The safest, clearest version for learners is usually the original one.