Learn Hardcore Croatian: Moja plaća je manja nego što je bila na prošlom poslu. - My salary is lower than it was at my previous job.

plaća and plata both exist and both mean salary, but:
- plaća is more common and is considered more standard.
- plata is also widely understood and used, but can sound a bit more colloquial or regional depending on the area.

So Moja plaća = My salary (standard, neutral Croatian).

You could also hear:

Moja plata je manja nego što je bila na prošlom poslu. → Correct, just slightly different style/feel.

Why is the adjective manja used, and how does the comparative work here?

Manja is the feminine singular comparative form of mala (small, little). In this context it means lower / smaller (in amount).

Structure:

mala plaća – small / low salary
manja plaća – smaller / lower salary

Because plaća is:

feminine
singular → the adjective must agree: manja (not manji or manje).

So:

Moja plaća je mala. – My salary is low.
Moja je plaća manja nego prije. – My salary is lower than before.

In Croatian, the comparative is formed (for many adjectives) by adding -ji / -ja / -je:

velik → veći / veća / veće (bigger)
skup → skuplji / skuplja / skuplje (more expensive)
mali → manji / manja / manje (smaller)

Why is nego used, and not od? What’s the difference?

Both nego and od can appear with comparatives, but they’re used in slightly different ways.

In this sentence:

Moja plaća je manja nego što je bila na prošlom poslu. you’re comparing your current salary with an entire clause (“what it was at my previous job”).

Basic rule of thumb:

With a simple noun phrase, you often use od:
- Moja je plaća manja od tvoje. – My salary is lower than yours.
With a whole clause, you use nego što:
- Moja plaća je manja nego što je bila prije. – My salary is lower than it was before.

In modern speech, you will also see nego used with noun phrases:

Moja je plaća manja nego tvoja. – My salary is lower than yours. This is common and accepted.

But when you have a full sentence after it, nego što is the natural, standard choice:

…manja nego što je bila… ✅
…manja od što je bila… ❌ (incorrect)

What is the role of što in nego što je bila? Can we say nego je bila or just omit it?

Što here is a relative / connective word that links the comparative with the following clause. Literally, the structure is a bit like:

manja nego što je bila
≈ smaller than what it was

In standard Croatian, with a full clause after nego, you normally say:

nego što
- clause

So:

manja nego što je bila na prošlom poslu – lower than it was at the previous job.

Using nego je bila is not standard in this type of sentence; it sounds incomplete or wrong.

However, very often in speech and writing, people omit the whole clause when it’s obvious from context:

Moja plaća je manja nego na prošlom poslu. → Literally: My salary is smaller than (it was) at the previous job. → The “(it was)” part is understood and left out.

So you don’t usually drop just što, you either:

keep the full nego što je bila, or
shorten the whole part to nego na prošlom poslu.

Why is it je bila (past tense) and not just je (present)?

You’re comparing your current salary with your salary in the past (at your previous job). So:

Moja plaća je manja – present tense: My salary is lower (now).
nego što je bila na prošlom poslu – past tense: than it was at my previous job.

In Croatian, the most common past tense is the perfect, formed with the present of biti (to be) + past participle:

je bila = was (feminine singular, perfect tense)

So:

ona je bila – she was / it (fem.) was
plaća je bila – the salary was

You could change the word order:

nego što je bila na prošlom poslu ✅ (most natural here)
nego što je na prošlom poslu bila ✅ (possible, but less usual)
nego što bila je na prošlom poslu ❌ (wrong)

Using only je (is) would make it sound like the previous salary is still current, which is not the meaning:

Moja plaća je manja nego što je na prošlom poslu. ❌ (ungrammatical / wrong meaning)

Why do we say na prošlom poslu and not u prošlom poslu?

In Croatian, certain nouns tend to go with specific prepositions. With posao (job, work, workplace), the usual preposition in this meaning is na:

na poslu – at work
na novom poslu – at (my) new job
na prošlom poslu – at (my) previous job

U is generally used more with buildings, enclosed spaces, organizations, etc.:

u firmi – in the company
u uredu – in the office
u školi – at school / in the school

So, idiomatically:

Radim na fakultetu. – I work at the faculty.
Radim u fakultetu. – literally “inside the faculty” (sounds wrong/odd in normal speech).

Therefore:

na prošlom poslu ✅
u prošlom poslu ❌ (unidiomatic / incorrect here)

Why is it na prošlom poslu (with -om endings)? What case is that?

Na prošlom poslu is in the locative case, used after na when it means “on / at (some place)”.

Breakdown:

posao – job (nominative, singular, masculine)
na poslu – at work (locative, singular, masculine)
prošli posao – the previous job (nominative)
na prošlom poslu – at the previous job (locative)

You see the -om ending on:

prošlom – adjective (locative masculine singular)
poslu – noun (locative masculine singular; the locative of posao is poslu)

So:

na novom poslu – at the new job
na starom poslu – at the old job
na prošlom poslu – at the previous job

All these use the locative after na in the meaning “at (a place)”.

Why are moja, plaća, manja, and bila all feminine?

Because plaća is a feminine noun, all the words that refer to it must agree in gender, number, and often case.

plaća – salary → feminine, singular
moja plaća – my salary:
- moja = feminine singular of moj (my)
plaća je manja – the salary is lower:
- manja = feminine singular comparative of mala
plaća je bila – the salary was:
- bila = feminine singular past participle of biti (to be)

So the pattern is:

moja mala plaća – my small salary
moja je plaća manja – my salary is lower
Moja plaća je manja nego što je bila… – bila still agrees with plaća (feminine singular).

If it were a masculine noun, you’d see masculine forms:

moj auto je manji nego što je bio – my car is smaller than it was.

Can the word order be Moja je plaća manja nego što je bila na prošlom poslu?

Yes, that word order is correct and natural.

Clitics like je often appear in the second position in the clause, so both of these are common:

Moja plaća je manja nego što je bila na prošlom poslu.
Moja je plaća manja nego što je bila na prošlom poslu.

They mean the same thing. The second version sometimes slightly emphasizes plaća (salary), but in everyday speech the difference is minimal.

Can we shorten the sentence? For example: Moja plaća je manja nego na prošlom poslu. Is that correct?

Yes, that is correct and very common.

Moja plaća je manja nego na prošlom poslu. Literally: My salary is smaller than (it was) at the previous job.

Here, the part što je bila is understood from context and omitted:

Full form: manja nego što je bila na prošlom poslu
Shorter form: manja nego na prošlom poslu

Both are natural. The full form is a bit more explicit and formal; the shorter one is very typical in everyday speech.