Learn Hardcore Croatian: Smještaj koji smo rezervirali bio je bolji nego što smo očekivali za taj mali budžet. - The accommodation that we reserved was better than we expected for that small budget.

“Koji smo rezervirali” is a relative clause meaning “which we reserved” and it has to stay together as a unit, directly after the noun it describes:

Smještaj – the noun being described
koji smo rezervirali – relative clause = which we reserved

Inside that clause, the word order follows normal Croatian rules:

smo is a clitic (short form of the auxiliary jesmo) and must stand very early in the clause, usually in second position.
The basic order is:
koji smo rezervirali
(which – AUX – reserved)

Putting koji (the relative pronoun) after the verb, like “Smještaj smo rezervirali koji”, would sound ungrammatical; Croatian relative pronouns normally come right after the noun they refer to, and they introduce the clause.

What exactly is “koji” here? Why “koji” and not “što” for “which”?

“Koji” is a relative pronoun meaning “which / that” and it must agree with the noun it refers to in:

Gender: masculine (because smještaj is masculine)
Number: singular
Case: here, accusative (because it’s the direct object of rezervirali)

For masculine inanimate nouns in the accusative singular, the form is:

Nominative: koji
Accusative (inanimate): koji

So “koji” looks the same in nominative and accusative for inanimate masculine nouns.

We use “što” as a relative pronoun mainly when it refers to an entire situation, or with words like sve (everything), ono (that which), etc.:

Ono što smo rezervirali – that which we reserved

But when referring directly to a concrete noun like smještaj, “koji” is the normal choice:

Smještaj koji smo rezervirali – The accommodation (that) we reserved

Could I say “Smještaj što smo rezervirali” instead of “Smještaj koji smo rezervirali”?

You might hear “što” used like that in some dialects or in more colloquial speech, but in standard Croatian, after a specific noun like smještaj, you should use “koji”.

So:

Standard / recommended:
Smještaj koji smo rezervirali…
Colloquial / dialectal in some areas:
Smještaj što smo rezervirali…

If you’re aiming for correct standard Croatian, stick with “koji” here.

Why is it “koji smo rezervirali” and not “kojeg smo rezervirali”?

The choice depends on case and on whether the noun is animate or inanimate.

For masculine singular:

Inanimate direct object (accusative):
Noun: smještaj
Pronoun: koji
→ Smještaj koji smo rezervirali
Animate direct object (accusative):
Noun: čovjek (man)
Pronoun: kojeg / koga
→ Čovjek kojeg smo upoznali – The man whom we met

Since smještaj (accommodation) is inanimate, the correct accusative form is “koji”, not “kojeg”.

People do sometimes say “smještaj kojeg smo rezervirali” in speech, but that’s treating it like an animate noun and is not standard.

Why do we have both “bio” and “je”? Isn’t one “to be” enough?

In Croatian, the usual past tense (perfekt) is formed with:

A past participle (also called the L-participle):
- bio – been / was (masculine singular)
A present tense auxiliary of “biti” (to be):
- je – 3rd person singular auxiliary

So:

bio je = he/it was
Smještaj je bio bolji or Smještaj koji smo rezervirali bio je bolji
→ The accommodation (that we reserved) was better…

Both parts together are needed for the normal spoken and written past tense in modern Croatian. You can drop the auxiliary in some very specific stylistic or elliptical contexts, but in neutral standard language you keep both.

Why is the word order “bio je bolji” and not “je bio bolji”?

The short auxiliary “je” is a clitic, and Croatian clitics normally appear in second position in the clause (after the first stressed word or phrase).

Here the main clause (after adding the relative clause) is:

(Smještaj koji smo rezervirali) bio je bolji…

Within that clause:

bio – first stressed word (past participle)
je – clitic auxiliary in second position

So “bio je bolji” follows the clitic placement rule.

You will also encounter:

Smještaj je bio bolji…
Here, Smještaj is the first stressed word, and je is again in second position → Smještaj je bio bolji…

Both are acceptable, but once you embed the relative clause, “bio je bolji” is the natural order.

What does “bolji nego što” mean, and why is it “nego što smo očekivali” instead of just “nego smo očekivali”?

“Bolji nego što…” literally means “better than (what)…”.

bolji nego što smo očekivali
≈ better than we expected / better than what we expected

Here:

bolji – better
nego – than (after a comparative adjective/adverb)
što – a relative/interrogative pronoun, here functioning like “what” in “than what we expected”
smo očekivali – we expected

About “što”:

You can say “bolji nego što smo očekivali” (more explicit)
You can also say “bolji nego smo očekivali” (a bit shorter, also correct)

The version with “što” is very common and feels slightly clearer and more complete, especially for learners.

What’s the difference between “nego” and “od” in comparisons? Why not “bolji od što smo očekivali”?

In Croatian comparisons you’ll see both “od” and “nego”, but they’re used in different ways:

“od” + noun / pronoun
- Used when you compare with a simple noun phrase:
- bolji od hotela – better than the hotel
- bolji od nas – better than us
“nego”
- Used:
  - in contrastive comparisons:
    Radije ću ići nego ostati. – I’d rather go than stay.
  - with another clause or whole construction, often with a verb: bolji nego što smo očekivali – better than (what) we expected

So “bolji od što smo očekivali” is wrong because “od” doesn’t introduce a whole clause like “što smo očekivali”. Here you need “nego (što)”.

Why is the verb “očekivali” imperfective and in the past tense? Could it be different?

“Očekivali” is the 1st person plural past tense (L-participle) of the imperfective verb očekivati (to expect).

smo očekivali – we expected / we were expecting

We use the imperfective aspect because we’re talking about a general expectation / state of mind, not a single finished act we “completed”. Croatian uses:

Imperfective for ongoing, habitual, or state-like actions/expectations:
→ Što smo očekivali – what we expected
Perfective (e.g. očekati) is more about a single completed act (e.g. to wait until something happens), which wouldn’t fit the idea of a general expectation here.

So “nego što smo očekivali” is the natural, idiomatic way to say “than we expected”.

What does “za taj mali budžet” mean grammatically? Why is it “za” and which case is used?

“Za taj mali budžet” literally means “for that small budget”, but the idea is “considering that we had such a small budget”.

za – preposition, here meaning for / given / considering
budžet – noun, masculine singular
taj – demonstrative pronoun that (masc. sg.)
mali – adjective small (masc. sg.)

The preposition “za” always takes the accusative case:

za + accusative:
- za taj mali budžet – for that small budget
- za veliki stol – for the big table
- za novu kuću – for the new house

Here:

budžet – accusative = budžet (same as nominative for masculine inanimate)
taj – accusative masc. sg. = taj
mali – accusative masc. sg. = mali

So all three words are in the accusative, even though the forms happen to look like nominative.

Could I say “s obzirom na taj mali budžet” instead of “za taj mali budžet”?

Yes, and it’s quite natural:

Smještaj koji smo rezervirali bio je bolji nego što smo očekivali s obzirom na taj mali budžet.

“S obzirom na” means roughly “considering / given / in view of” and also takes the accusative:

s obzirom na taj mali budžet – considering that small budget

Difference in nuance:

za taj mali budžet – shorter, very common, slightly more colloquial; literally “for that small budget”
s obzirom na taj mali budžet – more explicit about the evaluation (“if we take that small budget into account”)

Both are good; choose based on style and how formal you want to sound.

Why is it “taj mali budžet” and not something like “tom malom budžetu”?

Because of the preposition “za”:

za + accusative → za taj mali budžet

If we were using a preposition that takes the dative (e.g. prema = “towards/according to”), then we’d use “tom malom budžetu” (dative):

prema tom malom budžetu – according to that small budget

Case forms:

Accusative masc. sg. (inanimate): taj mali budžet
Dative masc. sg.: tom malom budžetu

Here “za” fixes the case, so “taj mali budžet” is correct.

Is “budžet” the only word for “budget”, or is there a more “Croatian” option?

“Budžet” is widely used and understood, but there is a more native / formal word:

proračun – literally calculation in advance, used especially for state/official budgets

Nuances:

budžet – very common in everyday speech, business, travel, etc. (“our holiday budget”)
proračun – often used for official / government budgets, or in more formal writing

In this travel context, “budžet” is perfectly natural and idiomatic:

za taj mali budžet – for that small budget

Could I leave out “taj” and just say “za mali budžet”? What changes?

Yes, you can say:

…bolji nego što smo očekivali za mali budžet.

The difference:

za taj mali budžet – for that small budget
→ Refers to a particular budget you’ve been talking about (e.g. the amount you had for this trip).
za mali budžet – for a small budget
→ More general, not tied to a specific known budget, just the idea of “a small budget”.

In context where it’s clear you’re talking about your own specific budget, “taj” feels a bit more natural, but both are grammatical.

Can the main clause word order change, like “Smještaj je bio bolji nego što smo očekivali”? Is that still correct?

Yes, that’s also correct:

Smještaj koji smo rezervirali bio je bolji nego što smo očekivali…
Smještaj koji smo rezervirali je bio bolji nego što smo očekivali… (less common, but heard)
Smještaj je bio bolji nego što smo očekivali… (if you drop the relative clause)

The most natural standard patterns are:

With the relative clause:
Smještaj koji smo rezervirali bio je bolji…
Without the relative clause:
Smještaj je bio bolji…

The key points:

je (clitic) wants to be in second position of its clause.
When you have “Smještaj koji smo rezervirali” as a long subject, sometimes speakers push “je” after “bio” to keep the clitic rule more or less satisfied.

For learners, versions (1) and the simpler (3) are the safest models to imitate.