Learn Hardcore Croatian: Kad plaća raste, lakše je platiti smještaj i druge troškove bez da stalno računamo budžet. - When the salary rises, it is easier to pay for accommodation and other expenses without constantly calculating the budget.

kad and kada mean the same thing: when (in a temporal sense).
- kad is just a shorter, more colloquial form.
- You could say Kada plaća raste, … with no change in meaning.
ako means if (conditional).
- Kad plaća raste = When the salary goes up (whenever that happens in general)
- Ako plaća raste = If the salary goes up (on the condition that it happens)

In everyday speech, Croatians sometimes mix them, but there is a nuance:

kad / kada – time, something that is expected to happen in general
ako – condition, something that may or may not happen

Why is the present tense used in Kad plaća raste instead of a future tense?

Croatian often uses the present tense to talk about general truths, habits, and typical consequences, where English might use present or future:

Kad plaća raste, lakše je platiti…
Literally: When the salary grows, it is easier to pay…
Meaning: Whenever the salary increases, it becomes easier to pay…

You do not need će (future) here, because the sentence describes a general rule, not a single, specific future event. This is the same pattern as:

Kad je vruće, pijemo puno vode. – When it is hot, we drink a lot of water.

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

plaća = salary, wage (money you get regularly for work).
It is a feminine noun in the nominative singular here, because it is the subject of the verb raste:
- plaća (who/what?) raste – the salary grows / goes up

Related words:

plaća (noun) – the salary
plaćati (verb, imperfective) – to pay (repeatedly, habitually)
platiti (verb, perfective) – to pay (once, to complete a payment)

Could the word order be Kad raste plaća instead of Kad plaća raste? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can also say:

Kad raste plaća, lakše je platiti…

Both Kad plaća raste and Kad raste plaća are grammatically correct and natural. The difference is very small:

Kad plaća raste – slightly more neutral; starts with the topic plaća.
Kad raste plaća – puts a tiny bit more emphasis on the action raste (the fact of rising).

In everyday speech, both word orders will sound normal.

How does lakše je platiti work grammatically? Why is lakše in the neuter?

This is a common impersonal construction in Croatian:

lakše je platiti… – it is easier to pay…

Structure:

lakše – comparative form of lak (easy), neuter singular
je – 3rd person singular of biti (to be)
platiti – infinitive, perfective (to pay, to complete payment)

Why neuter?

When no specific noun is the subject (like English it in It is easy to pay), Croatian often uses the neuter singular form of the adjective:
- Lako je učiti. – It is easy to study.
- Teško je ustati rano. – It is hard to get up early.
- Lakše je platiti sve troškove. – It is easier to pay all the expenses.

There is an understood, abstract subject (like English dummy it), which is grammatically treated as neuter.

Could we say je lakše platiti instead of lakše je platiti?

Yes, you could also say:

Kad plaća raste, je lakše platiti smještaj…

However, in neutral word order, Croatians usually place the short form je (and other clitics) in the second position in the clause, so:

More natural: Kad plaća raste, lakše je platiti smještaj…
Possible but less typical: Kad plaća raste, je lakše platiti smještaj…

In practice, lakše je platiti will sound more natural and idiomatic.

What does smještaj mean exactly? Is it like rent, apartment, or accommodation?

smještaj is a general noun meaning accommodation or lodging:

It can refer to a rented flat, a room, a hostel, a hotel, student housing, etc.
In this context, it implies the place where you live and what you pay for it, similar to accommodation costs.

It is in the accusative singular here (platiti smještaj – to pay for the accommodation).

If you wanted to be more specific:

stanarina – rent (monthly rent for a flat)
najam – rent / rental (more general)

But smještaj keeps it broader and more abstract, which fits this kind of general statement.

Why is troškove in that form? What case is it and why do we say druge troškove?

troškovi = expenses, costs (plural noun, masculine).
In the sentence we have troškove – this is accusative plural:
- platiti smještaj i druge troškove
- to pay accommodation and other expenses

druge is an adjective meaning other, and it agrees with troškove in gender, number, and case:

druge (masc. acc. pl.) + troškove (masc. acc. pl.)

So both smještaj and druge troškove are objects of the verb platiti.

How does bez da work here? I thought bez needs the genitive case.

You are right that bez normally takes the genitive:

bez šećera – without sugar
bez prijatelja – without friends

But here we have a different structure:

bez da stalno računamo budžet – without (us) constantly calculating the budget

Here, bez da introduces a subordinate clause, so bez is not directly governing a noun in the genitive. Instead:

bez
- da
  - finite verb (računamo)
Literally: without that we constantly calculate the budget

In grammar books, bez da + finite verb is often described as colloquial or semi‑standard, but it is very common in everyday speech.

A more formal or textbook‑style alternative would be:

…a da ne moramo stalno računati budžet. – …and (so that) we do not have to constantly calculate the budget.
…bez stalnog računanja budžeta. – …without constant calculating of the budget.

So:

bez + genitive noun is the core rule.
bez da + clause is a widely used, more colloquial, way to say without (doing something).

Why is računamo in the first person plural? Who is we here, and could we use a different person?

računamo is 1st person plural present (we calculate / we count).

In Croatian, 1st person plural is often used with a general meaning, similar to English:

we as in people in general
or we as in you and I / people like us

So bez da stalno računamo budžet can be understood as:

without us constantly calculating the budget
without constantly having to track the budget (general, not a specific group)

You could change the person, but the meaning shifts:

bez da stalno računaš budžet – without you constantly calculating the budget (talking to one person)
bez da stalno računa budžet – without him/her constantly calculating the budget

In the original sentence, the idea is more general, so računamo fits best.

Why is budžet in the accusative and not in the genitive after bez?

It looks confusing at first, because bez normally requires genitive. But here’s the structure:

bez da stalno računamo budžet

Inside this clause, budžet is the direct object of the verb računamo:

računamo (što?) budžet – we calculate (what?) the budget

So budžet is in the accusative singular, as the normal object of računati.

The preposition bez connects to the entire clause (da stalno računamo budžet), not directly to the noun budžet, so it does not put budžet into the genitive.

Why is the verb platiti (perfective) used instead of plaćati (imperfective)?

Croatian uses perfective and imperfective aspects to show whether an action is seen as complete or ongoing / repeated:

platiti – perfective: to pay (once, to complete a payment)
plaćati – imperfective: to pay (regularly, habitually, be in the process of paying)

In lakše je platiti smještaj i druge troškove, the idea is that when your salary rises, it is easier to settle / cover those costs, to successfully complete the payment.

So the perfective platiti is natural here, because the focus is on managing to pay them off, not on the ongoing process of paying.

How could this sentence be made more formal or textbook‑like while keeping the same meaning?

One possible more formal version:

Kad plaća raste, lakše je podmiriti troškove smještaja i ostale troškove, a da ne moramo stalno računati budžet.

Changes and their effect:

podmiriti troškove – a bit more formal than platiti troškove (to settle/pay expenses)
troškove smještaja – expenses of accommodation
ostale troškove – other expenses (slightly more formal than druge troškove)
a da ne moramo stalno računati budžet – avoids bez da, which some consider less formal, and uses ne moramo (do not have to), making the meaning very clear.