Learn Hardcore Croatian: Općenito volim miran park više nego bučan bar. - In general I like a quiet park more than a noisy bar.

the sentence still means basically the same thing, but sounds more like a plain statement of preference; općenito softens it to “as a general rule, I tend to prefer…”

Where can općenito go in the sentence? Is the position fixed?

Its position is flexible, but some positions are more natural than others.

All of these are grammatical, with only slight differences in emphasis:

Općenito volim miran park više nego bučan bar.
– Very natural; općenito sets the tone for the whole sentence.
Volim općenito miran park više nego bučan bar.
– Grammatically OK, but sounds a bit awkward; it can imply “a generally quiet park” (focusing more on the park, less on your general habit).
Volim miran park općenito više nego bučan bar.
– Technically possible, but sounds clumsy and unnatural in everyday speech.

The most typical and safest choice here is at the beginning:

Općenito volim miran park više nego bučan bar.

Why is it volim and not something like sviđa mi se here?

Croatian has (at least) two common ways to say you like something:

voljeti
- direct object (accusative)
- Volim miran park. – I like / love a quiet park.
- Structure: [subject]
  - voljeti
    - [thing/person you like].
sviđati se
- indirect object (dative)
- Park mi se sviđa. – I like the park (literally: “The park pleases me”).
- Structure: [thing]
  - se sviđa
    - [to whom].

In your sentence:

Općenito volim miran park više nego bučan bar.

you’re expressing a general preference between two things, and voljeti is the straightforward verb to use. You could rephrase with sviđati se, but the structure would change more:

Općenito mi se više sviđa miran park nego bučan bar.
(literally: “In general, a quiet park pleases me more than a noisy bar.”)

Both are correct, but volim is simpler and very natural here.

Why is it miran park and bučan bar, not something like mirnog parka or bučnog bara?

It’s about case and gender.

volim takes a direct object in the accusative.
park and bar are masculine, inanimate nouns.

In Croatian:

For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative = nominative:
- park (Nom) → park (Acc)
- bar (Nom) → bar (Acc)

Adjectives must agree in gender, number, and case with the nouns they describe:

masc. sg. nominative/accusative (inanimate): miran park, bučan bar

You would see forms like mirnog parka, bučnog bara in the genitive (e.g. “of the quiet park”) or for masculine animate objects in accusative (e.g. Vidim mirnog psa – “I see a calm dog”).

But because park and bar are inanimate direct objects, the correct forms here are miran park and bučan bar.

Could it be mirni park or bučni bar instead of miran park and bučan bar?

You may occasionally see mirni park / bučni bar, but:

The basic dictionary forms are miran and bučan.
Those are the standard, neutral forms to learn and use with singular masculine nouns like park and bar.

Historically, Croatian has a distinction between “indefinite” and “definite” adjective forms (e.g. miran vs mirni), but in modern everyday speech this distinction is weak and often ignored, especially in sentences like yours.

For a learner, the practical rule here is:

Before a singular masculine noun like park, bar, use the “plain” forms:
miran park, bučan bar.

You don’t need mirni, bučni in this context.

Why are park and bar singular here, when in English I might think of this as a general idea (“parks”, “bars”)?

Croatian often uses a singular noun to express a general type or category, where English might use a plural:

Volim kavu. – I like coffee (in general).
Pušenje je štetno. – Smoking is harmful.
Volim miran park više nego bučan bar. – I like a quiet park more than a noisy bar (in general).

So miran park / bučan bar here mean “a quiet park as a type” and “a noisy bar as a type”, not one specific park or bar.

Using the plural (mirne parkove, bučne barove) would sound like you’re counting or contrasting many individual parks/bars, which is not needed to express this general preference.

What does više nego mean exactly, and how does it work here?

Više is an adverb meaning “more”.
Nego is a conjunction meaning “than / rather than” in comparisons.

Together, in this sentence:

… volim miran park više nego bučan bar.

you get:

više – “more” (modifies volim, telling us how much you like it)
nego – “than” (introduces what you’re comparing with)

So the structure is:

volim X više nego Y
= “I like X more than Y”

Here:

X = miran park
Y = bučan bar

So:
Općenito volim miran park više nego bučan bar.
= In general I like a quiet park more than a noisy bar.

Can I move više earlier and say Općenito više volim miran park nego bučan bar?

Yes, and that version is actually very natural:

Općenito više volim miran park nego bučan bar.

Both patterns are fine:

Općenito volim miran park više nego bučan bar.
Općenito više volim miran park nego bučan bar.

The difference is just where the emphasis feels stronger:

In (1), više sits closer to the noun phrase miran park, but it still really modifies volim (“I like [it] more than …”).
In (2), više volim is a clear unit: “I more-like X than Y”, which many speakers find slightly more natural in speech.

You can safely use (2) as a “default”:

Općenito više volim X nego Y.

Why is it nego and not od after više?

Both nego and od can translate as “than”, but they are used in different patterns.

After više, manje, bolje, lošije, radije when you are directly contrasting two things, Croatian normally uses nego:
- Više volim park nego bar. – I like the park more than the bar.
- Bolji je ovaj film nego onaj. – This film is better than that one.
od is common after comparative adjectives/adverbs when you compare something to a noun or pronoun without forming the “X nego Y” contrast construction, or in more “mathematical”/quantity contexts:
- Viši je od mene. – He is taller than me.
- Više od sto kuna. – More than a hundred kuna.

In a pattern like “više volim X nego Y”, the natural word is nego, not od.

Why is there no comma before nego in this sentence?

Nego here is part of a comparison structure, not starting a new independent clause:

(više) volim miran park nego bučan bar

This is treated as one clause with a comparative, so no comma is used.

You would use a comma if nego introduces a separate clause with its own verb:

Više volim da idem u park, nego da sjedim u baru.
(I prefer going to the park rather than sitting in a bar.)

Here, “da idem u park” and “da sjedim u baru” are two subordinate clauses, so there is a comma.

In your sentence, “miran park” and “bučan bar” are just noun phrases, not full clauses, so no comma.

Why are there no words like “a/the” before miran park and bučan bar?

Croatian has no articles like English “a / an / the”.

The meaning that English expresses with articles is usually conveyed by:
- context
- word order
- sometimes choice of adjective form or pronoun.

So:

miran park

can mean:

“a quiet park”
“the quiet park” (depending on context)

In your sentence, context makes it clear we’re talking in general, so in English we naturally translate it as:

a quiet park … a noisy bar

In Croatian you simply say:

miran park … bučan bar

with no extra word for “a/the”.

Can the adjective come after the noun, like park miran or bar bučan?

In normal, neutral Croatian, adjectives almost always come before the noun:

miran park – a quiet park
bučan bar – a noisy bar

Placing the adjective after the noun is rare and usually:

poetic or literary,
or used for stylistic emphasis, lists, or fixed expressions (e.g. voda gazirana in some labels, “sparkling water”).

So in everyday speech and writing, you should say:

miran park, bučan bar, not park miran or bar bučan.

How do I pronounce općenito and bučan? What’s the difference between ć and č?

Key sounds:

ć in općenito – a softer “ch”, somewhat like the t in English “future” (when pronounced like fyoo-cher), or a very soft “ty-ch” blend.
- općenito ≈ op-tye-ni-to (with a soft tye).
č in bučan – a hard “ch” like English “ch” in “church”.
- bučan ≈ BOO-chan (with the ch of church).

So:

Općenito – soft ć sound.
Bučan – hard č sound.

Can I omit općenito or više? What changes in meaning?

Omitting općenito

Volim miran park više nego bučan bar.

Still correct; it now sounds like a plain, straightforward preference.
With općenito, it feels more like “as a rule / generally speaking”.

Omitting više

Općenito volim miran park nego bučan bar. – sounds wrong / incomplete.

You need some sort of comparative element (više, radije, bolje, etc.) before nego:

Općenito više volim miran park nego bučan bar.
Općenito radije idem u miran park nego u bučan bar. – In general I’d rather go to a quiet park than to a noisy bar.

So:

You can drop općenito without breaking the grammar.
You cannot drop više here; something must show the comparison before nego.