Njihove zaruke bile su male, ali vrlo lijepe.

Because zaruke in Croatian is normally a plural-only noun. Grammatically, it behaves like a plural noun, even though in English the idea is often expressed with singular engagement.

So Croatian says:

• zaruke su bile lijepe = literally, the engagement were beautiful, but naturally in English: the engagement was beautiful

Because zaruke is plural, all the words agreeing with it are also plural:

• njihove = their, plural feminine
• bile su = were
• male, lijepe = small, beautiful, plural feminine

Njihove agrees with zaruke.

Since zaruke is:

• feminine
• plural
• here in the nominative case

the possessive pronoun must also be feminine plural nominative:

• njihove zaruke = their engagement

Compare:

• njihova kuća = their house (kuća is feminine singular)
• njihove knjige = their books (knjige is feminine plural)
• njihovi prijatelji = their friends (prijatelji is masculine plural)

So njihove is used because it matches the grammar of zaruke.

This is the past tense of biti (to be) for a feminine plural subject.

Croatian past tense is made with:

1. the past participle
2. a present-tense form of biti

Here:

• bile = feminine plural past participle of biti
• su = auxiliary verb are/have used in forming the past

So:

• bile su = they were

It has to be plural because zaruke is plural.

Some comparisons:

• On je bio = He was
• Ona je bila = She was
• Oni su bili = They were (masculine/mixed)
• One su bile = They were (feminine)

Since zaruke is feminine plural, bile su is the correct form.

They match zaruke in gender, number, and case.

Because zaruke is:

• feminine
• plural
• nominative

the adjectives must also be feminine plural nominative:

• male = small
• lijepe = beautiful

Compare:

• mala kuća = a small house (feminine singular)
• male kuće = small houses (feminine plural)
• lijepa kuća = a beautiful house
• lijepe kuće = beautiful houses

So in njihove zaruke bile su male, ali vrlo lijepe, both adjectives are plural because zaruke is plural.

It is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence.

The subject is the thing that was small and beautiful, so njihove zaruke is nominative.

You can see this in the structure:

• Njihove zaruke = subject
• bile su = verb
• male, ali vrlo lijepe = description of the subject

If the noun were in another case, the forms could change. But here it is simply the subject, so nominative is used.

Yes. That is also correct.

Croatian word order is fairly flexible, especially with the auxiliary su. Both of these are possible:

• Njihove zaruke bile su male, ali vrlo lijepe.
• Njihove zaruke su bile male, ali vrlo lijepe.

The first version can sound a little more literary or stylistically smooth in some contexts, while the second may feel more straightforward to learners because it mirrors subject + auxiliary + participle more clearly.

Both mean the same thing.

Vrlo means very.

So:

• vrlo lijepe = very beautiful

It is an adverb that modifies the adjective lijepe.

You will also often hear jako used in everyday speech:

• vrlo lijepo = very beautiful
• jako lijepo = very beautiful

Both are common. In many situations:

• vrlo sounds a bit more neutral or formal
• jako often sounds a bit more conversational

In this sentence, vrlo lijepe is completely natural.

It can suggest more than physical size.

In this sentence, male zaruke most likely means something like:

• small
• modest
• intimate
• not a big event

With events or celebrations, small often refers to scale rather than physical dimensions. So the sentence probably means the engagement celebration or engagement event was not large, but it was still very beautiful.

Croatian does not use articles like English a/an and the.

So Croatian simply says:

• njihove zaruke

and English may translate that as:

• their engagement
• their engagement ceremony
• sometimes even the engagement, depending on context

Croatian relies on:

• context
• word order
• pronouns like njihove
• adjective forms
• case endings

to show meaning that English often expresses with articles.

Ali means but and introduces a clear contrast:

• male, ali vrlo lijepe = small, but very beautiful

That contrast makes sense: the event was small, yet beautiful.

Croatian also has a, which can sometimes mean and, while, or a softer kind of but. But here ali is the more direct and natural choice because it emphasizes contrast.

Compare:

• Bio je umoran, ali sretan. = He was tired, but happy.
• Ona radi, a on odmara. = She is working, while he is resting.

So in this sentence, ali is the best fit.

Yes, lijepe is the regular adjective meaning beautiful in feminine plural form.

Base forms:

• lijep = beautiful (masculine singular)
• lijepa = beautiful (feminine singular)
• lijepo = beautiful (neuter singular)
• lijepe = beautiful (feminine plural)

Croatian has stronger or more expressive alternatives, such as:

• predivne = wonderful, gorgeous
• prekrasne = wonderful, gorgeous

But vrlo lijepe is simple, natural, and very common. It sounds neutral and elegant.

The dictionary form is also zaruke.

For plural-only nouns, dictionaries usually list the plural nominative form, because there is no normal singular form in everyday use.

So when learning vocabulary, you should remember:

• zaruke = engagement, engagement ceremony
• grammatical note: plural-only feminine noun

That will help you remember why Croatian says:

• njihove zaruke
• zaruke su bile
• lijepe zaruke

instead of singular forms.

Then all the agreeing words would change.

For example, with svadba (wedding, feminine singular):

• Njihova svadba bila je mala, ali vrlo lijepa.
• Their wedding was small, but very beautiful.

Notice the changes:

Plural zaruke:

• njihove
• bile su
• male
• lijepe

Singular svadba:

• njihova
• bila je
• mala
• lijepa

This is a useful comparison because it shows that the original sentence is plural not because there are many engagements, but because zaruke is grammatically plural.