Maline su manje slatke od borovnica, ali meni su draže uz palačinke.

Maline is the nominative plural of malina (raspberry).

It is the subject of the sentence, so Croatian uses the plural form of to be:

• malina je = the raspberry is
• maline su = the raspberries are

So su is there simply because the subject is plural.

Because manje means less, and it modifies the adjective slatke (sweet).

So:

• slatke = sweet
• manje slatke = less sweet

This is different from slađe, which means sweeter / more sweet.

So Croatian, like English, can compare in two different directions:

• slađe = sweeter
• manje slatke = less sweet

The adjective has to agree with maline.

Since maline is:

• feminine
• plural
• nominative

the adjective also appears in the matching form:

• slatke

That is why you get Maline su manje slatke...

In Croatian, one very common way to say than in comparisons is:

• od + genitive

So:

• manje slatke od borovnica = less sweet than blueberries

Literally, od often means from or of, but in comparisons it works like English than.

Because after od in a comparison, Croatian uses the genitive.

The base noun is:

• borovnica = blueberry

Its plural forms include:

• borovnice = nominative plural
• borovnica = genitive plural

So after od, Croatian needs:

• od borovnica

not od borovnice.

This is a very common Croatian way to express preference.

The adjective drag can mean something like dear, pleasant, or liked, and its comparative draže often means:

• more preferable
• liked better

Croatian uses the dative for the person who experiences that feeling:

• meni su draže = they are more preferable to me
• in natural English: I prefer them / I like them better

So meni is not the subject. It means to me.

Both are dative forms meaning to me:

• mi = short/clitic form
• meni = full/stressed form

In this sentence, meni sounds more emphatic or contrastive, especially because of ali:

• ..., ali meni su draže... = ..., but I prefer them... / but as for me, I like them better...

So meni helps emphasize the speaker’s personal opinion.

Draže is the comparative form of drag in this preference-type construction.

In practice, learners should understand:

• drag = dear / liked
• draže = more liked / preferred

So:

• meni su draže = I prefer them

In this sentence, draže refers back to maline.

Because the comparison is already clear from the first part of the sentence.

The sentence first sets up the contrast between raspberries and blueberries, and then continues with the speaker’s opinion. Croatian often leaves the second comparison unstated when it is obvious from context.

So meni su draže uz palačinke is understood as something like:

• I prefer them with pancakes
• implicitly: more than blueberries

Here uz means something like:

• with
• alongside
• served with

In food contexts, uz is very common when one food goes well with another.

So uz palačinke means that raspberries are preferred with pancakes, for example as a filling, topping, or accompaniment.

Because uz takes the accusative case.

The singular noun is:

• palačinka = pancake / crêpe

The plural accusative is:

• palačinke

For this noun, the nominative plural and accusative plural happen to look the same, but the case after uz is still accusative.

Yes. Croatian word order is fairly flexible.

This sentence chooses:

• ali meni su draže uz palačinke

to highlight meni.

Other word orders are possible, for example:

• ali draže su mi uz palačinke
• ali uz palačinke su mi draže

These versions are grammatically possible, but the emphasis changes a little. The original sentence puts extra focus on my personal preference.

Yes. In both halves, the verb to be is part of the predicate:

• Maline su manje slatke...
• meni su draže...

Croatian normally keeps these present-tense forms of biti (sam, si, je, smo, ste, su) in sentences like this. So su is not optional here.