Puhni u dlanove ako ti je hladno, pa mi samo klimni kad budeš spremna za polazak.

Puhni is the imperative of the perfective verb puhnuti, so it suggests one short, complete action: give a puff of air.

That fits this situation well: someone is being told to blow into their hands once or a few times to warm them.

By contrast, puši would normally come from puhati and sounds more like keep blowing / blow continuously. Also, puši is very commonly understood as smoke! from pušiti, so puhni is much clearer here.

Dlanovi means palms. So u dlanove literally means into the palms.

This is a very natural way to say blow into your hands in Croatian, especially when you cup your hands and blow warm air into them.

Grammar-wise:

• u can mean into when it is followed by the accusative
• dlanove is the accusative plural of dlan

So the structure reflects movement/direction of the air: blow into the palms.

Because people normally warm both hands, not just one palm.

So Croatian uses the plural naturally here:

• dlan = palm
• dlanovi = palms
• u dlanove = into your palms

English often says hands, but Croatian is more specific here and uses palms.

This is a very common Croatian structure.

Literally, it is something like:

• ako = if
• ti = to you
• je = is
• hladno = cold

So the literal structure is if it is cold to you.

Croatian often uses this pattern for physical or emotional states:

• Hladno mi je = I am cold
• Vruće mu je = He is hot
• Dosadno nam je = We are bored

So ti is in the dative because it marks the person experiencing the feeling.

Here pa works like and then, so, or then.

It connects the two instructions in a natural spoken way:

• first: Puhni u dlanove ako ti je hladno
• then: pa mi samo klimni...

It is softer and more conversational than a plain i.

So it gives the sentence a smooth, natural flow: do this, then just nod to me...

Mi is the dative clitic meaning to me.

So klimni mi means:

• nod to me
• give me a nod

Without mi, the sentence would still make sense, but it would be less personal and less specific about who the nod is for.

Samo means just or simply.

Here it adds the idea:

• you don’t need to say anything
• just give me a nod

So it makes the request lighter and more practical. It suggests that a nod is enough.

Klimni is the imperative of klimnuti, which means to nod.

It is perfective, so it suggests one small nod rather than repeated nodding.

Croatian does not need to say head here, because the verb itself already implies nodding.
You can say klimni glavom, but glavom is often omitted when the meaning is obvious.

So klimni by itself is completely natural.

Because this refers to a future moment: the person is not ready yet, but will be ready later.

In Croatian, after words like kad when talking about the future, it is very common to use budem / budeš / bude...

So:

• kad budeš spremna = when you are ready / when you become ready

If you said kad si spremna, that sounds more like:

• when you are ready now
• or whenever you are ready in a general sense

In this sentence, kad budeš spremna is the natural choice because the readiness is expected later.

Because after kad in this kind of subordinate clause, Croatian usually does not use the normal future form ćeš biti.

Instead, it prefers kad budeš...

So:

• natural: kad budeš spremna
• unnatural here: kad ćeš biti spremna

You would use Kad ćeš biti spremna? as a direct question meaning When will you be ready?
But inside this sentence, kad budeš spremna is the standard structure.

Because the speaker is talking to a female person.

Croatian adjectives agree with the person they describe:

• spreman = ready, masculine
• spremna = ready, feminine

So if the speaker were talking to a man, it would be:

kad budeš spreman za polazak

Literally, it means for departure.

• za = for
• polazak = departure, setting off

So spremna za polazak means ready to leave or ready for departure.

This is a very normal Croatian expression.
Polazak is a noun formed from a verb and refers to the act of leaving or setting out.

Because Croatian has a strong tendency to place short unstressed words, called clitics, near the beginning of their clause, often in the second position.

That is why you get:

• ako ti je hladno
• pa mi samo klimni

Here:

• ti
• je
• mi

are all unstressed short forms, so they naturally move forward.

English speakers often find this unusual at first, but it is one of the most important patterns in Croatian word order.

Yes, this sentence is singular informal. It is addressed to one person with ti.

That is why you have:

• puhni
• ti
• klimni
• budeš

If you were speaking politely or to more than one person, you would use vi forms:

Puhnite u dlanove ako vam je hladno, pa mi samo klimnite kad budete spremni za polazak.

Main changes:

• puhni → puhnite
• ti → vam
• klimni → klimnite
• budeš → budete
• spremna → usually spremni in the plural/polite form