Learn Hardcore Croatian: Želim sudjelovati na sastanku sutra. - I want to participate in the meeting tomorrow.

Želim = I want or I wish.
It’s used very often just like English I want:
- Želim kavu. – I want a coffee.
- Želim spavati. – I want to sleep.

In many contexts it can sound slightly softer than a very direct English I want, but it’s still the normal everyday verb for expressing wants and wishes.

Why is it želim sudjelovati and not something like želim sudjelujem?

In Croatian, after verbs like željeti (to want), you normally use the infinitive:

Želim sudjelovati. – I want to participate.

You don’t say:

✗ želim sudjelujem

That structure (I want I participate) is ungrammatical here. So:

želim + infinitive = I want to + verb
- Želim jesti. – I want to eat.
- Želim otići. – I want to leave.
- Želim sudjelovati. – I want to participate.

What does sudjelovati mean exactly, and how is it formed?

Sudjelovati means to participate / to take part.

It’s related to:

djelovati – to act, to operate
The prefix su- means with, together.

So su- + djelovati roughly gives the idea to act together (with others) → to participate.

It’s an infinitive verb form:

sudjelovati – to participate
sudjelujem – I participate (present, 1st sg)
sudjeluješ – you participate
sudjeluju – they participate

In the sentence, sudjelovati is used after želim, so it stays in the infinitive.

Why is it na sastanku, not na sastanak?

Na sastanku uses the locative case and means at the meeting (location).

Preposition na
- locative = on/at (location)
sastanak (meeting) → na sastanku (at the meeting)

Na sastanak would be accusative, which usually expresses motion towards something:

Idem na sastanak. – I’m going to the meeting. (motion towards it)
Želim sudjelovati na sastanku. – I want to participate at the meeting. (location, during it)

So in your sentence, we talk about participating in/at a meeting, not going to one, so the locative na sastanku is correct.

Why do we use na sastanku and not u sastanku?

Both na and u can sometimes be translated as in or at, but they combine with nouns in different typical ways.

For events, activities, and gatherings (meetings, concerts, parties, courses), Croatian usually uses na:

na sastanku – at a meeting
na koncertu – at a concert
na predavanju – at a lecture
na večeri – at a dinner

So sudjelovati na sastanku is the standard collocation: participate in/at a meeting.

U sastanku would sound strange or wrong in normal modern usage.

Why is sastanku ending in -u and not in -om (like sastankom)?

Masculine nouns like sastanak have:

Locative singular often in -u
Instrumental singular often in -om

Here we have locative, after na (with the meaning on/at), so:

Nominative: sastanak (the meeting)
Locative: na sastanku (at the meeting)
Instrumental: sa sastankom (with the meeting – not normally used in this context)

So the -u tells you this is locative (where? at what?), not instrumental.

Can I put sutra at the beginning: Sutra želim sudjelovati na sastanku? Is there a difference?

Yes, that’s completely correct:

Želim sudjelovati na sastanku sutra.
Sutra želim sudjelovati na sastanku.

Both mean the same thing.

The difference is emphasis:

Sutra želim…: slightly emphasizes tomorrow (contrasting it with other days).
Želim sudjelovati na sastanku sutra.: more neutral; time just comes at the end.

Croatian word order is fairly flexible, and time expressions like sutra can move around easily without changing the core meaning.

Is sutra always “tomorrow”? Can it also mean “in the morning” like in some languages?

In Croatian:

sutra = tomorrow (the next day), only.
ujutro = in the morning.

So:

Želim sudjelovati na sastanku sutra. – I want to participate in the meeting tomorrow.
Želim sudjelovati na sastanku ujutro. – I want to participate in the meeting in the morning.
Želim sudjelovati na sastanku sutra ujutro. – I want to participate in the meeting tomorrow morning.

Could I say Želim da sudjelujem na sastanku sutra instead? Is that correct?

Yes, it’s grammatically possible:

Želim (to) sudjelovati na sastanku sutra.
Želim da sudjelujem na sastanku sutra.

Both can be understood as I want to participate in the meeting tomorrow.

However:

Želim sudjelovati… (with infinitive) is more natural and more common, especially in standard Croatian.
Želim da sudjelujem… is also used, but the da + present construction is more typical in some other South Slavic varieties and in more colloquial speech.

If you want standard, neutral Croatian, stick with želim + infinitive.

Is there a difference between želim and hoću here?

Both can be translated as I want, but they differ in tone and usage:

Želim sudjelovati na sastanku sutra.
- Neutral, polite, often slightly softer: I would like / I want to participate…
Hoću sudjelovati na sastanku sutra.
- Often sounds more direct, insistent, even a bit stubborn in some contexts: I insist on participating.

In formal or polite contexts (work, business, with strangers), želim is safer and more appropriate. Hoću is more colloquial and can sound pushy depending on tone.

Does the verb form želim change depending on whether the speaker is male or female?

In the present tense, no. It depends only on person and number, not on gender:

Ja želim – I want (male or female)
Ti želiš – you want (singular)
On/ona želi – he/she wants
Mi želimo – we want
Vi želite – you want (plural / polite)
Oni/one žele – they want

Gender differences appear in past tense forms, but not in the present tense forms like želim.

Is sudjelovati reflexive in any way? It looks a bit like it might be.

No, sudjelovati is not reflexive. It doesn’t use se and doesn’t change meaning like reflexive verbs do.

Reflexive verbs look like:

smijati se – to laugh
bojati se – to be afraid
prijaviti se – to register (oneself)

But sudjelovati stands alone:

Želim sudjelovati. – I want to participate.
Oni sudjeluju. – They participate.

No se needed.

How would I make this sentence more formally polite, for example in an email?

A common polite form uses the conditional:

Želio bih sudjelovati na sastanku sutra. – I would like to participate in the meeting tomorrow. (male speaker)
Željela bih sudjelovati na sastanku sutra. – (female speaker)

Notes:

želio bih / željela bih – conditional, sounds more polite/soft.
Written to someone you don’t know well, a boss, or in business emails, the conditional is very natural and courteous.

How do you pronounce the sentence?

Approximate English-style pronunciation:

Želim – “ZHEH-leem” (ž = like s in measure)
sudjelovati – “sood-YE-lo-va-tee”
na – “nah”
sastanku – “SAH-stahn-koo”
sutra – “SOO-trah”

Stress:

ŽÉ-lim
sù-dje-lò-va-ti (main stress near the start, Croatian has pitch accents but as a learner, keep an even stress)
nà
sà-stan-ku
sù-tra

Spoken naturally, it flows as: ŽÉ-lim sùdjelòvati nà sàstanku sùtra.