Breakdown of Prije nego dođu gosti, moramo pospremiti dnevni boravak.
Questions & Answers about Prije nego dođu gosti, moramo pospremiti dnevni boravak.
Because the first part (Prije nego dođu gosti) is a dependent (subordinate) clause, and Croatian normally separates a subordinate clause from the main clause with a comma.
So: [subordinate clause], [main clause].
Prije nego literally means before (that) / before introducing a clause.
You’ll also commonly see prije nego što (literally before that which). In modern Croatian, both are widely used and usually mean the same thing. In many contexts, što is optional:
- Prije nego dođu gosti...
- Prije nego što dođu gosti...
Both sound natural.
Dođu is the present tense form used for a future event after time expressions like prije nego (and also kad, dok, čim, etc.). Croatian often uses present tense in subordinate time clauses even when English uses the future:
- Croatian: Prije nego dođu gosti... (present form)
- English: Before the guests come/arrive...
Dolaze would mean something more like they are coming / they come (habitually) and can work in some contexts, but dođu (from doći) is very common here because it focuses on the completed arrival.
The infinitive is doći (to come / to arrive).
Dođu is 3rd person plural present:
- (ja) dođem
- (ti) dođeš
- (on/ona/ono) dođe
- (mi) dođemo
- (vi) dođete
- (oni/one/ona) dođu
The special-looking spelling comes from the verb stem changes in doći.
Because gosti is the subject of the verb dođu. Subjects are normally in the nominative case.
So: gosti (the guests) + dođu (arrive).
Yes—gosti is nominative plural.
The singular is gost (a guest).
So:
- gost dođe = the guest arrives
- gosti dođu = the guests arrive
Moramo means we must / we have to. It’s the 1st person plural present of morati (to have to / must):
- (ja) moram
- (ti) moraš
- (on/ona/ono) mora
- (mi) moramo
- (vi) morate
- (oni) moraju
It behaves like a modal verb: moramo + infinitive.
After moramo, Croatian uses the infinitive: moramo pospremiti = we must tidy up.
Also, pospremiti is typically perfective, which suggests completing the task (tidy up and get it done), rather than an ongoing process. A more “process/ongoing” wording might use an imperfective verb depending on context, but pospremiti is very natural for “get the room tidied (before they arrive).”
Both can relate to putting things away, but:
- pospremiti often means tidy up, clean up, put things in order (especially rooms, mess).
- spremiti is broader: to prepare, to pack, to put away, depending on context.
In a “living room” context, pospremiti strongly fits “tidy up.”
Because pospremiti takes a direct object, and in Croatian, direct objects are usually in the accusative.
For boravak (a masculine inanimate noun), accusative singular = nominative singular, so it stays boravak:
- nominative: dnevni boravak
- accusative (object): pospremiti dnevni boravak
If it were a masculine animate noun, you’d often see a different accusative form, but boravak is inanimate.
Literally, yes: dnevni = daily/daytime, boravak = stay/residing.
But as a fixed phrase, dnevni boravak means living room (the main sitting room). It’s the standard term.
Yes. Croatian word order is flexible, though some orders are more neutral than others. For example:
- Moramo pospremiti dnevni boravak prije nego dođu gosti. (also very common)
- Prije nego dođu gosti, moramo pospremiti dnevni boravak. (your sentence; emphasizes the “before they arrive” part)
Meaning stays the same; the difference is mainly emphasis and flow.
Approximate guidance:
- prije ≈ pri-ye (two sounds, like pri
- ye)
- nego ≈ neh-goh
- dođu: the đ is like a soft j sound, similar to the d in due in some accents, or like j in some Slavic-language transliterations. Roughly DO-joo, but with a single merged consonant sound (đ), not a clear d + j split.