Prije večere ću narezati kruh i sir za djecu.

Because prije normally requires the genitive case.

• večera = dinner
• večere = of dinner / before dinner

So prije večere means before dinner.
This is a very common pattern in Croatian:

• prije škole = before school
• prije posla = before work
• prije ručka = before lunch

Croatian forms the future tense here with:

• the auxiliary ću = I will
• the infinitive narezati = to slice / to cut up

So:

• ću narezati = I will slice

In Croatian, short auxiliary forms like ću are clitics, and they usually go in the second position of the sentence or clause. That is why you get:

• Prije večere ću narezati...

not usually

• Prije večere narezati ću... in standard usage

However, you can also put the infinitive first and attach the auxiliary to it in writing:

• Narezat ću kruh i sir za djecu.

That is also standard.

Because this is how one common Croatian future tense is built.

The pattern is:

• ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će
• infinitive

So:

• ću narezati = I will slice
• ćeš narezati = you will slice
• će narezati = he/she/it will slice

Unlike English, where will is followed by the base form of the verb, Croatian uses the infinitive.

This is about aspect, which is very important in Croatian.

• rezati = imperfective, focusing on the process of cutting
• narezati = perfective, focusing on completing the action, often cutting/slicing up something

In a sentence about a single completed future action, Croatian often prefers the perfective verb:

• Prije večere ću narezati kruh i sir...
  = I will cut/slice the bread and cheese before dinner

If you used rezati, it would sound more like focusing on the activity itself, repeated action, or ongoing action in the future.

They are direct objects, so they are in the accusative case. But both kruh and sir are masculine inanimate nouns, and for many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• kruh = bread
• sir = cheese

Both look unchanged in the accusative.

This is very normal in Croatian:

• Imam kruh.
• Kupujem sir.

By contrast, masculine animate nouns usually change in the accusative.

Because za here means for, and in this meaning it takes the accusative case.

The noun djeca is a special word:

• djeca = children

Its accusative form is:

• djecu

So:

• za djecu = for the children

This is one of the irregular forms learners simply need to memorize.

It naturally applies to both nouns:

• kruh i sir za djecu = bread and cheese for the children

The conjunction i joins kruh and sir into one coordinated object, and za djecu is understood as relating to the whole phrase.

If a speaker wanted to avoid any possible ambiguity, they could rephrase, but in normal Croatian this sentence clearly means both items are for the children.

Yes. Croatian word order is fairly flexible because case endings show grammatical relationships.

This sentence could be rearranged in several ways, for example:

• Prije večere ću narezati kruh i sir za djecu.
• Za djecu ću prije večere narezati kruh i sir.
• Kruh i sir ću narezati za djecu prije večere.

The basic meaning stays the same, but the focus changes slightly depending on what comes earlier.

Still, the original version sounds very natural and neutral.

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

So kruh, sir, večera, and djeca can mean:

• bread / the bread
• cheese / the cheese
• dinner / the dinner
• children / the children

The exact meaning is understood from context.

That is why Croatian learners of English must learn to add articles, but English speakers learning Croatian must learn to do without them.

It often suggests cutting something into pieces or slices, especially food.

So with kruh i sir, narezati strongly suggests:

• slicing bread
• slicing/cutting cheese into pieces

It is more specific than a very general cut. In food contexts, slice is often the best English match.

Yes, absolutely. That is a very common and standard future-tense pattern.

When the infinitive comes before the auxiliary, the final -i of the infinitive is usually dropped in writing:

• narezati + ću → narezat ću

So both are standard:

• Prije večere ću narezati kruh i sir za djecu.
• Narezat ću kruh i sir za djecu prije večere.

The difference is mainly word order and emphasis, not meaning.