Kuma će donijeti prsten za mladenku, a kum će provjeriti jesu li svi gosti stigli na vrijeme.

In this sentence, kuma is the female wedding witness, and kum is the male wedding witness. In Croatian, these words can also mean godmother and godfather in other contexts, so the exact meaning depends on the situation.

At a wedding:

• kuma = female witness
• kum = male witness

They are a matched pair:

• masculine singular: kum
• feminine singular: kuma

Će is part of the future tense in Croatian.

The pattern is:

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

So:

• kuma će donijeti = the kuma will bring
• kum će provjeriti = the kum will check

In English, we use will + verb. Croatian often does the same idea with će + infinitive.

Because after the future auxiliary će, Croatian normally uses the infinitive.

So:

• će donijeti = will bring
• će provjeriti = will check

This is completely normal and very common.

Donijeti means to bring, and it is a perfective verb.

That means it focuses on the action as a completed whole:

• donijeti = to bring, to deliver successfully

Its imperfective partner is usually donositi:

• donositi = to be bringing, to bring repeatedly, to bring in general
• donijeti = to bring once / to bring successfully

In this sentence, the future action is a single completed task, so donijeti is very natural.

Here za means for, and with that meaning it usually takes the accusative case.

So:

• mladenka = bride
• accusative singular = mladenku

That is why we get:

• za mladenku = for the bride

Similarly:

• za kuma
• za djecu
• za prijatelja

Yes, a can often be translated as and, but it is a special kind of and.

It often links two clauses while also giving a slight sense of:

• contrast
• topic shift
• parallel actions

So in this sentence:

• Kuma će donijeti prsten za mladenku, a kum će provjeriti...

This is like:

• The kuma will bring the ring for the bride, and the kum will check...

But a sounds a bit more like:

• while / whereas / as for the kum

It is very common in Croatian.

Jesu li introduces an embedded yes/no question. Here it means whether or if.

So:

• provjeriti jesu li svi gosti stigli na vrijeme = to check whether all the guests have arrived on time

Breakdown:

• jesu = are/have in the plural, full form of su
• li = question particle

Together:

• jesu li...? = have ... ? / are ... ?

In direct speech:

• Jesu li svi gosti stigli? = Have all the guests arrived?

Inside a larger sentence:

• Provjerit će jesu li svi gosti stigli. = He will check whether all the guests have arrived.

In standard Croatian, yes/no questions with the verb biti often use the full form:

• jesam, jesi, jest/je, jesmo, jeste, jesu

So:

• Jesu li svi gosti stigli?

Using su li is generally not standard in this kind of structure.

That is why you should learn:

• je li...?
• jesu li...?

These are very important patterns.

Because it agrees with svi gosti, which is plural.

• gost = guest
• gosti = guests
• svi gosti = all the guests

The verb phrase jesu ... stigli is in the plural:

• stigli = arrived, masculine plural / mixed plural form

Since a group of guests is grammatically masculine plural by default, stigli is the expected form.

Compare:

• Gost je stigao. = The guest arrived.
• Gošća je stigla. = The female guest arrived.
• Gosti su stigli. = The guests arrived.

This is the perfect tense in Croatian.

It is formed with:

• present tense of biti
  • l-participle

So:

• jesu
  • stigli = have arrived / arrived

In English, depending on context, this could be:

• have arrived
• arrived

Here, because the checking is about whether they are already there by a certain time, have arrived is a very natural translation.

Because the sentence is asking about the result of an earlier action: whether the guests have already arrived.

The idea is:

• the kum will check
• at that point, he wants to know whether the arrival is already complete

So Croatian uses:

• jesu li ... stigli

This is very similar to English:

• check whether all the guests have arrived

Svi means all, and gosti means guests.

Together:

• svi gosti = all the guests

You need both words because:

• svi gives the meaning of all
• gosti names the people

Compare:

• gosti = guests
• svi gosti = all the guests

Na vrijeme is the normal Croatian expression for on time.

So:

• stići na vrijeme = to arrive on time
• doći na vrijeme = to come on time

This is a fixed expression, so it is best learned as a chunk.

Do not try to translate it word for word too literally. Just remember:

• na vrijeme = on time

Yes. Croatian often allows both readings depending on context.

• jesu li svi gosti stigli na vrijeme can mean:
  • whether all the guests arrived on time
  • whether all the guests have arrived on time

In this sentence, the second reading often feels more natural in English because someone is checking the situation before or during an event.

Because jesu li is the standard way to introduce this kind of yes/no question clause.

The normal order is:

• Jesu li svi gosti stigli?

And after provjeriti:

• provjeriti jesu li svi gosti stigli

So the question-like structure stays together:

• jesu li
  • subject + participle

Croatian word order is flexible, but this order is the most natural and standard here.

You may hear that, especially in everyday speech or in some regional usage, but in standard Croatian jesu li is usually preferred here.

So the more standard version is:

• provjeriti jesu li svi gosti stigli

A learner should definitely recognize da li, but for careful standard Croatian, je li / jesu li is safer.

Yes, but most of the other nouns are in easier forms.

• kuma is the subject, so it is in the nominative
• prsten is the direct object, so it is in the accusative
• mladenku is also accusative after za
• kum is the subject in the second clause, so it is nominative
• svi gosti are the subject of the embedded clause, so they are nominative

One useful detail:

• masculine inanimate nouns like prsten often have the same form in nominative and accusative singular

So:

• nominative: prsten
• accusative: prsten

That is why the form does not change there.

Yes, sometimes Croatian places the future auxiliary after the infinitive in certain styles or with clitic placement rules, but for learners the basic pattern is:

• Subj + će + infinitive

So this sentence:

• Kuma će donijeti...
• kum će provjeriti...

is perfectly normal and a very good model to follow.

For now, this is the safest structure to learn first.