Kad budem na sastanku, pokušat ću govoriti što opuštenije.

In Croatian, after words like kad (when) and ako (if), you usually do not use the ordinary future with ću. Instead, Croatian normally uses the form often called future II.

So:

• Kad budem na sastanku... = When I’m at the meeting / When I will be at the meeting...
• Not normally: Kad ću biti na sastanku...

This is one of the most important patterns to learn:

• Ako budem imao vremena, doći ću. = If I have time, I’ll come.
• Kad završim, nazvat ću te. = When I finish, I’ll call you.

So budem is the natural Croatian form here.

Budem is a special form of the verb biti (to be) used in contexts referring to a future situation inside a subordinate clause.

In this sentence:

• Kad budem na sastanku literally works like When I am / when I find myself at the meeting

It is not the normal everyday present-tense sam form, and it is not the simple future bit ću either. It belongs to the pattern used after kad, ako, čim, and similar conjunctions.

You do not need to memorize the full theory immediately, but you should recognize this very common structure:

• budem
• budeš
• bude
• budemo
• budete
• budu

Croatian uses na sastanku because that is the normal expression for at a meeting / in a meeting.

The noun sastanak takes the preposition na in this meaning:

• na sastanku = at the meeting
• na konferenciji = at the conference
• na predavanju = at the lecture

Even though English often says in a meeting, Croatian prefers na here.

Also, after na in a location meaning, Croatian uses the locative case, so:

• sastanak → na sastanku

Sastanku is the locative singular form of sastanak.

Croatian nouns change form depending on their grammatical role. After the preposition na when it means location, you usually need the locative:

• basic form: sastanak
• locative singular: na sastanku

So the phrase is:

• na sastanku = at the meeting

This kind of change is very common in Croatian:

• u gradu = in the city
• na stolu = on the table
• u školi = at school / in school

Both are possible.

• Pokušat ću govoriti...
• Ja ću pokušati govoriti...

The difference is mainly one of word order and style. Croatian often places the short auxiliary ću in the second position of the clause, which is why you often see:

• Pokušat ću...
• Reći ću...
• Doći ću...

When the infinitive comes before ću, the infinitive usually loses its final -i in writing:

• pokušati + ću → pokušat ću
• govoriti + ću → govorit ću

So pokušat ću is a completely standard Croatian form.

It is written as two words:

• pokušat ću

This is standard Croatian spelling.

A useful pattern:

• Ja ću pokušati.
• Pokušat ću.

When ću comes after the infinitive, the infinitive drops final -i:

• raditi → radit ću
• pisati → pisat ću
• pokušati → pokušat ću

So do not write it as one word in standard Croatian.

This structure means to speak as relaxed as possible or to speak as casually/relaxedly as possible, depending on context.

The key part is:

• što + comparative

Here:

• opušteno = in a relaxed way
• opuštenije = more relaxed
• što opuštenije = as relaxed as possible / as relaxedly as possible

This is a very common Croatian pattern:

• što prije = as soon/early as possible
• što bolje = as well as possible
• što jasnije = as clearly as possible

So što opuštenije is not just more relaxed; it means something closer to as relaxed as possible.

Because the sentence is using the što + comparative pattern.

Compare:

• Govoriti opušteno = to speak in a relaxed way
• Govoriti što opuštenije = to speak as relaxedly as possible

So opušteno is the basic adverb-like form, while opuštenije is the comparative form used after što.

This is similar to:

• jasno = clearly
• jasnije = more clearly
• što jasnije = as clearly as possible

Functionally, it behaves like an adverbial comparative here, because it describes how someone will speak.

It comes from opušten (relaxed), but in this sentence it modifies the verb govoriti:

• govoriti kako? = how to speak?
• opuštenije = more relaxedly / more casually

Croatian often uses forms like this where English might prefer an adverb ending in -ly.

So even if the form looks adjective-like to an English learner, here it is doing the job of an adverb.

Yes. That is also correct and means almost the same thing, just a bit more explicit:

• što opuštenije
• što je moguće opuštenije

Both mean as relaxed as possible.

The shorter version, što opuštenije, is very common and natural. The longer version simply spells out the idea of possible.

You can see the same with other expressions:

• što kraće = as briefly as possible
• što je moguće kraće = as briefly as possible

Because it follows the verb pokušati (to try).

In Croatian, after pokušati, you commonly use another verb in the infinitive:

• pokušati govoriti = to try to speak
• pokušati objasniti = to try to explain
• pokušati doći = to try to come

This works very much like English try to + verb.

So:

• pokušat ću govoriti = I will try to speak

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but not every version sounds equally natural.

The original sentence:

• Kad budem na sastanku, pokušat ću govoriti što opuštenije.

This is natural and neutral.

You could also hear:

• Pokušat ću govoriti što opuštenije kad budem na sastanku.

That is also correct, but it places the time clause at the end.

However, the short auxiliary ću usually stays in one of the early positions of its clause, so you should pay attention to clitic placement. Croatian does not place words in exactly the same way English does.

For a learner, the original version is an excellent model to copy.

In this sentence, there is no important difference in meaning.

• kad budem na sastanku
• kada budem na sastanku

Both mean when I’m at the meeting / when I’m in the meeting.

The shorter kad is very common in everyday speech and writing. Kada can sound slightly more formal or more neutral depending on style, but both are standard.

Usually it means when I am at the meeting / once I’m in the meeting situation.

It focuses on the time period in which the speaker is at the meeting, not specifically the moment of arrival.

So in this sentence, the idea is:

• During the meeting, I’ll try to speak as relaxedly as possible

If you wanted to emphasize arrival more clearly, Croatian would usually choose a different verb or expression.

Yes, but in natural speech they flow together smoothly.

• pokušat ću

The ću is a short clitic, so it is unstressed and closely attached to the previous word. You should think of it as a little grammatical word that leans on the word before it.

A learner often wants to stress ću too much because English future markers like will are independent words. In Croatian, ću is much lighter.

So the rhythm is closer to one unit in speech, even though it is written as two words.

Sometimes yes, but the meaning shifts slightly.

• govoriti = to speak
• pričati = to talk, to tell, to chat

In this sentence, govoriti is a good choice because it refers to the manner of speaking in a meeting. Pričati can sound a bit more informal or conversational.

So:

• pokušat ću govoriti što opuštenije sounds very natural for a meeting context.
• pokušat ću pričati što opuštenije is possible, but it may sound a little less formal.

It sounds natural.

Everything in it is standard and idiomatic:

• Kad budem... is the correct structure after kad for future meaning.
• na sastanku is the normal expression.
• pokušat ću is a standard future form.
• što opuštenije is a very common Croatian pattern.

So this is a good sentence to learn from and reuse as a model.