Prije nego što prijeđeš ulicu, stani kod pješačkog prijelaza i pogledaj lijevo pa desno.

Prije nego što means before in the sense of before doing something / before something happens.

So:

• Prije nego što prijeđeš ulicu = Before you cross the street

By itself, prije often means before / earlier in a more general sense, especially with nouns or time expressions:

• prije škole = before school
• prije dva dana = two days ago / before two days

But when Croatian introduces a whole clause like before you cross the street, it very commonly uses prije nego što.

You can think of it as:

• prije = before
• nego što = than / that

As a full fixed expression, it simply means before + clause.

This is a very common question because it involves aspect, which is very important in Croatian verbs.

• prelaziti / prelaziti = imperfective, focusing on the process or repeated action
• prijeći = perfective, focusing on the completed action of crossing

In this sentence, prijeđeš comes from prijeći and is used because the meaning is before you actually cross over — a single completed event.

So:

• prije nego što prijeđeš ulicu = before you cross the street
• prije nego što prelaziš ulicu would sound unnatural here

Croatian often uses the perfective present after expressions like prije nego što when talking about a future completed action.

English does not force you to think about this distinction as much, but Croatian does.

In Croatian, the present form of a perfective verb often refers to a future completed action, not a true present ongoing action.

So although prijeđeš looks like a present-tense form, in context it means something like:

• before you cross
• before you are about to cross

This is normal in Croatian.

Compare:

• Kad dođeš, nazovi me. = When you arrive, call me.
• Prije nego što prijeđeš ulicu... = Before you cross the street...

In English, we also often use a present form in time clauses for future meaning:

• Before you cross the street...
• When you arrive...

So the idea is actually not so foreign to English speakers, but in Croatian it is tied strongly to verb aspect as well.

Because ulicu is the accusative singular form of ulica.

The verb prijeći takes a direct object — you cross something:

• prijeći ulicu = to cross the street

So:

• dictionary form: ulica = street
• object form here: ulicu

This is a regular pattern for many feminine nouns ending in -a:

• kuća → kuću
• škola → školu
• ulica → ulicu

Stani is the imperative singular of stati, meaning:

• stop
• come to a stop
• stand still

In this sentence, it is giving an instruction to one person:

• stani kod pješačkog prijelaza = stop at the pedestrian crossing

This is the informal singular command, used when speaking to one person in the ti form.

Related forms:

• stati = to stop
• stani! = stop! (to one person)
• stanite! = stop! (to more than one person, or formal)

Here kod means by, at, or near.

So:

• kod pješačkog prijelaza = at/by the pedestrian crossing

It does not necessarily mean physically on top of it; it means in the area of it, next to it, at that point.

Very importantly, kod requires the genitive case.

That is why you get:

• pješački prijelaz = pedestrian crossing
• kod pješačkog prijelaza = at/by the pedestrian crossing

The noun changes because of the preposition kod.

Because after kod, Croatian uses the genitive case.

Base form:

• pješački prijelaz = pedestrian crossing

After kod:

• kod pješačkog prijelaza

Both words change because the adjective and noun must agree:

• pješački → pješačkog
• prijelaz → prijelaza

This is a standard adjective + noun agreement pattern in Croatian.

So the structure is:

• kod
  • genitive
• kod pješačkog prijelaza = at the pedestrian crossing

Both forms exist, but prijelaz is the standard Croatian form.

• prijelaz = standard Croatian
• prelaz = more typical in some other regional varieties, especially Serbian

So if you are learning standard Croatian, pješački prijelaz is the form to learn and use.

Literally, pogledaj means look.

In context, though, it works like English look or check:

• pogledaj lijevo pa desno = look left and then right / check left, then right

It is the imperative of pogledati, a perfective verb meaning to take a look / look once.

That fits well here because the instruction is about a single deliberate action:

• stop
• look left
• then right

If Croatian wanted to emphasize ongoing watching, it might use a different verb or aspect, but here pogledaj is the natural choice.

Here lijevo and desno are being used adverbially, meaning:

• to the left
• to the right

So:

• pogledaj lijevo = look left
• pogledaj desno = look right

They do not change here because they are not describing a noun; they are describing the direction of looking.

Compare:

As adjectives:

• lijeva strana = the left side
• desna ruka = the right hand

As adverbs:

• pogledaj lijevo = look left
• skreni desno = turn right

English does something similar:

• the left side = adjective-like use
• look left = adverb-like use

In this sentence, pa means something like:

• and then
• then
• and after that

So:

• pogledaj lijevo pa desno = look left, then right

If you used i:

• pogledaj lijevo i desno

that would mean more simply:

• look left and right

That is also possible, but pa gives a clearer sense of sequence:

1. first left
2. then right

So pa is a very natural choice here.

The comma separates the introductory subordinate clause from the main command.

Structure:

• Prije nego što prijeđeš ulicu, = subordinate time clause
• stani kod pješačkog prijelaza i pogledaj lijevo pa desno. = main clause

So the comma works much like in English:

• Before you cross the street, stop at the pedestrian crossing...

Croatian punctuation often uses commas to separate this kind of clause very clearly.

Grammatically, it is talking to one person, because the verbs are singular informal imperatives / forms connected with ti:

• prijeđeš = you cross (singular, informal)
• stani = stop! (to one person)
• pogledaj = look! (to one person)

However, Croatian often uses this singular form in instructions meant for any individual reader or listener, just as English might say:

• Before you cross the street, stop and look...

So it is singular in grammar, but it can still express a general safety instruction.

Yes. If you were addressing more than one person, or speaking formally to one person, you would use vi forms.

That version would be:

• Prije nego što prijeđete ulicu, stanite kod pješačkog prijelaza i pogledajte lijevo pa desno.

Changes:

• prijeđeš → prijeđete
• stani → stanite
• pogledaj → pogledajte

So:

• singular informal: ti
• plural or formal: vi

By itself, što can mean what, but in prije nego što it is part of a fixed conjunction.

So in this sentence, you should not translate it word by word as what. Instead, treat the whole phrase prije nego što as one unit meaning:

• before

This is very common in Croatian: words that have one meaning alone can become part of a fixed expression with a different overall function.

A few things may stand out to English speakers:

• prije: often pronounced roughly like pree-yeh
• prijeđeš: the đ is a soft sound, somewhat like the j in judge, but softer
• pješačkog: pj and ješ may feel unusual together at first
• č in pješačkog sounds like ch in chocolate
• ž in prijelaza sounds like the s in measure
• lj in lijevo is a single Croatian sound, not just plain l + j

Also, Croatian stress is not usually marked in normal writing, so learners generally pick it up by listening.

In everyday speech, some people may use informal expressions, but the standard and safest term to learn is:

• pješački prijelaz = pedestrian crossing

This is the normal dictionary and textbook expression. If you are learning standard Croatian, stick with that form first.