Molim te, ugasi televizor prije nego što djeca zaspu.

Molim te means please, but literally it is something like I ask you.

• molim = I ask / I beg / please
• te = you (object form, informal singular)

So Molim te, ugasi televizor... is a polite way to tell one person: Please turn off the TV...

If you were speaking to more than one person, or using the formal you, you would say Molim vas.

Ugasi is the imperative form of the verb ugasiti, which means to turn off / switch off / extinguish.

So:

• ugasiti = to turn off
• ugasi! = turn it off!

This is the command form used when speaking to one person informally.

Other imperative forms are:

• ugasi = turn off! (to one person, informal)
• ugasite = turn off! (to several people, or formal singular)
• ugasimo = let’s turn off

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

• gasiti = imperfective: turning off, switching off in general, or repeatedly
• ugasiti = perfective: to turn off completely, as a finished action

In a command like this, Croatian often uses the perfective verb when the speaker wants one complete result:

• Ugasi televizor. = Turn off the TV.
  (finish the action)

If you used gasi, it would sound more like:

• Be turning it off / Turn it off now
  and can sometimes sound more process-focused, repeated, or stylistically different.

So ugasi is the most natural choice here for a single completed action.

Because televizor is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case. But for this noun, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular.

• nominative: televizor
• accusative: televizor

This happens because televizor is an inanimate masculine noun.
For many masculine inanimate nouns in Croatian:

• nominative = accusative

Compare:

• Vidim televizor. = I see the television.
• Ugasi televizor. = Turn off the television.

But for an animate masculine noun, the accusative usually changes:

• student → studenta

Yes. In everyday speech, many speakers say TV or televiziju, depending on style and region.

Common possibilities include:

• Ugasi televizor.
• Ugasi TV.
• Ugasi televiziju.

These can all be understood, though televizor is a very standard, clear choice.

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

It introduces a clause:

• prije = before
• nego što = than / that, as part of this fixed expression

So:

• prije nego što djeca zaspu = before the children fall asleep

This is a very common Croatian structure.

You can think of it as a set phrase:

• prije nego što + clause

For example:

• Dođi prije nego što padne mrak. = Come before it gets dark.
• Nazovi me prije nego što odeš. = Call me before you leave.

In many cases, što can be omitted in everyday Croatian, and you may hear both versions:

• prije nego što djeca zaspu
• prije nego djeca zaspu

Both are used.
The version with što often sounds a bit more complete or standard in careful speech, but both are normal.

So yes, nego što is a very common combination here, but in real language people often shorten it to just nego.

Djeca means children, but grammatically it behaves in a special way.

It is a collective noun. Even though it refers to multiple children, Croatian treats it grammatically as neuter singular in many respects.

That is why you get:

• djeca zaspu not
• djeca zaspuju or some regular plural agreement

A useful thing to remember is:

• meaning: plural (children)
• grammar: often singular/neuter behavior

You also see this in adjectives and past tense:

• Mala djeca spavaju. = Small children are sleeping.
• Djeca su zaspala. = The children fell asleep.

So djeca is one of those words you simply learn as a special pattern.

Zaspu is from zaspati, meaning to fall asleep.

This verb is perfective, so it refers to the moment or completed event of falling asleep, not the ongoing state of sleeping.

That is why Croatian uses:

• djeca zaspu = the children fall asleep

If you wanted to talk about the ongoing state of being asleep/sleeping, you would use spavati instead:

• Djeca spavaju. = The children are sleeping.

So in this sentence:

• prije nego što djeca zaspu = before the children fall asleep

That is exactly the right choice, because it refers to the point after which they will be asleep.

This is a very common feature of Croatian.

After words like before, when, if, etc., Croatian often uses the present tense form where English would use a future idea.

So:

• prije nego što djeca zaspu
  literally looks like: before the children fall asleep
• but it refers to a future situation relative to the command

Also, because zaspati is a perfective verb, its present-tense forms often have a future-like meaning in context.

So don’t translate word-for-word by tense shape alone. In Croatian, this is completely normal.

Not with the same meaning.

• zaspati = to fall asleep
• spavati = to sleep / be sleeping

So:

• prije nego što djeca zaspu = before the children fall asleep
• prije nego što djeca spavaju would sound unnatural here

If you wanted to express before the children are asleep, you would normally still use zaspu, because Croatian naturally focuses on the transition into sleep.

The word order is natural and neutral:

1. Molim te = polite opener
2. ugasi televizor = main command
3. prije nego što djeca zaspu = time clause

Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but this version sounds straightforward and normal.

You could move things around for emphasis, for example:

• Prije nego što djeca zaspu, ugasi televizor.
• Televizor ugasi prije nego što djeca zaspu.

These are still understandable, but the original sentence is the most neutral and natural for everyday use.

It is informal, because of:

• te in Molim te
• ugasi as the imperative for one person informally

If you wanted to say the same thing formally, or to more than one person, you would say:

• Molim vas, ugasite televizor prije nego što djeca zaspu.

So the difference is:

• te / ugasi = informal singular
• vas / ugasite = formal singular or plural

Yes, but there is a slight difference in feel.

• ugasiti = turn off, switch off; very natural for devices, lights, TV, etc.
• isključiti = switch off / disconnect; often feels a bit more technical

So both can work:

• Ugasi televizor.
• Isključi televizor.

But ugasi televizor is especially common and natural in everyday speech.

Because Croatian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are already clear from the verb form.

Here, ugasi already tells you that the command is directed at you (informal singular), so ti is not needed.

If you said:

• Ti ugasi televizor...

that would add emphasis, contrast, or emotion, for example:

• You turn off the TV...

But in a normal request, leaving out ti is the natural choice.

A few softer alternatives are possible, depending on tone:

• Možeš li ugasiti televizor prije nego što djeca zaspu?
  = Can you turn off the TV before the children fall asleep?

• Molim te, možeš li ugasiti televizor prije nego što djeca zaspu?
  = Please, can you turn off the TV before the children fall asleep?

• Bilo bi dobro ugasiti televizor prije nego što djeca zaspu.
  = It would be good to turn off the TV before the children fall asleep.

The original sentence is already polite because of Molim te, but it is still a direct request/command.

A good summary is:

• Molim te = please (informal singular)
• ugasi = imperative of the perfective verb ugasiti
• televizor = accusative object, same form as nominative because it is masculine inanimate
• prije nego što = before
• djeca = special noun meaning children, with unusual grammar
• zaspu = from zaspati, fall asleep, used here in a present form with future meaning in context

So this sentence is a great example of:

• politeness
• commands
• aspect
• object case
• time clauses
• a common irregular noun pattern