Hoće li vas dvoje doći ranije, ili da počnemo bez vas?

Vas dvoje means the two of you.

Using just vi would mean you (plural, or formal singular), but it would not specifically highlight that exactly two people are meant. Croatian often uses expressions like:

• nas dvoje = the two of us
• vas dvoje = the two of you
• njih dvoje = the two of them

So vas dvoje is more specific than plain vi.

Dvoje is a collective numeral. Croatian often uses collective numerals with pronouns and when talking about a pair as a unit.

So with personal pronouns, dvoje is the normal neutral choice:

• nas dvoje
• vas dvoje
• njih dvoje

By contrast, dva and dvije are the ordinary forms used directly with nouns:

• dva muškarca
• dvije žene

You may also see more specific forms like vas dvojica for two males or vas dvije for two females, but vas dvoje is the common general form.

Because after dvoje, Croatian normally uses the oblique pronoun form:

• nas dvoje
• vas dvoje
• njih dvoje

So even though the whole phrase means the two of you and functions as the subject of the sentence, inside that phrase Croatian uses vas, not vi.

This is something English speakers often find odd, because English would simply use the subject form: you two. Croatian works differently here.

Hoće li is a standard way to form a yes/no question about the future.

The basic idea is:

• hoće = the full form of the auxiliary from htjeti
• li = a question particle

So:

• Hoće li vas dvoje doći...? = Will you two come...?

A useful thing to remember is that Croatian normally uses the full form hoće in this kind of question, not the clitic će. So standard Croatian prefers:

• Hoće li doći?

rather than:

• Će li doći?

Because Croatian future tense is formed with the auxiliary based on htjeti plus the infinitive of the main verb.

So here:

• hoće li = will ...?
• doći = come

That is why the main action stays in the infinitive.

Ranije is the comparative adverb of rano (early), so literally it means earlier.

In context, it means something like:

• earlier than usual
• earlier than expected
• sooner

So it does not necessarily mean very early; it means earlier than some reference point.

Both words can relate to time, but they are not used in exactly the same way.

• ranije = earlier, sooner
• prije = before

With verbs like doći (to come/arrive), ranije is the natural choice when you mean arrive earlier.

So:

• doći ranije = arrive earlier

Whereas prije usually introduces a clearer comparison point:

• prije ručka = before lunch
• prije nego što počnemo = before we start

Here da + present tense expresses a suggestion, proposal, or possible course of action.

So:

• ili da počnemo bez vas?

means something like:

• or should we start without you?
• or shall we start without you?

This is a very common Croatian pattern. It does not translate word-for-word into English, but functionally it often corresponds to English should, shall, or sometimes let’s.

Počnemo comes from početi, which is a perfective verb. Croatian often uses a perfective present form after da when talking about a single future action.

Here the idea is start once, at that moment:

• da počnemo = that we start / should we start

If you used počinjemo instead, that would come from the imperfective verb počinjati, which is less natural here because the sentence is about one concrete act of beginning, not an ongoing or repeated process.

Because the two instances of vas belong to two different parts of the sentence:

• vas dvoje = the two of you
• bez vas = without you

Even though both refer to the same people, they have different grammatical roles, so Croatian keeps both. English does the same in a way:

• Will you two come earlier, or should we start without you?

Bez always takes the genitive in Croatian.

So:

• bez mene = without me
• bez tebe = without you
• bez vas = without you

In bez vas, vas is the form required by the preposition bez.

In vas dvoje, the same form vas appears too, but for a different reason: it is the form normally used with dvoje.

Not completely. Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but some parts are more fixed than others.

The most important fixed point here is li: it normally comes right after the finite verb or the first stressed element, so:

• Hoće li vas dvoje doći ranije...?

is the normal pattern.

Other parts can move more freely for emphasis, but the given order is neutral and natural. For example, ranije could sometimes be moved, but doći ranije is the most straightforward order here.