Popit ću čaj prije sastanka.

Croatian often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already shows the person.
Here, ću tells you it is first person singular, so Popit ću already means I will drink / I’ll have.

You can add ja if you want extra emphasis:

Ja ću popiti čaj prije sastanka. = I will drink tea before the meeting.

Ću is the 1st person singular form of the auxiliary verb used to make the future tense in Croatian.

So:

• ću = I will
• ćeš = you will
• će = he/she/it will
• ćemo = we will
• ćete = you will
• će = they will

In this sentence, popit ću means I will drink or I’ll have.

With many Croatian verbs, when the future auxiliary comes after the infinitive, the infinitive loses its final -i.

So:

• popiti
  • ću → popit ću

This is the normal standard pattern for infinitives ending in -ti:

• raditi → radit ću
• kupiti → kupit ću
• pisati → pisat ću

But if the auxiliary comes first, you use the full infinitive:

• Ću popiti čaj is not the usual standard order.
• Ja ću popiti čaj is correct.
• Popit ću čaj is also correct.

This is a question of aspect, which is very important in Croatian.

• piti = imperfective → focuses on the action/process of drinking
• popiti = perfective → focuses on completing the action, often drinking something up or having a drink

In Popit ću čaj prije sastanka, the speaker means a completed future action before the meeting, so popiti is very natural.

Compare:

• Pit ću čaj prije sastanka. → I’ll drink tea before the meeting / I’ll be drinking tea before the meeting
• Popit ću čaj prije sastanka. → I’ll have/drink the tea before the meeting, with a sense of completion

Čaj is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case.

However, čaj is a masculine inanimate noun, and in Croatian, the accusative singular of masculine inanimate nouns is usually the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: čaj
• accusative: čaj

That is why the form does not change.

Compare this with a masculine animate noun:

• pas = dog
• Vidim psa. = I see the dog

Here the accusative does change.

Prije means before, and it requires the genitive case.

The base form is:

• sastanak = meeting

After prije, it becomes genitive singular:

• prije sastanka = before the meeting / before a meeting

So the ending changes because prije governs the genitive.

Croatian has no articles, so there is no separate word for the or a/an.

That means prije sastanka can mean:

• before the meeting
• before a meeting

The exact meaning depends on context. In many real situations, English would naturally translate it as before the meeting.

Yes. Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The sentence Popit ću čaj prije sastanka is a natural, neutral way to say it.

But you can also say:

• Čaj ću popiti prije sastanka. → puts more focus on tea
• Prije sastanka popit ću čaj. → puts more focus on before the meeting
• Ja ću popiti čaj prije sastanka. → adds emphasis to I

The meaning stays very similar, but the emphasis changes.

Ću is a clitic, which means it usually cannot stand alone in just any position. Croatian clitics tend to appear near the beginning of the clause, typically after the first stressed element.

That is why forms like these are natural:

• Popit ću čaj prije sastanka.
• Čaj ću popiti prije sastanka.
• Ja ću popiti čaj prije sastanka.

So the position of ću follows Croatian clitic placement rules rather than English-style word order.

A rough English-friendly guide is:

• Popit ću ≈ POH-peet chyoo
• čaj ≈ chai
• prije ≈ pree-yeh
• sastanka ≈ sah-STAHN-kah

A few useful notes:

• č in čaj is like ch in chocolate
• ć in ću is softer than č
• Croatian stress is not usually marked in normal writing, so learners mostly pick it up by listening

Yes. In natural English, Popit ću čaj prije sastanka can often be translated as either:

• I’ll drink tea before the meeting
• I’ll have tea before the meeting

The Croatian sentence itself is straightforwardly about drinking tea, but idiomatic English often uses have for drinks.