Molim te, ugasi lampu prije spavanja.

Ugasi is the imperative form, used for giving a command or request to one person.

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

In this sentence, Molim te, ugasi lampu..., the speaker is asking someone directly to do something, so the imperative is needed.

Molim te is a common way to say please when speaking to one person informally.

Literally:

• molim = I ask / I beg
• te = you (object form)

But in normal use, Molim te simply functions like please.

You will also see:

• Molim vas = please (formal or plural)

So this sentence is addressed to someone the speaker knows well, such as a friend, child, partner, or family member.

Because lampu is the accusative singular form of lampa.

• lampa = lamp (dictionary form, nominative)
• lampu = lamp as the direct object

Since the sentence means turn off the lamp, lamp is the thing being acted on, so Croatian uses the accusative case.

This is very common with feminine nouns ending in -a:

• knjiga → knjigu
• voda → vodu
• lampa → lampu

Croatian does not have articles like a, an, or the.

So lampu can mean:

• a lamp
• the lamp

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, English would usually translate it as the lamp, but Croatian does not need a separate word for that.

Prije spavanja means before sleeping or before going to bed.

It is made up of:

• prije = before
• spavanja = a noun form meaning sleeping / sleep / going to bed, here in the genitive

The preposition prije requires the genitive case, so spavanje becomes spavanja.

So literally, it is something like:

• before sleeping
• before bedtime

In natural English, before going to bed is often the best translation.

In this sentence, spavanja is a verbal noun derived from the verb spavati (to sleep).

• spavati = to sleep
• spavanje = sleeping / sleep as a noun
• spavanja = genitive form of spavanje

Croatian often uses verbal nouns after prepositions, where English might use an -ing form:

• prije jela = before eating
• nakon čitanja = after reading
• prije spavanja = before sleeping

Not with the same meaning.

• ugasi comes from the perfective verb ugasiti
• gasi comes from the imperfective verb gasiti

In commands, Croatian often uses:

• perfective imperative for a single complete action
  
  • Ugasi lampu. = Turn off the lamp.
• imperfective imperative for repeated, ongoing, or sometimes more general action
  
  • Gasi svjetlo kad izlaziš. = Turn off the light when you leave. / Be turning off...

For a simple one-time request like this, ugasi lampu is the natural choice.

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, although some versions sound more natural than others.

The given order is very normal:

• Molim te, ugasi lampu prije spavanja.

You could also hear:

• Ugasi lampu prije spavanja, molim te.
• Prije spavanja ugasi lampu.

The differences are mostly about emphasis and style, not basic meaning.

For example:

• starting with Prije spavanja emphasizes the time
• putting molim te at the end can sound a little softer in conversation

It is informal, because it uses te in Molim te and the singular imperative for someone addressed casually.

For a formal version, you would say:

• Molim vas, ugasite lampu prije spavanja.

Compare:

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

So the original sentence is something you would say to one person you know well.

Usually lampa means lamp. If you want light in a more general sense, Croatian often uses svjetlo.

So:

• Ugasi lampu. = Turn off the lamp.
• Ugasi svjetlo. = Turn off the light.

In some contexts, English turn off the light might be translated with lampu if you specifically mean a lamp, but svjetlo is broader and often more natural for room lights in general.

They can both relate to before, but they are used differently.

• prije usually means before in a time sense
  
  • prije spavanja = before sleeping
• pred can mean in front of or just before, and it takes a different case
  
  • pred kućom = in front of the house
  • pred spavanje is not correct

So in this sentence, prije is the right choice because we are talking about time.

A simple English-friendly approximation is:

OO-gah-see LAHM-poo PREE-yeh spah-VAH-nyah

A few notes:

• j is pronounced like English y
• ije in prije sounds roughly like ee-ye
• nj in spavanja sounds like the ny in canyon
• stress in Croatian is not always marked in writing, so learners usually focus first on getting the vowels and consonants clear

A more careful breakdown:

• ugasi = u-ga-si
• lampu = lam-pu
• prije = pri-je
• spavanja = spa-va-nja