Moj otac se jutros nije obrijao, pa će se obrijati prije sastanka.

Se is the reflexive clitic, and with obrijati se / brijati se it means to shave oneself.

So:

• obrijati = to shave something / someone
• obrijati se = to shave oneself

In this sentence, Moj otac se... obrijao and će se obrijati both mean my father shaved / will shave himself.

In English, we usually just say shave without himself, but Croatian normally uses the reflexive form here.

This is about Croatian clitic placement.

In negative past tense, the negated auxiliary nije usually comes before the reflexive clitic se:

• nije se obrijao = he did not shave

So the order is:

• nije
  • se
    • past participle

That word order is the normal one here.

Because the two clauses use different tenses and forms:

1. nije se obrijao
   This is the past tense, built with:

   • auxiliary je / nije
   • past participle obrijao

2. će se obrijati
   This is the future tense, built with:

   • će
   • infinitive obrijati

So:

• obrijao = past participle
• obrijati = infinitive

Both come from the same verb: obrijati se.

In Croatian past tense, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.

The subject is moj otac, which is:

• masculine
• singular

So the participle must also be masculine singular:

• obrijao

Compare:

• Otac se obrijao. = Father shaved.
• Majka se obrijala. = Mother shaved.
• Djeca su se obrijala. = The children shaved.

Jutros means this morning.

It is an adverb, so it does not need a preposition:

• jutros = this morning
• danas = today
• sinoć = last night

So:

• Moj otac se jutros nije obrijao = My father didn’t shave this morning

English uses a noun phrase (this morning), but Croatian uses a single adverb.

Here pa means something like:

• so
• and so
• therefore
• sometimes simply and then, depending on context

In this sentence, it links the two ideas naturally:

• he didn’t shave this morning,
• so he will shave before the meeting

So pa is not a literal word-for-word equivalent in every case; it is a very common connector used in everyday Croatian.

Again, this is clitic placement.

The future auxiliary će and the reflexive se are both clitic-like elements, and the normal order here is:

• će se obrijati

So:

• obrijat će se is also possible in some contexts
• but in this sentence će se obrijati is the standard and natural order after pa

The important thing to learn is that se usually comes close to the verb complex, not just anywhere in the sentence.

Because the preposition prije requires the genitive case.

The noun is:

• nominative: sastanak = meeting
• genitive singular: sastanka

So:

• prije sastanka = before the meeting

This is a very common pattern in Croatian:

• prije ručka = before lunch
• poslije škole = after school
• bez šećera = without sugar

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

• brijati se = imperfective
• obrijati se = perfective

Very roughly:

• brijati se focuses on the process, repetition, or habit
• obrijati se focuses on the completed action

In this sentence, the speaker means a completed shave:

• he didn’t shave this morning
• he will shave before the meeting

That is why the perfective verb obrijati se is used.

Compare:

• Svako jutro se brije. = He shaves every morning.
  (habit, imperfective)
• Jutros se obrijao. = He shaved this morning.
  (completed action, perfective)

Yes, very often it could.

Croatian frequently omits possessives when the meaning is obvious from context, especially with family members.

So both are possible:

• Moj otac se jutros nije obrijao...
• Otac se jutros nije obrijao...

Adding moj makes it more explicit: my father.

Without moj, it may still be understood that the speaker means my father, depending on context, but otac by itself can also simply mean father / the father.

Because Croatian uses the past tense for completed actions earlier on the same day, just like English often does.

So if it is now later in the day, you can say:

• Jutros se nije obrijao. = He didn’t shave this morning.

That is completely normal. The action belongs to the past, even if it happened only a few hours ago.

Croatian word order is fairly flexible, but not completely free.

The sentence as given is very natural:

• Moj otac se jutros nije obrijao, pa će se obrijati prije sastanka.

Some parts can move for emphasis, for example:

• Moj otac se nije jutros obrijao...
• Jutros se moj otac nije obrijao...

But not every rearrangement sounds equally natural, and clitics like se and će have placement rules.

For a learner, the safest choice is to keep the original order until you get more comfortable with Croatian clitics and emphasis patterns.

Grammatically, yes, but it sounds unnatural in English.

Croatian uses the reflexive se in places where English usually does not say himself. So the natural English translation is simply:

• My father didn’t shave this morning, so he’ll shave before the meeting.

The se is still important in Croatian, even though it often disappears in natural English translation.