Mama sada čeka u zbornici, jer ravnateljica još razgovara s drugim roditeljima.

Both mean mother, but they are used differently:

• mama = mom / mum, the everyday, natural word in speech
• majka = mother, more formal, neutral, or official

In a sentence like this, Mama sada čeka..., mama sounds much more natural.

Sada means now.

Yes, in everyday Croatian, people very often say sad instead of sada:

• Mama sada čeka...
• Mama sad čeka...

Both are correct. Sad is just a shorter, more conversational form.

Čeka is the 3rd person singular present tense of čekati = to wait.

So:

• ja čekam = I wait / I am waiting
• ti čekaš = you wait
• on/ona čeka = he/she waits / is waiting

Because mama is she, Croatian uses čeka.

Also, Croatian present tense often covers both English ideas:

• waits
• is waiting

So Mama sada čeka can mean Mom is waiting now.

Because after u meaning in, Croatian normally uses the locative case for location.

The base noun is:

• zbornica = staff room / teachers’ room

In the locative singular, it becomes:

• u zbornici = in the staff room

So:

• zbornica = dictionary form
• u zbornici = in the staff room

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

• škola → u školi
• kuća → u kući
• zbornica → u zbornici

Zbornica is the staff room or teachers’ room in a school.

It comes from the school context, so the sentence suggests that the mother is at school, probably waiting for a meeting or conversation.

Jer means because.

So:

• Mama sada čeka u zbornici, jer... = Mom is waiting in the staff room, because...

Yes, you can also use zato što for because:

• Mama sada čeka u zbornici jer ravnateljica...
• Mama sada čeka u zbornici zato što ravnateljica...

Both are correct. In many cases, jer is shorter and very common in normal speech.

Ravnateljica means female principal / headmistress / school director, depending on context.

The masculine form is:

• ravnatelj = principal, director

The feminine form is:

• ravnateljica

The ending -ica is a common way to form feminine job titles or roles in Croatian.

So here, the sentence specifically tells us the principal is a woman.

Još means still in this sentence.

So:

• ravnateljica još razgovara = the principal is still talking

This implies that the conversation has not finished yet, which explains why the mother is waiting.

Be careful: još can also mean more / another in other contexts, but here it clearly means still.

The verb razgovarati means to talk / converse, and it is normally used with s(a) = with.

That preposition requires the instrumental case.

So:

• roditelji = parents
• s roditeljima = with parents

And because drugim means other and has to agree with roditeljima, it is also in the instrumental plural:

• drugim roditeljima = with other parents

So the full phrase means:

• s drugim roditeljima = with other parents

Both s and sa can mean with.

Usually, s is the normal form:

• s roditeljima

Sa is used when pronunciation is easier that way, especially before certain consonant clusters:

• sa mnom = with me
• sa školom may be used in some contexts, though s is often enough elsewhere

In this sentence, s drugim roditeljima sounds perfectly natural, so s is used.

Because drugi can mean several things depending on context:

• second
• other / another

Here, s drugim roditeljima means with other parents, because the principal is speaking with some parents besides this mother.

If Croatian meant with the second parents, that would not make much sense in this context.

Because Croatian does not need a separate auxiliary like English is to form the present continuous.

English says:

• Mom is waiting
• The principal is talking

Croatian simply uses the present tense:

• Mama čeka
• Ravnateljica razgovara

So one Croatian present-tense form can correspond to either:

• waits / talks
• is waiting / is talking

The context tells you which English translation is best.

Croatian word order is more flexible than English word order because case endings show grammatical relationships.

The given sentence is very natural:

• Mama sada čeka u zbornici, jer ravnateljica još razgovara s drugim roditeljima.

But some parts could move for emphasis, for example:

• Mama u zbornici sada čeka...
• Ravnateljica još razgovara s drugim roditeljima.
• Još ravnateljica razgovara... is much less natural here

So the original order is probably the best neutral version.

A useful idea:

• Croatian often moves words around to emphasize time, place, or contrast
• English usually keeps a more fixed order

Grammatically, Croatian adjective order is flexible in some situations, but drugim roditeljima is the normal and natural order.

So:

• s drugim roditeljima = standard, natural
• s roditeljima drugim = unusual and would sound marked, poetic, or unnatural in normal speech

As a learner, you should use drugim roditeljima.

Yes. The main verbs are imperfective:

• čekati = to wait
• razgovarati = to talk / be talking

That fits the meaning because both actions are ongoing:

• Mom is waiting
• The principal is still talking

Croatian often uses imperfective verbs for actions in progress, repeated actions, or general situations. Since the principal has not finished talking yet, and the mother is in the middle of waiting, imperfective verbs are exactly what you would expect here.