Ne govori s punim ustima; najprije progutaj zalogaj, pa onda odgovori.

Govori is the imperative form of govoriti, so it means speak in a command.

In this sentence, Ne govori... means Don’t speak...

More specifically:

• govoriti = to speak, to talk
• govori! = speak! / talk!
• ne govori! = don’t speak!

This form is:

• 2nd person singular
• used for one person
• usually informal

So the speaker is talking directly to one person, like a child, friend, or family member.

Both are possible in Croatian, but they are slightly different in style.

• Ne govori s punim ustima. = Don’t speak with your mouth full.
• Nemoj govoriti s punim ustima. = also Don’t speak with your mouth full.

A useful rule:

• ne + imperative is a normal direct negative command
• nemoj + infinitive is also common and can sound a bit more explicit or sometimes softer, depending on context

In everyday Croatian, ne govori is completely natural here.

Because the preposition s means with, and after s Croatian uses the instrumental case.

So:

• s = with
• puna usta = a full mouth / full mouthful situation
• s punim ustima = with a full mouth

Both words change into instrumental:

• puna → punim
• usta → ustima

So this is a standard case pattern:

• s dobrim prijateljem = with a good friend
• s hladnom vodom = with cold water
• s punim ustima = with a full mouth

This is a very common learner question. Usta is a plural-only noun in Croatian. That means it is grammatically plural even when it refers to one mouth.

So the forms are:

• nominative: usta
• genitive: usta
• dative/locative/instrumental plural: ustima

That is why Croatian says:

• otvori usta = open your mouth
• s punim ustima = with your mouth full

Even though English uses singular mouth, Croatian uses the plural form usta as the normal word.

Both s and sa mean with, but sa is mainly used when pronunciation is easier that way.

You will often see sa:

• before words starting with s, š, z, ž
• in some fixed expressions
• when s alone would sound awkward

For example:

• sa sestrom = with my sister
• sa školom = with the school
• sa mnom = with me

But here s punim ustima sounds perfectly natural, so s is the normal choice.

Najprije means first or first of all.

So:

• najprije progutaj zalogaj = first swallow the bite

Yes, prvo would also work in many situations:

• Prvo progutaj zalogaj, pa onda odgovori.

This is a style difference more than a meaning difference.
Useful equivalents:

• najprije = first
• prvo = first
• najpre = another variant, common in some regions

All are understandable, but najprije is a very standard choice.

This is about aspect, which is very important in Croatian verbs.

• gutati = to swallow, usually imperfective
• progutati = to swallow down, perfective

Their imperatives:

• gutaj! = keep swallowing / swallow repeatedly
• progutaj! = swallow it / complete the act of swallowing

In this sentence, the speaker wants one completed action before the next one happens:

1. progutaj zalogaj
2. odgovori

So progutaj is the natural choice because it means finish swallowing the bite.

Zalogaj means a bite, a mouthful, or a morsel.

In this sentence:

• progutaj zalogaj = swallow the bite / swallow your mouthful

Grammatically, zalogaj is the direct object, so it is in the accusative singular.
For this masculine noun, nominative and accusative look the same:

• nominative: zalogaj
• accusative: zalogaj

So the form does not change here.

Yes, literally both words help express sequence, but this is very natural in Croatian.

• pa = and then / so / and
• onda = then

Together, pa onda gives a smooth spoken sequence:

• first do this, then do that

So:

• najprije progutaj zalogaj, pa onda odgovori means:
• first swallow your bite, and then answer

Could you shorten it? Yes:

• najprije progutaj zalogaj, onda odgovori
• najprije progutaj zalogaj pa odgovori

But pa onda sounds very normal and conversational.

Again, this is about aspect.

• odgovoriti = to answer, perfective
• odgovarati = to answer, imperfective

Imperatives:

• odgovori! = answer! give an answer!
• odgovaraj! = keep answering / answer repeatedly / be answering

In this sentence, the speaker wants one finished answer after swallowing, so odgovori is the right choice.

This matches the sequence of completed actions:

• progutaj = swallow it
• odgovori = answer

Yes. The forms in the sentence are singular informal imperatives:

• govori
• progutaj
• odgovori

If you want to say it to:

• more than one person, or
• one person politely

you use the plural/polite imperative:

Ne govorite s punim ustima; najprije progutajte zalogaj, pa onda odgovorite.

So:

• govori → govorite
• progutaj → progutajte
• odgovori → odgovorite

The semicolon separates two closely connected parts:

1. Ne govori s punim ustima
2. najprije progutaj zalogaj, pa onda odgovori

It shows that the second part explains what the person should do instead.

It is not the only possible punctuation. You could also see:

• a full stop
• a comma, in some less formal writing
• even a dash in more expressive style

But the semicolon works well because the two commands are strongly related.