Moramo pobjeći prije oluje.

Moramo is the 1st person plural present tense form of the verb morati (to have to / must).

A quick pattern:

• moram = I must
• moraš = you must
• mora = he/she/it must
• moramo = we must
• morate = you all / formal you must
• moraju = they must

So Moramo pobjeći literally means We must escape / We have to run away.

After the modal verb morati, Croatian normally uses the infinitive of the main verb.

So:

• moramo pobjeći = we must escape
• moram ići = I must go
• moraju raditi = they must work

This works much like English must + base verb.

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

• pobjeći is perfective
• bježati is imperfective

Here, pobjeći focuses on the action as a complete event: to get away / to escape.

By contrast, bježati focuses more on the process or repeated action: to be running away / to run away habitually / to keep fleeing.

So in Moramo pobjeći prije oluje, the idea is that we need to successfully get away before the storm arrives. That is why the perfective verb pobjeći fits well.

Because the preposition prije (before) requires the genitive case.

The noun is:

• oluja = storm

But after prije, it changes to the genitive singular:

• prije oluje = before the storm

So this is a case-governed form, not the basic dictionary form.

Oluje here is genitive singular of oluja.

Basic form:

• oluja = storm

Genitive singular:

• oluje = of the storm / before the storm (after prije)

This is a very common pattern in Croatian: prepositions often determine which case the following noun must take.

Usually, yes. Prije commonly means before in time.

Examples:

• prije oluje = before the storm
• prije ručka = before lunch
• prije škole = before school

You may also see prije nego when introducing a whole clause:

• Moramo pobjeći prije nego što dođe oluja.
• We must escape before the storm comes.

So:

• prije + noun (genitive) = before + noun
• prije nego (što) + clause = before + full clause

Yes, Croatian word order is fairly flexible, though not completely free.

The neutral order here is:

• Moramo pobjeći prije oluje.

You could also rearrange it for emphasis, for example:

• Prije oluje moramo pobjeći.

That puts extra focus on before the storm.

Even though Croatian allows movement, the original sentence sounds very natural and neutral.

In many contexts, morati can be translated as either must or have to.

So:

• Moramo pobjeći. = We must escape.
• Moramo pobjeći. = We have to escape.

English sometimes makes a small distinction between must and have to, but Croatian morati often covers both ideas. The exact nuance depends on context.

A learner may find pobjeći tricky because of bj and ć.

A rough guide:

• po = like po in pore, but shorter
• bj = the b followed quickly by a y-like sound
• eći = the ć is a soft sound, somewhat like a very soft ch/t sound

A rough English-style approximation is something like:

• pob-YEH-chi, but with a softer final consonant than normal English ch

Also remember:

• ć is softer than č
• in standard spelling, pobjeći is written with je

You do not need a perfect English equivalent; it is best learned by listening and repeating.

Croatian has no articles like English a or the.

So oluja can mean:

• a storm
• the storm

The exact meaning depends on context.

In prije oluje, English naturally says before the storm, but Croatian simply uses the noun without any article.

Yes. Depending on context, pobjeći can be translated in several similar ways:

• escape
• run away
• flee
• get away

The best English choice depends on the situation. If people are escaping danger, flee may sound very natural. If the emphasis is on successfully getting away, escape or get away may fit better.

Here it is clearly about time: before the storm.

Croatian prije usually expresses earlier than in time, not physical position in space.

So in this sentence, the meaning is:

• the escaping must happen earlier than the arrival of the storm

It does not mean standing physically in front of the storm.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• Moramo pobjeći prije oluje. = We must / have to escape before the storm.
• Trebamo pobjeći prije oluje. = We should / need to / are supposed to escape before the storm.

Moramo is stronger and more urgent.
Trebamo often sounds less absolute.

So if there is real necessity or danger, moramo is the better choice.