About the verb list

This is a list of the most useful Croatian verbs. The list is based on frequency in movie subtitles and other sources (I haven’t included verbs related to murder investigations, but more real life verbs like write, understand, etc.). Verbs listed sometimes individually, most often in verb pairs, and occasionally in triplet entries.

The list is divided into six parts, each with roughly the same number of entries (click on the part to get the verb list):

A-G H-M N-O P R-Š T-Ž total
entries 46 39 38 56 45 50 274
verbs 83 69 67 96 82 86 483

In lists and chapter titles, verbs are shown in the ‘compact form’. The infinitive is always listed. For verbs that aren’t fully regular, the following forms, in parentheses, follow the infinitive:

verb inf pres-3 pres-1 past-m past-f listed as
have imati ima imam imao imala imati
open otvarati otvara otvaram otvarao otvarala otvarati («)
write pisati piše pišem pisao pisala pisati (piše)
eat jesti jede jedem jeo jela jesti (jede, jeo)
grow rasti raste rastem rastao rasla rasti (raste, rastao, rasla) or
rasti (raste,...)
see vidjeti vidi vidim vidio vidjela vidjeti (vidi,...)
can moći može mogu mogao mogla moći (može +,...)

(Abbreviations and stress marks follow the rest of Easy Croatian, i.e. inf = infinitive, the place of stress is marked with an underline, etc.; see Symbols & Abbreviations.)

Since all forms of the verb imati have are fully regular, only inf has to be listed; for pisati write, pres-3 has to be listed as well, and so on. However, if a verb has a regular pres-3, just with a shifted stress one syllable left in the ‘standard’ scheme – e.g. otvarati open – only « is written, instead of the full pres-3 form.

(This way of listing verbs is specific to Easy Croatian; unfortunately, there’s no established way of listing verbs with their forms, usually just inf is listed).

For verbs like vidjeti see, where past-f is predictably vid-io and past-f is vid-jela, I’ll list only ... instead of past forms.

For brevity, in this work, there’s usually just ... when the verb has both past-m and past-f irregular, since forms are listed later anyway, e.g. rasti (raste,...).

In the main body of this work, the verbs are examined in detail. I’ve listed the 10 most important forms for each verb. For a great majority of verbs, all those forms follow regularly from the infinitive (inf) or 3rd pers. present (pres-3). Nevertheless, even the fully regular verbs have the 10 forms listed – of course, if the verb has them.

Verbs where present tense forms cannot be derived from the pres-3 form are marked with a + after the pres-3 form, e.g. moći (može +,...) can. For all verbs, except the verb biti be, forms of the present tense follow the pattern below. The past forms of most verbs are regular. If not, they can all be derived from the past-f form, using the pattern on the right, except for the past-m form:

present singular plural
1st pres-1 pres-3 + mo
2nd pres-3 + š pres-3 + te
3rd pres-3 pres-3pl
         
past forms singular plural
feminine -la = past-f -le
neuter -lo -la
masculine past-m -li

The imperative forms in plural are always derived from the 2nd pers. singular form of imperative (imper-2) by the same endings as in the present tense plural:

imperative plural
1st imper-2 + mo
2nd imper-2 + te

Forms for marginal tenses (i.e. ‘aorist’ and ‘imperfect’) are not listed.

Verbs are featured individually, or in aspect pairs (occasionally triplets), with an imperfective and a perfective verb:

  • imperfective (impf.) verbs stand for states – e.g. sjediti sit – processes – e.g. čitati read – and repetitions, without any reference to start or completion;
  • perfective (perf.) verbs normally stand for completion of a process – e.g. pročitati read completely – or for a single event or short action – e.g. otvoriti («) open;
  • inchoative (inch.) verbs stand for start of state or process – e.g. zaspati (zaspi) fall asleep);
  • semelfactive (smlf.) verbs stand for a short action which is often repeated – e.g. kihnuti (kihne) sneeze once – the matching imperfective verb – e.g. kihati (kiše) – stand for repetition only.

With each verb (or pair) various ways to use it are listed, and examples are given. Male speakers in examples are marked with {m}, female with {f}.

In the right margin, there are quick indications as to what cases and other things are used in each way, using the usual abbreviations (e.g. A = the accusative case). Unusual and counter-intuitive constructions are marked with an exclamation mark on the yellow background, the same goes for specific uses of one verb in the pair.

Along verb forms, a verb type is written on the right margin, in braces, e.g. (a):

type remarks
(a) All forms are simply derived from the infinitive, there are no changes of consonants, etc. Example: kuhati cook
(i) All forms are simply derived from the infinitive, but consonants often change in the passive adjective and gerund, so you'll probably have to remember these forms. Example: učiti learn, study, teach
(n) Forms related to the infinitive (the right columns) have -nu-, while forms related to the present tense (the left columns) have -n- and e-type endings. Otherwise everything is regular. Example: brinuti (brine) take care; worry
(iva) Forms related to the infinitive (the right columns) are all regular, while forms related to the present tense (the left columns) have -uj- instead of -iva- and e-type endings. Otherwise everything is regular.
Example: očekivati (ekuje) expect
(ova) Like (iva), but there’s -ova- in infinitive and forms related to it.
Example: kupovati (kupuje) buy
(a/i) Forms related to the infinitive (the right columns) are all regular, while forms related to the present tense (the left columns) have -i- instead of -a-. Otherwise everything is regular. Example: držati (drži) hold; keep
(0/j) Forms related to the infinitive (the right columns) are all regular, while forms related to the present tense (the left columns) have -j- added and e-type endings. The passive adjective is often irregular. Example: čuti (čuje) hear
(0/n) Like (0/j), but there’s -n- in forms related to the present tense.
Example: ostati (ostane) perf. stay, remain
(je) The infinitive and all past forms (except the masc. singular) have -je-, while all other forms have -i-; consonants often change in the passive adjective and gerund, like in (i). Example: vidjeti (vidi,...) see
(a/e) Forms related to the infinitive (the right columns) are regularly derived from the infinitive, while forms related to the present tense (the left columns) have e-type endings. Example: nedostajati (nedostaje) lack, miss
(a/*) Like (a/e), but there’s also a change of consonants in the present tense and forms derived from it (the left columns). Example: pisati (piše) write
(irr.) An irregular verb, but all forms of the present tense are derived regularly from the pres-3. Example: zvati (zove) call
(IRR.) A highy irregular verb where even some forms of the present tense have to be remembered. Example: moći (može +,...) can, be able to
5 Easy Croatian: About the verb list This is a list of the most useful Croatian verbs. The list is based on frequency in movie subtitles and other sources (I haven’t included ...

↓ Add Your Comment (click here)