Verbs: Conditional Mood — Croatian Grammar

The conditional expresses what would happen - wishes, polite requests, and hypothetical "if" situations. It is two words, exactly like the past tense: a helper, and the main verb in its -o / -la / -lo form that agrees with the subject. Only the helper differs. Where the past uses , the conditional uses , and that single swap turns I did into I would.

The Auxiliary

The conditional auxiliary is . Add the l-participle, which agrees in gender and number with the subject exactly as in the past tense.

Trebala bih obući jaknu.
I should put on a jacket.

treba-la the participle, the same form the past tense uses, -la for a female speaker
the conditional helper for I

Swap that one helper and the sentence moves between past and hypothetical: is I had to, is I should.

Dala bih ti novac.
I would give you the money.

The participle is the same one used in the past tense, so it agrees with the subject: (a man would do), (a woman would do).

Polite Requests and Wishes

The conditional softens a statement, making it more tentative than the plain present. It is the everyday way to give advice or state an opinion without pressing it.

Ne bih to radila.
I wouldn't do that.
Mislim da bi trebao štedjeti.
I think you should save money.

Hypothetical 'if' Sentences

For an unreal or imagined situation, Croatian pairs a clause with or (if) with a conditional main clause. Both clauses can carry the conditional.

Kad bih bila bogata, imala bih veći stan.
If I were rich, I would have a bigger apartment.
Da si mi rekao, dala bih ti novac.
If you had told me, I would have given you the money.

Purpose: 'da bih' and 'kako bih'

To say you do something in order to achieve a result, Croatian uses or plus the participle.

Učim kako bih položila ispit.
I am studying so that I pass the exam.
Trebam dozvolu da bih vozio auto.
I need a license in order to drive a car.

Softer and More Polite

Two shapes are worth having by heart. A conditional question makes a suggestion instead of a demand.

Zašto ne bismo išli u restoran?
Why don't we go to a restaurant?

And putting your disagreement in the conditional, with ("if I were in your place") after it, turns a flat contradiction into advice.

Ne bih to radila da sam na vašem mjestu.
I wouldn't do that if I were in your place.

Polite 'I would like'

The conditional of or is the polite way to ask for or offer something - softer than the plain (I want).

Voljela bih kavu.
I would like a coffee.
Htio bih čašu vode.
I would like a glass of water.

Followed by , the same verb reports a wish about someone else.

Voljela bih da si štedljiviji.
I would like you to be more frugal.

Word Order

Like the other auxiliaries, is a clitic: it cannot open a sentence, and it stands in second position, right after the first stressed word.

Ja bih to napravio.
I would do that.
Zašto ne bismo išli u restoran?
Why don't we go to a restaurant?

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Croatian course

9 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 125. A few of them, with the words “Verbs: Conditional Mood” is about in bold:

Voljela bih da si štedljiviji.
I wish you were more frugal.
Lesson 328

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