Verbs: Present Tense

01

What a Present-Tense Verb Is Made Of

A present-tense verb is built from three pieces: a root that carries the meaning, a linking vowel that says which of the three groups below the verb belongs to, and an ending that says who is doing it. Only the last piece changes from person to person.

• Čitamo knjigu.

  We are reading a book.

• čit- the root - read
• -a- the linking vowel - it never changes, and it is what makes this an a-type verb
• -mo the ending - we, which is why the sentence needs no separate word for "we"

Swap the ending and you change only the person; the root and the linking vowel stay put.

• čita-m I read
• čita-š you read
• čita he, she or it reads - this one person adds no ending at all, so the word simply stops after the linking vowel
• čita-mo we read

02

The Three Present-Tense Patterns

Verbs sort into three groups, named after the linking vowel (a, i, or e) that stands between the root and the personal endings.

The -a- type - most verbs whose infinitive ends in -ati:

• čitati (to read): čitam, čitaš, čita, čitamo, čitate, čitaju

• Čitamo knjigu.

  We are reading a book.

• Gledam film.

  I am watching a movie.

The -i- type - most verbs in -iti and -jeti:

• raditi (to work): radim, radiš, radi, radimo, radite, rade

• Govorim engleski.

  I speak English.

• Što sada radite?

  What are you doing now?

The -e- type - verbs in -ovati and many others, often with a changed root:

• pisati (to write): pišem, pišeš, piše, pišemo, pišete, pišu

• Pijem vodu.

  I am drinking water.

• Kupujem namirnice.

  I am buying groceries.

The infinitive does not always tell you the group - pisati ends in -ati but conjugates as an e-type. When a verb is new to you, learn its I form alongside the infinitive and the group follows from that.

03

The Personal Endings

The endings themselves barely change between the groups; only the linking vowel before them differs.

• I: -m
• you (singular): -š
• he / she / it: nothing at all - the word ends after the linking vowel
• we: -mo
• you (plural or polite): -te
• they: -ju (a-type), -e (i-type) or -u (e-type)

04

Stem Changes in the -e- Type

Many e-type verbs change the last consonant of the root in the present, so the infinitive and the present can look quite different. Learn these as a pair.

• pisati → pišem

  to write → I write

• zvati → zovem

  to call → I call

• putovati → putujem

  to travel → I travel

Verbs ending in -ovati regularly replace that suffix with -uj- before the endings.

05

Important Irregular Verbs

A handful of very common verbs must simply be memorised.

biti (to be) - the one verb with two present-tense forms, a short unstressed one and a full stressed one:

• short: sam, si, je, smo, ste, su
• full: jesam, jesi, jest, jesmo, jeste, jesu

The short form is the everyday one and carries almost every statement you will make.

• Ja sam učitelj.

  I am a teacher.

• Oni su prijatelji.

  They are friends.

The full form exists because the short one is unstressed: it can never be said on its own and can never open a sentence. So the full form takes over wherever the verb has to carry weight, which in practice means three places. Answering a yes/no question with a single word, where jesam on its own is the Croatian for "yes, I am". Asking one, where the sentence opens jesi li, jeste li - although the third person keeps the short je and asks je li. And contradicting someone, where the stressed jesam steps in for sam and puts the weight on the verb itself. Everywhere else the short form is the one you want.

ići (to go):

• idem, ideš, ide, idemo, idete, idu

• Idem kući.

  I am going home.

moći (can):

• mogu, možeš, može, možemo, možete, mogu

• Kako vam mogu pomoći?

  How can I help you?

htjeti (to want):

• hoću, hoćeš, hoće, hoćemo, hoćete, hoće

• Hoću kavu.

  I want a coffee.

06

Making It Negative

To make a verb negative, put ne directly in front of it.

• Ona ne spava.

  She is not sleeping.

Three verbs merge with the negation instead of taking a separate ne: biti → nisam, nisi, nije…, imati → nemam, nemaš…, and htjeti → neću, nećeš….

• Ona nije učiteljica.

  She is not a teacher.

• Nemam jaja.

  I don't have eggs.

07

Perfective Verbs Have No Present

Only imperfective verbs - those describing an action under way - have a true present tense. Put present endings on a perfective verb and the sentence does not mean "now": it points at a completed action, and it turns up mainly inside a subordinate clause after a word like da or ako. The two examples below carry the same endings and do quite different work.

• Kupujem kruh.

  I am buying bread. (imperfective: a real present, going on as I speak)

• Imam novca da kupim auto.

  I have money to buy a car. (perfective, inside a da-clause: present endings, but the buying is one finished event, not something under way)