Aorist in Croatian

When to use the aorist tense in Croatian?

The aorist is a grammatical tense that we use to talk about:

1. An action that happened in the past recently after another past action

Upravo pročitah vrlo smiješan novinski članak. - I just read a very funny newspaper article.

2. Short, fast and dynamic actions (mostly in literature)

Oni dođoše i otjeraše druge. - They came and chased away others.

In daily conversations is replaced by perfect tense. It's use is common in literature.

Have a question?

Take online language lessons with a professional teacher

1. Native & verified teachers
2. Free trial lesson
3. Learning materials included

Neda V.

Jovana D.

Domagoj P.

Julija J.

Katarina C.

Nikolina D.

Ismir M.

F.

Helena L.

Natalia S.

Sign up for free

Signal words

Here are some time markers that will help you to use it properly.

Examples

Upravo dođoh kući. - I just came home.

Nema što upalih televiziju, telefon je zazvonio. - Right after I turned on TV, the phone rang.

Verb conjugation

The aorist tense in Croatian language is formed by adding corresponding endings to the verb's base infinitive form. There are two groups of endings;

For ex. bi (verb's base infinitive form) + h (ending) = bih (aorist 1st person singular)

Conjugation of auxiliary verbs "Biti" and "Htjeti"

Conjugation example of the 1st group in -h

Verbs with the ending in -ti make part of the 1st conjugation group.

As an example is chosen the verb "učiniti" (to do)

Conjugation example of the 2nd group in -oh

Verbs with the ending in -ći make part of the 2nd conjugation group.

As an example is chosen the verb "reći" (to say)

Remember this tense is mostly used in literature and endings is necessary to learn by heart!