Croatian present tense
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HideWhen to use present simple tense?
The present tense or prezent is a grammatical tense that we use to talk about:
1. The action in present situation
Sada čitam novine. - Now I read the newspapers.
Na poslu sam. - I am at work.
2. Narrative present (Used to talk about an action that started in a specific time in past and continues into the present)
Moj prijatelj živi u Engleskoj već pet godina. - My friend has been living in England for 5 years now.
3. A habit or repeated action
Često igram tenis. - I play tennis often.
Inače idem na more. - Usually I go to the sea.
4. A wish or command
Želim kupiti auto. - I would like to buy a car.
Prestani pričati! - Stop to talk!
5. In proverbs or to express near future
Idem kući za pet minuta. - I am going home in five minutes.
Bez muke, nema nauke. - Hard work brings rewards.
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Signal words
Present simple tense is used with adverbs of frequency.
| Croatian | English |
|---|---|
| uvijek | always |
| obično | usually |
| često | often |
| ponekad | sometimes |
| rijetko | rarely |
| nikada | never |
Verb conjugation
The present tense in Croatian language is formed by adding corresponding endings to the verb's base form in 1st person singular. There are four groups of endings -em, -jem, -am, -im.
For ex. pisati; piš (verb's base form in present, 1st person sing.) + em (ending) = pišem
It's necessary to learn endings by heart!
| Person / Number | -em / pisati (to write) | -jem / ratovati (to war) | -am / pjevati (to sing) | -im / raditi (to work) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ja | pišem | ratujem | pjevam | radim |
| Ti | pišeš | ratuješ | pjevaš | radiš |
| On/Ona | piše | ratuje | pjeva | radi |
| Mi | pišemo | ratujemo | pjevamo | radimo |
| Vi | pišete | ratujete | pjevate | radite |
| Oni | pišu | ratuju | pjevaju | rade |
Present of auxiliary verbs
Croatian language has two auxiliary verbs: biti (to be) and htjeti (to want). These verbs have different atonic, tonic and negative form, and the verb "biti" has also a perfective aspect form that is used in formation of the futur II.
The verb "biti"
| Person | Atonic form | Tonic form | Negative form | Pefective aspect form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ja | sam | jesam | nisam | budem |
| Ti | si | jesi | nisi | budeš |
| On/Ona | je | jest | nije | bude |
| Mi | smo | jesmo | nismo | budemo |
| Vi | ste | jeste | niste | budete |
| Oni/One | su | jesu | nisu | budu |
The verb "htjeti"
| Person | Atonic form | Tonic form | Negative form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ja | ću | hoću | neću |
| Ti | ćeš | hoćeš | nećeš |
| On/Ona | će | hoće | neće |
| Mi | ćemo | hoćemo | nećemo |
| Vi | ćete | hoćete | nećete |
| Oni/One | će | hoće | neće |
Remember irregular verbs are biti and htjeti. And there are four groups of endings to form the present tense in Croatian.