5 | 2 | Lekcija 2: Sretan Božić!

| The verb DONIJETI (to bring)

The verb donijeti has an irregular form due to historical change. For now memorize the conjugation pattern of this verb as it is.

Ja uvijek donesem poklon kad idem u goste.

I always bring a gift when I go for a house visit.

| The verbs DATI and DAVATI (to give)

The two verbs represent an example of an aspectual pair. In other words, it means that one verb is a perfective verb - one time action, and the other verb is an imperfective verb - repetitive action. Dati is a perfective verb, and davati is an imperfective verb. Below are their conjugation patterns. Dati is a regular -ati verb, while davati deviates a little bit from regular -ati conjugation.

| The verb OBUĆI [SE] (to dress [oneself])

The verb obući belongs to the group of -ći verbs. In its Present tense form, the verb will undergo a certain sound change. While the infinite form has the -ć- sound, the present tense conjugation will have the -č- sound. However, the 3rd person plural will have the -k- sound. Look at the present tense forms.  

Ja uvijek obučem jaknu zimi.

I always wear a jacket during the winter time.

| Reflexive verbs

Even though you have encountered reflexive verbs in the previous units, we did not talk about them specifically. If you remember, at the very beginning of the semester you learned the verb zvati se (Ja se zovem Laura. / Zovem se Laura.). In this module, you encountered the sentence:

Spremam se, gotov za 5 min.

The verb spremati can stand on its own, without the reflexive pronouns sebe/se. Thus, the verb has two different meanings.

As is evident from the second example, the “se” can be translated as “oneself.” As most pronouns in Croatian, the reflexive pronoun has two forms: the stressed (sebe) and unstressed form (se). This is important as it will determine how you will start your sentence. As you already learned when we talked about the verb biti, usage of the stressed or unstressed form depends on the word order. You cannot start a sentence with an unstressed form. In other words, you cannot say: *Se spremam. At this point we will focus only on the unstressed form se – which will be the second word in a sentence: Spremam se. / Ja se spremam.

Note: Not all verbs can have both forms (i.e., with and without the pronoun se). Here are some examples that you have already encountered throughout the lessons that have both forms.

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