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Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 37 Complete Reading: Perfecve Verbs 214 / 600

If the prefix has the stress mark, as above, it means that the stress will be on the

prefix in the Standard pronunciation. However, for almost all verbs, it will never be

on a prefix in the ‘western’ pronunciation: it will stay on the same syllable as in the

unprefixed verb.

Some verbs make their perfective verbs by prefixing na-:

crtati ~ na- draw, sketch

puniti ~ na- fill

slikati ~ na- paint (image)

hraniti ~ na- («) feed

pisati (piše) ~ na- («) write

učiti ~ na- («) learn

The stress in nahraniti, napisati and naučiti doesn’t move to the prefix in the

infinitive, but (only in the Standard pronunciation!) it does move in the present tense:

therefore, their present tense forms are nahrani, napiše and nauči. I will, as usual,

indicate such shift in the present tense with just a («).

Others use o- or pro-:

brijati (brije) ~ o- shave

prati (pere) ~ o- (») wash

buditi ~ pro- («) waken

gutati ~ pro- swallow

The stress – both Standard and ‘western’ – in oprati moves one syllable to the right

in the present tense: opere; I will abbreviate such stress shift with a (»), as above.

Other pairs have more complicated ‘relationships’. Here are the main types of pairs

(besides prefixing pairs). A common type involves a change of verb ending:

bacati ~ baciti throw primati ~ primiti receive

Within this scheme, most pairs always change the final consonant before the

ending:

plaćati ~ platiti pay

prihvaćati ~ prihvatiti accept ®

vraćati ~ vratiti return

(It’s worth remembering that, in such pairs, the impf. verb most often has a

Croatian-specific consonant, while the perf. verb has an ordinary consonant.)

Many verbs in this scheme also change the vowel before the final consonant, always

a vs. o:

odgađati («) ~ odgoditi («) postpone

otvarati («) ~ otvoriti («) open

Another scheme, used by many pairs, is that impf. verbs have -ava-, and the perf.

verbs just -i- or -a- (some pairs have change of consonant as well):

pokušavati («) ~ pokušati try

ukrašavati ~ ukrasiti («) decorate

Finally, there’s a very common scheme – likely, including the highest number of verb

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