EasyCroatian_r47.an
Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 53 Giving Orders 306 / 60053 Giving OrdersCroatian has special forms of verbs used to give orders: imperatives (imper forshort). In English, the imperative is just a verb without a personal pronoun:Wait for me!In Croatian, there’s a special verb form (it’s quite similar to the present tense forms):Čekaj me A ! Wait for me!1Imperatives exist only for the 2nd person singular and plural (I can give orders toyou) and for the 1st person plural (I can give orders to us).If you know the imper-2 form, it’s very easy to get other forms – all are regular –and it’s easy to get the imper-2 if you know its pres-3pl:pres-3pl imper-2 imper-1pl imper-2pl-u, -e -i -imo -ite-ju, (-je) ® -j -jmo -jte-ku -ci -cimo -citeFor example, here are the imper-2 forms of some frequent verbs:gledati watch → gledajučiti learn → učipisati (piše) write → pišiići (ide, išao, išla) go → idiThe imperative gledaj watch! is often shortened to just gle. There’s one completelyirregular imperative:biti (je² +) be → budiMost verbs have stress in imperatives like in the infinitive. Verbs in -iti which, in thestandard stress scheme, shift their stress left in the present tense, don’t do it in theimperative, and that distinguishes some forms which are equal in writing:govoriti («) speak →govori = pres-3govori = imper-2(Std. stress scheme!)Only a handful of otherwise ‘irregular’ verbs have the pres-3pl ending in -ku. Suchcommonly used verbs are:reći (reče, rekao, rekla) perf. tell → recitući (tuče, tukao, tukla) beat, smack → tucivući (vuče, vukao, vukla) pull → vuciThe verb reći is almost never used in the present tense, but its imperative is oftenused:
Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 53 Giving Orders 307 / 600Reci mi A , gdje si bio? Tell me, where have you been?Other very often used imperatives are (I have listed only their imper-2 forms):čekaj! wait!dođi! come here!pazi! take care!stani! stop!As you can see, imperative forms of perfective verbs are often used (more detailsbelow).Only a few verbs end in -je in pres-3pl; some get imperatives on -j, others on -ji:bojati (boji) paint → boji ®brojati (broji) count → broji ®bojati (boji) se² be afraid → boj se²(The verb brojati (broji) is very common, although the Standard Croatian has aslightly different verb brojiti. The same goes for bojati (boji) – the Standard, butseldom used verb is bojiti. For more details, check 58 Colloquial and Formal.)For verbs that end in -je in pres-3pl, the imper-2 form is listed in the Core Dictionary.Now, there’s a problem: should you use an impf. or a perf. verb when you useimperatives? If we want someone to finish something, perf. verbs are used:Pročitaj knjigu A . Read the book. (perf. = the whole book)If it’s not important that someone reads the whole book (e.g. the important part issomewhere in the middle), then the impf. verb is used:Čitaj knjigu A . Read the book.Impf. verbs are also often used to express that someone should do some activityregularly, or when the object is very generic:Čitajte knjige A . Read books.Peri zube A svaki dan A . ‘Wash’ your teeth every day. (i.e. brush)In the last example (with teeth) the perf. verb could be also used, but using impf.verbs is more common. Impf. verbs are also used when we want somebody to dosomething repeatedly, while perf. verbs usually imply that something should be doneonce:Baci mi A loptu A . Throw me the ball. (perf. = once)1Bacaj loptu A . Throw the ball. (impf. = one to many times)Impf. verbs are sometimes used in imperatives to indicate that we want someone tostart something immediately.®Negation (don’t sing!) can be constructed in two ways. First, by simply putting theusual word ne¨ in front of the imperative:Ne čekajte me A ! Don’t wait for me! (pl.)11
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Easy Croaan (rev. 47b) / 53 Giving Orders 307 / 600
Reci mi A , gdje si bio? Tell me, where have you been?
Other very often used imperatives are (I have listed only their imper-2 forms):
čekaj! wait!
dođi! come here!
pazi! take care!
stani! stop!
As you can see, imperative forms of perfective verbs are often used (more details
below).
Only a few verbs end in -je in pres-3pl; some get imperatives on -j, others on -ji:
bojati (boji) paint → boji ®
brojati (broji) count → broji ®
bojati (boji) se² be afraid → boj se²
(The verb brojati (broji) is very common, although the Standard Croatian has a
slightly different verb brojiti. The same goes for bojati (boji) – the Standard, but
seldom used verb is bojiti. For more details, check 58 Colloquial and Formal.)
For verbs that end in -je in pres-3pl, the imper-2 form is listed in the Core Dictionary.
Now, there’s a problem: should you use an impf. or a perf. verb when you use
imperatives? If we want someone to finish something, perf. verbs are used:
Pročitaj knjigu A . Read the book. (perf. = the whole book)
If it’s not important that someone reads the whole book (e.g. the important part is
somewhere in the middle), then the impf. verb is used:
Čitaj knjigu A . Read the book.
Impf. verbs are also often used to express that someone should do some activity
regularly, or when the object is very generic:
Čitajte knjige A . Read books.
Peri zube A svaki dan A . ‘Wash’ your teeth every day. (i.e. brush)
In the last example (with teeth) the perf. verb could be also used, but using impf.
verbs is more common. Impf. verbs are also used when we want somebody to do
something repeatedly, while perf. verbs usually imply that something should be done
once:
Baci mi A loptu A . Throw me the ball. (perf. = once)
1
Bacaj loptu A . Throw the ball. (impf. = one to many times)
Impf. verbs are sometimes used in imperatives to indicate that we want someone to
start something immediately.®
Negation (don’t sing!) can be constructed in two ways. First, by simply putting the
usual word ne¨ in front of the imperative:
Ne čekajte me A ! Don’t wait for me! (pl.)
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