The Everyday Past Tense

Level 2

Croatian perfekt is the everyday general past tense. It combines sam, si, je, smo, ste or su with a participle such as čitao or čitala.

How It Works

Čitao sam. is used by a male speaker; Čitala sam. by a female speaker. With a named subject, compare Marko je čitao. and Ana je čitala.

Plural subjects require plural agreement: Čitali smo. for a male or mixed group, and Čitale smo. for an all-female group. The auxiliary remains smo in both.

English does not always translate Croatian perfekt with have. Depending on context, čitao sam can be I read, I was reading or I have read. Verb aspect supplies distinctions that the tense form alone does not. Reflexive se creates a special third-person singular pattern taught separately.

Examples (4)

  1. Čitao sam cijelo jutro.

    I was reading all morning.

    A male speaker describes an extended past activity.

  2. Ana je pročitala knjigu.

    Ana read the book.

    Perfective pročitati presents the reading as completed.

  3. Čitale smo zajedno.

    We read together.

    An all-female group uses čitale.

  4. Jesi li radio jučer?

    Did you work yesterday?

    The question uses jesi before li and masculine radio.

How It Connects

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The Everyday Past TenseLevel 2

Learn This First

The perfect combines a present auxiliary with a participle that already carries gender and number.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

And 5 more in the full list.

Words in This Pattern

biti