Using the imperative mood in Croatian

In this blog post you will learn about what the imperative is used for, how to construct the negative form, how to use irregular verbs (because there are always slight complications ????) and how to make all of the forms of imperative sound more pleasant.

The imperative is used in everyday life, even if we don’t always notice it. Imperative clauses are used when we want to tell somebody to do something as a command, instruction, suggestion or advice.

Probably the best examples of imperative sentences are the ones a parent uses when “talking to” their kids:

How is the imperative formed?

To form the imperative, you need to know the third person plural of the present tense of a verb and then build from there by adding various endings.

This is the imperative formed with the most frequent types of verbs:

Irregular verbs and the imperative form

Of course, like in every language, irregular verbs are, well, irregular! Here are a couple of examples of common irregular verbs:

Imperative of the third person singular and plural

There’s no special form of imperative for the third person singular or plural (you or you all). Instead, the word neka (→ let) is used together with the present tense form of a verb.

Making negative imperative statements

The negative form of the imperative is formed by putting ne (→ no) in front of the imperative form or in front of the present form:

Another way to make a negative imperative is by using the words {iaudio imperative nemoj}nemoj{/iaudio} (→ don’t, second person singular), {iaudio imperative nemojmo}nemojmo{/iaudio} (→ first person plural), {iaudio imperative nemojte}nemojte{/iaudio} (→ second person plural) with the infinitive of a verb. This is an easier way to use the negative imperative, as you don't have to think about changing verb endings.

Third person singular and third person plural forms still use neka.

How to make the imperative sound more polite?

We can also use conditionals to make it less direct: Bi li mi kupio čokoladu? (→ Would you buy me a chocolate?). Or use the question form instead: Možeš li mi kupiti čokoladu (→ Can you buy me a chocolate?)