Light-Verb Collocations | Croatian Grammar

A whole layer of Croatian fluency lives in light-verb collocations (Croatian glagolsko-imenske konstrukcije): fixed pairings of a semantically „light" verb with an abstract noun, where the noun carries the meaning and the verb is almost grammatical glue. English has these too — make a decision, ask a question, take an exam — but the catch is that the choice of verb is fixed per noun and almost never matches English. You „make" a decision in English, but in Croatian you bring it (donijeti odluku); you „ask" a question, but Croatian places it (postaviti pitanje). There is no all-purpose napraviti („make/do") that works everywhere — guessing the verb is the single most reliable way to mark yourself as a learner. This page drills the highest-frequency pairs. The verb napraviti and the breadth of „make/do" are on napraviti / make; the versatile dati („give") is on dati.

„Make / take" decisions and questions

Collocation	Meaning	Note (not literal!)
donijeti odluku	to make a decision	'donijeti' = to bring, not 'make'
donositi zaključak	to draw a conclusion	imperfective 'donositi' for the ongoing act
postaviti pitanje	to ask a question	'postaviti' = to place/set, not 'ask'
postaviti uvjet	to set a condition	same verb 'postaviti'

Moramo donijeti odluku do petka.

We have to make a decision by Friday. — 'donijeti odluku', literally 'bring a decision'.

Smijem li postaviti jedno pitanje?

May I ask one question? — 'postaviti pitanje', literally 'place a question'.

Na temelju podataka možemo donijeti zaključak.

On the basis of the data we can draw a conclusion. — 'donijeti zaključak', the academic register.

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The verb is locked to the noun, so the safest strategy is to memorise the pair as a unit, the way you'd memorise an English phrasal verb. Don't reach for napraviti („make/do") as a universal solvent: napraviti odluku and napraviti pitanje are both wrong. Napraviti works for concrete „making" (napraviti kavu „make coffee", napraviti grešku „make a mistake") but not for these abstract collocations.

Being right, taking care, keeping company

Collocation	Meaning	Note
imati pravo	to be right	literally 'to have right(ness)'
voditi računa (o)	to take care (of), bear in mind	'voditi' = to lead; + 'o' + locative
praviti / praviti društvo	to keep (someone) company	'praviti društvo' + dative of the person
obratiti pažnju (na)	to pay attention (to)	'obratiti' = to turn; + 'na' + accusative

Imaš pravo, trebali smo krenuti ranije.

You're right, we should have set off earlier. — 'imati pravo' = to be right, not 'I am right'.

Vodi računa o tome da ne zakasniš.

Make sure you don't run late. — 'voditi računa o' + locative; the everyday 'mind that…'.

Ostani malo, praviš mi društvo dok kuham.

Stay a while, you're keeping me company while I cook. — 'praviti društvo' + dative 'mi'.

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Imati pravo is a classic false-friend trap. English „I am right" tempts ja sam u pravu — and indeed biti u pravu exists and is correct too — but the crisp everyday collocation is imati pravo („to have right"). Conversely, biti u pravu (to be in the right) and imati pravo na nešto („to have a right to something") shade the meaning; learn all three but lead with imati pravo for „you're right."

Work, exams, and quitting

Collocation	Meaning	Note
dati otkaz	to quit (a job)	'dati otkaz' = give notice (employee quits)
dobiti otkaz	to be fired	'dobiti otkaz' = receive notice (employer fires)
polagati ispit	to sit / take an exam	imperfective: the act of sitting it
položiti ispit	to pass an exam	perfective: the successful result
pasti / pasti na ispitu	to fail an exam	'pasti' = to fall (the opposite of položiti)

Dao je otkaz i otvorio vlastiti kafić.

He quit and opened his own café. — 'dati otkaz' = the employee resigns.

Sutra polažem vozački, nervozan sam.

I'm taking my driving test tomorrow, I'm nervous. — imperfective 'polagati' = the act of sitting it.

Položila je ispit iz prve!

She passed the exam on the first try! — perfective 'položiti' = passed; 'iz prve' = first attempt.

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The exam pair shows aspect doing real lexical work. Polagati (imperfective) means „to be sitting / taking" the exam — the process, with no guarantee of success. Položiti (perfective) means „to pass" — the completed, successful result. So polažem ispit = „I'm taking the exam (now)", but položio sam ispit = „I passed." To say you failed, switch verbs entirely: pao sam na ispitu („I fell on the exam"). Aspect and the gerund/nominalization of these are explored on nominalization strategies.

A few more high-frequency pairs

Collocation	Meaning	Note
voditi ljubav	to make love	'voditi' = to lead; never 'napraviti ljubav'
voditi brigu (o)	to look after, care for	'o' + locative
napraviti grešku	to make a mistake	here 'napraviti' IS correct
postići dogovor	to reach an agreement	'postići' = to achieve
pružiti pomoć / podršku	to provide help / support	'pružiti' = to extend, hand out

Strane su konačno postigle dogovor.

The parties finally reached an agreement. — 'postići dogovor', the news/legal register.

Susjedi su nam pružili pomoć kad je puknula cijev.

The neighbours gave us help when the pipe burst. — 'pružiti pomoć' + dative 'nam'.

Svatko ponekad napravi grešku.

Everyone makes a mistake sometimes. — here 'napraviti grešku' is the correct light verb.

Vodila je brigu o baki cijelu zimu.

She looked after her grandmother all winter. — 'voditi brigu o' + locative 'baki'.

Common Mistakes

❌ napraviti odluku

Wrong verb — a decision is 'brought', not 'made': 'donijeti odluku'.

✅ donijeti odluku

to make a decision — fixed light verb 'donijeti'.

❌ pitati pitanje

Tautological and unidiomatic — a question is 'placed': 'postaviti pitanje'.

✅ postaviti pitanje

to ask a question — 'postaviti' is the locked verb.

❌ Položio sam ispit cijeli dan.

Aspect clash — 'položiti' is the perfective 'pass'; the ongoing 'sit' is 'polagati'.

✅ Polagao sam ispit cijeli dan.

I was sitting the exam all day. — imperfective 'polagati' for the process.

❌ Ja sam pravo.

Wrong — 'to be right' is the collocation 'imati pravo': 'imam pravo'.

✅ Imam pravo.

I'm right. — light-verb 'imati pravo'.

❌ Dobio sam otkaz. (kad zapravo želiš reći 'dao sam otkaz')

Opposite meaning — 'dobiti otkaz' = to be fired; quitting is 'dati otkaz'.

✅ Dao sam otkaz.

I quit. — 'dati otkaz' = the employee gives notice.

Key Takeaways

In a light-verb collocation the noun carries the meaning and the verb is fixed — and the verb almost never matches English „make/do/take/ask."
Core pairs: donijeti odluku (make a decision), postaviti pitanje (ask a question), voditi računa (take care), imati pravo (be right), dati otkaz (quit) vs. dobiti otkaz (be fired).
The exam set encodes aspect: polagati ispit (be sitting it) vs. položiti ispit (pass), with pasti na ispitu (fail) using a different verb entirely.
Napraviti is not a universal „make": right for concrete acts (napraviti grešku, napraviti kavu), wrong for abstract collocations (napraviti odluku ✗).
Memorise each verb+noun pair as one chunk, like an English phrasal verb — guessing the verb is the surest learner tell.

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