činiti se / učiniti se (to seem) | Croatian Grammar

Činiti se ("to seem") belongs to the small but high-value family of dative-experiencer verbs — the same structural club as sviđati se ("to like") and čini mi se shares its skeleton with them. The thing that seems a certain way is the subject; the person to whom it seems sits in the dative. The single most useful product of this verb is the hedge čini mi se ("it seems to me / I think / I have the impression"), which Croatians sprinkle through conversation the way English speakers say "I reckon" or "I'd say". Note from the start that there is also a fully transitive činiti meaning "to do/make" (Što to činiš? "What are you doing?", rather formal) — this page is only about the reflexive činiti se = "to seem".

Aspect

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Typical use
činiti se	imperfective	činim se	an ongoing impression: "it seems"
učiniti se	perfective	učinim se	a sudden impression: "it struck me / it seemed (for a moment)"

The imperfective činiti se carries almost all the everyday weight, because "seeming" is a state. The perfective učiniti se marks the moment an impression flashed up — overwhelmingly in the past: Učinilo mi se da netko kuca ("I thought [for a second] someone was knocking"). That perfective past is the idiomatic way to report a fleeting, possibly-mistaken impression. This is a regular prefixal pair (the u- prefix perfectivises); see aspect overview.

💡

The reflexive se is inseparable and does not mean "oneself" here — činiti se is a single lexical unit "to seem". Drop the se and you change the verb to transitive činiti "to do/make", a different word.

Present tense

Grammatically činiti se is a regular i-class verb, so all six persons exist — but in practice it lives in the 3rd person, because the subject is "the thing that seems". The form you will actually say is the singular čini se and (less often) the plural čine se.

Person	činiti se (impf)	učiniti se (pf)
ja	činim se	učinim se
ti	činiš se	učiniš se
on/ona/ono	čini se	učini se
mi	činimo se	učinimo se
vi	činite se	učinite se
oni/one/ona	čine se	učine se

Čini mi se da smo se već negdje sreli.

It seems to me we've met somewhere before. — the everyday hedge 'čini mi se' + a da-clause.

Čine mi se preskupima ti restorani u centru.

Those restaurants downtown seem too expensive to me. — plural subject 'restorani', so 'čine'; predicate in the instrumental 'preskupima'.

The l-participle

Regular for an i-class verb (the -i- drops, masculine takes vocalised -l → -o). It agrees with the thing that seems — or, in the very common impersonal Učinilo mi se, it stands in the neuter -lo.

Gender / number	činiti se	učiniti se
masculine singular	činio se	učinio se
feminine singular	činila se	učinila se
neuter singular	činilo se	učinilo se
plural (m./f./n.)	činili / činile / činila se	učinili / učinile / učinila se

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle, with the dative experiencer riding along in the clitic cluster. The perfective učinilo mi se is the high-frequency one: "it seemed to me / I imagined".

Učinilo mi se da je netko pozvonio na vrata.

I thought someone rang the doorbell. — perfective 'učinilo mi se' for a fleeting, maybe-wrong impression; neuter impersonal.

Cijelo mi se vrijeme činilo da nešto kriješ.

The whole time it seemed to me you were hiding something. — imperfective 'činilo se' for a sustained impression.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive drops -i before the clitic: činiti → činit će se, učiniti → učinit će se. Rare with this verb (you don't often predict how something will seem), but it occurs.

Person (3rd, the thing that seems)	činiti se	učiniti se
3rd sg.	činit će se	učinit će se
3rd pl.	činit će se	učinit će se

Na početku će ti se činiti teško, ali brzo ćeš se naviknuti.

At first it'll seem hard to you, but you'll get used to it quickly. — future of the impression + dative 'ti'.

Imperative

None in practice. You cannot command something to seem a certain way, so činiti se has no usable imperative — exactly like sviđati se. (Theoretical forms exist but learners will never need them.)

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

The bih-clitics combine with the l-participle — useful for softened, tentative impressions ("it would seem…").

Činilo bi mi se logičnijim da krenemo ranije.

It would seem more logical to me if we set off earlier. — conditional + instrumental predicate 'logičnijim'.

Other forms

Passive participle: none — činiti se is intrinsically reflexive and cannot be made passive.
Verbal adverb (present): čineći se exists but is vanishingly rare in the "seem" sense.

Key uses and government

1. Dative experiencer + da-clause — the core pattern

The workhorse frame is čini se + [dative experiencer] + da-clause: "it seems (to someone) that…". The da-clause is what seems to be the case. The dative experiencer is optional — drop it and you get the neutral "it seems that…".

Čini mi se da je vrijeme za pauzu.

It seems to me it's time for a break. — dative 'mi' + da-clause.

Čini se da nitko ne zna pravi odgovor.

It seems nobody knows the real answer. — no experiencer: a neutral 'it seems that…'.

On choosing a da-clause here rather than an infinitive, see da vs the infinitive. The dative experiencer is the same case used after a whole family of impression and emotion verbs — dative with verbs and adjectives.

2. Čini mi se as a standalone hedge

By far the most common use is the frozen hedge čini mi se — dropped into a sentence to mean "I think / I'd say / if I'm not mistaken". It softens a claim and is extremely natural in speech.

Bilo ih je, čini mi se, dvadesetak.

There were, I'd say, about twenty of them. — 'čini mi se' parenthetical, softening the estimate.

Čini mi se da je ovo bila greška.

I think this was a mistake. — hedged opinion rather than a flat assertion.

3. Predicate complement: instrumental (or nominative)

To say something seems + an adjective, the predicate adjective most naturally goes into the instrumental of the predicate (the same case used after postati, smatrati): Čini se umornim ("he seems tired"). A nominative predicate — Čini se umoran — is also heard and accepted, especially colloquially, but the instrumental is the more careful written choice. The thing seeming is still the nominative subject.

Čini se umornim, možda da ga pustimo da odspava.

He seems tired; maybe we should let him get some sleep. — instrumental predicate 'umornim' (formal/careful).

Čini se umoran, ali kaže da je dobro.

He seems tired, but he says he's fine. — nominative predicate 'umoran' (colloquial, also fine).

4. Contrast with izgledati — impression vs. appearance

This is the distinction worth memorising. Činiti se is a subjective impression in someone's mind — hence the dative experiencer and the readiness to take a da-clause. Izgledati is visible, outward appearance — what something physically looks like — and it takes an adverb, not the dative pattern. Čini mi se umornim ≈ "I get the impression he's tired" (it could be wrong); Izgleda umorno = "he looks tired" (you can see it on his face). When in doubt: can you see it? Use izgledati. Is it a judgement forming in your head? Use činiti se. Full treatment at izgledati.

Izgleda dobro, ali čini mi se da nešto skriva.

He looks well, but it seems to me he's hiding something. — 'izgleda' = visible look, 'čini mi se' = inner impression.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ja se činim da sam u pravu.

Wrong — you are not the subject. The clause is the subject; you are the dative experiencer: 'Čini mi se da…'.

✅ Čini mi se da sam u pravu.

It seems to me I'm right.

❌ Čini me se da je kasno.

Wrong case — the experiencer is dative 'mi', never accusative 'me'.

✅ Čini mi se da je kasno.

It seems to me it's late.

❌ Čini mi se dobro.

Wrong verb for visible appearance — for 'looks good' use 'izgleda dobro'; 'čini se' wants a da-clause or a predicate.

✅ Izgleda dobro.

It looks good.

❌ Čini mi da je tako.

Missing 'se' — without it you have transitive 'činiti' (do/make), not 'seem'. The 'se' is obligatory.

✅ Čini mi se da je tako.

It seems to me that's how it is.

❌ Učini mi se da netko kuca.

Aspect/tense mismatch — a fleeting past impression takes the perfective PAST: 'Učinilo mi se da…'.

✅ Učinilo mi se da netko kuca.

I thought someone was knocking.

Key Takeaways

Činiti se (impf, čini se) / učiniti se (pf, učinilo mi se) = "to seem" — a dative-experiencer verb; the thing that seems is the subject, the person is in the dative.
The everyday product is the hedge čini mi se (da…) = "I think / it seems to me".
Predicate complement goes into the instrumental (čini se umornim) — careful register; nominative (umoran) is colloquially fine.
The perfective učinilo mi se reports a fleeting, often-mistaken impression: "I thought [for a second]…".
Don't confuse with izgledati (visible appearance + adverb): čini mi se = inner impression; izgleda dobro = looks good. The se is obligatory — without it you get transitive činiti "to do/make".

Now practice Croatian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Croatian→