čuditi se (to be surprised) | Croatian Grammar

Čuditi se ("to be surprised, to wonder, to marvel") belongs to the small family of Croatian emotion verbs that govern the dative — the same group as radovati se and smijati se. What surprises you is not a direct object and not introduced by a preposition; it simply goes into the dative: Čudim se tvojoj odluci ("I'm surprised at your decision"). For an English speaker this is doubly strange, because "surprised at / by" suggests a preposition, and the dative is the last case you'd reach for. Alongside the reflexive čuditi se, there is a transitive čuditi (nekoga) ("to surprise/puzzle someone") and the very common impersonal čudi me da… ("it surprises me that…"). This page lays out all three.

The government in one line

čuditi se + DATIVE — "to be surprised at [something]": Čudim se tvojoj reakciji.
čuditi (nekoga) + ACCUSATIVE — "to surprise/puzzle someone": Čudi me njegovo ponašanje.
Čudi me da / što… — impersonal, "it surprises me that…": Čudi me da nisi znao.

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The trap is the preposition that isn't there. English "surprised at / by your decision" makes you want a preposition; Croatian just puts the decision in the dative: tvojoj odluci. No na, no o, no od — bare dative.

Aspect

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Sense
čuditi se	imperfective	čudim se	to be surprised / wonder (state)
začuditi se	perfective	začudim se	to be taken aback (the moment of surprise)

čuditi se is the standing state — you are in a condition of surprise or wonder. začuditi se (prefix za-) is the onset — the moment surprise strikes. Čudim se = "I find it strange / I'm surprised"; začudio sam se = "I was taken aback / I got surprised". See verb government overview for how dative-governing verbs fit the bigger picture.

Present tense

Both are i-class verbs (stem čudi- / začudi-): čudim se, čudiš se….

Person	čuditi se (impf)	začuditi se (pf)
ja	čudim se	začudim se
ti	čudiš se	začudiš se
on/ona/ono	čudi se	začudi se
mi	čudimo se	začudimo se
vi	čudite se	začudite se
oni/one/ona	čude se	začude se

Čudim se tvojoj odluci, mislila sam da ćeš ostati.

I'm surprised at your decision, I thought you'd stay. — dative 'tvojoj odluci'.

Ne čudim se ničemu više u ovoj firmi.

Nothing surprises me anymore in this company. — dative 'ničemu', negative.

The l-participle

Gender / number	čuditi se	začuditi se
masculine singular	čudio se	začudio se
feminine singular	čudila se	začudila se
neuter singular	čudilo se	začudilo se
masculine plural	čudili se	začudili se
feminine plural	čudile se	začudile se
neuter plural	čudila se	začudila se

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle, se in the cluster.

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	začudio sam se	začudila sam se
ti	začudio si se	začudila si se
on / ona	začudio se	začudila se
mi	začudili smo se	začudile smo se
vi	začudili ste se	začudile ste se
oni / one	začudili su se	začudile su se

Začudila sam se kad sam ga vidjela na vratima.

I was taken aback when I saw him at the door. — perfective, the moment of surprise.

Svi su se čudili kako uspijeva sve to stići.

Everyone wondered how she manages to get all that done. — imperfective 'čuditi se', here 'wonder'.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive drops its final -i before the clitic: čudit ću se, začudit ću se — never "čuditi ću se".

Person	čuditi se	začuditi se
ja	čudit ću se	začudit ću se
ti	čudit ćeš se	začudit ćeš se
on/ona/ono	čudit će se	začudit će se
mi	čudit ćemo se	začudit ćemo se
vi	čudit ćete se	začudit ćete se
oni/one/ona	čudit će se	začudit će se

Nitko se neće čuditi ako opet pobijedi.

Nobody will be surprised if she wins again.

Imperative

Person	čuditi se (impf)	začuditi se (pf)
ti	čudi se	začudi se
mi	čudimo se	začudimo se
vi	čudite se	začudite se

Nemoj se čuditi, takav je oduvijek bio.

Don't be surprised, he's always been like that. — negative imperative.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle, se in the cluster.

Person	čuditi se (masc.)
ja	čudio bih se
ti	čudio bi se
on/ona/ono	čudio/čudila/čudilo bi se
mi	čudili bismo se
vi	čudili biste se
oni/one/ona	čudili bi se

Čudio bih se da je drukčije postupio.

I'd be surprised if he had acted differently.

Other forms

Verbal adverb (imperfective): čudeći se ("[while] wondering / in surprise"), found in writing: Gledao ju je čudeći se njezinoj smirenosti ("He looked at her, marvelling at her calm").
Related adjective: čudan, čudna, čudno ("strange, odd") and the adverb čudno — the root sense of "strange" underlies the whole verb. Note: čudno mi je ("it's strange to me / I find it odd") also takes a dative experiencer.

Čudno mi je da se još nije javio.

It's strange to me that he hasn't called yet. — dative experiencer 'mi' with the adjective 'čudno'.

Key uses and government

1. čuditi se + dative — "be surprised at [something]"

The thing that surprises you goes in the dative. This is the headline pattern and the main error point. It is the same dative-object behaviour as radovati se and smijati se, surveyed at dative with verbs and adjectives.

Čudim se njegovom miru u takvoj situaciji.

I'm amazed at his calm in such a situation. — dative 'njegovom miru'.

Čudili smo se cijenama, sve je poskupjelo.

We were amazed at the prices, everything's gone up. — dative plural 'cijenama'.

2. čuditi se da / što… — "be surprised that…"

For a whole clause, use da or što + clause: čuditi se da… / čuditi se što… ("be surprised that…").

Čudim se da te pustila samog.

I'm surprised she let you go alone. — 'čuditi se da' + clause.

3. Transitive čuditi (nekoga) and impersonal čudi me da…

Without se, čuditi is transitive and takes a direct object in the accusative — "to surprise/puzzle someone". By far its most common shape is the impersonal čudi me da / što… ("it surprises me that…"), where the experiencer (me, te, ga) is the accusative object and the surprising fact is the subject clause. This is one of the most idiomatic ways to express surprise in Croatian. See the accusative direct object.

Čudi me da nisi ništa primijetio.

It surprises me that you didn't notice anything. — impersonal 'čudi me da', accusative experiencer 'me'.

Čudi me njegova reakcija, očekivao sam ljutnju.

His reaction surprises me, I expected anger. — transitive 'čuditi' + accusative experiencer 'me', subject 'reakcija'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Čudim se na tvoju odluku.

Wrong frame — 'čuditi se' takes the bare dative, no 'na': 'tvojoj odluci'.

✅ Čudim se tvojoj odluci.

I'm surprised at your decision.

❌ Čudim se tvoju odluku.

Wrong case — what surprises you is the dative, not the accusative: 'tvojoj odluci'.

✅ Čudim se tvojoj odluci.

I'm surprised at your decision.

❌ Čudim da nisi znao.

Confused construction — the reflexive needs 'se' ('čudim se da…'), or use the impersonal 'čudi me da…'.

✅ Čudi me da nisi znao.

It surprises me that you didn't know.

❌ Čudio se s njezinom reakcijom.

Wrong preposition — never 's + instrumental'; it's the bare dative: 'njezinoj reakciji'.

✅ Čudio se njezinoj reakciji.

He was surprised at her reaction.

❌ Čuditi ću se ako uspije.

Future spelling — drop the infinitive '-i' before the clitic: 'čudit ću se'.

✅ Čudit ću se ako uspije.

I'll be surprised if he succeeds.

Key Takeaways

čuditi se (impf, čudim se, "be surprised/wonder") vs začuditi se (pf, začudim se, "be taken aback").
What surprises you goes in the DATIVE — no preposition: čudim se tvojoj odluci.
For a clause, use čuditi se da / što…; for the impersonal, čudi me da… (accusative experiencer).
Without se, transitive čuditi + accusative = "to surprise/puzzle someone" (čudi me njegovo ponašanje).
Future drops -i: čudit ću se, never čuditi ću se. Same dative family as radovati se and smijati se.

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