gledati / pogledati (to watch/look) | Croatian Grammar

Gledati / pogledati ("to watch, to look at") is the visual counterpart of slušati ("to listen to"): it is the intentional verb of directing your eyes at something, as opposed to vidjeti ("to see"), the passive verb of visual perception. As with slušati, the trap for English speakers is the preposition: Croatian gledati takes a bare accusative — gledati film, gledati more — with no equivalent of English "look at". Reserve a preposition only for the special sense gledati u + accusative, "to stare at / gaze into".

The aspect pair

	Imperfective	Perfective
Verb	gledati	pogledati
Core sense	watch, be looking at (process, habit)	take a look, glance, watch through (once)
Present stem	gled-	pogled-
Typical use	Gledam film. "I'm watching a film."	Pogledaj ovo! "Take a look at this!"

Gledati is imperfective — watching as an ongoing activity. The perfective pogledati (prefix po-) means either a single glance ("take a look") or watching something through to the end ("we watched the whole film"). The aspect system behind this is on aspect overview.

gledati — present (a-class)

Stem gled- + theme -a- + a-class endings; the 3pl is -aju: gledaju.

Person	Form	Meaning
ja	gledam	I watch / I'm looking
ti	gledaš	you watch
on/ona/ono	gleda	he/she/it watches
mi	gledamo	we watch
vi	gledate	you watch
oni/one/ona	gledaju	they watch

Što gledaš na televiziji?

What are you watching on TV? — bare accusative as the object of watching.

Cijela obitelj gleda utakmicu u nedjelju.

The whole family watches the match on Sunday. — habitual, imperfective.

pogledati — present (perfective)

Same a-class endings on the prefixed stem pogled-. As a perfective, its "present" carries future/subordinate meaning.

Person	Form	Meaning
ja	pogledam	I take a look
ti	pogledaš	you take a look
on/ona/ono	pogleda	he/she/it takes a look
mi	pogledamo	we take a look
vi	pogledate	you take a look
oni/one/ona	pogledaju	they take a look

Čim pogledam mail, javit ću ti.

As soon as I take a look at the email, I'll let you know. — perfective present with future sense.

The l-participle

Gender / number	gledati	pogledati
masculine singular	gledao	pogledao
feminine singular	gledala	pogledala
neuter singular	gledalo	pogledalo
masculine plural	gledali	pogledali
feminine plural	gledale	pogledale
neuter plural	gledala	pogledala

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. Gledao sam film leaves it open whether you finished; pogledao sam film says you watched it through.

Person	gledati (masc. / fem.)	pogledati (masc. / fem.)
ja	gledao / gledala sam	pogledao / pogledala sam
ti	gledao / gledala si	pogledao / pogledala si
on / ona	gledao / gledala je	pogledao / pogledala je
mi	gledali / gledale smo	pogledali / pogledale smo
vi	gledali / gledale ste	pogledali / pogledale ste
oni / one	gledali / gledale su	pogledali / pogledale su

Sinoć smo gledali neki stari film, ali smo zaspali na pola.

Last night we were watching some old film, but we fell asleep halfway. — imperfective: didn't finish.

Jučer sam napokon pogledala taj film do kraja.

Yesterday I finally watched that film to the end. — perfective: completed.

Future I (futur prvi)

Both drop the infinitive -i: gledat ću, pogledat ću.

Person	gledati	pogledati
ja	gledat ću	pogledat ću
ti	gledat ćeš	pogledat ćeš
on/ona/ono	gledat će	pogledat će
mi	gledat ćemo	pogledat ćemo
vi	gledat ćete	pogledat ćete
oni/one/ona	gledat će	pogledat će

Večeras ćemo gledati finale zajedno.

Tonight we'll watch the final together.

Imperative

The perfective pogledaj! ("take a look!", "look here!") is the workhorse command — you usually want one act of looking. Gledaj! urges sustained watching or means "watch out / pay attention".

Person	gledati	pogledati
ti	gledaj	pogledaj
mi	gledajmo	pogledajmo
vi	gledajte	pogledajte

Pogledaj ovo, nećeš vjerovati!

Take a look at this, you won't believe it! — perfective: one glance.

Gledaj kuda hodaš!

Watch where you're going! — imperfective: sustained attention.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

Person	gledati (masc.)	pogledati (masc.)
ja	gledao bih	pogledao bih
ti	gledao bi	pogledao bi
on/ona/ono	gledao bi	pogledao bi
mi	gledali bismo	pogledali bismo
vi	gledali biste	pogledali biste
oni/one/ona	gledali bi	pogledali bi

Pogledao bih nešto lagano, previše sam umoran za triler.

I'd watch something light, I'm too tired for a thriller.

Other forms

Passive participle: gledan ("watched") — najgledaniji film godine "the most-watched film of the year".
Present verbal adverb (gledati): gledajući ("while watching / looking") — Gledajući kroz prozor, izgubio se u mislima "Looking out the window, he drifted into thought."

To je bila najgledanija emisija prošle sezone.

That was the most-watched show last season. — superlative of the passive participle 'gledan'.

Key uses and government

1. gledati + bare accusative — NO preposition

The thing watched is a plain accusative: gledati film, gledati more, gledati nekoga. There is no "at". This mirrors slušati exactly — see slušati / čuti.

Cijelo popodne gledamo more s terase.

We watch the sea from the terrace all afternoon. — bare accusative 'more'.

2. gledati u + accusative — "stare at, gaze into, fix one's eyes on"

When you fix your gaze on a point, use gledati u + the accusative: gledati u oči ("look someone in the eye"), gledati u daljinu ("stare into the distance"). The u here marks the target of a steady, directed look, not a casual object of watching.

Gledao me ravno u oči i nije ni trepnuo.

He looked me straight in the eye and didn't even blink. — 'gledati u' + accusative for a fixed gaze.

Ne gledaj u sunce, oštetit ćeš oči.

Don't look at the sun, you'll damage your eyes.

3. gledati vs vidjeti — watch vs see

Gledati is directing your eyes (intention, process); vidjeti is registering with them (perception, often a result). You can gledati a film for an hour and still not vidjeti a detail in it. See vidjeti.

Gledam, gledam, ali ne vidim te nigdje.

I'm looking and looking, but I don't see you anywhere. — 'gledati' = the act, 'vidjeti' = the perception.

💡

Two pairs, one logic: gledati / vidjeti for the eyes mirrors slušati / čuti for the ears. The first verb of each pair is the deliberate act (and takes a bare accusative — no "at", no "to"); the second is involuntary perception. English smuggles in "look at / listen to"; Croatian doesn't.

Common Mistakes

❌ Gledam na televiziju cijelu večer.

No preposition — 'gledati' takes the bare accusative: 'gledam televiziju'. ('gledati na' means 'view as / regard', a different sense.)

✅ Gledam televiziju cijelu večer.

I watch TV all evening.

❌ Vidim film svake subote navečer.

Wrong verb — a deliberate, repeated activity is 'gledam' (watch); 'vidjeti' is to perceive/see.

✅ Gledam film svake subote navečer.

I watch a film every Saturday evening.

❌ Pogledaj me u očima.

Wrong case — 'gledati u' takes the accusative (direction of gaze), not the locative: 'u oči'.

✅ Pogledaj me u oči.

Look me in the eye.

❌ Gledali smo cijeli film i onda smo gledali još jedan.

Aspect — 'watched the whole film' (completed) wants the perfective 'pogledali'.

✅ Pogledali smo cijeli film i onda još jedan.

We watched the whole film and then another one.

❌ Oni gledadu utakmicu u kafiću.

Wrong ending — 'gledati' is a-class, 3pl '-aju': 'gledaju'.

✅ Oni gledaju utakmicu u kafiću.

They're watching the match in the café.

Key Takeaways

Aspect pair: imperfective gledati (watch, ongoing) vs perfective pogledati (take a look / watch through).
Both take the bare accusative — no "at". (gledati na exists but means "view as / regard".)
Special government gledati u + accusative = "stare at, gaze into" (gledati u oči, u daljinu).
Gledati (the deliberate act) contrasts with vidjeti (perception) — exactly like slušati vs čuti.
a-class throughout (gledam … gledaju); passive participle gledan (najgledaniji); future gledat ću.

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