gubiti / izgubiti (to lose) | Croatian Grammar

Izgubiti ("to lose") covers everything English "lose" does and a little more: you lose keys, a game, time, weight, and — reflexively — your way. Its aspect pair is the perfective izgubiti against the bare imperfective gubiti, a clean prefixed pair where iz- turns "be losing" into "lose (for good)". The verb governs the accusative, its passive participle izgubljen shows a textbook b → blj jotation worth understanding, and the reflexive izgubiti se means "get lost / lose one's way".

Aspect

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Typical use
izgubiti	perfective	izgubim	one completed loss — it's gone
gubiti	imperfective	gubim	be losing; losing repeatedly/gradually

The members split along "be losing" vs "have lost". Izgubiti = I lost it (it's gone now). Gubiti = I am losing / I keep losing / I am gradually losing. So "I'm losing the game" (in progress) is gubim, while "I lost the game" is izgubio sam. This is a prefixal aspect pair — the imperfective gubiti is the base, and the prefix iz- perfectivises it. See forming aspect pairs by prefixation.

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The base gubiti is rarely used in the everyday "I lost my keys" sense — for a one-off loss you want the perfective izgubiti. Reserve plain gubiti for ongoing or gradual loss: gubim strpljenje ("I'm losing patience"), gubim vrijeme ("I'm wasting/losing time").

Present tense

Both are regular i-class verbs: stems izgub- / gub- + -im, -iš, -i, -imo, -ite, -e.

Person	izgubiti (pf)	gubiti (impf)
ja	izgubim	gubim
ti	izgubiš	gubiš
on/ona/ono	izgubi	gubi
mi	izgubimo	gubimo
vi	izgubite	gubite
oni/one/ona	izgube	gube

The perfective present izgubim is not "right now" — it has future/subordinate meaning. The action unfolding now is gubim.

Gubimo, ali utakmica još nije gotova.

We're losing, but the match isn't over yet. — in progress, imperfective.

Ako izgubim ključeve još jednom, promijenit ću bravu.

If I lose my keys one more time, I'll change the lock. — perfective present in an 'ako'-clause.

The l-participle

Regular for -iti verbs; the masculine shows the vocalised -l: izgubio, gubio.

Gender / number	izgubiti	gubiti
masculine singular	izgubio	gubio
feminine singular	izgubila	gubila
neuter singular	izgubilo	gubilo
masculine plural	izgubili	gubili
feminine plural	izgubile	gubile
neuter plural	izgubila	gubila

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. The everyday "I lost" is the perfective izgubio sam; the imperfective gubio sam describes a gradual or ongoing past loss.

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	izgubio sam	izgubila sam
ti	izgubio si	izgubila si
on / ona	izgubio je	izgubila je
mi	izgubili smo	izgubile smo
vi	izgubili ste	izgubile ste
oni / one	izgubili su	izgubile su

Izgubila sam mobitel u tramvaju, srce mi je stalo.

I lost my phone on the tram, my heart stopped. — feminine speaker, perfective: one loss, done.

Postupno je gubio sluh, ali nije htio aparatić.

He was gradually losing his hearing, but didn't want a hearing aid. — imperfective: a slow process.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive drops -i before the clitic: izgubit ću, gubit ću. Never write *izgubiti ću.

Person	izgubiti	gubiti
ja	izgubit ću	gubit ću
ti	izgubit ćeš	gubit ćeš
on/ona/ono	izgubit će	gubit će
mi	izgubit ćemo	gubit ćemo
vi	izgubit ćete	gubit ćete
oni/one/ona	izgubit će	gubit će

Požuri, izgubit ćemo mjesto u redu.

Hurry up, we'll lose our place in the queue. — perfective future, a single result.

Imperative

The perfective izgubi! most often appears in the brusque idiom Izgubi se! ("Get lost!" — informal, rude). Otherwise the natural imperative is the negative warning Nemoj izgubiti… ("Don't lose…").

Person	izgubiti (pf)	gubiti (impf)
ti	izgubi	gubi
mi	izgubimo	gubimo
vi	izgubite	gubite

Nemoj izgubiti kartu, treba ti za povratak.

Don't lose the ticket, you'll need it for the way back. — negative warning.

Ne gubi vrijeme na gluposti.

Don't waste time on nonsense. — negative imperative naturally takes the imperfective 'gubiti'.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle.

Person	izgubiti (masc.)
ja	izgubio bih
ti	izgubio bi
on/ona/ono	izgubio/izgubila/izgubilo bi
mi	izgubili bismo
vi	izgubili biste
oni/one/ona	izgubili bi

Bez navigacije bih se sigurno izgubio u ovom gradu.

Without a sat-nav I'd surely get lost in this city. — reflexive 'izgubiti se' in the conditional.

Other forms

Passive participle: izgubljen, izgubljena, izgubljeno ("lost"). Note the b → blj jotation: an -iti verb with a labial stem (-b-) inserts an epenthetic -lj- before the -en- ending. The same change shows up across labial-stem verbs — kupiti → kupljen, ljubiti → ljubljen, grabiti → grabljen — so izgubiti → izgubljen is the regular outcome, not an exception. Izgubljen doubles as an adjective: izgubljen pogled ("a lost / dazed look"), izgubljeni slučaj ("a lost cause"). See the passive participle.
Verbal adverb: the imperfective gubeći ("[while] losing"). Perfectives have no present verbal adverb.

Pronašli su ga, ali izgubljen i promrzao.

They found him, but lost and frozen. — participle/adjective 'izgubljen'.

Key uses and government

1. The thing lost: accusative

The object of izgubiti / gubiti is the accusative — what you lose. No preposition. See the accusative direct object.

Izgubio sam novčanik s dokumentima.

I lost my wallet with my documents in it. — accusative 'novčanik'.

2. Reflexive izgubiti se — "get lost / lose one's way"

Add the reflexive clitic se and the verb turns intransitive: izgubiti se = "get lost, lose one's way". This is the standard way to say you took a wrong turn. (As an imperative, Izgubi se! is the rude "Get lost!".) See reflexive verbs.

Izgubili smo se u starom gradu i izašli na potpuno drugom kraju.

We got lost in the old town and came out at a completely different end. — reflexive 'izgubiti se'.

3. The range of senses

Izgubiti spans more than physical objects. Common collocations: izgubiti utakmicu / izbore ("lose a match / an election"), izgubiti vrijeme ("lose / waste time"), izgubiti na težini ("lose weight"), izgubiti glavu ("lose one's head"), izgubiti živce ("lose one's temper"), izgubiti posao ("lose one's job").

Naša je ekipa izgubila utakmicu u zadnjoj minuti.

Our team lost the match in the last minute.

Izgubila je pet kila prije ljeta.

She lost five kilos before the summer. — 'izgubiti na težini' / 'izgubiti kile'.

4. The opposite: naći / pronaći "to find"

Izgubiti (lose) pairs with naći and its prefixed twin pronaći (both perfective, "find") — imperfective nalaziti. Pronaći stresses successfully tracking something down; bare naći is the everyday "find". Both take the accusative, like izgubiti: Izgubio sam ključeve, ali sam ih našao ("I lost my keys, but I found them").

Tražim te ključeve već sat vremena i nigdje ih ne mogu naći.

I've been looking for those keys for an hour and can't find them anywhere. — 'naći' is the opposite of 'izgubiti'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Gubio sam ključeve jučer.

Aspect error — a one-off loss is perfective: 'izgubio sam'. 'Gubio sam' = was gradually losing.

✅ Izgubio sam ključeve jučer.

I lost my keys yesterday.

❌ Stvari su izgubjene negdje u selidbi.

Spelling — the labial stem palatalises b → blj: 'izgubljene', not 'izgubjene'.

✅ Stvari su izgubljene negdje u selidbi.

The things got lost somewhere in the move.

❌ Izgubili smo u starom gradu.

Missing 'se' — 'get lost / lose one's way' is reflexive: 'izgubili smo se'.

✅ Izgubili smo se u starom gradu.

We got lost in the old town.

❌ Izgubim mobitel u tramvaju.

Aspect/tense — a perfective present can't report a past event; use 'izgubio/izgubila sam'.

✅ Izgubio sam mobitel u tramvaju.

I lost my phone on the tram.

❌ Izgubiti ćemo mjesto u redu.

Spelling — the infinitive drops -i before the clitic: 'izgubit ćemo'.

✅ Izgubit ćemo mjesto u redu.

We'll lose our place in the queue.

Key Takeaways

izgubiti (pf, izgubim, izgubio) = one completed loss; gubiti (impf, gubim, gubio) = be losing / gradual loss.
Object = accusative (izgubiti ključeve, utakmicu, vrijeme).
Reflexive izgubiti se = "get lost / lose one's way"; the rude imperative Izgubi se! = "Get lost!".
Passive participle izgubljen (b → blj jotation), also an adjective ("lost, dazed").
Future drops -i: izgubit ću (never izgubiti ću). Opposite verb: naći / pronaći "find".

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