kuhati / skuhati (to cook) | Croatian Grammar

Kuhati ("to cook") is the everyday kitchen verb, and its aspect pair shows off one of Croatian's tidiest perfectivising prefixes: the imperfective kuhati simply takes an s- to become the perfective skuhati ("cook [and finish]"). That bare s- prefix recurs across the kitchen — peći → ispeći, pržiti → ispržiti sit beside it — so once you feel the logic of "do the cooking" vs "get it cooked", a whole shelf of verbs opens up. Kuhati also has a quietly useful second life: with no object it means "be boiling" (voda kuha), and as a reflexive kuhati se it means "be cooking / be on the boil".

Aspect

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Typical use
kuhati	imperfective	kuham	the activity of cooking; habit; "be boiling"
skuhati	perfective	skuham	one completed dish — cook it through

The members split along the usual line: kuhati = the cooking is in progress or habitual ("I cook / I'm cooking"), skuhati = a single dish brought to completion ("I cooked [and it's ready]"). So "I'm cooking lunch right now" is kuham ručak, while "I've cooked lunch" is skuhao sam ručak. This is a prefixal aspect pair — the perfective is built by adding the s- prefix, with no change to the present endings. See forming aspect pairs by prefixation and the general logic on aspect overview.

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The s- here is a pure perfectiviser: it adds completion, not extra meaning. Skuhati is simply "kuhati, brought to the finish" — the dish is done. Learn to recognise s- as one of the standard "finish it" prefixes: it works the same way in jesti → pojesti's cousin šiti → sašiti "sew up" and praviti → spraviti "make/prepare". Each kitchen verb still picks its own prefix, though — peći takes is- (ispeći "bake/roast through"), not s- — so the pairing has to be learned verb by verb.

Present tense

Both members are regular a-class verbs (stem kuha- / skuha-, endings -m, -š, -∅, -mo, -te, -ju). The prefix changes nothing in the conjugation.

Person	kuhati (impf)	skuhati (pf)
ja	kuham	skuham
ti	kuhaš	skuhaš
on/ona/ono	kuha	skuha
mi	kuhamo	skuhamo
vi	kuhate	skuhate
oni/one/ona	kuhaju	skuhaju

As always, the perfective present skuham is not a "right now" tense — it carries a future or conditional sense in subordinate clauses: Kad skuham, zovem te ("Once I've cooked, I'll call you"). For the cooking in progress you need kuham.

Kuham juhu, bit će gotova za pola sata.

I'm cooking soup, it'll be ready in half an hour. — in progress, imperfective.

Čim skuham ručak, sjedamo za stol.

As soon as I've cooked lunch, we'll sit down to eat. — perfective present, future sense.

The l-participle

Both are regular -ati verbs: masculine kuhao (vocalised -l), skuhao.

Gender / number	kuhati	skuhati
masculine singular	kuhao	skuhao
feminine singular	kuhala	skuhala
neuter singular	kuhalo	skuhalo
masculine plural	kuhali	skuhali
feminine plural	kuhale	skuhale
neuter plural	kuhala	skuhala

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. The single done dish is the perfective skuhao sam; the imperfective kuhao sam marks the activity or a habit ("I was cooking / I used to cook").

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	skuhao sam	skuhala sam
ti	skuhao si	skuhala si
on / ona	skuhao je	skuhala je
mi	skuhali smo	skuhale smo
vi	skuhali ste	skuhale ste
oni / one	skuhali su	skuhale su

Baka je skuhala sarmu za cijelu obitelj.

Grandma cooked sarma for the whole family. — perfective, one finished dish, feminine subject.

Dok je ona kuhala, ja sam postavljao stol.

While she was cooking, I was setting the table. — imperfective: the ongoing background action.

Future I (futur prvi)

Kuhati → kuhat ću (drops -i); skuhati → skuhat ću. Never write kuhati ću.

Person	kuhati	skuhati
ja	kuhat ću	skuhat ću
ti	kuhat ćeš	skuhat ćeš
on/ona/ono	kuhat će	skuhat će
mi	kuhat ćemo	skuhat ćemo
vi	kuhat ćete	skuhat ćete
oni/one/ona	kuhat će	skuhat će

Skuhat ću ti čaj, čekaj samo malo.

I'll make you some tea, just wait a moment. — perfective: one finished result.

Imperative

a-class imperatives end in -aj, -ajmo, -ajte. The perfective skuhaj! asks for one specific dish; the imperfective kuhaj! leans toward "keep cooking / do the cooking".

Person	kuhati (impf)	skuhati (pf)
ti	kuhaj	skuhaj
mi	kuhajmo	skuhajmo
vi	kuhajte	skuhajte

Skuhaj nam nešto fino, ti to najbolje znaš.

Cook us something nice, you're the best at it. — perfective request for one dish.

Negative requests use the imperfective: Nemoj kuhati na prejakoj vatri ("Don't cook on too high a flame").

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle — for polite offers and hypotheticals.

Person	skuhati (masc.)
ja	skuhao bih
ti	skuhao bi
on/ona/ono	skuhao/skuhala/skuhalo bi
mi	skuhali bismo
vi	skuhali biste
oni/one/ona	skuhali bi

Skuhao bih ručak da imam vremena.

I'd cook lunch if I had the time.

Other forms

Passive participle: kuhan, kuhana, kuhano ("cooked, boiled") and perfective skuhan, skuhana, skuhano ("[fully] cooked"). As an adjective kuhan contrasts with the raw or other-method words: kuhano jaje "a boiled egg" (vs pečeno "baked/roasted", prženo "fried"), kuhana šunka "boiled ham", kuhano vino "mulled wine". Used in the passive: Ručak je skuhan "Lunch is cooked".
Verbal adverb: imperfective kuhajući ("[while] cooking"). The perfective has no present adverb (perfectives never do); its past adverb is skuhavši, literary.

Za doručak najviše volim kuhano jaje i tost.

For breakfast I like a boiled egg and toast best. — 'kuhano' as an adjective.

Key uses and government

1. The thing cooked: accusative

The basic object of kuhati / skuhati is the accusative — the dish, the meal, the drink. See the accusative direct object.

Danas kuham grah s kobasicom.

Today I'm cooking bean stew with sausage. — accusative direct object 'grah'.

Možeš li skuhati kavu dok se ja tuširam?

Can you make coffee while I shower? — perfective + accusative 'kavu'.

2. Intransitive kuhati = "be boiling"

With no object, kuhati describes liquid at a rolling boil — "the water is boiling", "the pot is bubbling". This is everyday, especially in the kitchen.

Voda kuha, baci tjesteninu.

The water's boiling, throw in the pasta. — intransitive, no object.

3. kuhati se — "be cooking / be on the boil"

The reflexive kuhati se puts the focus on the food itself as it cooks: "the soup is cooking / simmering". It is the natural way to say something is in the pot doing its thing. This is the se of a process happening to the subject — see the se-passive and impersonal.

Juha se kuha već sat vremena, gotova je.

The soup has been cooking for an hour now, it's done. — reflexive 'kuhati se'.

4. Contrast: peći, pržiti — other cooking methods

Croatian splits "cook" by method more sharply than English. Kuhati is to cook in water (boil, simmer) — and the catch-all "cook". Peći (pečem, pf ispeći) is to bake or roast in the oven, or grill: peći kruh "bake bread", pečena piletina "roast chicken". Pržiti (pržim, pf ispržiti) is to fry in fat: pržiti jaja "fry eggs". Picking the wrong one is a real giveaway.

Mama peče kolač, a ja pržim jaja za doručak.

Mum's baking a cake, and I'm frying eggs for breakfast. — 'peći' (bake) vs 'pržiti' (fry).

Krumpir možeš skuhati ili ispeći, ja ga radije pečem.

You can boil the potatoes or roast them; I'd rather roast them. — 'skuhati' (boil) vs 'ispeći' (roast).

Common Mistakes

❌ Pečem juhu na štednjaku.

Wrong method verb — soup is boiled, not baked: use 'kuham juhu'.

✅ Kuham juhu na štednjaku.

I'm cooking soup on the stove.

❌ Kuham jaja na maslacu.

Frying in fat is 'pržiti', not 'kuhati': 'pržim jaja na maslacu'.

✅ Pržim jaja na maslacu.

I'm frying eggs in butter.

❌ Sada skuham ručak.

Aspect error — a perfective present can't mean 'right now'; the activity in progress is 'kuham'.

✅ Sada kuham ručak.

I'm cooking lunch right now.

❌ Ručak je skuhat.

Wrong form — the passive participle is 'skuhan', not the infinitive stem.

✅ Ručak je skuhan.

Lunch is cooked.

❌ Kuhati ću ti čaj.

The infinitive must drop its -i before the clitic: 'kuhat ću', never 'kuhati ću'.

✅ Kuhat ću ti čaj.

I'll make you some tea.

Key Takeaways

kuhati (impf, kuham, kuhao) = cooking in progress / habit; skuhati (pf, skuham, skuhao) = one finished dish — a clean s- prefixal pair.
Object = accusative (kuhati ručak); with no object kuhati = "be boiling" (voda kuha); reflexive kuhati se = "be cooking / on the boil".
Croatian splits cooking by method: kuhati (boil/simmer), peći (bake/roast/grill), pržiti (fry). Choose by how the heat reaches the food.
Passive participle / adjective kuhan / skuhan (kuhano jaje, kuhano vino). Future drops -i: kuhat ću, skuhat ću (never kuhati ću).

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