ležati / leći (to lie / lie down) | Croatian Grammar

Ležati and leći are a classic state-vs-change-of-state pair, the lying-down twin of sjediti / sjesti ("be sitting / sit down"). Ležati (imperfective) is the held state — being horizontal, lying somewhere, being in bed. Leći (perfective) is the single moment of getting horizontal — lying down, going to bed. English collapses both into "lie" (plus an optional "down"), but Croatian makes you choose: ležim ("I'm lying [there]") describes where I am, while legnem ("I lie down") describes the act I perform. Master this pair and you have the template for sjediti / sjesti and stajati / stati too.

Aspect and the two verbs

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Core meaning
ležati	imperfective	ležim	be lying, be in bed (state)
leći	perfective	legnem	lie down, go to bed (change)

These are not built from the same surface stem — ležati has the long stem lež-, leći the -gn- present legn- — but they function as an aspectual pair the way native speakers use them. Ležati views lying as an unbounded situation; leći views it as the punctual transition into that situation. This is the core aspect opposition — see verbal aspect: the big picture. The imperfective partner of leći in the "going to bed" sense is also lijegati (liježem), but for everyday A2 use ležati covers the state.

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Test with English: if you could say "be lying / be in bed", you want ležati (state); if you could add "down" — "lie down", "go to bed" — you want leći (change). The deceptive presents are ležim (I'm lying) vs legnem (I lie down).

Present tense

Ležati is a regular i-class verb on lež-. Leći takes the -ne- present typical of punctual perfectives, with the stem legn-: legnem.

Person	ležati (impf)	leći (pf)
ja	ležim	legnem
ti	ležiš	legneš
on/ona/ono	leži	legne
mi	ležimo	legnemo
vi	ležite	legnete
oni/one/ona	leže	legnu

Note the i-class 3rd-person plural leže (bare -e) against the perfective legnu. The perfective present legnem cannot mean "I am lying down right now" — like every perfective present, it reads as future, habitual, or conditional. For the act in progress you reach for the state verb or describe the moment in the past/future.

Ležim u krevetu i čitam, ne diraj me.

I'm lying in bed reading, don't bother me. — state, 'ležim'.

Obično legnem oko jedanaest.

I usually go to bed around eleven. — perfective present, habitual single act.

The l-participle

Ležati is regular: ležao, ležala, ležalo …. Leći shows a consonant change — the -g- of the present drops and the masculine is legao (with fleeting a), feminine legla, neuter leglo, plural legli / legle / legla.

Gender / number	ležati	leći
masculine singular	ležao	legao
feminine singular	ležala	legla
neuter singular	ležalo	leglo
masculine plural	ležali	legli
feminine plural	ležale	legle
neuter plural	ležala	legla

The masculine legao hides a fleeting a: it appears only in the masculine singular and vanishes elsewhere (legla, not legala) — the same alternation as in mogao / mogla. See the fleeting a.

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. Use ležati for "was lying / lay (a while)" and leći for "lay down / went to bed" (a single completed act).

Person	ležati (masc./fem.)	leći (masc./fem.)
ja	ležao / ležala sam	legao / legla sam
ti	ležao / ležala si	legao / legla si
on / ona	ležao / ležala je	legao / legla je
mi	ležali / ležale smo	legli / legle smo
vi	ležali / ležale ste	legli / legle ste
oni / one	ležali / ležale su	legli / legle su

Cijelo poslijepodne je ležala na kauču s gripom.

She lay on the couch all afternoon with the flu. — held state with duration, 'ležati'.

Sinoć sam legao rano jer sam bio mrtav umoran.

Last night I went to bed early because I was dead tired. — single act, 'leći'.

Future I (futur prvi)

Ležati → ležat ću; leći → leći ću (the infinitive already ends in a vowel sound, so nothing drops).

Person	ležati	leći
ja	ležat ću	leći ću
ti	ležat ćeš	leći ćeš
on/ona/ono	ležat će	leći će
mi	ležat ćemo	leći ćemo
vi	ležat ćete	leći ćete
oni/one/ona	ležat će	leći će

Umoran sam, mislim da ću rano leći.

I'm tired, I think I'll go to bed early. — future I of 'leći'.

Imperative

The imperatives carve the meaning. Leži! (imperfective) is "lie [there] / stay lying / stay down" — the held posture (a doctor's Lezite mirno "lie still"; the command to a dog Leži! "down / stay"). Lezi! (perfective, from leći) is "lie down! / go to bed!" — perform the act. Note the spellings: imperfective leži (with ž), perfective lezi (with plain z, from the -g- stem softened to z before the imperative).

Person	ležati (impf)	leći (pf)
ti	leži	lezi
mi	ležimo	lezimo
vi	ležite	lezite

The aspect contrast in commands is a general principle — see aspect in the imperative. Negative commands use nemoj: Nemoj leći na mokru travu ("Don't lie down on the wet grass").

Lezi i odmori se, izgledaš iscrpljeno.

Lie down and rest, you look exhausted. — the act, 'lezi' (from leći).

Leži mirno, samo ću ti izmjeriti tlak.

Lie still, I'll just take your blood pressure. — held posture, 'leži' (from ležati).

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle.

Person	leći (masc.)
ja	legao bih
ti	legao bi
on/ona/ono	legao/legla/leglo bi
mi	legli bismo
vi	legli biste
oni/one/ona	legli bi

Legao bih sad, ali moram još završiti izvještaj.

I'd go to bed now, but I still have to finish the report.

Other forms

Verbal adverb (present): imperfective ležeći ("[while] lying"), also adjectival in ležeći policajac ("speed bump", literally "lying policeman"). Perfective leći gives the literary past adverb legavši ("having lain down").
Passive participle: neither verb is transitive in this sense, so there is no everyday passive participle.

Vježbu radimo ležeći, koljena savijena.

We do the exercise lying down, knees bent. — verbal adverb 'ležeći'.

Key uses and government

1. Lying somewhere: ležati + locative

A static lying position is a static location, so it takes the locative: u krevetu ("in bed"), na kauču ("on the couch"), na podu ("on the floor"), na suncu ("in the sun"). The locative is the "rest" case; the same prepositions with the accusative would mean motion. See the locative of location.

Mačka cijeli dan leži na prozorskoj dasci na suncu.

The cat lies on the windowsill in the sun all day. — 'na' + locative, position.

Knjige ti leže na podu, makni ih.

Your books are lying on the floor, move them. — 'ležati' of inanimate things.

2. Lying down onto: leći na / u + accusative

With the perfective leći, the destination of the act takes a motion case: lying down onto something is na + accusative, lying down into bed is u + accusative — the case flips from locative ("being in bed") to accusative ("getting into bed"). See the accusative of motion.

Legao je na kauč i odmah zaspao.

He lay down on the couch and fell asleep at once. — 'na' + accusative, the act.

Djeca su legla u krevet tek poslije ponoći.

The kids got into bed only after midnight. — 'u' + accusative, motion into bed.

3. The parallel with sjediti / sjesti and stajati / stati

Everything here mirrors the sitting and standing pairs: same state/change split, same locative-vs-motion case alternation. See sjediti / sjesti and stajati / stati.

Ne sjedi tu na hladnom kamenu, dođi leći u hlad.

Don't sit there on the cold stone, come lie down in the shade.

Common Mistakes

❌ Sada legnem u krevetu i čitam.

Wrong aspect — a held state needs the imperfective: 'ležim u krevetu'.

✅ Sada ležim u krevetu i čitam.

I'm lying in bed reading right now.

❌ Legao je na kauču.

Wrong case — the act of lying down takes motion 'na' + accusative: 'na kauč'.

✅ Legao je na kauč.

He lay down on the couch.

❌ Sinoć sam ležao rano.

Wrong member — 'went to bed early' is the single act 'legao sam', not the state 'ležao'.

✅ Sinoć sam legao rano.

Last night I went to bed early.

❌ Ona je legao na kauč.

Agreement error — the l-participle must be feminine: 'legla'.

✅ Ona je legla na kauč.

She lay down on the couch.

❌ Lezi mirno dok ti mjerim tlak.

Wrong member — 'stay lying still' is the held state 'leži' (ležati), not the act 'lezi' (leći).

✅ Leži mirno dok ti mjerim tlak.

Lie still while I take your blood pressure.

Key Takeaways

ležati (impf, ležim) = be lying / be in bed (state); leći (pf, legnem) = lie down / go to bed (change). Deceptive presents: ležim vs legnem.
Imperatives split — and so do their spellings: leži = "stay lying / lie still" (ležati, with ž); lezi = "lie down!" (leći, with plain z).
The l-participle of leći has a fleeting a: legao (masc.) but legla, leglo, legli elsewhere.
Position takes the locative (u krevetu, na kauču); the act of lying down takes motion — na/u
- accusative.
This pair runs parallel to sjediti / sjesti and stajati / stati — same state/change logic throughout.

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