ljutiti se / naljutiti se (to be/get angry) | Croatian Grammar

Ljutiti se ("to be angry") is the everyday Croatian verb for anger, and its key feature is the way it points at who you are angry with: not a direct object, but na + accusative — literally "to be angry onto someone". This little preposition is the whole game. English says "I'm angry at you" or "angry with you"; Croatian fixes the target with na and the accusative (Ljutim se na tebe). Separately, the cause of the anger gets zbog + genitive ("because of"). The verb also has a transitive twin, ljutiti (nekoga), "to annoy / make someone angry". This page maps the family.

Aspect

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Sense
ljutiti se	imperfective	ljutim se	to be angry (a state)
naljutiti se	perfective	naljutim se	to get angry (become angry)

The aspect difference maps neatly onto English "be angry" vs "get angry". ljutiti se is the standing state — you are in a condition of anger (Ljutim se na njega već tjedan dana — "I've been angry at him for a week"). naljutiti se is the inception — the moment you become angry (Naljutio sam se kad sam to čuo — "I got angry when I heard that"). This is a prefixal pair, the perfective adding na-. See aspect overview.

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The single most important thing on this page: the person you're angry with goes in na + accusative, not the dative and not a bare object. Ljutim se na tebe = "I'm angry at you." Reaching for the dative (*ljutim se tebi) is the classic transfer error.

Present tense

Both are i-class verbs (stem ljuti- / naljuti-): ljutim se, ljutiš se…. The perfective present describes no ongoing action.

Person	ljutiti se (impf)	naljutiti se (pf)
ja	ljutim se	naljutim se
ti	ljutiš se	naljutiš se
on/ona/ono	ljuti se	naljuti se
mi	ljutimo se	naljutimo se
vi	ljutite se	naljutite se
oni/one/ona	ljute se	naljute se

Ne ljuti se na mene, nisam to mislio ozbiljno.

Don't be angry with me, I didn't mean it seriously. — 'na + accusative' target.

Uvijek se naljutim kad netko kasni bez najave.

I always get angry when someone is late without warning. — perfective for the recurring onset.

The l-participle

Gender / number	ljutiti se	naljutiti se
masculine singular	ljutio se	naljutio se
feminine singular	ljutila se	naljutila se
neuter singular	ljutilo se	naljutilo se
masculine plural	ljutili se	naljutili se
feminine plural	ljutile se	naljutile se
neuter plural	ljutila se	naljutila se

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle, se in the cluster. The aspect contrast is sharp: ljutio sam se ("I was angry / I stayed angry") vs naljutio sam se ("I got angry [at a moment]").

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	naljutio sam se	naljutila sam se
ti	naljutio si se	naljutila si se
on / ona	naljutio se	naljutila se
mi	naljutili smo se	naljutile smo se
vi	naljutili ste se	naljutile ste se
oni / one	naljutili su se	naljutile su se

Naljutila se na mene zbog jedne glupe primjedbe.

She got angry with me over one stupid remark. — target 'na mene', cause 'zbog ... primjedbe'.

Dugo se ljutio na brata, ali su se na kraju pomirili.

He was angry with his brother for a long time, but they made up in the end. — imperfective for the prolonged state.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive drops its final -i before the clitic: naljutit ću se, ljutit ću se — never "naljutiti ću se".

Person	ljutiti se	naljutiti se
ja	ljutit ću se	naljutit ću se
ti	ljutit ćeš se	naljutit ćeš se
on/ona/ono	ljutit će se	naljutit će se
mi	ljutit ćemo se	naljutit ćemo se
vi	ljutit ćete se	naljutit ćete se
oni/one/ona	ljutit će se	naljutit će se

Naljutit će se ako sazna da smo otišli bez nje.

She'll get angry if she finds out we left without her.

Imperative

The most common form is the negative imperative — ne ljuti se ("don't be angry"), a near-fixed phrase of reassurance.

Person	ljutiti se (impf)	naljutiti se (pf)
ti	ljuti se	naljuti se
mi	ljutimo se	naljutimo se
vi	ljutite se	naljutite se

Nemoj se ljutiti, samo sam htio pomoći.

Don't be angry, I just wanted to help. — negative imperative with 'nemoj'.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

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

Person	naljutiti se (masc.)
ja	naljutio bih se
ti	naljutio bi se
on/ona/ono	naljutio/naljutila/naljutilo bi se
mi	naljutili bismo se
vi	naljutili biste se
oni/one/ona	naljutili bi se

Da sam na tvojem mjestu, i ja bih se naljutio.

If I were in your place, I'd get angry too.

Other forms

Transitive participle: the transitive ljutiti ("to annoy") has the present passive/adjectival ljut ("angry", the underlying adjective) — On je ljut na mene ("He's angry with me"), which uses the adjective ljut rather than the verb but takes the same na + accusative government.
Verbal adverb (imperfective): ljuteći se ("[while] being angry"), rare.

Bila je ljuta na sebe što je opet zaboravila.

She was angry at herself for forgetting again. — adjective 'ljuta' + 'na + accusative', same frame as the verb.

Key uses and government

For the general principle that a verb selects its complement's case and preposition, see verb government overview.

1. The target: na + accusative

The person or thing you are angry with takes na + accusative. This is fixed and not negotiable — it is the defining government of the verb.

Zašto se ljutiš na mene? Što sam skrivio?

Why are you angry with me? What have I done? — 'na mene', accusative.

Ljutim se na samu sebe što sam pristala.

I'm angry at myself for agreeing. — 'na samu sebe', reflexive target in the accusative.

2. The cause: zbog + genitive

The reason for the anger takes zbog + genitive ("because of"). The target and the cause can appear together — na koga (na + acc) for the person, zbog čega (zbog + gen) for the reason. See genitive with verbs and prepositions.

Ljuti se na šefa zbog nepravedne odluke.

He's angry with the boss because of an unfair decision. — target 'na šefa', cause 'zbog ... odluke'.

You can also express the cause with a što-clause: ljutiti se što… ("be angry that…"), as in Ljutim se što mi nisi rekao ("I'm angry that you didn't tell me").

3. Transitive ljutiti (nekoga): "to annoy / anger someone"

Without se, ljutiti is transitive and takes a direct object in the accusative — "to annoy / make someone angry". The annoyer is the subject; the annoyed person is the object.

Ljuti me kad ljudi pričaju u kinu.

It annoys me when people talk in the cinema. — transitive 'ljutiti' + accusative 'me', no 'se'.

Nemoj ljutiti baku, znaš kakva je.

Don't annoy Grandma, you know how she is. — transitive imperative + accusative 'baku'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ljutim se tebi.

Wrong case — the target takes 'na + accusative', not the dative: 'na tebe'.

✅ Ljutim se na tebe.

I'm angry with you.

❌ Ljutim se s tobom.

Wrong preposition — Croatian doesn't say 'angry with' as 's + instrumental'; use 'na + accusative'.

✅ Ljutim se na tebe.

I'm angry with you.

❌ Naljutio sam se na kasnenje.

The target slot is for a person; for the cause use 'zbog + genitive': 'zbog kašnjenja'.

✅ Naljutio sam se zbog kašnjenja.

I got angry because of the delay.

❌ Ne ljuti me, samo sam htio pomoći.

Confused verbs — to ask someone not to be cross with you, you want the reflexive: 'Ne ljuti se'. ('Ne ljuti me' = 'Don't annoy me', the transitive.)

✅ Ne ljuti se, samo sam htio pomoći.

Don't be angry, I just wanted to help.

❌ Naljutiti ću se ako opet zakasniš.

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

✅ Naljutit ću se ako opet zakasniš.

I'll get angry if you're late again.

Key Takeaways

ljutiti se (impf, ljutim se, "be angry") vs naljutiti se (pf, naljutim se, "get angry"). Prefixal na- pair.
The target — who you're angry with — takes na + accusative (na tebe), never the dative.
The cause takes zbog + genitive (zbog odluke) or a što-clause.
Without se, transitive ljutiti + accusative = "annoy/anger someone" (ljuti me).
Future drops -i: naljutit ću se, never naljutiti ću se. The reassurance phrase is ne ljuti se.

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