moliti / zamoliti (to ask for / beg) | Croatian Grammar

Moliti ("to ask for, request; to beg; to pray") is the verb of polite requests — and the source of molim, the single most useful word in Croatian, which alone means "please", "you're welcome", and "pardon?". Crucially, moliti is not "to ask a question": that is pitati. English collapses both into "ask", so the first job of this page is to keep the two apart. The imperfective is moliti; the perfective partner is zamoliti ("to ask [once], make a request").

Aspect

	Imperfective	Perfective
Verb	moliti	zamoliti
Core sense	ask for, request, beg, pray (process, repeated)	ask [once], put in a request (single act)
Typical use	Molim te. "Please / I beg you."	Zamolio sam ga za pomoć. "I asked him for help."

The aspect split here is intuitive: zamoliti is one completed request ("I asked him a favour"), while moliti is the ongoing or habitual act of requesting — and, importantly, the fixed polite formula molim always stays imperfective. You ask a favour once with zamoliti; you say "please" with molim. Pair formation by the prefix za- is covered on aspect overview.

💡

Moliti = ask FOR something / request / beg / pray. Pitati = ask a QUESTION (seek information). "Can I ask you something?" is Mogu li te nešto pitati?; "Can I ask you a favour?" is Mogu li te zamoliti za uslugu?. See pitati.

Present tense (i-class)

Regular i-class: stem mol- + -im, -iš, -i, -imo, -ite, -e.

Person	moliti (impf)	zamoliti (pf — future/subordinate sense)
ja	molim	zamolim
ti	moliš	zamoliš
on/ona/ono	moli	zamoli
mi	molimo	zamolimo
vi	molite	zamolite
oni/one/ona	mole	zamole

Molim te, dodaj mi sol.

Please pass me the salt. — 'molim te' as a polite softener.

Djeca mole roditelje za novi mobitel.

The kids are begging their parents for a new phone. — accusative person + 'za' + accusative thing.

Čim ga vidim, zamolim ga da nas pričeka.

As soon as I see him, I'll ask him to wait for us. — perfective present 'zamolim' with future sense.

The frozen molim

Molim (literally "I ask/pray") is a fixed politeness word doing three jobs:

"Please" — softening a request: Kavu, molim. "A coffee, please."
"You're welcome" — replying to hvala ("thank you"): — Hvala! — Molim!
"Pardon? / Sorry?" — asking someone to repeat, said with rising intonation: Molim? "Sorry, what?"

It can also introduce a request: Molim vas, gdje je kolodvor? "Excuse me, where is the station?"

— Hvala vam puno! — Molim, nema na čemu.

— Thank you very much! — You're welcome, not at all. — 'molim' = 'you're welcome'.

Molim? Možeš li ponoviti, nisam te čuo.

Sorry? Can you repeat that, I didn't hear you. — 'Molim?' = 'pardon?'.

The l-participle

Regular for an -iti verb. Masculine molio shows the vocalised -l.

Gender / number	moliti	zamoliti
masculine singular	molio	zamolio
feminine singular	molila	zamolila
neuter singular	molilo	zamolilo
masculine plural	molili	zamolili
feminine plural	molile	zamolile
neuter plural	molila	zamolila

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. Molio sam ga = "I was asking / kept asking him"; zamolio sam ga = "I asked him (once)".

Person	moliti (masc.)	zamoliti (masc.)
ja	molio sam	zamolio sam
ti	molio si	zamolio si
on / ona	molio / molila je	zamolio / zamolila je
mi	molili smo	zamolili smo
vi	molili ste	zamolili ste
oni / one	molili su	zamolili su

Zamolila sam susjeda da mi zalijeva cvijeće.

I asked my neighbour to water my flowers. — perfective: one completed request, feminine speaker.

Molili smo ih satima da nas puste unutra.

We begged them for hours to let us in. — imperfective: repeated, drawn-out asking.

Future I (futur prvi)

Moliti drops its -i before the clitic: molit ću; likewise zamolit ću.

Person	moliti	zamoliti
ja	molit ću	zamolit ću
ti	molit ćeš	zamolit ćeš
on/ona/ono	molit će	zamolit će
mi	molit ćemo	zamolit ćemo
vi	molit ćete	zamolit ćete
oni/one/ona	molit će	zamolit će

Zamolit ću šefa za slobodan dan.

I'll ask the boss for a day off. — perfective future: one request.

Imperative

i-class imperatives in -i, -imo, -ite. The perfective zamoli! tells someone to make a request; the imperfective moli! is "ask / pray / beg".

Person	moliti	zamoliti
ti	moli	zamoli
mi	molimo	zamolimo
vi	molite	zamolite

Zamoli ga lijepo, možda pristane.

Ask him nicely, maybe he'll agree. — perfective imperative.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle.

Person	moliti (masc.)	zamoliti (masc.)
ja	molio bih	zamolio bih
ti	molio bi	zamolio bi
on/ona/ono	molio bi	zamolio bi
mi	molili bismo	zamolili bismo
vi	molili biste	zamolili biste
oni/one/ona	molili bi	zamolili bi

The conditional is a standard politeness device: Zamolio bih vas za uslugu "I would like to ask you a favour" is markedly more polite than the bare present.

Zamolio bih vas da govorite malo sporije.

I would ask you to speak a little more slowly. — conditional for extra politeness (formal).

Other forms

Passive participle: moljen, moljena, moljeno and perfective zamoljen, zamoljena, zamoljeno ("asked, requested"). Note the l → lj softening before the -en (jotation): moliti → moljen, not *molen. The everyday form is zamoljen: Zamoljeni ste da ne pušite "You are kindly asked not to smoke" (formal, signage).
Present verbal adverb (moliti only): moleći ("[while] begging / pleading"), literary.

Putnici se mole da ne ometaju vozača.

Passengers are kindly requested not to distract the driver. — reflexive-passive 'se mole' on signage (formal).

Zamoljeni smo da napustimo zgradu.

We were asked to leave the building. — passive participle 'zamoljeni'.

Government

1. moliti / zamoliti + accusative person + za + accusative thing

The person asked goes in the accusative; the thing requested follows za + the accusative. This is the core frame — note that both slots are accusative.

Mogu li te zamoliti za uslugu?

Can I ask you a favour? — accusative 'te' (you) + 'za' + accusative 'uslugu'.

Molim vas za malo strpljenja.

I ask you for a little patience. — accusative 'vas'; the 'za' frame is normally + accusative, but the quantifier 'malo' here pulls the noun into the genitive 'strpljenja'.

2. moliti / zamoliti + accusative person + da-clause

To ask someone to do something, use a da-clause: the person in the accusative, then da + a finite verb. This is far more common than an infinitive here. See da vs the infinitive.

Molim te da dođeš na vrijeme.

Please come on time (lit. I ask you that you come on time). — accusative 'te' + 'da'-clause.

Zamolio ih je da utišaju glazbu.

He asked them to turn the music down. — accusative 'ih' + 'da'-clause.

3. moliti = "to pray"

In a religious sense moliti means "to pray", with the prayer in the accusative or moliti se (reflexive) "to pray (to)" + dative.

Baka svako jutro moli krunicu.

Grandma prays the rosary every morning. — 'moliti' = pray + accusative 'krunicu'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Mogu li te moliti nešto? — Koliko je sati?

False friend — asking a QUESTION is 'pitati', not 'moliti': 'Mogu li te nešto pitati?'.

✅ Mogu li te nešto pitati? — Koliko je sati?

Can I ask you something? — What time is it?

❌ Molim te pomoć.

Missing 'za' — you ask FOR a thing with 'za' + accusative: 'Molim te za pomoć'.

✅ Molim te za pomoć.

Please help me (lit. I ask you for help).

❌ Molim ti da dođeš.

Wrong case on the person — 'moliti' takes the ACCUSATIVE of the person: 'molim te', not the dative 'ti'.

✅ Molim te da dođeš.

Please come.

❌ Zamolio sam ga cijeli dan.

Aspect clash — repeated asking all day is imperfective 'molio sam'; perfective 'zamolio' = one request.

✅ Molio sam ga cijeli dan.

I was begging him all day.

❌ Zgrada je molena da se isprazni.

Spelling — the passive participle softens l → lj: 'moljen' / 'zamoljen', not '*molen'.

✅ Zamoljeni su da isprazne zgradu.

They were asked to clear the building.

Key Takeaways

Moliti (impf) / zamoliti (pf) = "ask FOR / request / beg / pray" — not "ask a question" (that's pitati).
Regular i-class: molim, moliš, moli, molimo, molite, mole.
Government: accusative person + za
- accusative thing, or accusative person + da-clause for "ask someone to do".
Molim is a frozen word for "please" / "you're welcome" / "pardon?".
Passive participle moljen / zamoljen (l → lj); use the conditional zamolio bih for extra politeness.

Now practice Croatian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Croatian→