mrziti (to hate) | Croatian Grammar

Mrziti is "to hate" — the negative twin of voljeti ("to love / like"). The two verbs share the same syntax exactly: both take a plain accusative object, both can govern a da-clause or an infinitive, and both are emotional-state verbs that live mostly in the imperfective. So if you already control voljeti, you get mrziti almost for free — just swap the feeling and the form. The one trap worth flagging up front is the present tense: it is mrzim, not mrzijem or mrzam.

Aspect

Mrziti is imperfective — hating is a sustained state, and states are imperfective. There is a prefixed perfective zamrziti ("to come to hate, to take a dislike to"), which marks the entry into the state rather than the state itself. You will use mrziti for "I hate (now / generally)" and reach for zamrziti only for the moment of turning against something.

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Typical use
mrziti	imperfective	mrzim	the ongoing feeling of hatred (default)
zamrziti	perfective	zamrzim	"come to hate" — entering the state

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The present is mrzim, mrziš, mrzi… — an i-class verb, not *mrzijem and not *mrzam. The stem keeps its consonant cluster mrz- throughout; there is no fleeting vowel and no -j- in the present.

Present tense

A regular i-class verb: stem mrz- + -im, -iš, -i, -imo, -ite, -e.

Person	Form
ja	mrzim
ti	mrziš
on/ona/ono	mrzi
mi	mrzimo
vi	mrzite
oni/one/ona	mrze

Mrzim gužve u tramvaju ujutro.

I hate the crowds on the tram in the morning. — accusative object 'gužve'.

Zna da ga mrzim, ali se pravi da ne primjećuje.

He knows I hate him, but he pretends not to notice. — accusative clitic 'ga'.

The l-participle

Regular for an -iti infinitive: masculine mrzio (the -i- survives, then -l vocalises to -o), feminine mrzila.

Gender / number	Form
masculine singular	mrzio
feminine singular	mrzila
neuter singular	mrzilo
masculine plural	mrzili
feminine plural	mrzile
neuter plural	mrzila

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. With the imperfective mrziti the perfekt reads as "used to hate / hated (for a stretch of time)".

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	mrzio sam	mrzila sam
ti	mrzio si	mrzila si
on / ona	mrzio je	mrzila je
mi	mrzili smo	mrzile smo
vi	mrzili ste	mrzile ste
oni / one	mrzili su	mrzile su

Kao klinac sam mrzio špinat, a sad ga obožavam.

As a kid I hated spinach, and now I adore it. — masculine 'mrzio', accusative clitic 'ga'.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive drops its -i before the clitic: mrzit ću, never mrziti ću. (In practice you rarely say "I will hate", but the form follows the rule cleanly.)

Person	Form
ja	mrzit ću
ti	mrzit ćeš
on/ona/ono	mrzit će
mi	mrzit ćemo
vi	mrzit ćete
oni/one/ona	mrzit će

Ako mu to kažeš, mrzit će te do kraja života.

If you tell him that, he'll hate you for the rest of his life. — future 'mrzit će' + accusative 'te'.

Imperative

The imperative mrzi! / mrzite! exists but is pragmatically odd — you rarely command someone to hate. What is common is the negative Nemoj me mrziti ("Don't hate me"). Keep the affirmative in mind only for emphatic or literary contexts.

Person	Form
ti	mrzi
mi	mrzimo
vi	mrzite

Nemoj me mrziti, samo sam htio pomoći.

Don't hate me, I only wanted to help. — negative imperative 'nemoj … mrziti'.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

The bih-clitics + l-participle, for hypotheticals.

Person	Form (masc.)
ja	mrzio bih
ti	mrzio bi
on/ona/ono	mrzio/mrzila/mrzilo bi
mi	mrzili bismo
vi	mrzili biste
oni/one/ona	mrzili bi

Mrzio bih da ostaneš samo zbog mene.

I'd hate it if you stayed only because of me. — conditional + 'da'-clause.

Other forms

Passive participle: mržen, mržena, mrženo ("hated"). Note the stem shows the -ž-: mrz- → mrž- before the -en ending. You meet it most in omražen ("loathed, detested") and in the passive: Bio je mržen u cijelom razredu ("he was hated by the whole class").
Verbal adverb: mrzeći ("[while] hating") — possible but uncommon.

Bio je omražen među kolegama zbog svoje arogancije.

He was loathed among his colleagues for his arrogance. — passive-participle derivative 'omražen' (mrz → mrž).

Key uses and government

1. Accusative object — what you hate

The basic complement is a plain accusative: a noun or pronoun naming the hated thing or person. No preposition. This is the same frame as voljeti; see also the accusative direct object.

Mrzim hladno vrijeme i kratke dane.

I hate cold weather and short days. — two accusative objects.

2. Infinitive — hating to do something

To hate doing something, mrziti takes a bare infinitive — the most natural pattern for an activity with the same subject.

Mrzim čekati u redu, izgubim strpljenje.

I hate waiting in line, I lose my patience. — 'mrziti' + infinitive 'čekati'.

3. da-clause — hating that something is the case

When the hated situation has its own subject, or you want to stress the ongoing fact, use a da-clause: Mrzim da… ("I hate that / I hate it when…"). For the infinitive-vs-da choice, see da vs the infinitive.

Mrzim da me netko prekida usred rečenice.

I hate it when someone interrupts me mid-sentence. — 'mrziti' + 'da'-clause with its own subject.

4. The intensifier prezirati — "to despise"

When plain hatred is not strong enough, Croatian reaches for prezirati (impf, prezirem) "to despise, hold in contempt". It is a colder, more disdainful word than mrziti and takes the same accusative frame. It is also a notch more formal/literary.

Ne mrzim ga — prezirem ga, a to je gore.

I don't hate him — I despise him, and that's worse. — contrast 'mrziti' vs the stronger 'prezirati'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Mrzijem ponedjeljke.

Wrong present — 'mrziti' is i-class: 'mrzim', not *mrzijem.

✅ Mrzim ponedjeljke.

I hate Mondays.

❌ Mrzim na zimu.

No preposition — 'mrziti' takes a bare accusative, not 'na': 'Mrzim zimu'.

✅ Mrzim zimu.

I hate winter.

❌ Mrzim za čekati.

No 'za' before the infinitive — use the bare infinitive: 'Mrzim čekati'.

✅ Mrzim čekati.

I hate waiting.

❌ Bio je mrzit u razredu.

Wrong passive participle — it is 'mržen' (mrz → mrž), not the bare infinitive stem.

✅ Bio je mržen u razredu.

He was hated in the class.

❌ Mrziti ću te zauvijek.

Future spelling — the infinitive drops its -i before the clitic: 'mrzit ću'.

✅ Mrzit ću te zauvijek.

I'll hate you forever.

Key Takeaways

Mrziti (impf, present mrzim, l-participle mrzio/mrzila) is the negative pole of voljeti — same syntax, opposite feeling.
Government: accusative object (Mrzim gužve), infinitive (Mrzim čekati), or da-clause (Mrzim da me prekidaju).
Perfective zamrziti = "come to hate"; passive participle mržen (mrz → mrž), as in omražen.
Future drops the -i: mrzit ću, never mrziti ću.
For stronger contempt, use prezirati ("despise"), which takes the same accusative frame.

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