naglašavati / naglasiti (to emphasise) | Croatian Grammar

Naglasiti ("to emphasise, to stress, to point out") is the verb of speeches, press conferences, op-eds, and any moment when a speaker wants to underline a point. It is built on glas ("voice"), with the prefix na-: to put voice onto something — to give it weight. Its aspect pair is a clean -ava- derivation: the perfective naglasiti versus the imperfective naglašavati (note the s → š that surfaces in the imperfective stem). The verb governs either an accusative object ("emphasise something") or a da-clause ("emphasise that…"), and it carries a second, literal phonetic sense — "to stress / accent a syllable" — that learners of Croatian pronunciation meet early. It pairs and contrasts with istaknuti ("to point out, to highlight").

Aspect

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Typical use
naglasiti	perfective	naglasim	one act of stressing a point
naglašavati	imperfective	naglašavam	repeatedly/continually stressing; "keep emphasising"

The split is the usual one: naglasiti = the single moment the point is made; naglašavati = the habit or insistence of returning to it. A reporter writes Ministar je naglasio da… ("The minister stressed that…") for one statement, but Stalno naglašava važnost… ("He keeps emphasising the importance of…") for a recurring theme. This is a suffixal pair: the imperfective adds -ava- and, with it, the s → š alternation in the stem (naglas- → naglaš-ava-). See forming aspect pairs by suffixation.

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Watch the consonant: the perfective is naglasiti (with s), but the imperfective stem palatalises to naglašavati (with š) — and so does the participle naglašen. Same alternation as brisati → brišem, driven by the following front element.

Present tense

Naglasiti is a regular i-class verb; naglašavati takes the -am present.

Person	naglasiti (pf)	naglašavati (impf)
ja	naglasim	naglašavam
ti	naglasiš	naglašavaš
on/ona/ono	naglasi	naglašava
mi	naglasimo	naglašavamo
vi	naglasite	naglašavate
oni/one/ona	naglase	naglašavaju

The imperfective naglašavam is the present for an ongoing or repeated insistence; the perfective naglasim is not a "now" tense and turns up in subordinate clauses: Da naglasim još jednom… ("Let me stress once more…").

Stalno naglašavam koliko je važno provjeriti izvore.

I keep emphasising how important it is to check sources. — imperfective, recurring insistence.

Da naglasim: rok je sutra, ne prekosutra.

Let me stress this: the deadline is tomorrow, not the day after. — perfective present in a 'da' frame.

The l-participle

Regular: masculine naglasio (perfective), naglašavao (imperfective).

Gender / number	naglasiti	naglašavati
masculine singular	naglasio	naglašavao
feminine singular	naglasila	naglašavala
neuter singular	naglasilo	naglašavalo
masculine plural	naglasili	naglašavali
feminine plural	naglasile	naglašavale
neuter plural	naglasila	naglašavala

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. The headline-style "X stressed that…" is the perfective naglasio je; the imperfective naglašavao je describes someone who was repeatedly stressing it.

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	naglasio sam	naglasila sam
ti	naglasio si	naglasila si
on / ona	naglasio je	naglasila je
mi	naglasili smo	naglasile smo
vi	naglasili ste	naglasile ste
oni / one	naglasili su	naglasile su

Premijerka je na konferenciji za novinare naglasila da pregovori nisu prekinuti.

At the press conference the prime minister stressed that the negotiations had not broken down. — perfective + 'da'-clause (news register).

Profesor je tijekom cijelog semestra naglašavao važnost čitanja izvornika.

Throughout the semester the professor kept emphasising the importance of reading the originals. — imperfective, sustained over time.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive drops its final -i before the clitic: naglasiti → naglasit ću; naglašavati → naglašavat ću.

Person	naglasiti	naglašavati
ja	naglasit ću	naglašavat ću
ti	naglasit ćeš	naglašavat ćeš
on/ona/ono	naglasit će	naglašavat će
mi	naglasit ćemo	naglašavat ćemo
vi	naglasit ćete	naglašavat ćete
oni/one/ona	naglasit će	naglašavat će

U govoru ću naglasiti da je riječ o zajedničkom uspjehu.

In the speech I'll stress that this is a shared success. — future 'naglasit ću'.

Imperative

The perfective naglasi! ("stress it!") asks for one act of emphasis; the imperfective naglašavaj! leans toward "keep stressing it".

Person	naglasiti (pf)	naglašavati (impf)
ti	naglasi	naglašavaj
mi	naglasimo	naglašavajmo
vi	naglasite	naglašavajte

Naglasite u zaključku da su rezultati preliminarni.

In the conclusion, stress that the results are preliminary. — 2pl imperative (academic advice).

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle — for the cautious "I would stress / I would point out", a common move in measured commentary.

Person	naglasiti (masc.)
ja	naglasio bih
ti	naglasio bi
on/ona/ono	naglasio/naglasila/naglasilo bi
mi	naglasili bismo
vi	naglasili biste
oni/one/ona	naglasili bi

Naglasio bih da ovo nije konačna odluka, nego prijedlog.

I would stress that this is not a final decision but a proposal. — hedged conditional.

Other forms

Passive participle: naglašen, naglašena, naglašeno ("emphasised; stressed; accented"). Note the s → š jotation that the -iti perfective triggers before -en (naglas- + -en → naglašen) — the same change you see in nositi → nošen, kositi → košen. As an adjective it means "marked, pronounced, emphatic": naglašen interes ("a marked interest"), and in phonetics naglašen slog ("a stressed syllable"). The imperfective gives naglašavan.
Verbal adverb (present): imperfective naglašavajući ("[while] emphasising"). The perfective has no present adverb but forms a literary past adverb naglasivši ("having stressed").

U riječi 'kava' naglašen je prvi slog.

In the word 'kava' the first syllable is stressed. — participle 'naglašen', the phonetic sense.

Key uses and government

1. Accusative object: "emphasise something"

The basic object of naglasiti is the accusative — the point, fact, or word being stressed. See the accusative direct object and verb government.

Posebno bih naglasio ulogu volontera u cijeloj akciji.

I'd especially like to emphasise the role of the volunteers in the whole campaign. — accusative 'ulogu'.

2. The da-clause: "emphasise that…"

To stress a whole proposition, the verb takes a da-clause with a finite verb — the reporting frame of news and speeches. English "stress that" maps directly, but Croatian's da is obligatory. See tvrditi.

Govornik je naglasio da nijedna odluka nije donesena bez rasprave.

The speaker stressed that no decision had been made without debate. — 'da'-clause.

Želim naglasiti da se ovo odnosi na sve, bez iznimke.

I want to emphasise that this applies to everyone, without exception. — 'da'-clause after a modal frame.

3. The literal sense: "stress / accent a syllable"

Built on glas ("voice"), naglasiti also means to put the phonetic stress on a syllable — the sense behind the noun naglasak ("accent, stress"). This is the verb you meet when learning where Croatian words are accented.

Mnogi stranci pogrešno naglašavaju ime 'Zagreb'.

Many foreigners stress the name 'Zagreb' wrongly. — the phonetic sense, imperfective.

4. Contrast with istaknuti ("to point out, to highlight")

Naglasiti and istaknuti (pf, "to point out, to single out, to highlight") overlap heavily and are often interchangeable, but the nuance differs: naglasiti is about giving weight/insistence ("to stress, to underline"), while istaknuti is about bringing forward / making prominent ("to point out, to single out"). You naglasiš the importance of something; you istakneš a name or a detail so it stands out. Istaknuti also takes the accusative or a da-clause.

Vrijedi istaknuti da je projekt završen prije roka, što treba naglasiti pred sponzorima.

It's worth pointing out that the project finished ahead of schedule, which should be stressed in front of the sponsors. — 'istaknuti' (single out) vs 'naglasiti' (give weight).

Common Mistakes

❌ Naglasavati ovu razliku.

Missing the š — the imperfective stem palatalises: 'naglašavati', and the present is 'naglašavam'.

✅ Naglašavam ovu razliku.

I'm emphasising this difference.

❌ Slog je naglasen.

Wrong participle — the s → š change gives 'naglašen', not 'naglasen'.

✅ Slog je naglašen.

The syllable is stressed.

❌ Naglasio je o tome da kasnimo.

No preposition — 'naglasiti' takes a bare 'da'-clause (or an accusative), not 'o tome da'.

✅ Naglasio je da kasnimo.

He stressed that we're running late.

❌ Naglasiti ću u govoru.

Spelling error — the infinitive drops its -i before the clitic: 'naglasit ću'.

✅ Naglasit ću u govoru.

I'll stress it in the speech.

❌ Stalno je naglasio važnost timskog rada.

Aspect mismatch — 'stalno' (constantly) needs the imperfective 'naglašavao je', not the one-shot perfective.

✅ Stalno je naglašavao važnost timskog rada.

He kept emphasising the importance of teamwork.

Key Takeaways

naglasiti (pf, naglasim, naglasio) = one act of stressing; naglašavati (impf, naglašavam, naglašavao) = repeated/sustained insistence — note the s → š in the imperfective stem.
Government: accusative object or a bare da-clause ("emphasise that…") — never o tome da.
Passive participle naglašen (s → š jotation), also the adjective "marked, emphatic" and the phonetic "stressed".
Second sense: to stress / accent a syllable (noun naglasak).
Near-synonym istaknuti = "point out / single out / highlight" (prominence), where naglasiti = "stress / underline" (weight). Future drops -i: naglasit ću.

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