odmarati se / odmoriti se (to rest) | Croatian Grammar

Odmarati se / odmoriti se ("to rest") is the verb you reach for when you want a break, a holiday, or simply to put your feet up — and it carries a small grammatical surprise for English speakers: in Croatian, "to rest" is normally reflexive. You don't just rest, you rest yourself (odmaram se), with the particle se attached. The pair is a clean imperfective/perfective contrast — odmarati se (the ongoing state of resting) versus odmoriti se (getting your rest, recharging fully) — and it sits next to the very common noun odmor, which means both "rest" and "holiday / vacation".

Aspect

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Typical use
odmarati se	imperfective	odmaram se	resting (ongoing), taking it easy
odmoriti se	perfective	odmorim se	get a (full) rest, recharge, take a proper break

The contrast is the usual one of process versus result. Odmaram se describes the activity in progress — I'm resting right now, I'm having a lazy afternoon. Odmorit ću se looks at the rest as a completed recharge: I'll get some rest and be fresh afterwards. This is a suffix-formed aspect pair: the perfective odmoriti is the base, and the imperfective is built by lengthening the stem to odmar-a-.

💡

The se is part of the verb's normal meaning, not optional. "I want to rest" is Želim se odmoriti — drop the se and you get the rarer transitive "rest something" (your legs, your eyes), which needs an object. Learn the everyday verb with its se attached.

Present tense

Odmarati se is a regular a-class verb (odmaram); odmoriti se is a regular i-class verb (odmorim). The clitic se sits in the clitic slot, usually right after the first stressed word.

Person	odmarati se (impf)	odmoriti se (pf)
ja	odmaram se	odmorim se
ti	odmaraš se	odmoriš se
on/ona/ono	odmara se	odmori se
mi	odmaramo se	odmorimo se
vi	odmarate se	odmorite se
oni/one/ona	odmaraju se	odmore se

As always, the perfective present odmorim se is not a "now" tense; it reads as a future or condition: Čim se odmorim, nastavljam ("As soon as I've rested, I'll carry on"). For the act in progress you need the imperfective odmaram se.

Odmaram se na balkonu, javi se za sat vremena.

I'm resting on the balcony, get in touch in an hour. — imperfective, in progress.

Sjedni i odmori se malo, izgledaš umorno.

Sit down and rest a bit, you look tired. — perfective imperative.

The l-participle

Odmarati se is regular -ati: odmarao / odmarala. Odmoriti se is regular -iti: odmorio / odmorila.

Gender / number	odmarati se	odmoriti se
masculine singular	odmarao	odmorio
feminine singular	odmarala	odmorila
neuter singular	odmaralo	odmorilo
masculine plural	odmarali	odmorili
feminine plural	odmarale	odmorile
neuter plural	odmarala	odmorila

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle + se. With a reflexive verb the clitic cluster gets a little crowded — the order is sam se, si se, but for the third person se je contracts to se: odmorio se ("he rested"), not odmorio se je.

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	odmorio sam se	odmorila sam se
ti	odmorio si se	odmorila si se
on / ona	odmorio se	odmorila se
mi	odmorili smo se	odmorile smo se
vi	odmorili ste se	odmorile ste se
oni / one	odmorili su se	odmorile su se

Napokon smo se dobro odmorili na moru.

We finally got a good rest at the seaside. — perfective, a completed recharge.

Cijeli vikend sam se odmarao i nisam ništa radio.

I rested all weekend and didn't do anything. — imperfective, an ongoing state.

Future I (futur prvi)

Both drop the final -i: odmarat ću se, odmorit ću se. Note the spelling — the infinitive loses its -i before the clitic ću.

Person	odmarati se	odmoriti se
ja	odmarat ću se	odmorit ću se
ti	odmarat ćeš se	odmorit ćeš se
on/ona/ono	odmarat će se	odmorit će se
mi	odmarat ćemo se	odmorit ćemo se
vi	odmarat ćete se	odmorit ćete se
oni/one/ona	odmarat će se	odmorit će se

Sutra ću se odmoriti, danas moram završiti projekt.

I'll rest tomorrow, today I have to finish the project.

Imperative

The perfective Odmori se! ("Get some rest!") is one of the most common things you'll hear when someone cares about you — after a hard day, an illness, or a long trip. The imperfective odmaraj se! leans toward "keep resting / take it easy (for a while)".

Person	odmarati se (impf)	odmoriti se (pf)
ti	odmaraj se	odmori se
mi	odmarajmo se	odmorimo se
vi	odmarajte se	odmorite se

Odmori se, sutra te čeka naporan dan.

Get some rest, you've got a tough day ahead tomorrow. — perfective imperative.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle + se, for polite suggestions and hypotheticals.

Person	odmoriti se (masc.)
ja	odmorio bih se
ti	odmorio bi se
on/ona/ono	odmorio/odmorila/odmorilo bi se
mi	odmorili bismo se
vi	odmorili biste se
oni/one/ona	odmorili bi se

Odmorio bih se nakratko, ali nemamo vremena.

I'd rest for a bit, but we don't have time.

Other forms

Verbal adverb: imperfective odmarajući se ("[while] resting"). The perfective has no present adverb (perfectives never do). There is no everyday passive participle for the reflexive verb, since "rest" is intransitive.
The noun odmor: masculine, meaning "rest" and, very commonly, "holiday / vacation". ljetni odmor = "summer holiday"; godišnji odmor = "annual leave"; Idemo na odmor = "We're going on holiday". The phrase na odmoru (locative) means "on holiday / on a break".

Odmarajući se na suncu, posve sam zaboravio na obaveze.

Resting in the sun, I completely forgot about my obligations. — verbal adverb.

Idemo na ljetni odmor u Dalmaciju.

We're going on summer holiday to Dalmatia. — the noun 'odmor'.

Key uses and government

1. Intransitive reflexive: just se, no object

In its everyday meaning the verb is intransitive — it takes no direct object, only the reflexive se. You rest, full stop. This is the reflexive se marking the subject as both doer and undergoer.

Moramo se odmoriti prije nego krenemo dalje.

We have to rest before we move on. — reflexive, no object.

2. "Rest from something": od + genitive

To say what you are resting from — work, the kids, the noise — Croatian uses od + genitive, where English uses "from". The frame is odmoriti se od nečega.

Konačno sam se odmorio od posla i obaveza.

I finally rested from work and obligations. — 'od' + genitive 'posla'.

Treba mi tjedan dana da se odmorim od svega.

I need a week to rest from everything. — 'od svega', genitive.

3. Transitive odmoriti: rest a body part (no se)

Without se, the verb can take a direct accusative object — you rest your legs, your eyes, your back. Here odmoriti means "give rest to", and the body part is the thing being rested. See the accusative direct object.

Sjedni i odmori noge, hodali smo cijeli dan.

Sit down and rest your legs, we've been walking all day. — transitive, accusative 'noge', no 'se'.

Sklopi malo oči i odmori ih.

Close your eyes for a bit and rest them. — transitive 'odmori', accusative 'ih'.

4. Rest is not sleep: odmarati se vs spavati

A frequent slip is to treat odmarati se as a synonym of spavati ("to sleep"). They are not the same: you can rest with your eyes open, reading or lying on the sofa, without sleeping at all. Odmaram se = I'm taking it easy; spavam = I'm asleep. See spavati / zaspati for the sleeping pair.

Ne spavam, samo se odmaram.

I'm not sleeping, I'm just resting. — the rest-vs-sleep contrast.

Common Mistakes

❌ Želim odmoriti nakon posla.

Missing 'se' — the everyday verb is reflexive: 'odmoriti se'.

✅ Želim se odmoriti nakon posla.

I want to rest after work.

❌ Odmorio sam se od raditi.

Wrong complement — 'od' needs a noun in the genitive, not a verb: 'od posla' / 'od rada'.

✅ Odmorio sam se od posla.

I rested from work.

❌ Idem na odmoru.

Wrong case after 'na' for motion — destination takes the accusative: 'na odmor'. 'Na odmoru' (locative) means 'while on holiday'.

✅ Idem na odmor.

I'm going on holiday.

❌ Cijelo popodne sam spavao se na kauču.

Two errors mixed: 'spavati' is not reflexive, and rest ≠ sleep. If you mean resting: 'odmarao se'.

✅ Cijelo popodne sam se odmarao na kauču.

I rested all afternoon on the couch.

❌ Odmoriti ću se ovaj vikend.

Wrong future spelling — the infinitive drops its -i before the clitic: 'odmorit ću se'.

✅ Odmorit ću se ovaj vikend.

I'll rest this weekend.

Key Takeaways

odmarati se (impf, odmaram se) = resting in progress; odmoriti se (pf, odmorim se) = get a full rest — both normally reflexive with se.
"Rest from something" = od + genitive: odmoriti se od posla.
Without se, transitive odmoriti
- accusative = "rest a body part": odmori noge / oči.
The noun odmor = "rest" and "holiday"; na odmor (to go) vs na odmoru (while there).
Rest is not sleep — don't swap odmarati se for spavati. Future drops -i: odmorit ću se (never odmoriti ću se).

Now practice Croatian

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

Start learning Croatian→