odnositi se (to relate to / concern)

Odnositi se is an abstract relational verb that English splits across at least three words: "to relate to", "to refer to / concern", and "to treat / behave toward (someone)". Which English verb it matches depends entirely on the preposition that follows it — and that is the whole game. na + accusative = "relate/refer to, concern"; prema + dative = "treat, behave toward". Lock those two onto two different mental shelves and the verb becomes easy. First, one warning: this reflexive odnositi se is not the physical odnijeti / odnositi "to carry away". They share a root and a spelling but mean different things — we keep them strictly apart below.

Aspect and the two homonyms

The verb on this page, the abstract reflexive odnositi se, is imperfective, and in its relational meaning it is effectively unpaired — relating, concerning and treating are states/ongoing dispositions, so the imperfective covers them. (A perfective odnijeti se exists only marginally and not in these everyday relational senses.) The physical odnijeti "to carry away" — Odnesi smeće! ("Take out the rubbish!") — is a different verb with its own perfective; it is handled at donijeti / odnijeti. The reflexivity of our verb is the ordinary lexical kind — reflexive verbs.

Present tense

A regular i-class verb (stem odnosi-); it lives mostly in the 3rd person, since the subject is usually a thing (a rule, a statement, a remark) that "concerns" or "relates to" something — though prema-uses with a human subject ("he treats them…") are common too.

The l-participle

Regular for an i-class verb (the -i- drops, masculine -l → -o).

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle, with se in the clitic cluster. Imperfective past, since both senses are durative.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive drops -i before the clitic: odnositi → odnosit će se. Spelling: odnosit će se, never odnositi će.

Imperative

Only the prema-sense (treating people) gives a usable imperative — you can tell someone how to behave toward others, but you cannot command a rule to "concern" something. Odnosi se prema njima s poštovanjem ("Treat them with respect").

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

The bih-clitics + l-participle — for hypotheticals, especially about how someone would behave.

Other forms

• Passive participle: none in these reflexive senses.
• Verbal adverb (present): odnoseći se ("[while] relating/behaving") is usable in writing: Odnoseći se prema svima jednako, stekao je povjerenje ("By treating everyone equally, he earned trust").

Key uses and government — the na/prema split

1. na + ACCUSATIVE — "relate to / refer to / concern, apply to"

When the verb means a topic, rule, statement, or text bears on / concerns / applies to something, it takes na + the accusative. The subject is typically inanimate (a rule, a question, a comment); the na-phrase is what it is about. This is the sense in Ovo se odnosi na tebe ("this concerns you / this is about you").

For the accusative endings, see the accusative direct object. Note: na here is the na of "concerning/about", and it governs the accusative (the directional/target na), not the locative.

2. prema + DATIVE — "treat / behave toward"

When the verb means how someone behaves toward / treats a person (or group), it takes prema + the dative. The subject is normally human, and an adverb of manner (lijepo, loše, s poštovanjem) usually rides along. This is Lijepo se odnosi prema njima ("he treats them nicely").

The dative after prema is the same dative-of-orientation you meet across the language — dative with verbs and adjectives. For the broader picture of which preposition a verb demands, see verb government.

3. The near-neighbour: ticati se + GENITIVE

For "to concern" you have a close synonym, ticati se, which governs the genitive: To se tebe ne tiče ("that doesn't concern you / that's none of your business"). Odnositi se na and ticati se overlap in the "concern" sense, but ticati se is more about being someone's business/affair and is often used in the negative. Keep the cases apart: odnositi se na + accusative vs ticati se + genitive. See ticati se.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Odnositi se (impf, odnosi se) is the abstract relational verb — keep it apart from the physical odnijeti "carry away".
• The whole verb turns on its preposition: na + accusative = "relate/refer to, concern, apply to" (odnosi se na tebe); prema + dative = "treat / behave toward" (odnosi se prema njima).
• The na sense usually has an inanimate subject (rule, remark, chapter); the prema sense usually has a human subject + a manner adverb.
• Near-neighbour ticati se also means "concern" but takes the genitive (ne tiče te se).
• Future drops -i: odnosit će se (never odnositi će).