osjećati se / osjetiti (to feel) | Croatian Grammar

Osjećati is the verb of feeling — and Croatian splits it into two constructions that English blurs together. With the reflexive se it means "to feel a way": Osjećam se dobro ("I feel good"), Kako se osjećaš? ("How do you feel?"). Without se, plain transitive osjećati / osjetiti means "to feel / sense something": Osjećam bol ("I feel pain"), Osjetio sam miris ("I smelled a scent"). The difference is not stylistic — it is structural, and choosing wrong produces a sentence a Croatian would not say. This page handles both, plus the third way Croatian expresses bodily states (the dative Hladno mi je), so you can keep them straight.

Aspect

The imperfective is osjećati (ongoing feeling); its perfective partner is osjetiti (to sense, to come to feel — a single moment of perception).

osjećati (impf) — a continuing feeling or perception: Osjećam se umorno ("I feel tired"), Osjećam napetost u zraku ("I feel the tension in the air").
osjetiti (pf) — the instant of noticing or sensing: Osjetio sam ubod ("I felt a sting"), Odjednom je osjetila olakšanje ("Suddenly she felt relief").

The reflexive "feel a way" sense lives overwhelmingly in the imperfective osjećati se, because feeling-a-way is a state; the perfective reflexive osjetiti se is rarer and means "to come to feel (a way)" at a specific moment. The aspect logic behind this is at aspect overview.

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One test settles the construction every time: if an adverb follows ("good, bad, tired, sick"), you need the reflexive — osjećam se dobro. If a noun in the accusative follows ("pain, a smell, the cold"), drop the se — osjećam bol.

Present tense

osjećati (se) is an a-class verb (stem osjeća-, with ć), endings -am, -aš, -a, -amo, -ate, -aju. The reflexive simply adds se.

Person	osjećati se (reflexive)	osjećati (transitive)	Meaning
ja	osjećam se	osjećam	I feel
ti	osjećaš se	osjećaš	you feel
on/ona/ono	osjeća se	osjeća	he/she/it feels
mi	osjećamo se	osjećamo	we feel
vi	osjećate se	osjećate	you (pl.) feel
oni/one/ona	osjećaju se	osjećaju	they feel

The perfective osjetiti is i-class: osjetim, osjetiš, osjeti, osjetimo, osjetite, osjete — and, being perfective, these forms don't describe a present action.

Kako se osjećaš nakon operacije?

How do you feel after the surgery? — reflexive, 'feel a way'.

Osjećam neki čudan miris u kuhinji.

I smell some strange odour in the kitchen. — transitive, accusative 'miris'.

The l-participle

Regular for both. The masculine osjećao / osjetio vocalises the -l.

Gender / number	osjećati (impf)	osjetiti (pf)
masculine singular	osjećao	osjetio
feminine singular	osjećala	osjetila
neuter singular	osjećalo	osjetilo
masculine plural	osjećali	osjetili
feminine plural	osjećale	osjetile
neuter plural	osjećala	osjetila

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle, with se in the cluster for the reflexive. In the reflexive perfect, the everyday third person is osjećao se (with je normally dropped before se); with a subject pronoun you still get osjećao sam se in the first person.

Person	osjećati se (masc. / fem.)
ja	osjećao sam se / osjećala sam se
ti	osjećao si se / osjećala si se
on / ona	osjećao se / osjećala se
mi	osjećali smo se / osjećale smo se
vi	osjećali ste se / osjećale ste se
oni / one	osjećali su se / osjećale su se

Cijeli dan sam se osjećala iscrpljeno.

I felt exhausted all day. — feminine speaker, reflexive perfect.

Odmah je osjetio da nešto nije u redu.

He immediately sensed that something was wrong. — perfective 'osjetio', transitive with a da-clause.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive drops its final -i before the clitic: osjećat ću se, osjetit ću.

Person	osjećati se	osjetiti
ja	osjećat ću se	osjetit ću
ti	osjećat ćeš se	osjetit ćeš
on/ona/ono	osjećat će se	osjetit će
mi	osjećat ćemo se	osjetit ćemo
vi	osjećat ćete se	osjetit ćete
oni/one/ona	osjećat će se	osjetit će

Popij vode, odmah ćeš se osjećati bolje.

Drink some water, you'll feel better right away.

Imperative

The a-class imperative gives osjećaj (se) — though commanding someone how to feel is unusual, so this form is uncommon and mostly appears in the encouraging Osjećaj se kao kod kuće ("Make yourself at home", literally "Feel yourself as at home").

Person	osjećati se
ti	osjećaj se
mi	osjećajmo se
vi	osjećajte se

Uđi, osjećaj se kao kod kuće.

Come in, make yourself at home.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle, with se in the cluster.

Person	Form (masc.)
ja	osjećao bih se
ti	osjećao bi se
on/ona/ono	osjećao/osjećala/osjećalo bi se
mi	osjećali bismo se
vi	osjećali biste se
oni/one/ona	osjećali bi se

Osjećao bih se puno mirnije da imam plan.

I'd feel much calmer if I had a plan.

Other forms

Passive participle: from the transitive perfective, osjećen / osjetan ("felt, perceptible"), more often met in the related adjective osjetan ("noticeable, considerable"). The reflexive "feel a way" has no passive.
Present verbal adverb: osjećajući ("feeling, while feeling"), used in writing: Osjećajući umor, sjela je ("Feeling tired, she sat down").

Key uses and government

1. osjećati se + adverb — "feel a way"

The reflexive takes a manner adverb, not an adjective: dobro (well), loše (badly), sjajno (great), umorno (tired), usamljeno (lonely). This trips up English speakers, who say "feel good/bad" with what looks like an adjective; in Croatian the predicate after osjećati se is adverbial.

Osjećam se odlično, kao da sam ponovno rođen.

I feel great, like I've been born again. — adverb 'odlično'.

Nakon svađe osjećala se loše cijeli tjedan.

After the argument she felt bad all week. — adverb 'loše'.

2. osjećati / osjetiti + accusative — "feel/sense something"

Drop the se and the verb takes a direct object in the accusative: a sensation, an emotion, a physical thing. This is the direct-object accusative at work.

Osjećam bol u leđima kad dugo sjedim.

I feel pain in my back when I sit for a long time. — accusative 'bol'.

Osjetila je olakšanje kad je čula dobre vijesti.

She felt relief when she heard the good news. — perfective, accusative 'olakšanje'.

3. Contrast with the dative state — Hladno mi je

For pure bodily sensations of temperature and the like, Croatian often skips osjećati altogether and uses an impersonal dative construction: Hladno mi je ("I'm cold", literally "(it) is cold to-me"), Vruće mu je ("He's hot"), Muka mi je ("I feel sick"). Here there is no osjećati and no subject — the experiencer is dative. This impersonal pattern is covered at impersonal sentences.

Hladno mi je, možeš li zatvoriti prozor?

I'm cold, can you close the window? — dative state, no 'osjećati'.

Muka mi je od vožnje, moram stati.

I feel carsick, I need to stop. — 'muka mi je', dative experiencer.

Common Mistakes

❌ Osjećam dobro.

Missing 'se' — 'feel a way' is reflexive; without it the verb expects a noun object.

✅ Osjećam se dobro.

I feel good.

❌ Osjećam se dobar.

Wrong word class — after 'osjećati se' you use an adverb ('dobro'), not an adjective ('dobar').

✅ Osjećam se dobro.

I feel good.

❌ Osjećam se bol u nozi.

Extra 'se' — feeling a thing is transitive; drop the reflexive: 'osjećam bol'.

✅ Osjećam bol u nozi.

I feel pain in my leg.

❌ Osjećam se hladno.

Unidiomatic — temperature uses the dative state 'Hladno mi je', not 'osjećati se'.

✅ Hladno mi je.

I'm cold.

❌ Odjednom sam osjećao ubod.

Aspect — a sudden single sensation takes the perfective 'osjetio', not the ongoing 'osjećao'.

✅ Odjednom sam osjetio ubod.

I suddenly felt a sting.

Key Takeaways

osjećati (impf) / osjetiti (pf), a-class with ć in the imperfective stem.
Reflexive osjećati se
- adverb = "feel a way" (osjećam se dobro/loše/umorno).
Transitive osjećati / osjetiti
- accusative = "feel/sense a thing" (osjećam bol; osjetio sam miris).
For temperature and bodily states, prefer the impersonal dative: Hladno mi je, Muka mi je.
The single biggest trap is the predicate: adverb after the reflexive, never an adjective.

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