Ostati ("to stay, to remain, to be left") is one of those small verbs that does an enormous amount of work. It covers physically staying somewhere (ostati kod kuće "stay home"), remaining in a state (ostati miran "stay calm"), and the very Croatian "experiencer" construction ostalo mi je ("I have … left"). It is also a model of the -ne- perfective present (ostanem) and pairs neatly with postati ("to become") — ostati is staying the same, postati is changing. Mastering its government is mostly about one fact English speakers keep getting wrong: where you stay is a location (locative), not a destination.
Aspect and partner
The pair is ostajati (imperfective) / ostati (perfective):
- ostati (pf) — one completed staying / a result of remaining: Ostao sam kod kuće ("I stayed home"); Ostalo je malo kruha ("A little bread is left").
- ostajati (impf) — repeated, habitual, or in-progress remaining: Ostajem u uredu do kasno svaki dan ("I stay at the office late every day").
The imperfective ostajati is built with the -ja- suffix, and its present is the a-class type ostajem (not ostajam). For how perfectives and imperfectives relate across the system, see verbal aspect: the big picture.
Present tense
Ostati takes the -ne- present (ostan-em), like other punctual perfectives (stati → stanem, postati → postanem). Ostajati is a-class on the stem ostaj- (ostajem).
| Person | ostati (pf) | ostajati (impf) |
|---|---|---|
| ja | ostanem | ostajem |
| ti | ostaneš | ostaješ |
| on/ona/ono | ostane | ostaje |
| mi | ostanemo | ostajemo |
| vi | ostanete | ostajete |
| oni/one/ona | ostanu | ostaju |
The perfective present ostanem cannot mean "I am staying right now"; like every perfective present it reads as future, habitual, or in a conditional/subordinate clause. For the ongoing situation use the imperfective ostajem or describe the result in past/future.
Često ostanem bez riječi kad ga slušam.
I'm often left speechless when I listen to him. — perfective present, habitual result.
Ovaj tjedan ostajem u gradu, ne idem nikamo.
This week I'm staying in town, I'm not going anywhere. — imperfective, ongoing.
The l-participle
Regular: stem osta- + endings. The masculine singular ostao shows the vocalised -l.
| Gender / number | Form |
|---|---|
| masculine singular | ostao |
| feminine singular | ostala |
| neuter singular | ostalo |
| masculine plural | ostali |
| feminine plural | ostale |
| neuter plural | ostala |
Perfect tense (perfekt)
Clitic biti + l-participle. Ostati (pf) for a single completed stay; ostajati (impf) for habitual past staying.
| Person | Masculine subject | Feminine subject |
|---|---|---|
| ja | ostao sam | ostala sam |
| ti | ostao si | ostala si |
| on / ona | ostao je | ostala je |
| mi | ostali smo | ostale smo |
| vi | ostali ste | ostale ste |
| oni / one | ostali su | ostale su |
Ostali smo kod prijatelja do ponoći.
We stayed at our friends' place until midnight. — perfective, one completed stay.
Kao dijete često sam ostajala kod bake preko ljeta.
As a child I often stayed at grandma's over the summer. — imperfective, habitual past (fem. speaker).
Future I (futur prvi)
The infinitive ostati drops its -i before the clitic: ostat ću.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ja | ostat ću |
| ti | ostat ćeš |
| on/ona/ono | ostat će |
| mi | ostat ćemo |
| vi | ostat ćete |
| oni/one/ona | ostat će |
Ako pada kiša, ostat ćemo doma i gledati filmove.
If it rains, we'll stay home and watch films.
Imperative
Perfective ostati: ostani, ostanimo, ostanite. Ostani! ("Stay!") is everyday and warm.
| Person | ostati (pf) | ostajati (impf) |
|---|---|---|
| ti | ostani | ostaj |
| mi | ostanimo | ostajmo |
| vi | ostanite | ostajte |
Negative commands use nemoj: Nemoj ostati predugo na suncu ("Don't stay in the sun too long").
Ostani još malo, noć je mlada.
Stay a little longer, the night is young.
Ostanite mirni, sve je pod kontrolom.
Stay calm (pl./formal), everything is under control. — imperative + predicate adjective.
Conditional I (kondicional prvi)
bih-clitics + l-participle.
| Person | Form (masc.) |
|---|---|
| ja | ostao bih |
| ti | ostao bi |
| on/ona/ono | ostao/ostala/ostalo bi |
| mi | ostali bismo |
| vi | ostali biste |
| oni/one/ona | ostali bi |
Ostao bih još koji dan da mogu uzeti slobodno.
I'd stay a few more days if I could take time off.
Other forms
- Verbal adverb (present): imperfective ostajući ("[while] remaining / staying"). Used in writing for a backgrounded simultaneous state.
- Passive participle: ostati is intransitive, so it has no passive participle. (The related adjective ostali "the remaining / the other" is the l-participle used attributively: ostali gosti "the other guests".)
Ostajući vjerna svojim načelima, odbila je ponudu.
Staying true to her principles, she turned down the offer. — verbal adverb 'ostajući'.
Key uses and government
1. Staying somewhere: location in the locative (or the adverb kod kuće)
This is the point English speakers fail most. Ostati describes where you remain — a static location — so it takes the locative, not a motion case: ostati u gradu ("stay in town"), ostati na poslu ("stay at work"), ostati kod kuće ("stay home" — kod + genitive kuće). Even though "stay" can feel like a decision/movement to English ears, in Croatian it is rest, not motion. See the locative of location.
Večeras ostajem kod kuće, previše sam umoran.
I'm staying home tonight, I'm too tired. — 'kod' + genitive 'kuće'.
Ostali smo u Dubrovniku još tri dana.
We stayed in Dubrovnik three more days. — 'u' + locative, location.
2. Remaining in a state: predicate complement in the nominative
"Stay/remain [adjective]" takes a predicate adjective in the nominative, agreeing with the subject: ostati miran ("stay calm"), ostati budan ("stay awake"), ostati gladan ("remain hungry"). This is the link-verb pattern shared with biti and postati — see predicate uses of the nominative.
Pokušaj ostati smiren, sve ćemo riješiti.
Try to stay calm, we'll sort everything out. — predicate adjective 'smiren'.
Cijelu noć smo ostali budni i razgovarali.
We stayed up all night talking. — predicate adjective 'budni' (plural).
3. The experiencer "to have left": ostati + dative + nominative subject
A very Croatian use: with a dative experiencer and a nominative subject, ostati means "X has Y left". The thing remaining is the grammatical subject (and the verb agrees with it); the person is in the dative. Ostalo mi je malo novca = "I have a little money left" (literally "a little money has remained to me"). See the possessive/experiencer dative.
Ostalo mi je samo dvadeset eura do plaće.
I have only twenty euros left until payday. — dative 'mi' + nominative subject 'dvadeset eura'.
Koliko nam je vremena ostalo?
How much time do we have left? — 'vremena' is the subject, 'nam' the experiencer.
4. Contrast with postati (to become)
Ostati = stay the same; postati = change into something new. Both are link verbs, but postati takes the instrumental of the new role (postati liječnik / liječnikom) while ostati keeps the nominative. See postati.
Mnogi su otišli, ali on je ostao i postao direktor.
Many left, but he stayed and became the director.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ostajem kod kući večeras.
Wrong case — 'kod' governs the genitive: 'kod kuće', not 'kod kući'.
✅ Ostajem kod kuće večeras.
I'm staying home tonight.
❌ Ostali smo u Dubrovnik tri dana.
Wrong case — staying somewhere is location, so locative: 'u Dubrovniku', not accusative.
✅ Ostali smo u Dubrovniku tri dana.
We stayed in Dubrovnik three days.
❌ Ostalo sam malo novca.
The experiencer construction is impersonal: the verb agrees with the thing left and the person is dative — 'Ostalo MI je malo novca'.
✅ Ostalo mi je malo novca.
I have a little money left.
❌ Pokušaj ostati smirenim.
'ostati' keeps a predicate in the NOMINATIVE: 'ostati smiren'; the instrumental belongs to 'postati'.
✅ Pokušaj ostati smiren.
Try to stay calm.
❌ Ostati ću doma ako pada kiša.
Before the future clitic the infinitive drops its -i: 'ostat ću'.
✅ Ostat ću doma ako pada kiša.
I'll stay home if it rains.
Key Takeaways
- ostati (pf, ostanem) = one completed stay / "be left"; ostajati (impf, ostajem) = habitual or in-progress staying.
- Where you stay is location → locative (u gradu, na poslu) or kod
- genitive (kod kuće) — never a motion case.
- "Stay [adjective]" keeps a predicate in the nominative (ostati miran), unlike postati which takes the instrumental.
- The experiencer ostalo mi je … = "I have … left": dative person + nominative subject + impersonal verb.
- Imperative ostani!; future ostat ću; verbal adverb ostajući; no passive participle.
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Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- Verbal Aspect: The Big PictureA2 — Why nearly every verb comes in an imperfective/perfective pair.
- Locative for Static LocationA2 — Where something IS — the rest/position sense of u and na.
- The Possessive (Sympathetic) DativeB1 — Using the dative for inalienable possession and affectedness.
- Nominative: UsesA1 — Subject, predicate noun, naming, and citation.
- vraćati se / vratiti se (to return)A2 — Full reference for the reflexive verb 'vratiti se' (to come back) and its imperfective 'vraćati se', the ć/t alternation, je-deletion in the perfect, and source/destination government.
- postajati / postati (to become)A2 — Becoming — a verb whose result-predicate goes in the instrumental or the nominative.