pitati / upitati (to ask a question) | Croatian Grammar

Pitati means "to ask a question" — to seek information. The crucial thing for English speakers is what case the person you ask takes: in Croatian you ask someone in the accusative (Pitao sam učitelja — "I asked the teacher"), exactly as if the person were a direct object. That alone trips up most learners, who reach for a preposition. The second pitfall is keeping pitati ("ask a question") apart from tražiti and moliti ("ask for / request"), which Croatian treats as completely different verbs.

Aspect

The pair is pitati (imperfective) and upitati (perfective). They are close in meaning; the imperfective pitati is by far the more common in everyday speech and covers both repeated asking and single questions in casual register, while the perfective upitati foregrounds one completed act of asking and has a slightly more formal, narrative flavour (Upitao ju je za adresu — "He asked her for the address"). In ordinary conversation you can usually use pitati throughout; upitati is mostly written and storytelling.

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Unlike many aspect pairs, here the imperfectivepitati is the unmarked, default choice even for single completed questions in speech. Reserve the perfective upitati for narrative and formal writing. Don't over-correct your casual Pitao sam ga into Upitao sam ga — both are fine, but the first is what people actually say.

Present tense

Pitati is an a-class verb: stem pita- + -m, -š, -∅, -mo, -te, -ju. The 3rd-person plural is pitaju (a-class -ju).

Person	pitati (impf)	upitati (pf)
ja	pitam	upitam
ti	pitaš	upitaš
on/ona/ono	pita	upita
mi	pitamo	upitamo
vi	pitate	upitate
oni/one/ona	pitaju	upitaju

Mogu li te nešto pitati?

Can I ask you something? — the polite opener; 'te' (you, accusative) + 'nešto' (something, accusative).

Zašto me to pitaš?

Why are you asking me that? — 'me' (accusative person) + 'to' (accusative thing).

Ljudi me stalno pitaju gdje sam to naučio.

People keep asking me where I learned that. — 3pl 'pitaju' + indirect question.

The l-participle

Regular a-class participle.

Gender / number	pitati	upitati
masculine singular	pitao	upitao
feminine singular	pitala	upitala
neuter singular	pitalo	upitalo
masculine plural	pitali	upitali
feminine plural	pitale	upitale
neuter plural	pitala	upitala

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle.

Person	pitati (masc.)	pitati (fem.)
ja	pitao sam	pitala sam
ti	pitao si	pitala si
on / ona	pitao je	pitala je
mi	pitali smo	pitale smo
vi	pitali ste	pitale ste
oni / one	pitali su	pitale su

Pitao sam konobara ima li slobodan stol.

I asked the waiter if there was a free table. — accusative person 'konobara' + indirect yes/no question with 'li'.

Pitala te je za broj telefona.

She asked you for your phone number. — feminine subject; 'pitati za' + accusative for what's requested.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive drops -i before the clitic: pitat ću, upitat ću.

Person	pitati	upitati
ja	pitat ću	upitat ću
ti	pitat ćeš	upitat ćeš
on/ona/ono	pitat će	upitat će
mi	pitat ćemo	upitat ćemo
vi	pitat ćete	upitat ćete
oni/one/ona	pitat će	upitat će

Pitat ću ga čim dođe.

I'll ask him as soon as he arrives. — accusative 'ga' (him).

Imperative

a-class imperative: pitaj, pitajmo, pitajte. Pitaj! ("Ask!") is extremely common — e.g. Pitaj ga! ("Ask him!").

Person	pitati	upitati
ti	pitaj	upitaj
mi	pitajmo	upitajmo
vi	pitajte	upitajte

Pitaj ga gdje je parkirao auto.

Ask him where he parked the car. — imperative + accusative 'ga' + indirect question.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle.

Person	Form (masc.)
ja	pitao bih
ti	pitao bi
on/ona/ono	pitao/pitala/pitalo bi
mi	pitali bismo
vi	pitali biste
oni/one/ona	pitali bi

Pitao bih te nešto, ako smijem.

I'd ask you something, if I may. — conditional softens the request.

Other forms

Passive participle: pitan, pitana, pitano ("asked"), e.g. Nisam ni bio pitan ("I wasn't even asked"). The perfective gives upitan.
Verbal adverb: pitajući ("[while] asking"), e.g. Pitajući za put, izgubili su sat vremena.

Nisam za to ni bio pitan.

I wasn't even asked about that. — passive participle 'pitan'.

Key uses and government

1. pitati + accusative of the person

You ask someone — and that someone is in the accusative, treated like a direct object. This is the rule English speakers most often break, because English "ask" needs no preposition either but feels like it has an indirect object. In Croatian the person is plainly accusative: Pitaj mamu ("Ask Mum"), Pitao sam ih ("I asked them").

Pitaj učiteljicu, ona će ti objasniti.

Ask the teacher, she'll explain it to you. — accusative 'učiteljicu'.

2. Two accusatives: person + thing

Pitati can take a "double accusative": the person asked and the thing asked, both accusative — Pitam te jednu stvar ("I'm asking you one thing"), most often with nešto / to / jedno.

Smijem li vas nešto pitati?

May I ask you something? — 'vas' (you, accusative) + 'nešto' (something, accusative).

3. pitati za + accusative / pitati o + locative — the topic

To ask about a topic, use za + accusative (ask after/about, request info on) or o + locative (ask concerning). Pitati za also covers "ask for / ask after" in the sense of inquiring: Pitao je za tebe ("He asked after you / He asked about you").

Susjeda je pitala za tvoje zdravlje.

The neighbour asked after your health. — 'pitati za' + accusative.

Novinari su pitali o novim mjerama.

The journalists asked about the new measures. — 'pitati o' + locative.

4. Indirect questions

After pitati you can embed a question with a question word (gdje, kada, tko, što, zašto) or, for yes/no, with je li / li or da li: Pitao sam je dolazi li ("I asked her whether she was coming"). See indirect and rhetorical questions.

5. pitati se — "to wonder"

Add the reflexive se and pitati turns inward: Pitam se… = "I wonder…". This is the everyday way to muse aloud.

Pitam se hoće li uopće doći.

I wonder whether he'll even come. — reflexive 'pitati se' = 'to wonder'.

6. pitati vs tražiti vs moliti

This is the meaning English collapses into one "ask". Pitati = ask a question (seek information). Tražiti = ask for / request / look for an object or favour (Tražim pomoć — "I'm asking for help"). Moliti = ask politely / beg / request a favour (Molim te za pomoć — "I'm asking you for help"). Don't use pitati when you want something handed to you.

Pitao sam ga koliko je sati, a onda sam ga zamolio za pomoć.

I asked him what time it was, and then I asked him for help. — 'pitati' (a question) vs 'moliti/zamoliti' (a request).

Common Mistakes

❌ Pitao sam učitelju.

Wrong case — the person asked is accusative, not dative: 'učitelja'.

✅ Pitao sam učitelja.

I asked the teacher.

❌ Pitao sam ga za pomoć da pomakne ormar.

Wrong verb — to request help/a favour you want 'moliti/zamoliti' or 'tražiti', not 'pitati'.

✅ Zamolio sam ga da pomakne ormar.

I asked him to move the wardrobe.

❌ Pitam to tebi.

Wrong case on the person — it's accusative 'te', and word order is 'Pitam te to'.

✅ Pitam te to.

I'm asking you that.

❌ Pitaj na njega gdje je bio.

No preposition before the person — 'pitati' takes the bare accusative 'ga'.

✅ Pitaj ga gdje je bio.

Ask him where he was.

❌ Pitam da on dolazi.

Wrong embedding — an indirect yes/no question uses 'li' (or 'da li'), not a bare 'da'.

✅ Pitam dolazi li on.

I'm asking whether he's coming.

Key Takeaways

Pitati = ask a question (seek information); the person asked is in the accusative (Pitao sam učitelja).
Aspect: pitati (impf, default in speech) / upitati (pf, narrative and formal).
It can take a double accusative (person + thing): Pitam te nešto.
Topic: pitati za
- accusative ("ask after/about"), pitati o
  - locative; indirect yes/no questions use li, not da.
pitati se = "to wonder"; and keep pitati apart from tražiti / moliti ("ask for / request").

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