Piti ("to drink") is the everyday counterpart of jesti, and its present is the textbook example of j-insertion: a stem ending in a vowel takes a -j- before the e-class endings, giving pijem, piješ…. Once you see that pattern in piti, you recognise it across a family of monosyllabic verbs. Beyond the conjugation, piti is worth a page because of the lively choice between the accusative ("drink the coffee") and the partitive genitive ("drink some water") — a distinction English does not mark on the noun.
Aspect
Piti is imperfective: the process or habit of drinking. Its everyday perfective partner is popiti ("to drink up, to finish a drink"): Popij to ("Drink that up"). The prefix po- supplies completion — a standard prefix-formed pair. So pio sam kavu ("I was drinking / drank coffee", the activity) contrasts with popio sam kavu ("I finished the coffee", the result). There is also the colloquial napiti se ("get drunk", + genitive), reflexive — not to be confused with napojiti ("give to drink / water an animal"). State versus result is on aspect overview.
Present tense
E-class endings on the j-inserted stem pije-: -em, -eš, -e, -emo, -ete, -u.
| Person | Form | Ending | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ja | pijem | -em | I drink / I'm drinking |
| ti | piješ | -eš | you drink |
| on/ona/ono | pije | -e | he/she/it drinks |
| mi | pijemo | -emo | we drink |
| vi | pijete | -ete | you drink |
| oni/one/ona | piju | -u | they drink |
Pijem kavu bez šećera.
I drink my coffee without sugar.
Što piješ? Ja ću pivo.
What are you drinking? I'll have a beer.
Oni ne piju alkohol, naruči im sok.
They don't drink alcohol, order them a juice.
The l-participle
The past stem is pi-: masculine pio, feminine pila, etc. No j here — the -j- belongs to the present only.
| Gender / number | Form |
|---|---|
| masculine singular | pio |
| feminine singular | pila |
| neuter singular | pilo |
| masculine plural | pili |
| feminine plural | pile |
| neuter plural | pila |
Perfect tense (perfekt)
Clitic biti + the l-participle.
| Person | Masculine subject | Feminine subject |
|---|---|---|
| ja | pio sam | pila sam |
| ti | pio si | pila si |
| on / ona | pio je | pila je |
| mi | pili smo | pile smo |
| vi | pili ste | pile ste |
| oni / one | pili su | pile su |
Sinoć smo pili vino do ponoći.
Last night we were drinking wine until midnight.
Nisam pila kavu danas, zato me boli glava.
I haven't had coffee today, that's why I have a headache. — feminine speaker.
Future I (futur prvi)
The infinitive piti drops its final -i before the clitic: pit ću.
| Person | Infinitive first | Clitic first |
|---|---|---|
| ja | pit ću | … ću piti |
| ti | pit ćeš | … ćeš piti |
| on/ona/ono | pit će | … će piti |
| mi | pit ćemo | … ćemo piti |
| vi | pit ćete | … ćete piti |
| oni/one/ona | pit će | … će piti |
Na zabavi ja ne pijem jer vozim, pit ću sok.
At the party I'm not drinking because I'm driving, I'll have juice.
Imperative
E-class imperative on the j-stem: pij, pijmo, pijte.
| Person | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ti | pij | drink! |
| mi | pijmo | let's drink |
| vi | pijte | drink! (pl./formal) |
Pij vodu, vani je vruće, dehidrirat ćeš.
Drink water, it's hot outside, you'll get dehydrated.
Conditional I (kondicional prvi)
bih-clitics + the l-participle.
| Person | Form (masc.) |
|---|---|
| ja | pio bih |
| ti | pio bi |
| on/ona/ono | pio/pila/pilo bi |
| mi | pili bismo |
| vi | pili biste |
| oni/one/ona | pili bi |
Pio bih jednu hladnu limunadu, baš mi se pije.
I'd drink one cold lemonade, I'm really in the mood for it.
Other forms
- Passive participle: of the imperfective piti a passive is rare; the everyday participle is the perfective popijen, popijena, popijeno ("drunk up, finished"): Sve je popijeno ("It's all been drunk"). The adjective pitak / pitka means "drinkable, easy to drink" (e.g. pitka voda "drinking water").
- Present verbal adverb: pijući ("[while] drinking"), used in writing.
Iz slavine teče pitka voda, slobodno pij.
Drinking water comes from the tap, go ahead and drink. — adjective 'pitak'.
Pijući kavu na terasi, gledali su izlazak sunca.
Drinking coffee on the terrace, they watched the sunrise. — verbal adverb.
Key uses and government
1. Drink something: piti + accusative
The drink is a direct object in the accusative when it is a specific, whole quantity: pijem kavu ("I'm drinking the/a coffee"), piju pivo ("they're drinking beer"). For most drink nouns the accusative equals the nominative.
Ujutro uvijek pijem čaj, ne kavu.
In the morning I always drink tea, not coffee.
2. Partitive: popiti / piti + genitive of "some"
When you mean "drink some / a bit of" an uncountable drink, Croatian uses the partitive genitive, very common with the perfective imperative: Popij vode ("Drink some water"). Contrast Popij vodu ("Drink the water [the specific glass]"), which is accusative. The full partitive picture is on partitive and quantity.
Popij malo vode, bit će ti bolje.
Drink some water, you'll feel better. — partitive genitive 'vode'.
Popij vodu koju sam ti natočila.
Drink the water I poured for you. — accusative, a specific glass.
3. Piti with no object — "drink (alcohol)"
Used absolutely, piti often implies drinking alcohol, exactly like English "he drinks".
On više ne pije, prestao je prošle godine.
He doesn't drink anymore, he quit last year.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ja pim vodu.
Incorrect — the present inserts -j-: 'pijem', not '*pim'.
✅ Ja pijem vodu.
I drink water.
❌ Oni pieju sok.
Incorrect — the e-class 3pl is -u on the j-stem: 'piju', not '*pieju'.
✅ Oni piju sok.
They drink juice.
❌ Popio sam kavu cijelo jutro.
Aspect/duration clash — an activity over a span needs the imperfective 'pio sam'; the perfective 'popio' marks the finished cup.
✅ Pio sam kavu cijelo jutro.
I was drinking coffee all morning.
❌ Pij voda, vruće je.
Case error in the imperative — give it an accusative or partitive genitive: 'pij vodu' / 'popij vode', not the nominative 'voda'.
✅ Pij vodu, vruće je.
Drink water, it's hot.
❌ Piti ću sok.
Incorrect — before the future clitic the infinitive drops its -i: 'pit ću'.
✅ Pit ću sok.
I'll drink juice.
Key Takeaways
- Piti is imperfective; the perfective "drink up" is popiti; "get drunk" is napiti se (+ genitive).
- The present takes j-insertion: pijem, piješ, pije, pijemo, pijete, piju. The l-participle drops the j: pio, pila.
- Future pit ću; imperative pij, pijmo, pijte.
- Government: accusative for a specific/whole drink, partitive genitive for "some" (often with popiti).
- The everyday passive participle is the perfective popijen; pitak/pitka = "drinkable".
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Start learning Croatian→Related Topics
- Present Tense: -e- Verbs and Stem ChangesA2 — The -em conjugation with its consonant and vowel alternations.
- Forming Aspect Pairs: PrefixationB1 — How perfectives are built by adding a prefix.
- jesti (to eat)A2 — Reference for 'to eat' with its irregular e-class present.
- Accusative: The Direct ObjectA1 — The accusative as the default object of transitive verbs.
- Partitive Genitive and QuantityA2 — The genitive of 'some', amounts, and measure words.
- Verbal Aspect: The Big PictureA2 — Why nearly every verb comes in an imperfective/perfective pair.