počinjati / početi (to begin) | Croatian Grammar

Početi ("to begin, to start") is a phase verb — a verb that frames the start, middle, or end of another action — and that role drives its one defining rule: when početi is followed by another verb, that verb must be imperfective. You say Počeo sam učiti ("I started learning / studying"), never počeo sam naučiti. The logic is airtight: you can only start an open-ended process, not a completed result. Beyond the infinitive, početi also takes s + instrumental (početi s radom — "begin work") and a plain accusative object (početi posao). This page gives you the full paradigm and the complement rules that make the phase-verb system click.

Aspect

This is a clean aspectual pair:

početi (pf) — the single act of starting: Počeo je padati snijeg ("It started to snow").
počinjati (impf) — starting habitually or in progress: Predstava počinje u osam ("The show starts at eight").

The two have different present stems: perfective počn- (počnem), imperfective počinj- (počinjem). For scheduled or repeated starts you use the imperfective; for one concrete start, the perfective. The phase-verb behaviour is explained in depth at phase verbs and aspect.

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The complement of početi is always imperfective — that is the whole point of a phase verb. Početi grabs the onset of an activity, and only an imperfective names an activity as an unbounded process. A perfective names a finished whole, which has no separable "beginning" to start.

Present tense

The perfective početi has the stem počn-; the imperfective počinjati has počinj-.

Person	početi (pf)	počinjati (impf)
ja	počnem	počinjem
ti	počneš	počinješ
on/ona/ono	počne	počinje
mi	počnemo	počinjemo
vi	počnete	počinjete
oni/one/ona	počnu	počinju

As a perfective, počnem does not mean "I'm starting right now" — it appears in when/if clauses and future-leaning contexts. For scheduled or current starts, use the imperfective počinje.

Film počinje za deset minuta, požuri!

The film starts in ten minutes, hurry up! — imperfective 'počinje', scheduled.

Kad počnem trčati, ne mogu stati.

Once I start running, I can't stop. — perfective 'počnem' + imperfective infinitive 'trčati'.

The l-participle

Built on the infinitive stem with the regular vowel alternation: masculine počeo, feminine počela, neuter počelo. The masculine počeo shows the vocalised -l over the stem-final e.

Gender / number	Form
masculine singular	počeo
feminine singular	počela
neuter singular	počelo
masculine plural	počeli
feminine plural	počele
neuter plural	počela

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. The everyday way to say "I started …".

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	počeo sam	počela sam
ti	počeo si	počela si
on / ona	počeo je	počela je
mi	počeli smo	počele smo
vi	počeli ste	počele ste
oni / one	počeli su	počele su

Počeo sam učiti hrvatski prošlog ljeta.

I started learning Croatian last summer. — masc. speaker, imperfective infinitive 'učiti'.

Počela je padati kiša baš kad smo izašli.

It started to rain just as we went out. — feminine subject 'kiša', infinitive 'padati'.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive početi drops its final -i before the clitic, giving počet ću (note: počet, built on the infinitive stem, not počnet).

Person	Form
ja	počet ću
ti	počet ćeš
on/ona/ono	počet će
mi	počet ćemo
vi	počet ćete
oni/one/ona	počet će

Od ponedjeljka ću početi vježbati svaki dan.

From Monday I'll start exercising every day. — future + imperfective infinitive 'vježbati'.

Imperative

The perfective gives počni, počnimo, počnite — high-frequency for urging someone to get going.

Person	Form
ti	počni
mi	počnimo
vi	počnite

Počni od početka, ništa nismo razumjeli.

Start from the beginning, we didn't understand anything.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle.

Person	Form (masc.)
ja	počeo bih
ti	počeo bi
on/ona/ono	počeo/počela/počelo bi
mi	počeli bismo
vi	počeli biste
oni/one/ona	počeli bi

Počeo bih raditi i danas, ali nemam alat.

I'd start working today too, but I don't have the tools.

Other forms

Passive participle: počet (počet, početa, početo) exists for the accusative-object use — Posao je počet ("The job has been begun") — though it is fairly formal; everyday speech recasts it actively, most often with the intransitive početi itself: Posao je počeo ("The job has started").
Present verbal adverb: počinjući ("[while] beginning"), from the imperfective, used in writing.

Pregovori su početi tek prošli tjedan.

The negotiations were begun only last week. — passive participle 'početi'.

Key uses and government

1. početi + imperfective infinitive — the headline rule

The complement infinitive must be imperfective. This is the central phase-verb constraint and a guaranteed transfer error, since English "start to do" gives no clue about aspect. Whether to use an infinitive or a da-clause here is discussed at da vs infinitive.

Počeo je čitati knjigu, ali je nije dovršio.

He started reading the book but didn't finish it. — imperfective 'čitati', not perfective 'pročitati'.

Počeli smo razmišljati o selidbi.

We've started thinking about moving. — imperfective 'razmišljati'.

2. početi + s + instrumental — "begin with / set about"

To begin an activity named by a noun, use s(a) + instrumental: početi s radom ("begin work"), početi s pripremama ("begin preparations"). The instrumental here is the one of accompaniment/means, treated at means and accompaniment.

Počnimo s najtežim zadatkom dok smo svježi.

Let's start with the hardest task while we're fresh. — 's' + instrumental 'zadatkom'.

Počela je s pripremama za ispit mjesec dana ranije.

She started her exam preparations a month earlier. — 's' + instrumental 'pripremama'.

3. početi + accusative — "begin [a thing]"

Početi can also take a plain accusative object naming what is begun: početi posao ("begin the job"), početi novo poglavlje ("begin a new chapter").

Konačno smo počeli renovaciju kuhinje.

We finally began the kitchen renovation. — accusative object 'renovaciju'.

4. počinjati — habitual / scheduled starts

The imperfective covers things that habitually or regularly begin, especially fixed schedules.

Škola počinje u rujnu, kao i svake godine.

School starts in September, like every year. — habitual imperfective 'počinje'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Počeo sam pročitati knjigu.

Aspect error — the complement of a phase verb must be imperfective: 'počeo sam čitati'.

✅ Počeo sam čitati knjigu.

I started reading the book.

❌ Počeli smo raditi na posao.

Government error — for a noun use 's' + instrumental ('s poslom') or the accusative ('posao'), not 'na posao'.

✅ Počeli smo s poslom. / Počeli smo posao.

We began the work.

❌ Počnet ću sutra.

Spelling — the future is built on the infinitive stem: 'počet ću', not '*počnet ću'.

✅ Počet ću sutra.

I'll start tomorrow.

❌ Predstava počne u osam svake večeri.

Aspect error — a regular, scheduled start needs the imperfective: 'počinje'.

✅ Predstava počinje u osam svake večeri.

The show starts at eight every evening.

❌ On je počeo naučiti gitaru.

Two issues — the complement must be imperfective and 'naučiti gitaru' is wrong collocation: 'počeo je učiti gitaru' or 'svirati gitaru'.

✅ Počeo je učiti svirati gitaru.

He started learning to play the guitar.

Key Takeaways

početi (pf, počnem) / počinjati (impf, počinjem) — two distinct present stems.
The complement infinitive is always imperfective: počeo sam učiti, never naučiti — the core phase-verb rule.
Government also: s
- instrumental (početi s radom) or a plain accusative (početi posao).
l-participle počeo / počela / počelo; future počet ću (not počnet ću); imperative počni.
Use the imperfective počinje for scheduled or habitual starts; the perfective for one concrete start.

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