pokazivati / pokazati (to show)

Pokazati ("to show, to point out") is the verb that introduces a recipient — you show something to someone — and that double frame makes it a perfect place to drill the dative. Its aspect pair also shows off a productive piece of word-formation: the perfective pokazati (present pokažem) versus the imperfective pokazivati (present pokazujem), where the suffix -iva- turns into -uje- in the present. That -ivati → -uje- swap recurs across hundreds of verbs (pokazivati → pokazujem, pripovijedati → … ), so it is worth learning here in full. The verb also has a useful reflexive, pokazati se ("turn out, prove to be").

Aspect

The perfective pokazati is one act of showing — you point it out, done. The imperfective pokazivati covers repeated or ongoing showing, demonstrating, and the "indicate" sense of instruments (toplomjer pokazuje 38°, "the thermometer shows 38°"). The imperfective is built from the perfective with the -iva- suffix, a standard suffix-formed aspect pair.

Present tense

Pokazati takes e-class endings with a z → ž alternation in the stem (pokaž-); pokazivati uses the -uje- present.

The perfective present pokažem is not a "now" tense; it reads as a future or condition: Čim ti pokažem snimku, sve će biti jasno ("As soon as I show you the recording, it'll all be clear").

The l-participle

Pokazati is regular -ati: pokazao / pokazala. Pokazivati: pokazivao / pokazivala.

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + the l-participle. The everyday "I showed" is the perfective pokazao sam / pokazala sam.

Future I (futur prvi)

Both drop the final -i: pokazat ću, pokazivat ću.

Imperative

The perfective pokaži! ("show [it]!") is the normal request; the imperfective pokazuj! implies a repeated or continuous showing.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + the l-participle.

Other forms

• Passive participle: pokazan, pokazana, pokazano ("shown, demonstrated"). The stem pokaza- takes a plain -n with no jotation here (contrast staviti → stavljen). Used in the passive: Snimka je pokazana na sudu ("The recording was shown in court"). The imperfective gives pokazivan.
• Verbal adverb: imperfective pokazujući ("[while] showing / pointing"). The perfective has no present adverb.

Key uses and government

1. The thing shown: accusative

The thing shown is the accusative direct object — what you display or point out.

2. The recipient: dative ("show to someone")

The person you show something to goes in the bare dative — no preposition, where English uses "to" or a bare indirect object. The frame is pokazati + dative person + accusative thing: pokazati nekomu nešto. This is the textbook dative of the indirect object; short pronouns appear as the clitics mi, ti, mu, joj, nam… See also the dative with verbs.

3. pokazati se — "turn out, prove to be"

The reflexive pokazati se means "turn out, prove to be (the case)". In the impersonal pokazalo se da… ("it turned out that…") it introduces a result or discovery — extremely common in narration and reports. With a complement it means "prove oneself to be": pokazao se kao dobar vođa ("he proved to be a good leader"). This is the reflexive / impersonal se.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• pokazati (pf, pokažem, pokazao, imperative pokaži!) = one act of showing; pokazivati (impf, pokazujem, pokazivao) = repeated/ongoing showing — note the -ivati → -uje- swap.
• Government = accusative thing + bare dative recipient: pokazati nekomu nešto, Pokaži mi! (no preposition).
• Reflexive pokazati se = "turn out / prove to be"; the impersonal pokazalo se da… is everyday.
• Passive participle pokazan (plain -n, no jotation, unlike stavljen).
• Future drops -i: pokazat ću (never pokazati ću).