prodavati / prodati (to sell) | Croatian Grammar

Prodati ("to sell") is the exact mirror image of kupiti ("to buy"): same transaction, opposite direction, and — pleasingly — the same grammar. It takes an accusative thing and a dative buyer (Prodao sam mu auto, "I sold him the car"), just as kupiti takes an accusative thing and a dative beneficiary. The aspect pair is prodavati (imperfective) / prodati (perfective), and the present of the imperfective is the one form worth drilling: prodajem, not *prodavam.

Aspect

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Typical use
prodavati	imperfective	prodajem	selling as an activity / for a living; repeated sales
prodati	perfective	prodam	one completed sale (sold it)

The split is the same as buy: prodati = one sale, done; prodavati = the activity of selling (running a stall, selling as a trade, being in the middle of selling). "We sold the flat" is the perfective prodali smo; "she sells flowers at the market" is the imperfective prodaje cvijeće. This is a suffixal aspect pair — the imperfective is built with the -ava- suffix.

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The present of prodavati contracts: drop the -ava- and you get prodajem, prodaješ, prodaje… — never *prodavam. (The same contraction shows up in davati → dajem, "give".)

Present tense

Prodati is a regular a-class perfective (prodam, prodaš…); prodavati uses the contracted -je- present.

Person	prodati (pf)	prodavati (impf)
ja	prodam	prodajem
ti	prodaš	prodaješ
on/ona/ono	proda	prodaje
mi	prodamo	prodajemo
vi	prodate	prodajete
oni/one/ona	prodaju	prodaju

Note that the 3rd person plural coincides (prodaju) for both members — context and the rest of the sentence disambiguate the aspect.

Prodaje povrće na placu svake subote.

She sells vegetables at the market every Saturday. — imperfective, a habit/trade.

Ako proda stan, kupit će manji.

If he sells the flat, he'll buy a smaller one. — perfective present, conditional reading.

The l-participle

Gender / number	prodati	prodavati
masculine singular	prodao	prodavao
feminine singular	prodala	prodavala
neuter singular	prodalo	prodavalo
plural (m/f/n)	prodali / prodale / prodala	prodavali / prodavale / prodavala

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. The everyday "I sold" is the perfective prodao sam; the imperfective prodavao sam marks a past habit or trade ("I used to sell / I was selling").

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	prodao sam	prodala sam
ti	prodao si	prodala si
on / ona	prodao je	prodala je
mi	prodali smo	prodale smo
vi	prodali ste	prodale ste
oni / one	prodali su	prodale su

Prodao sam mu stari bicikl za sto eura.

I sold him my old bike for a hundred euros. — perfective + dative buyer 'mu'.

Godinama su prodavali med na sajmovima.

For years they sold honey at fairs. — imperfective, a long-running activity.

Future I (futur prvi)

The perfective prodati drops -i before the clitic: prodat ću. The imperfective gives prodavat ću.

Person	prodati	prodavati
ja	prodat ću	prodavat ću
ti	prodat ćeš	prodavat ćeš
on/ona/ono	prodat će	prodavat će
mi	prodat ćemo	prodavat ćemo
vi	prodat ćete	prodavat ćete
oni/one/ona	prodat će	prodavat će

Prodat ćemo auto čim nađemo kupca.

We'll sell the car as soon as we find a buyer.

Imperative

The perfective prodaj! ("sell [it]!") asks for one specific sale; the imperfective prodavaj! leans toward "keep selling / sell [for a living]".

Person	prodati (pf)	prodavati (impf)
ti	prodaj	prodavaj
mi	prodajmo	prodavajmo
vi	prodajte	prodavajte

Prodaj mi to, dat ću ti dobru cijenu.

Sell it to me, I'll give you a good price. — perfective + dative 'mi'.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle — for polite offers and hypotheticals.

Person	prodati (masc.)
ja	prodao bih
ti	prodao bi
on/ona/ono	prodao/prodala/prodalo bi
mi	prodali bismo
vi	prodali biste
oni/one/ona	prodali bi

Prodao bih ti ga, ali obećao sam ga bratu.

I'd sell it to you, but I promised it to my brother.

Other forms

Passive participle: prodan, prodana, prodano ("sold"). Used as an adjective (sve karte su prodane, "all the tickets are sold") and in the passive. The imperfective gives prodavan.
Verbal adverb: imperfective prodajući ("[while] selling").

Stan je prodan u rekordnom roku.

The flat was sold in record time. — passive participle 'prodan'.

Key uses and government

1. The thing sold: accusative

The basic object of prodati is the accusative — what you sell.

Prodali su kuću i preselili se na otok.

They sold the house and moved to an island. — accusative direct object.

2. The buyer: dative ("sell to someone")

To name who you sell to, Croatian uses the bare dative — no preposition, where English needs "to". This is the same accusative-thing + dative-person frame as kupiti; the two verbs are grammatical twins. See dative: the indirect object.

Prodao sam susjedu kosilicu.

I sold my neighbour the lawnmower. — dative buyer 'susjedu', accusative thing 'kosilicu'.

Kome si prodala auto?

Who did you sell the car to? — dative question word 'kome'.

3. Prodaje se — "for sale" (se-passive)

The reflexive se turns prodati/prodavati into a passive/impersonal: Prodaje se ("for sale", lit. "[it] sells itself") is the standard wording on a sign or ad. The subject is the thing being sold, and the verb agrees with it: Prodaje se stan ("Flat for sale"), Prodaju se karte ("Tickets on sale"). See the se-passive and impersonal.

Prodaje se stan, 60 m², drugi kat.

Flat for sale, 60 m², second floor. — 'prodaje se', the standard ad wording.

Ulaznice se prodaju online od ponoći.

Tickets go on sale online from midnight. — plural subject 'ulaznice', verb agrees: 'se prodaju'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Prodavam povrće na placu.

Wrong stem — 'prodavati' contracts to 'prodajem': 'Prodajem povrće na placu'.

✅ Prodajem povrće na placu.

I sell vegetables at the market.

❌ Prodao sam auto za susjeda.

Wrong case — the buyer goes in the plain DATIVE, not 'za' + accusative: 'susjedu'.

✅ Prodao sam auto susjedu.

I sold the car to my neighbour.

❌ Stan je prodat prošli mjesec.

Wrong participle — the passive participle is 'prodan', not '*prodat'.

✅ Stan je prodan prošli mjesec.

The flat was sold last month.

❌ Prodaje stan.

Missing 'se' for the 'for sale' notice — the sign reads 'Prodaje se stan'.

✅ Prodaje se stan.

Flat for sale.

❌ Prodati ću ti ga sutra.

Future form — drop the infinitive's -i before the clitic: 'Prodat ću ti ga sutra'.

✅ Prodat ću ti ga sutra.

I'll sell it to you tomorrow.

Key Takeaways

prodati (pf, prodam, prodao) = one sale; prodavati (impf, prodajem, prodavao) = selling as an activity/trade.
The present of the imperfective contracts: prodajem, never *prodavam (like davati → dajem).
Government is the mirror of kupiti: accusative thing + bare dative buyer (Prodao sam mu auto).
Prodaje se = "for sale" (se-passive); the verb agrees with the thing: Prodaju se karte.
Passive participle prodan (not *prodat). Future drops -i: prodat ću (never prodati ću).

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