rađati se / roditi se (to be born) | Croatian Grammar

Roditi se is the verb behind one of the first sentences you'll ever say about yourself: where and when you were born. It is a reflexive — se turns transitive roditi "give birth to" into intransitive roditi se "be born" — and it is the page where Croatian's gendered past tense becomes unavoidable: a man says Rodio sam se u Zagrebu, a woman Rodila sam se u Zagrebu. There is no neutral form to hide behind. The aspect pair is imperfective rađati se (with a d → đ jotation in the stem) / perfective roditi se, and the related participle rođen / rođena powers the everyday birth-data formula Rođen sam 1990. godine u Splitu.

Aspect

The perfective roditi se is the single event of being born; the imperfective rađati se is the process, the recurring fact, or the figurative "be born / emerge" (of ideas, of generations). Note that base roditi is bi-aspectual in its transitive "give birth to" use — it can read as perfective or imperfective depending on context — but in the reflexive "be born" sense the everyday split is roditi se (pf) / rađati se (impf). For the logic of the split, see the aspect overview.

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Typical use
rađati se	imperfective	rađam se	process; recurring; figurative "be born/emerge"
roditi se	perfective	rodim se	the single event of being born

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The imperfective stem jotates d → đ: rod- becomes rađa- (rađati se, rađam se). It is the đ letter (d with a stroke), not dj and not ž — and not the same as the participle rođen, where the same root surfaces with đ too.

Present tense

Roditi (se) is a regular i-class verb (rod-); rađati (se) is a regular a-class verb on the jotated stem rađa-. The reflexive se is a clitic and sits in the usual second-position slot.

Person	rađati se (impf)	roditi se (pf)
ja	rađam se	rodim se
ti	rađaš se	rodiš se
on/ona/ono	rađa se	rodi se
mi	rađamo se	rodimo se
vi	rađate se	rodite se
oni/one/ona	rađaju se	rode se

U toj se bolnici svake godine rodi više od tisuću beba.

More than a thousand babies are born in that hospital every year. — perfective present, gnomic/recurring fact.

Velike se ideje rijetko rađaju preko noći.

Great ideas are rarely born overnight. — figurative imperfective 'rađati se' = emerge.

The l-participle (and why gender matters here)

This is the heart of the page. Croatian's perfect tense uses the l-participle, and the participle agrees in gender and number with the subject — so the form you use depends on who is speaking or being spoken about. Saying "I was born" is rodio sam se if you are male and rodila sam se if you are female. English has no such split; learners coming from English routinely default to one form for everyone, which is a real error, not a stylistic slip.

Gender / number	rađati se	roditi se
masculine singular	rađao se	rodio se
feminine singular	rađala se	rodila se
neuter singular	rađalo se	rodilo se
masculine plural	rađali se	rodili se
feminine plural	rađale se	rodile se
neuter plural	rađala se	rodila se

Rodio sam se u Zagrebu, ali sam odrastao u Rijeci.

I was born in Zagreb, but I grew up in Rijeka. — MALE speaker: 'rodio'.

Rodila sam se u Zagrebu, ali sam odrasla u Rijeci.

I was born in Zagreb, but I grew up in Rijeka. — FEMALE speaker: 'rodila'.

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle + the reflexive se. The clitics group together in second position: Rodio sam se…, Rodili smo se…. With negation the se stays attached: Nisam se rodio jučer "I wasn't born yesterday" (idiom: "I'm no fool").

Person	Male subject	Female subject
ja	rodio sam se	rodila sam se
ti	rodio si se	rodila si se
on / ona	rodio se	rodila se
mi	rodili smo se	rodile smo se
vi	rodili ste se	rodile ste se
oni / one	rodili su se	rodile su se

Moja se baka rodila u maloj dalmatinskoj kući kraj mora.

My grandmother was born in a small Dalmatian house by the sea. — feminine subject: 'rodila se'.

Blizanci su se rodili dva mjeseca prerano.

The twins were born two months too early. — masculine plural: 'rodili su se'.

Future I (futur prvi)

Roditi se → rodit ću se (drops -i), with the se clitic; rađati se → rađat ću se. Never roditi ću se.

Person	rađati se	roditi se
ja	rađat ću se	rodit ću se
ti	rađat ćeš se	rodit ćeš se
on/ona/ono	rađat će se	rodit će se
mi	rađat ćemo se	rodit ćemo se
vi	rađat ćete se	rodit ćete se
oni/one/ona	rađat će se	rodit će se

Beba bi se trebala roditi početkom svibnja.

The baby should be born in early May. — 'roditi se' under a modal, future-oriented.

Other forms

Passive / adjectival participle: rođen / rođena / rođeno ("born"). This is the workhorse of birth-data: rođen
- year + place. It also functions as a plain adjective — novorođeno dijete "a newborn child", rođeni Zagrepčanin "a born-and-bred Zagreb native", and rođena sestra "one's own (full) sister". From the imperfective: rađan.
Verbal noun: rađanje ("birth, childbirth; emergence").
Verbal adverb: imperfective rađajući se ("[while] being born").

On je rođeni vođa, ljudi ga prirodno slijede.

He's a born leader — people naturally follow him. — 'rođen' as an adjective.

Key uses and government

1. roditi se — be born (reflexive)

The everyday meaning. The subject is the one born; se marks it intransitive. Where and when are added with a locative place phrase and a time expression.

Gdje si se rodio?

Where were you born? — to a man. To a woman it's 'Gdje si se rodila?'

2. The birth-data construction: rođen + year + place

The most idiomatic way to state a birth date uses the participle rođen / rođena as a predicate with biti, the year as an ordinal in the genitive (1990. godine = "in [the year] 1990"), and the place in the locative (u Splitu). The agreement again tracks gender: Rođen sam… (male) / Rođena sam… (female).

Rođen sam 1990. godine u Splitu.

I was born in 1990 in Split. — MALE: 'rođen'; 'godine' genitive, 'u Splitu' locative.

Rođena sam 1990. godine u Splitu.

I was born in 1990 in Split. — FEMALE: 'rođena'.

On forms and ID cards you'll meet datum rođenja "date of birth" and mjesto rođenja "place of birth" — both with the verbal noun rođenje in the genitive; see the genitive with verbs and adjectives.

3. roditi (transitive) — give birth to

Without se, roditi is transitive: a mother rodi dijete "gives birth to a child". The child can appear as a dative-of-interest in warm, everyday phrasing — Rodila mu je sina "She bore him a son" — using the recipient/interest dative; see the dative with verbs and adjectives.

Sestra je jučer rodila zdravu djevojčicu.

My sister gave birth to a healthy baby girl yesterday. — transitive 'roditi' + accusative.

4. Figurative rađati se — emerge, come into being

The imperfective spreads to abstractions: ideas, movements, doubts, generations — they rađaju se.

Iz te su se rasprave rodile nove ideje.

New ideas were born out of that debate. — figurative 'roditi se' (with 'se'), feminine plural subject 'ideje'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ja sam se rodio. (said by a woman)

Gender error — a female speaker must use the feminine participle: 'Ja sam se rodila.'

✅ Rodila sam se u Osijeku.

I was born in Osijek. — feminine speaker.

❌ Rodio sam u Zagrebu.

Missing 'se' — without the reflexive this would mean 'I gave birth in Zagreb'; 'be born' needs 'se': 'Rodio sam se u Zagrebu'.

✅ Rodio sam se u Zagrebu.

I was born in Zagreb.

❌ Rodjen sam 1990.

Orthography — it's the letter đ, not 'dj': 'Rođen sam 1990.'

✅ Rođen sam 1990. godine.

I was born in 1990.

❌ Roditi ću se u proljeće. (of a baby)

Spelling — the future drops the infinitive's -i: 'rodit ću se', never 'roditi ću se'.

✅ Beba će se roditi u proljeće.

The baby will be born in spring.

❌ Rađen sam u Rijeci.

Wrong participle — for a person 'born', the form is 'rođen' (from roditi se), not the imperfective 'rađan'.

✅ Rođen sam u Rijeci.

I was born in Rijeka.

Key Takeaways

rađati se (impf, rađam se, d → đ jotation) / roditi se (pf, rodim se) = be born; base roditi is bi-aspectual and transitive "give birth to".
The l-participle agrees in gender: rodio sam se (male) vs rodila sam se (female) — there is no neutral default.
Birth-data formula: rođen / rođena
- ordinal year in the genitive + place in the locative — Rođen sam 1990. godine u Splitu.
roditi se needs se; without it roditi means "give birth to" (+ accusative, optional dative of interest).
Future drops -i: rodit ću se (never roditi ću se). Spell it rođen with đ, never rodjen.

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