čuvati / sačuvati (to keep / guard / babysit) | Croatian Grammar

Čuvati / sačuvati is the Croatian verb of keeping safe. Its meaning fans out from one idea — holding something so it comes to no harm — into several everyday senses: keep / preserve (sačuvati uspomenu, sačuvati datoteku), guard / watch over (čuvati kuću), and, most usefully for a learner, look after / babysit (čuvati djecu). The reflexive čuvati se + genitive means "take care / beware (of)", and it gives Croatian one of its warmest everyday farewells: Čuvaj se! — "Take care!".

Aspect

A clean aspect pair: imperfective čuvati versus perfective sačuvati (prefix sa-). The imperfective is the ongoing guarding/keeping (watching the kids, looking after a house); the perfective is the achieved result of preserving something (you managed to save it, keep it safe to the end). This is a standard prefixal pair — see forming aspect pairs by prefix.

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Typical use
čuvati	imperfective	čuvam	ongoing: guard, watch over, babysit
sačuvati	perfective	sačuvam	achieved: kept safe, preserved, saved

💡

The babysitting sense is pure imperfective: čuvam djecu = "I'm looking after the kids / I babysit". You almost never say sačuvati djecu in that meaning — preserving a child isn't a "completable" act. For watching over people, stay imperfective.

Present tense

Both are regular a-class verbs: stem čuva- / sačuva- + -m, -š, -∅, -mo, -te, -ju.

Person	čuvati (impf)	sačuvati (pf)
ja	čuvam	sačuvam
ti	čuvaš	sačuvaš
on/ona/ono	čuva	sačuva
mi	čuvamo	sačuvamo
vi	čuvate	sačuvate
oni/one/ona	čuvaju	sačuvaju

Večeras čuvam nećakinju dok sestra ne dođe s posla.

Tonight I'm babysitting my niece until my sister gets back from work. — 'babysit' sense, imperfective.

Pas čuva kuću kad nas nema.

The dog guards the house when we're away. — 'guard / watch over' sense.

The l-participle

Regular for both -ati stems: masculine čuvao, sačuvao.

Gender / number	čuvati	sačuvati
masculine singular	čuvao	sačuvao
feminine singular	čuvala	sačuvala
neuter singular	čuvalo	sačuvalo
masculine plural	čuvali	sačuvali
feminine plural	čuvale	sačuvale
neuter plural	čuvala	sačuvala

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. Perfective sačuvao sam = "I kept / preserved (and succeeded)"; imperfective čuvao sam = "I was looking after / used to look after".

Person	Masculine (pf)	Feminine (pf)
ja	sačuvao sam	sačuvala sam
ti	sačuvao si	sačuvala si
on / ona	sačuvao je	sačuvala je
mi	sačuvali smo	sačuvale smo
vi	sačuvali ste	sačuvale ste
oni / one	sačuvali su	sačuvale su

Sačuvala sam sva njegova pisma iz tih godina.

I kept all his letters from those years. — perfective 'preserve / keep' sense.

Cijelo ljeto sam čuvala susjedovu djecu.

I looked after the neighbour's kids all summer. — imperfective 'babysit', ongoing.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive drops its -i: čuvat ću (impf), sačuvat ću (pf). Never čuvati ću / sačuvati ću.

Person	čuvati (impf)	sačuvati (pf)
ja	čuvat ću	sačuvat ću
ti	čuvat ćeš	sačuvat ćeš
on/ona/ono	čuvat će	sačuvat će
mi	čuvat ćemo	sačuvat ćemo
vi	čuvat ćete	sačuvat ćete
oni/one/ona	čuvat će	sačuvat će

Sačuvat ću ti mjesto, samo dođi na vrijeme.

I'll save you a seat, just come on time. — perfective future + dative 'ti'.

Imperative

This is where the verb earns its keep. Perfective sačuvaj! ("keep it / save it"), imperfective čuvaj! ("look after / watch") — and crucially the reflexive Čuvaj se! ("Take care!"), one of the most common Croatian goodbyes.

Person	čuvati (impf)	sačuvati (pf)
ti	čuvaj	sačuvaj
mi	čuvajmo	sačuvajmo
vi	čuvajte	sačuvajte

Čuvaj se i javi kad stigneš!

Take care and let me know when you arrive! — the everyday farewell 'Čuvaj se!'.

Čuvaj mi torbu dok se vratim.

Watch my bag for me until I get back. — imperative 'čuvaj' + dative 'mi'.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

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

Person	sačuvati (masc.)
ja	sačuvao bih
ti	sačuvao bi
on/ona/ono	sačuvao/sačuvala/sačuvalo bi
mi	sačuvali bismo
vi	sačuvali biste
oni/one/ona	sačuvali bi

Rado bih ti čuvala mačku, ali putujem tog vikenda.

I'd gladly look after your cat, but I'm travelling that weekend. — conditional, 'look after' sense.

Other forms

Passive participle: čuvan (impf), sačuvan, sačuvana, sačuvano (pf) "kept, preserved". Very common: dobro očuvan / sačuvan ("well preserved"), as of buildings, old cars, manuscripts. Stara crkva je odlično sačuvana ("the old church is excellently preserved").
Verbal adverb (impf): čuvajući ("[while] guarding / looking after").

Rukopis je sačuvan u arhivu i odlično je očuvan.

The manuscript was preserved in the archive and is excellently kept. — passive participle 'sačuvan'.

Key uses and government

1. Accusative object — what you keep / guard / look after

In its core (non-reflexive) senses the object is a plain accusative: sačuvati uspomenu / datoteku, čuvati kuću / djecu. See the accusative direct object.

Sačuvaj račun za slučaj reklamacije.

Keep the receipt in case of a complaint. — accusative 'račun', 'keep / preserve' sense.

2. The babysit sense — čuvati djecu

"To babysit / look after children" is simply čuvati djecu (imperfective, accusative djecu). Croatian has no separate verb for babysitting; čuvati covers it. This is the sense a learner reaches for most.

Možeš li mi sutra čuvati malu dva sata?

Could you look after the little one for two hours tomorrow? — 'babysit' sense, accusative 'malu'.

3. Reflexive čuvati se + genitive — "take care / beware (of)"

With the reflexive se, čuvati means "look after oneself / be careful", and the thing you beware of takes the genitive (no preposition): čuvati se prehlade ("watch out for a cold"), čuvaj se pasa ("beware of dogs"). For the genitive after such verbs, see the genitive with adjectives and verbs; for the reflexive se, see the reflexive 'se'.

Čuvaj se propuha, prehladit ćeš se.

Watch out for the draught, you'll catch a cold. — 'čuvati se' + genitive 'propuha'.

Čuvaj se loših utjecaja.

Beware of bad influences. — 'čuvati se' + genitive 'utjecaja'.

4. Čuvaj se! as a farewell

Used bare, Čuvaj se! (informal) / Čuvajte se! (formal or plural) is a warm "Take care!" at the end of a conversation — somewhere between "look after yourself" and "bye". It is everyday, not flowery.

Moram ići, vidimo se uskoro — čuvaj se!

I have to go, see you soon — take care! — the bare farewell.

Common Mistakes

❌ Čuvaj se od pasa.

No 'od' — 'čuvati se' takes the bare genitive: 'Čuvaj se pasa'.

✅ Čuvaj se pasa.

Beware of dogs.

❌ Večeras pazim djecu — sačuvam ih.

For ongoing babysitting use the imperfective: 'čuvam djecu', not the perfective 'sačuvati'.

✅ Večeras čuvam djecu.

Tonight I'm babysitting the kids.

❌ Stara kuća je dobro sačuvan.

Agreement — a feminine subject 'kuća' needs 'sačuvana': 'kuća je sačuvana'.

✅ Stara kuća je dobro sačuvana.

The old house is well preserved.

❌ Čuvati ću ti mjesto.

Future spelling — the infinitive drops its -i before the clitic: 'čuvat ću'.

✅ Čuvat ću ti mjesto.

I'll save you a seat.

❌ Cuvaj se!

Orthography — the word begins with 'č', not plain 'c': 'Čuvaj se!'.

✅ Čuvaj se!

Take care!

Key Takeaways

Čuvati (impf, čuvam) / sačuvati (pf, sačuvam) = keep safe: preserve / keep (sačuvati datoteku), guard (čuvati kuću), babysit (čuvati djecu).
Core senses take an accusative object; the babysit sense is firmly imperfective.
Reflexive čuvati se + genitive = "take care / beware (of)": čuvaj se propuha (no preposition).
Čuvaj se! (informal) / Čuvajte se! = "Take care!", an everyday farewell.
Passive participle sačuvan ("preserved"); future drops the -i: sačuvat ću, never sačuvati ću.

Now practice Croatian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Croatian→