uzimati / uzeti (to take) | Croatian Grammar

Uzeti ("to take") is one of those high-frequency verbs whose two aspect members barely look related: the imperfective uzimati (present uzimam) and the perfective uzeti (present uzmem). The stems uzima- and uzm- share almost nothing on the surface, which is why this pair feels closer to a suppletive pair than to a tidy suffix swap. Get both present stems into your ear separately. On top of the basic accusative object, uzeti lets you mark who you take from with a bare dative, and it spawns a small family of prefixed perfectives — chiefly preuzeti ("take over") and oduzeti ("take away, subtract") — that share its conjugation.

Aspect

Verb	Aspect	Present 1sg	Typical use
uzeti	perfective	uzmem	one completed act of taking
uzimati	imperfective	uzimam	taking habitually / repeatedly / in progress

The split is the ordinary perfective-vs-imperfective one, but the irregular feature is that the imperfective is not built by a clean suffix on the perfective stem — uzm- and uzima- go their own ways. So "I'll take one" (one act, done) is uzet ću jedan, while "I take my medicine every morning" (a repeated habit) is uzimam lijek svako jutro. Treat the two present stems as facts to memorise, not forms to derive.

💡

Drill the two presents side by side: perfective uzmem, uzmeš, uzme… versus imperfective uzimam, uzimaš, uzima…. The perfective uzmem never means "right now" — for the act in progress you always want uzimam.

Present tense

Uzeti takes e-class endings on the stem uzm-; uzimati is a regular a-class verb.

Person	uzeti (pf)	uzimati (impf)
ja	uzmem	uzimam
ti	uzmeš	uzimaš
on/ona/ono	uzme	uzima
mi	uzmemo	uzimamo
vi	uzmete	uzimate
oni/one/ona	uzmu	uzimaju

As always, the perfective present uzmem reads as a future or conditional in a subordinate clause: Čim uzmem ključeve, krećemo ("As soon as I grab the keys, we're off").

Uzimam vitamine svaki dan, navikla sam.

I take vitamins every day, I'm used to it. — imperfective, a habit.

Uzmi onaj veći komad, ti si gladniji.

Take the bigger piece, you're hungrier. — perfective, one act.

The l-participle

Uzeti has the masculine uzeo (the root vowel changes before the -l): uzeo / uzela / uzelo. Uzimati is regular: uzimao / uzimala.

Gender / number	uzeti	uzimati
masculine singular	uzeo	uzimao
feminine singular	uzela	uzimala
neuter singular	uzelo	uzimalo
masculine plural	uzeli	uzimali
feminine plural	uzele	uzimale
neuter plural	uzela	uzimala

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + the l-participle. The everyday "I took" is the perfective uzeo sam; the imperfective uzimao sam marks a repeated past ("I used to take").

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	uzeo sam	uzela sam
ti	uzeo si	uzela si
on / ona	uzeo je	uzela je
mi	uzeli smo	uzele smo
vi	uzeli ste	uzele ste
oni / one	uzeli su	uzele su

Tko mi je uzeo punjač sa stola?

Who took my charger off the desk? — perfective + dative source 'mi'.

Godinama je uzimala isti lijek bez problema.

For years she took the same medication without any trouble. — imperfective, a long habit.

Future I (futur prvi)

Uzeti → uzet ću (drops the final -i); uzimati → uzimat ću.

Person	uzeti	uzimati
ja	uzet ću	uzimat ću
ti	uzet ćeš	uzimat ćeš
on/ona/ono	uzet će	uzimat će
mi	uzet ćemo	uzimat ćemo
vi	uzet ćete	uzimat ćete
oni/one/ona	uzet će	uzimat će

Uzet ću taksi, prekasno je za autobus.

I'll take a taxi, it's too late for the bus.

Imperative

The perfective uzmi! ("take [it]!") is the normal one-off request; the imperfective uzimaj! leans toward "keep taking / take regularly" (e.g. medicine).

Person	uzeti (pf)	uzimati (impf)
ti	uzmi	uzimaj
mi	uzmimo	uzimajmo
vi	uzmite	uzimajte

Uzmi me za ruku, gužva je.

Take my hand, it's crowded. — perfective imperative 'uzmi'.

Uzimaj tablete s hranom, ne na prazan želudac.

Take the pills with food, not on an empty stomach. — imperfective, a standing instruction.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

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

Person	uzeti (masc.)
ja	uzeo bih
ti	uzeo bi
on/ona/ono	uzeo/uzela/uzelo bi
mi	uzeli bismo
vi	uzeli biste
oni/one/ona	uzeli bi

Ja bih uzeo onu plavu, ako ti svejedno.

I'd take the blue one, if it's all the same to you.

Other forms

Passive participle: uzet, uzeta, uzeto ("taken"). This is a rare -t- participle — uzeti forms it with -t rather than the more common -n- (no jotation involved): Mjesto je već uzeto ("The seat is already taken"). The imperfective gives uziman.
Verbal adverb: imperfective uzimajući ("[while] taking"). The perfective has no present adverb.

Žao mi je, ovaj stol je već uzet.

Sorry, this table is already taken. — passive participle 'uzet'.

Key uses and government

1. The thing taken: accusative

The basic object of uzeti / uzimati is the accusative — what you take. See the accusative direct object.

Uzela je kišobran jer je vani lijevalo.

She took an umbrella because it was pouring outside. — accusative object.

2. The source: bare dative ("take from someone")

To say whom you take something from, Croatian uses a bare dative of the person — no preposition — exactly where English needs "from". The frame is uzeti + dative person + accusative thing: uzeti nekomu nešto. This dative-of-detriment is the mirror image of the dative with verbs.

Netko mi je uzeo mjesto dok sam bila vani.

Someone took my seat while I was outside. — dative source 'mi', no preposition.

Nemoj djetetu uzeti igračku iz ruke.

Don't take the toy out of the child's hand. — dative 'djetetu'.

3. preuzeti — "take over, take on, pick up"

The prefix pre- on the same stem gives preuzeti ("take over [a role/duty], assume, collect"): present preuzmem, l-participle preuzeo. It keeps the accusative.

Preuzela je vođenje tima nakon što je šef otišao.

She took over running the team after the boss left. — 'preuzeti'.

4. oduzeti — "take away, deduct, subtract"

The prefix od- gives oduzeti ("take away from, deprive of, subtract"): present oduzmem. It governs the same dative-source frame (oduzeti nekomu nešto) and is also the maths verb for subtraction.

Sudac mu je oduzeo vozačku dozvolu na šest mjeseci.

The judge took away his driving licence for six months. — 'oduzeti' + dative.

Ako od deset oduzmemo tri, ostaje sedam.

If we subtract three from ten, seven remain. — 'oduzeti' in arithmetic.

Common Mistakes

❌ Uzem kavu svako jutro.

Wrong stem — the perfective 'uzmem' can't mean a daily habit; use the imperfective 'uzimam'.

✅ Uzimam kavu svako jutro.

I have a coffee every morning.

❌ Uzeo je od mene knjigu.

Unnatural for a person source — use the bare dative: 'uzeo mi je knjigu'.

✅ Uzeo mi je knjigu.

He took my book / took the book from me.

❌ Uzeti ću taksi.

Wrong future spelling — the infinitive drops its -i before the clitic: 'uzet ću'.

✅ Uzet ću taksi.

I'll take a taxi.

❌ Mjesto je uzeto preuzeto.

Wrong prefix — 'take a seat' uses plain 'uzet'; 'preuzet' means 'taken over / assumed'.

✅ Mjesto je uzeto.

The seat is taken.

❌ Uzmimo lijek svaki dan.

Aspect/imperative clash — a recurring instruction wants the imperfective 'uzimajmo', not the one-off perfective 'uzmimo'.

✅ Uzimajmo lijek svaki dan.

Let's take the medicine every day.

Key Takeaways

uzeti (pf, uzmem, uzeo, imperative uzmi!) = one act of taking; uzimati (impf, uzimam, uzimao) = habitual/repeated taking — learn the two present stems separately.
Object = accusative; the source person = bare dative ("take from someone", no preposition): uzeti nekomu nešto.
Passive participle is the -t- form uzet ("taken"), as in mjesto je uzeto.
Future drops -i: uzet ću (never uzeti ću).
Prefixed perfectives on the same stem: preuzeti ("take over", preuzmem) and oduzeti ("take away / subtract", oduzmem).

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