vidjeti (to see) | Croatian Grammar

Vidjeti ("to see") is the verb of perception — what reaches your eyes without you deciding to direct them. It is one of the first verbs every learner needs, and it hides a small surprise: despite the -jeti infinitive, it conjugates as an ordinary i-class verb in the present (vidim, vidiš…). It also carries the everyday farewell Vidimo se! ("See you!"), so you will use it constantly. The single thing English speakers must keep straight is the difference between vidjeti "see" (passive perception) and gledati "watch / look at" (deliberate looking).

Aspect

Vidjeti is unusual: it behaves as both members of the aspect pair, leaning perfective ("to catch sight of, to spot") but very often used imperfectively ("to see, to be able to see") as well. In other words, it is effectively bi-aspectual in practice, which is why you can say both Vidim more s balkona ("I [can] see the sea from the balcony" — a present state, imperfective sense) and Vidio sam ga jučer ("I saw him yesterday" — a completed event, perfective sense).

When you specifically need an imperfective "see repeatedly / keep seeing", Croatian has the iterative viđati (viđam, viđaš…): Viđamo se svaki tjedan ("We see each other every week"). For "catch sight of" with extra finality, you also hear the prefixed ugledati ("to glimpse, to spot"). The general background to this is on aspect overview and the bi-aspectual case specifically on suppletive and bi-aspectual verbs.

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Treat vidjeti as your default verb of seeing in any tense. Reach for the iterative viđati only when you mean a recurring habit ("we see each other regularly"); reach for gledati when the seeing is deliberate ("watch a film, look at the screen").

Present tense

The infinitive ends in -jeti, but the present is plain i-class: stem vid- + -im, -iš, -i, -imo, -ite, -e. The 3rd-person plural is the bare -e (vide), never vidiju.

Person	Form	Ending	Meaning
ja	vidim	-im	I see / I can see
ti	vidiš	-iš	you see
on/ona/ono	vidi	-i	he/she/it sees
mi	vidimo	-imo	we see
vi	vidite	-ite	you see
oni/one/ona	vide	-e	they see

Vidiš li onaj toranj na brdu?

Do you see that tower on the hill?

Bez naočala ne vidim ništa.

Without my glasses I can't see anything.

Vidimo se sutra ujutro!

See you tomorrow morning!

The l-participle

Here is the -jeti surprise: while the present is i-stem, the past stem keeps the -je- of the infinitive. In the masculine singular this -je- + vocalised -l contracts to -io (vidio); everywhere else the -je- stays put before the ending (vidjela, vidjelo, vidjeli…).

Gender / number	Form
masculine singular	vidio
feminine singular	vidjela
neuter singular	vidjelo
masculine plural	vidjeli
feminine plural	vidjele
neuter plural	vidjela

Note the alternation: masculine vidio (no j), but everywhere else vidjel- with the j. Writing *vidil or *vidjeo is wrong — it is vidio (m.) versus vidjela (f.).

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti (sam, si, je, smo, ste, su) + the l-participle. This is the everyday past.

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	vidio sam	vidjela sam
ti	vidio si	vidjela si
on / ona	vidio je	vidjela je
mi	vidjeli smo	vidjele smo
vi	vidjeli ste	vidjele ste
oni / one	vidjeli su	vidjele su

Jesi li vidio moju poruku?

Did you see my message? — masculine addressee, completed event.

Vidjela sam je u trgovini, ali nismo stigle popričati.

I saw her in the shop, but we didn't get a chance to chat. — feminine speaker.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive vidjeti drops its final -i before the htjeti clitic, fusing in writing as vidjet ću.

Person	Infinitive first	Clitic first
ja	vidjet ću	… ću vidjeti
ti	vidjet ćeš	… ćeš vidjeti
on/ona/ono	vidjet će	… će vidjeti
mi	vidjet ćemo	… ćemo vidjeti
vi	vidjet ćete	… ćete vidjeti
oni/one/ona	vidjet će	… će vidjeti

Vidjet ćemo se na vjenčanju, zar ne?

We'll see each other at the wedding, won't we?

Ako nastaviš ovako, vidjet ćeš kako će to završiti.

If you keep this up, you'll see how it ends.

Imperative

i-class imperative: vidi, vidimo, vidite. Beyond literal "look", Vidi! works as the attention-grabber "Look! / Check this out!".

Person	Form	Meaning
ti	vidi	see! / look!
mi	vidimo	let's see
vi	vidite	see! / look! (pl./formal)

Vidi ti njega, kako se uredio!

Look at him, all dressed up! — colloquial 'vidi' as a discourse opener.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics (bih, bi, bi, bismo, biste, bi) + the l-participle.

Person	Form (masc.)
ja	vidio bih
ti	vidio bi
on/ona/ono	vidio/vidjela/vidjelo bi
mi	vidjeli bismo
vi	vidjeli biste
oni/one/ona	vidjeli bi

Volio bih da to vidiš svojim očima.

I'd love for you to see it with your own eyes.

Other forms

Passive participle: viđen, viđena, viđeno ("seen"). Note the đ: the -d- of the stem palatalises d → đ in the participle (the same jotation seen in rad → rađen). It is common in expressions like nikad viđen ("never seen before") and dobro viđen ("well thought of").
Verbal adverbs: the present verbal adverb videći exists but is rare; far more common is the past verbal adverb vidjevši ("having seen"), used in narrative writing.

To je najljepši zalazak sunca koji sam ikad vidjela.

That's the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. — feminine speaker.

Vidjevši što se događa, odmah je pozvao policiju.

Seeing what was happening, he immediately called the police. — past verbal adverb, narrative register.

Key uses and government

1. Perception: vidjeti + accusative

The thing seen is a direct object in the accusative. With masculine animate nouns the accusative differs from the nominative (vidim Marka, "I see Marko"; vidim psa, "I see a dog").

Vidim te! Izađi iza zavjese.

I see you! Come out from behind the curtain. — clitic accusative 'te'.

S vrha smo vidjeli cijeli grad.

From the top we could see the whole city.

2. "See that…" — vidjeti da + clause

For "see / realise that something is the case", use da + a finite clause. This is "see" in the mental sense of "notice, realise".

Vidim da si umoran, idi spavati.

I can see you're tired, go to sleep.

3. Vidimo se — the everyday goodbye

The reflexive vidjeti se ("see each other") gives the standard parting phrase Vidimo se! and its variants. This is one of the highest-frequency phrases in spoken Croatian.

Vidimo se za vikend, javi mi se kad krećeš.

See you over the weekend, let me know when you set off.

Common Mistakes

❌ Sinoć sam gledao prijatelja na ulici.

Wrong verb — accidental seeing/spotting is 'vidjeti', not deliberate 'gledati' (watch).

✅ Sinoć sam vidio prijatelja na ulici.

Last night I saw a friend on the street.

❌ Oni vidiju more s terase.

Incorrect — the i-class 3pl is the bare -e: 'vide', not '-iju'.

✅ Oni vide more s terase.

They can see the sea from the terrace.

❌ Ona je vidio film.

Agreement error — the l-participle must match a feminine subject: 'vidjela'.

✅ Ona je vidjela film.

She saw the film.

❌ Vidjeti ću te sutra.

Incorrect — before the future clitic the infinitive drops its -i and fuses: 'vidjet ću'.

✅ Vidjet ću te sutra.

I'll see you tomorrow.

❌ Ovaj film nikad nije bio vidjen.

Spelling — the passive participle palatalises d → đ: 'viđen', not 'vidjen'.

✅ Ovaj film nikad nije bio viđen.

This film had never been seen.

Key Takeaways

Vidjeti is effectively bi-aspectual: it covers both "be able to see" (imperfective) and "catch sight of" (perfective). Use viđati only for a recurring habit.
Despite the -jeti infinitive, the present is plain i-class: vidim, vidiš, vidi, vidimo, vidite, vide.
The l-participle splits: masculine vidio (no j), feminine/plural vidjela, vidjeli (with j).
Government is the accusative for the thing seen; vidjeti da… for "realise that".
Passive participle viđen (note đ); the farewell Vidimo se! is everywhere. Contrast with gledati for deliberate watching.

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