voljeti (to love/like) | Croatian Grammar

Voljeti ("to love, to like") is the verb behind Volim te ("I love you"), Volim kavu ("I like coffee"), and Volim čitati ("I like reading"). It covers the whole English range from deep love to settled preference, and it does so with a clean grammar: it is a regular i-class verb that takes a direct object in the accusative or a complement infinitive. The one thing an English speaker must learn is when not to use it: for a momentary, "this-particular-thing-pleases-me" reaction, Croatian prefers the experiencer construction sviđati se. Voljeti is for stable affection and habit; sviđati se is for an impression. That contrast is the soul of this page.

Aspect

Voljeti is imperfective: loving and liking are states, not events. Its inceptive perfective partner is zavoljeti ("to come to love, to grow fond of") — the moment a feeling begins. So voljeti describes the ongoing affection, and zavoljeti marks its onset.

Isprva mi nije bila simpatična, ali sam je s vremenom zavolio.

At first I didn't warm to her, but over time I came to love her. — 'zavoljeti' = the onset of affection (perfective).

For how an imperfective state pairs with a perfective onset, see Verbal Aspect: The Big Picture.

Present tense

i-class endings -im, -iš, -i, -imo, -ite, -e on the stem vol-. The je of the infinitive does not appear in the present.

Person	Form	Meaning
ja	volim	I love / like
ti	voliš	you love
on/ona/ono	voli	he/she/it loves
mi	volimo	we love
vi	volite	you love
oni/one/ona	vole	they love

Volim te više nego što možeš zamisliti.

I love you more than you can imagine.

Voliš li jaču kavu ili blažu?

Do you like stronger coffee or milder?

Djeca obožavaju more, vole se kupati cijeli dan.

The kids adore the sea, they love swimming all day.

💡

The i-class 3rd-person plural is the bare -e: vole, not *voliju. Frame the verb as volim — voliš — voli … vole.

The l-participle and the ije/je alternation

A textbook ije/je verb: the masculine singular shortens to volio, every other form keeps je (voljela, voljelo, voljeli, voljele, voljela) — exactly parallel to živio/živjela and vidio/vidjela.

Gender / number	Form
masculine singular	volio
feminine singular	voljela
neuter singular	voljelo
masculine plural	voljeli
feminine plural	voljele
neuter plural	voljela

See The l-Participle for how this feeds the perfect, future, and conditional.

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. Because voljeti is a state, the perfekt usually means "used to love / loved (over a period)".

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	volio sam	voljela sam
ti	volio si	voljela si
on / ona	volio je	voljela je
mi	voljeli smo	voljele smo
vi	voljeli ste	voljele ste
oni / one	voljeli su	voljele su

Kao dijete voljela sam baki pomagati u kuhinji.

As a child I loved helping grandma in the kitchen. — feminine speaker, habitual past.

Uvijek smo voljeli ljetovati na Jadranu.

We always loved spending summers on the Adriatic.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive voljeti ends in -ti, so it drops the final -i before the clitic: voljet ću. The je stays.

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

Voljet ću te do kraja života.

I'll love you for the rest of my life.

Imperative

i-class imperative: -i, -imo, -ite. Commanding someone to feel is mostly rhetorical or affectionate, but the form is regular and does occur.

Person	Form	Meaning
ti	voli	love!
mi	volimo	let's love
vi	volite	love! (pl./formal)

Voli sebe prije nego što očekuješ da te drugi vole.

Love yourself before you expect others to love you.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

The conditional volio/voljela bih is one of the most useful polite phrases in the language: "I would love to / I'd like to". It softens a request far more than the blunt present Hoću ("I want").

Person	Form (masc.)
ja	volio bih
ti	volio bi
on/ona/ono	volio/voljela/voljelo bi
mi	voljeli bismo
vi	voljeli biste
oni/one/ona	voljeli bi

Voljela bih jednom vidjeti polarnu svjetlost.

I'd love to see the northern lights one day. — polite wish, feminine speaker.

Volio bih rezervirati stol za dvoje.

I'd like to reserve a table for two. — polite request, masculine speaker.

Other forms

Passive participle: voljen, voljena, voljeno ("loved, beloved"), a fully live and common adjective.
Present verbal adverb: voleći ("[while] loving"), literary and rare.

Odrasla je u skladnoj obitelji, voljena i pažena.

She grew up in a harmonious family, loved and cherished. — passive participle 'voljena'.

Key uses and government

1. voljeti + accusative object

A thing or person loved/liked goes straight into the accusative — no preposition. This is the most common pattern.

Volim ljeto, more i duge dane.

I love summer, the sea, and long days. — accusative objects.

Voli klasičnu glazbu i stare filmove.

He likes classical music and old films.

See Accusative: The Direct Object.

2. voljeti + infinitive (a liked activity)

To say you like doing something, follow voljeti with a bare infinitive.

Volim čitati u krevetu prije spavanja.

I like reading in bed before sleep.

Ne volim se svađati, radije se povučem.

I don't like arguing, I'd rather back off.

3. voljeti vs sviđati se — the key distinction

This is where English speakers go wrong most. Voljeti expresses stable, settled affection or habit ("I love / I'm fond of, generally"). Sviđati se expresses a momentary impression — something pleases you right now — and it inverts the grammar: the thing liked is the subject, and the liker is in the dative.

Volim ovaj restoran, dolazim ovamo godinama.

I love this restaurant, I've been coming here for years. — settled affection: 'voljeti' + accusative.

Sviđa mi se ovaj restoran, prvi put sam tu.

I like this restaurant, it's my first time here. — fresh impression: 'sviđati se' + dative experiencer.

A rule of thumb: if you can replace "like" with "am into / have a thing for" → voljeti; if you can replace it with "find nice / am impressed by (just now)" → sviđati se. With people, the difference is romantic too: Volim te = "I love you"; Sviđaš mi se = "I'm attracted to you / I have a crush on you". For the full treatment see voljeti vs sviđati se and Liking and Loving.

Sviđaš mi se već neko vrijeme, a sad shvaćam da te volim.

I've had a crush on you for a while, and now I realise I love you. — 'sviđati se' → 'voljeti', the whole arc.

Common Mistakes

❌ Oni voliju putovati.

Incorrect — the i-class 3pl is the bare -e: 'vole', not '*voliju'.

✅ Oni vole putovati.

They love travelling.

❌ Volim ovu pjesmu — čujem je prvi put i super je!

✅ Sviđa mi se ova pjesma — čujem je prvi put i super je!

I like this song — I'm hearing it for the first time and it's great!

❌ Volim za kavu.

No preposition needed — 'voljeti' takes a bare accusative: 'Volim kavu'.

✅ Volim kavu.

I like coffee.

❌ Ona je volio glazbu.

Agreement error — the participle must match a feminine subject: 'voljela'.

✅ Ona je voljela glazbu.

She loved music.

❌ Voleo bih te pozvati.

Spelling — the masculine is 'volio' (Croatian ije/je), not the ekavian '*voleo'.

✅ Volio bih te pozvati.

I'd like to invite you. — polite, masculine speaker.

Key Takeaways

Voljeti is imperfective; the inceptive perfective is zavoljeti ("come to love").
Present is i-class: volim, voliš, voli, volimo, volite, vole (bare -e in the 3pl).
The l-participle is ije/je: masculine volio, otherwise voljela / voljeli…
Government: accusative object (Volim te / Volim kavu) or infinitive (Volim čitati) — no preposition.
Voljeti = stable affection/habit; sviđati se = a fresh, momentary impression (dative experiencer). The polite volio/voljela bih = "I'd love to / I'd like to".

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