vraćati se / vratiti se (to return) | Croatian Grammar

Vratiti se ("to return, to come/go back") is the verb you reach for whenever something or someone goes back to where it was. It is a reflexive verb in its intransitive "come back" meaning (always with the clitic se), and a plain transitive verb without se meaning "to return / give something back". Two things make it worth a full page: it shows the productive t → ć alternation between the perfective vratiti and the imperfective vraćati, and its perfect tense is a textbook case of je-deletion with the se clitic.

Aspect and partner

The pair is vraćati se (imperfective) / vratiti se (perfective):

vratiti se (pf) — one completed return: Vratio sam se kući ("I came back home").
vraćati se (impf) — a return in progress, repeated, or habitual: Vraćam se s posla u šest ("I get back from work at six [every day]").

The imperfective is built by suffixation with t → ć softening: vrat-iti → vra*ć-ati. This *t → ć is the same jotation you see across the language (platiti → plaćati, vratiti → vraćati); it is one of the regular ways imperfectives are formed — see aspect pairs by suffix.

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The spelling trap is the consonant: perfective vratiti has plain t; imperfective vraćati has ć. If you can swap in "keep coming back / be on my way back", use vraćati se; if you mean one finished return, use vratiti se.

Present tense

Both are conjugated below. Vratiti se is an i-class verb (vratim se); vraćati se is an a-class verb (vraćam se). The clitic se follows the verb in a simple clause but takes second position in the sentence as a whole.

Person	vratiti se (pf)	vraćati se (impf)
ja	vratim se	vraćam se
ti	vratiš se	vraćaš se
on/ona/ono	vrati se	vraća se
mi	vratimo se	vraćamo se
vi	vratite se	vraćate se
oni/one/ona	vrate se	vraćaju se

Note the two different 3pl endings: i-class vrate se (bare -e) vs a-class vraćaju se (-aju). The perfective present vratim se reads as future ("I'll be back") or habitual, never as "I'm coming back right now" — for the action in progress use the imperfective vraćam se.

Vraćam se s posla oko šest, navrati poslije.

I get back from work around six, drop by after. — habitual, imperfective.

Samo skoknem do pekare i odmah se vratim.

I'll just pop to the bakery and be right back. — perfective present, a quick completed return.

The l-participle

Regular for an -iti verb: vratio, vratila, vratilo … (the se is a separate clitic, written apart).

Gender / number	vratiti (se)
masculine singular	vratio (se)
feminine singular	vratila (se)
neuter singular	vratilo (se)
masculine plural	vratili (se)
feminine plural	vratile (se)
neuter plural	vratila (se)

Perfect tense (perfekt) — the je-deletion rule

This is the headline grammar point. In the 3rd-person singular, the auxiliary je and the reflexive se would clash — and Croatian deletes the je. So "he came back" is vratio se (not vratio se je), and "she came back" is vratila se. The auxiliary reappears in every other person.

Person	Masculine subject	Feminine subject
ja	vratio sam se	vratila sam se
ti	vratio si se	vratila si se
on / ona	vratio se (je dropped)	vratila se (je dropped)
mi	vratili smo se	vratile smo se
vi	vratili ste se	vratile ste se
oni / one	vratili su se	vratile su se

Watch the clitic cluster order, too: when both an auxiliary and se appear, the auxiliary comes first except je — so sam se, si se, smo se, but in the 3sg the order question disappears because je is gone. For the full reflexive picture see reflexive verbs.

Vratio se kući tek u zoru.

He came home only at dawn. — note: 'vratio se', NOT 'vratio se je'.

Vratili smo se s mora prepuni dojmova.

We came back from the coast full of impressions. — auxiliary present: 'smo se'.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive vratiti drops its -i before the clitic: vratit ću se.

Person	Form
ja	vratit ću se
ti	vratit ćeš se
on/ona/ono	vratit će se
mi	vratit ćemo se
vi	vratit ćete se
oni/one/ona	vratit će se

Ne brini, vratit ću se prije mraka.

Don't worry, I'll be back before dark. — future I, reflexive.

Imperative

Perfective vratiti se: vrati se, vratimo se, vratite se. The imperative Vrati se! ("Come back!") is one of the most common spoken forms.

Person	vratiti se (pf)	vraćati se (impf)
ti	vrati se	vraćaj se
mi	vratimo se	vraćajmo se
vi	vratite se	vraćajte se

Negative commands use nemoj: Nemoj se vraćati tim putem, opasno je ("Don't go back that way, it's dangerous") — note the imperfective after nemoj.

Vrati se, zaboravio si ključeve!

Come back, you forgot your keys!

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle + se.

Person	Form (masc.)
ja	vratio bih se
ti	vratio bi se
on/ona/ono	vratio/vratila/vratilo bi se
mi	vratili bismo se
vi	vratili biste se
oni/one/ona	vratili bi se

Vratio bih se u taj grad u trenu da mogu.

I'd go back to that town in a heartbeat if I could.

Other forms

Passive participle: the transitive vratiti ("to return something") has the passive participle vraćen, vraćena, vraćeno ("returned, given back"). Note the t → ć again: vrati-
- -jen → vraćen. The reflexive vratiti se has no passive participle.
Verbal adverb (present): imperfective vraćajući se ("while returning").

Sva posuđena oprema mora biti vraćena do petka.

All the borrowed equipment must be returned by Friday. — passive participle 'vraćena'.

Vraćajući se kući, sjetio se da nije zaključao ured.

On his way back home, he remembered he hadn't locked the office. — verbal adverb.

Key uses and government

1. Where you return TO: u / na + accusative, kući (special)

The destination of a return is motion, so it takes u / na + accusative. The big exception is "home": "to return home" is the bare adverb kući (an old dative form), never u kuću. See the accusative of motion and direction.

Vraćamo se u Zagreb sutra navečer.

We're returning to Zagreb tomorrow evening. — 'u' + accusative.

Vrati se kući prije nego što počne kiša.

Come back home before it starts raining. — 'kući', not 'u kuću'.

2. Where you return FROM: iz / s(a) + genitive

The source takes iz + genitive ("out of") or s(a) + genitive ("off / from a surface, an event, the coast"). See the genitive after prepositions.

Tek se sinoć vratila s puta u Italiju.

She only got back last night from a trip to Italy. — 's(a)' + genitive source.

Kad se vratiš iz škole, nazovi baku.

When you get back from school, call grandma. — 'iz' + genitive source.

3. Transitive vratiti (no se): "give back / return something"

Drop the se and vratiti takes a direct object in the accusative — "return / give back" a thing; with a recipient in the dative.

Vratio sam knjigu u knjižnicu na vrijeme.

I returned the book to the library on time. — transitive 'vratiti', accusative object.

Možeš li mi vratiti onih dvadeset eura?

Can you give me back those twenty euros? — accusative object + dative recipient 'mi'.

Common Mistakes

❌ Vratio se je kući tek u zoru.

je-deletion — in the 3sg reflexive perfect the auxiliary 'je' drops: 'vratio se', not 'vratio se je'.

✅ Vratio se kući tek u zoru.

He came home only at dawn.

❌ Vraćam se u kuću u šest.

'home' is the adverb 'kući', not 'u kuću'.

✅ Vraćam se kući u šest.

I get back home at six.

❌ Sutra se vraćam u Zagrebu.

Wrong case — a return is motion, so accusative: 'u Zagreb', not locative 'u Zagrebu'.

✅ Sutra se vraćam u Zagreb.

I'm returning to Zagreb tomorrow.

❌ Vratiti ću se prije mraka.

Before the future clitic the infinitive drops its -i: 'vratit ću se'.

✅ Vratit ću se prije mraka.

I'll be back before dark.

❌ Vraćam se odmah, samo skoknem do banke.

Aspect mix — 'be right back' is one quick completed return, the perfective 'odmah se vratim', not the imperfective 'vraćam se'.

✅ Odmah se vratim, samo skoknem do banke.

I'll be right back, I'm just popping to the bank.

Key Takeaways

vratiti se (pf) = one completed return; vraćati se (impf) = return in progress / habitual. Spelling: plain t vs ć.
je-deletion: the 3sg reflexive perfect is vratio se / vratila se, never vratio se je.
Destination = u/na
- accusative (but "home" = the adverb kući); source = iz/s
  - genitive.
Drop se and vratiti is transitive: "return / give back" + accusative object (+ dative recipient).
Passive participle of transitive vratiti is vraćen (t → ć); future vratit ću se.

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