zaboravljati / zaboraviti (to forget)

Zaboraviti ("to forget") is the everyday verb behind Zaboravio sam ključeve ("I forgot my keys"), Nemoj zaboraviti! ("Don't forget!"), and the dismissive Zaboravi! ("Forget it!"). Unlike the verbs of believing and understanding, its government is gentle — mostly a plain accusative — so the work here is the aspect pair (perfective zaboraviti vs imperfective zaboravljati, with a v → vlj jotation in the imperfective) and the optional na + accusative for "forget about". This page lays out both members of the pair and the line between zaboraviti and its opposite, sjećati se ("remember").

Aspect

This is a true aspect pair from one root:

• zaboraviti — perfective: to forget (once, completed). "I forgot." The default for a single act of forgetting.
• zaboravljati — imperfective: to be forgetting, to keep forgetting (a process or habit). "I keep forgetting."

The imperfective is built by the -ja- suffix, which triggers jotation: the v of zaborav- becomes vlj before the -ja-, giving zaboravlj-ati. This same v → vlj change shows up in the passive participle (zaboravljen). See aspect pairs by suffix and palatalization.

Present tense

Because zaboraviti is perfective, its present does not mean "I forget now" — it has future/subordinate value (after kad, ako, da). The genuinely "present-now" meaning belongs to the imperfective zaboravljati. Both are shown below.

zaboraviti (perfective) — i-class, stem zaborav-:

The l-participle

Built on the infinitive stems.

Perfect tense (perfekt)

By far the most common past form is the perfective zaboravio/zaboravila sam — a single completed act of forgetting. Clitic biti + l-participle.

Future I (futur prvi)

The infinitive zaboraviti drops its -i: zaboravit ću.

Imperative

The perfective imperative zaboravi is the everyday one; the negative nemoj zaboraviti ("don't forget") uses the perfective infinitive after nemoj.

The most useful phrase of all is the standalone Zaboravi! ("Forget it! / Never mind! / Drop it!").

Other forms

• Passive participle: zaboravljen ("forgotten"), with the v → vlj jotation — zaboravljen grad ("a forgotten town"), davno zaboravljena pjesma ("a long-forgotten song"). This is a high-frequency adjective.
• Verbal adverb (imperfective): zaboravljajući ("forgetting, while forgetting"), mostly literary.

Key uses and government

1. zaboraviti + ACCUSATIVE — "forget something"

The default: the thing forgotten goes in the accusative, just like English. See the accusative direct object.

2. zaboraviti na + ACCUSATIVE — "forget about / let slip from mind"

With na + accusative, the sense shifts to "forget about, lose track of, fail to keep in mind" — often something you were supposed to attend to. The plain accusative loses information from memory; na + accusative loses it from your attention.

3. zaboraviti + infinitive / da-clause

To forget to do something, use the perfective + an infinitive (or a da-clause). See da vs the infinitive.

4. zaboraviti vs sjećati se ("remember")

The natural opposite of forgetting is sjećati se ("to remember"), which — unlike zaboraviti — is reflexive and takes the genitive, not the accusative: sjećam se tebe ("I remember you"). Don't carry the accusative of zaboraviti over to sjećati se. See sjećati se.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• A genuine aspect pair: perfective zaboraviti ("forget — done"), imperfective zaboravljati ("keep forgetting"), the imperfective showing v → vlj jotation.
• Use the perfective perfekt zaboravio/zaboravila sam for a single past act; the imperfective for habits ("I keep forgetting").
• Government: plain accusative for the thing forgotten; na
  • accusative
  for "forget about"; infinitive / da for "forget to do".
• Passive participle zaboravljen ("forgotten") and the standalone Zaboravi! ("Forget it!") are everyday forms.
• The opposite, sjećati se ("remember"), is reflexive and takes the genitive — don't copy this verb's accusative onto it.