završavati / završiti (to finish) | Croatian Grammar

Završiti / završavati ("to finish, to end") is the verb you reach for when something comes to its conclusion — finishing a job, ending a phone call, wrapping up a year, graduating from university. It is also a phase verb: like početi ("begin") and prestati ("stop"), it can take another verb as its complement, and that choice of complement reveals a deep point about Croatian aspect. Get this verb right and you will sound markedly more advanced, because the aspect-and-complement interplay here is exactly the kind of thing intermediate learners stumble over.

Aspect

Završiti (perfective) and završavati (imperfective) form a textbook suffixal aspect pair built on the same root -vrš-. The perfective views the finishing as a single completed event ("I finished it"); the imperfective views it as a process or habit unfolding ("I'm finishing it", "I finish it every day").

	Perfective	Imperfective
Verb	završiti	završavati
Core sense	finish, bring to an end (one completed event)	be finishing, finish (process, habit, repeated)
Present meaning	future / subordinate (završim ≠ "I'm finishing now")	true present (završavam = "I'm finishing / I finish")
Typical use	Završit ću do petka. "I'll finish by Friday."	Upravo završavam. "I'm just finishing up."

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The perfective završiti has no real present-time meaning. Završim means "I (will) finish / whenever I finish", never "I am finishing right now". For the live, in-progress sense you must use the imperfective završavam. This is the single most reliable trap in the pair — see choosing the right aspect.

Present tense

Završiti is a regular i-class verb on the stem završ-. Završavati is a regular a-class verb on the stem završav-.

Person	završiti (pf — future/subordinate sense)	završavati (impf — true present)
ja	završim	završavam
ti	završiš	završavaš
on/ona/ono	završi	završava
mi	završimo	završavamo
vi	završite	završavate
oni/one/ona	završe	završavaju

Upravo završavam izvještaj, daj mi još deset minuta.

I'm just finishing the report, give me ten more minutes. — imperfective for the in-progress action.

Nazovi me čim završiš s ručkom.

Call me as soon as you finish lunch. — perfective present 'završiš' = a single future completion after 'čim'.

The l-participle

Both verbs form the l-participle regularly. Završiti gives završio / završila / završilo; završavati gives završavao / završavala / završavalo.

Gender / number	završiti	završavati
masculine singular	završio	završavao
feminine singular	završila	završavala
neuter singular	završilo	završavalo
masculine plural	završili	završavali
feminine plural	završile	završavale
neuter plural	završila	završavala

Note the masculine singular završio: the -l- of the participle vocalises to -o after i, exactly as in radio, vidio. The feminine keeps the -l-: završila.

Perfect tense (perfekt)

Clitic biti + l-participle. Završiti is not reflexive, so no se; the auxiliary is simply sam, si, je, etc.

Person	završiti (masc.)	završiti (fem.)
ja	završio sam	završila sam
ti	završio si	završila si
on / ona	završio je	završila je
mi	završili smo	završile smo
vi	završili ste	završile ste
oni / one	završili su	završile su

Završila sam fakultet prošle godine i odmah našla posao.

I graduated from university last year and immediately found a job. — feminine speaker; 'završiti fakultet' = to graduate.

Sastanak je završio prije sat vremena.

The meeting ended an hour ago. — intransitive 'završiti' = come to an end.

Future I (futur prvi)

Završiti ends in -ti, so it drops the -i before the clitic: završit ću (written without the -i, pronounced as one breath). The imperfective is završavat ću. The clitics cluster in second position. See future one.

Person	završiti	završavati
ja	završit ću	završavat ću
ti	završit ćeš	završavat ćeš
on/ona/ono	završit će	završavat će
mi	završit ćemo	završavat ćemo
vi	završit ćete	završavat ćete
oni/one/ona	završit će	završavat će

Završit ćemo projekt do kraja mjeseca, obećavam.

We'll finish the project by the end of the month, I promise. — perfective future for a single completed goal.

Imperative

Built on the present stem with i-class endings: završi, završimo, završite. For an ongoing process you can also use the imperfective imperative završavaj, but the perfective Završi to! ("Finish it!") is the everyday command — you usually order someone to complete something, which is inherently perfective.

Person	završiti	završavati
ti	završi	završavaj
mi	završimo	završavajmo
vi	završite	završavajte

Završi prvo zadaću, pa onda na mobitel.

Finish your homework first, and then the phone. — perfective command for completing a single task.

Conditional I (kondicional prvi)

bih-clitics + l-participle.

Person	završiti (masc.)
ja	završio bih
ti	završio bi
on/ona/ono	završio/završila/završilo bi
mi	završili bismo
vi	završili biste
oni/one/ona	završili bi

Završio bih danas, ali nestalo mi je materijala.

I'd finish today, but I've run out of materials.

Other forms

Passive participle: završen / završena / završeno ("finished, completed") — very common as a predicate adjective: Posao je završen. "The job is done." Built by the regular -en jotation of the i-stem (note: š is already part of the root, so no extra alternation here).
Verbal adverbs: the imperfective gives the present verbal adverb završavajući ("[while] finishing"); the perfective gives the past verbal adverb završivši ("having finished"), literary/formal.

Svi su radovi na cesti napokon završeni.

All the roadworks are finally finished. — passive participle 'završeni' as predicate adjective.

Završivši govor, sjeo je uz pljesak.

Having finished his speech, he sat down to applause. — past verbal adverb 'završivši' (formal).

Government and key uses

1. završiti + accusative — "finish a thing"

The most basic pattern: a direct object in the accusative. Završiti posao "finish the work", završiti pismo "finish the letter". See the accusative as direct object.

Jesi li završio domaću zadaću?

Have you finished your homework?

2. završiti + imperfective infinitive — the phase-verb complement

When završiti governs another verb ("finish doing X"), that second verb goes into the infinitive — and it must be imperfective. This is the phase-verb rule: phase verbs (početi, prestati, nastaviti, završiti) describe the boundary of a process, so the process itself stays imperfective. Završiti čitati "finish reading", završiti raditi "finish working". See aspect with phase verbs.

Završi jesti, hladi ti se juha.

Finish eating, your soup is getting cold. — phase verb 'završi' + imperfective infinitive 'jesti'.

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Crucially, "finish reading the book" is most naturally expressed not with the phase verb but with the prefixed perfective itself: pročitati knjigu "to read the book through (to the end)". The prefix pro- already builds the completion into the verb, so završiti + infinitive sounds heavier and is reserved for emphasising the act of finishing. Prefer Pročitao sam knjigu over Završio sam čitati knjigu — see čitati / pročitati.

3. završiti sa + instrumental — "be done with"

To say you are done with something (an activity or person), use sa + the instrumental. Završiti s poslom "finish with the work", završiti s njim "be through with him".

Konačno sam završila sa starim poslom i krećem dalje.

I've finally finished with my old job and I'm moving on. — 'završiti sa' + instrumental.

4. Intransitive završiti — "end, turn out"

Završiti with no object means "to end / come to an end / turn out": Film je završio "The film ended", Sve je dobro završilo "It all ended well".

Utakmica je završila neriješeno, dva-dva.

The match ended in a draw, two-all. — intransitive 'završiti' = end.

5. završiti fakultet / školu — "graduate"

A fixed collocation: završiti + accusative of the institution means to graduate / complete one's studies there. Završiti fakultet "to graduate from university", završiti srednju školu "to finish secondary school".

Brat mi je upravo završio medicinu.

My brother has just graduated in medicine. — 'završiti' + accusative = complete a course of study.

Common Mistakes

❌ Završim domaću zadaću, nazovi me kasnije.

Aspect error — for the live present 'I'm finishing now' use the imperfective 'završavam'; perfective 'završim' can't mean 'right now'.

✅ Završavam domaću zadaću, nazovi me kasnije.

I'm finishing my homework, call me later.

❌ Završio sam čitati knjigu.

Heavy/marked — for 'I finished the book' Croatian prefers the prefixed perfective 'pročitao sam knjigu'.

✅ Pročitao sam knjigu.

I finished (read through) the book.

❌ Završi napisati pismo.

Wrong complement aspect — a phase verb governs the IMPERFECTIVE infinitive, so the perfective 'napisati' is impossible after 'završi'.

✅ Završi pisati pismo.

Finish writing the letter. — correct: imperfective infinitive 'pisati' after 'završi'.

❌ Završila sam s posao.

Wrong case — 'završiti sa' takes the instrumental: 's poslom', not the nominative 'posao'.

✅ Završila sam s poslom.

I'm done with work.

❌ Završio sam se sastanak.

Wrong — 'završiti' is not reflexive; there is no 'se'. The meeting itself 'ended' intransitively: 'Sastanak je završio'.

✅ Sastanak je završio.

The meeting ended.

Key Takeaways

Završiti (pf) / završavati (impf) — perfective for a single completed end, imperfective for the live process. Završim ≠ "now"; use završavam.
L-participle završio / završila; passive participle završen; future završit ću (drops -i).
Government: accusative for a thing, imperfective infinitive as a phase complement, sa
- instrumental for "done with", and the završiti fakultet "graduate" collocation.
For "finish reading/writing X", prefer the prefixed perfective (pročitati, napisati) over završiti
- infinitive.
Završiti is not reflexive — it ends things, or things end, with no se.

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