Future I (futur prvi) | Croatian Grammar

Futur prvi ("Future I") is the ordinary, all-purpose Croatian future — the one you use for almost everything English would put in "will" or "going to." It is built from just two ingredients: the clitic form of htjeti (ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će) plus the infinitive of the main verb. The grammar is simple; what trips learners is the spelling, because when the infinitive comes before the auxiliary, its ending changes. Master the rule radit ću (not raditi ću, and not radiću) and you have the whole tense.

The two ingredients

The auxiliary is the unstressed (clitic) present of htjeti — the same verb whose full form hoću means "I want." As an auxiliary it carries no "want" meaning at all; it is pure future marking. (For the full/clitic/negative shapes of htjeti see biti and htjeti as auxiliaries.)

Person	Clitic auxiliary
ja	ću
ti	ćeš
on/ona/ono	će
mi	ćemo
vi	ćete
oni/one/ona	će

The second ingredient is the infinitive, which in Croatian ends in -ti (raditi, "to work") or -ći (doći, "to come"; ići, "to go").

Word order one: auxiliary first, full infinitive

When the auxiliary stands before the infinitive — typically because some other word opens the clause, or you keep a pronoun for emphasis — the infinitive keeps its full -ti / -ći ending and the two words stay separate.

Person	Future I of raditi	Future I of doći
ja	ja ću raditi	ja ću doći
ti	ti ćeš raditi	ti ćeš doći
on/ona/ono	on će raditi	on će doći
mi	mi ćemo raditi	mi ćemo doći
vi	vi ćete raditi	vi ćete doći
oni/one/ona	oni će raditi	oni će doći

Sutra ću raditi od kuće.

Tomorrow I'll work from home. ('Sutra' opens the clause, so 'ću' comes before the infinitive — full -ti)

Mislim da ćemo doći oko osam.

I think we'll come around eight. ('da' opens the clause; 'ćemo doći' stays full)

Ja ću platiti, ti si platio prošli put.

I'll pay, you paid last time. ('ja' kept for contrast)

Word order two: infinitive first — the radit ću rule

When the infinitive comes first (which is very common, since the auxiliary is a clitic that loves to lean back on it), a spelling change kicks in for -ti verbs:

The infinitive drops its final -i, the -t stays, and the words are written separately: raditi + ću → radit ću.

So you write radit ću, vidjet ću, kupit ćeš, čekat će — t at the end, no -i, a space before the auxiliary. The pronunciation is radiću (the t and ć fuse into a sound like "č"), but the standard spelling keeps them apart.

Infinitive	Future I (infinitive first)	Reads as
raditi	radit ću	I'll work
vidjeti	vidjet ću	I'll see
kupiti	kupit ćeš	you'll buy
pisati	pisat ćemo	we'll write
čekati	čekat će	he/she/they will wait

Radit ću do kasno večeras.

I'll work late tonight. ('raditi' → 'radit ću', written apart, -i dropped)

Kupit ćemo kruh na povratku.

We'll buy bread on the way back.

Javit ću ti se čim stignem.

I'll get in touch as soon as I arrive. ('javiti se' → 'javit ću'; the reflexive 'se' and 'ti' join the clitic cluster)

The crucial exception: -ći verbs do NOT change. Doći, ići, reći, naći keep their full -ći before the auxiliary, because there is no -i to drop in the same way — the -i is part of the -ći cluster.

Infinitive	Future I (infinitive first)	Reads as
doći	doći ću	I'll come
ići	ići ćeš	you'll go
reći	reći će	he/she will say
naći	naći ćemo	we'll find

Doći ću sutra navečer, obećavam.

I'll come tomorrow evening, I promise. ('doći' keeps -ći, unchanged)

Ići ćemo na more u srpnju.

We'll go to the seaside in July.

💡

Two spellings, two rules. -ti verbs drop the -i and keep the -t, written apart: radit ću. -ći verbs stay whole: doći ću. Never write *raditi ću (un-dropped) or *radiću (fused into one word) — both are wrong in standard Croatian, even though radiću is how it sounds and is the accepted spelling in Serbian.

The auxiliary is a second-position clitic

Ću/ćeš/će… are clitics, so they obey the second-position rule: they cannot start a clause and must lean on the first stressed element. That is exactly why both word orders exist. If a strong word (an adverb, a da-clause, a fronted object, an emphatic pronoun) opens the clause, it hosts the clitic and you get Sutra ću raditi. If nothing else opens the clause, the infinitive itself becomes the host and you get Radit ću. You never strand the clitic at the front. (Full treatment on the second-position rule.)

Večeras ćemo gledati film.

Tonight we'll watch a film. (adverb hosts the clitic)

Gledat ćemo film večeras.

We'll watch a film tonight. (no opener, so the infinitive 'gledat' hosts the clitic)

Negation: neću raditi

The negative future uses the fused negative of htjeti — neću, nećeš, neće, nećemo, nećete, neće — written as one word (never ne ću). Because the negative is a full stressed word, it can begin the clause, and the infinitive then keeps its full -ti / -ći.

Person	Negative future
ja	neću raditi
ti	nećeš raditi
on/ona/ono	neće raditi
mi	nećemo raditi
vi	nećete raditi
oni/one/ona	neće raditi

Neću ići, previše sam umoran.

I won't go, I'm too tired.

Nećemo stići na vrijeme ako sad ne krenemo.

We won't make it in time if we don't leave now.

Questions: Hoćeš li raditi?

To ask a yes/no question, use the full form of htjeti (hoću, hoćeš, hoće…) with the question particle li, followed by the infinitive: Hoćeš li raditi? Colloquially you also hear Da li ćeš raditi? and the very casual Ćeš li…?, but Hoćeš li…? is the clean standard.

Hoćeš li doći na zabavu?

Will you come to the party? (standard yes/no future question)

Hoće li nas čekati?

Will he/she/they wait for us?

Kada ćeš mi vratiti knjigu?

When will you give me back the book? (wh-question: 'kada' hosts the clitic 'ćeš')

Common Mistakes

❌ Raditi ću sutra.

Wrong — when the infinitive comes first, a -ti verb drops the -i: radit ću.

✅ Radit ću sutra.

I'll work tomorrow.

❌ Radiću sutra.

Wrong for Croatian — that one-word spelling is Serbian; standard Croatian writes the two parts apart.

✅ Radit ću sutra.

I'll work tomorrow.

❌ Doć ću sutra.

Wrong — -ći verbs do NOT drop anything; keep the full -ći: doći ću.

✅ Doći ću sutra.

I'll come tomorrow.

❌ Ću raditi sutra.

Wrong — the clitic 'ću' can't begin a clause; let the infinitive host it (Radit ću) or front another word (Sutra ću raditi).

✅ Radit ću sutra. / Sutra ću raditi.

I'll work tomorrow.

❌ Ne ću ići.

Wrong — the negative is one fused word.

✅ Neću ići.

I won't go.

Key Takeaways

Future I = clitic of htjeti (ću, ćeš, će, ćemo, ćete, će) + infinitive.
Auxiliary first → full infinitive: Sutra ću raditi, ja ću doći.
Infinitive first → spelling change for -ti verbs: drop -i, keep -t, write apart — radit ću; -ći verbs stay whole — doći ću. Never raditi ću or radiću.
The auxiliary is a second-position clitic; it never opens a clause.
Negative: neću raditi (one word). Question: Hoćeš li raditi?

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The two ingredients

Word order one: auxiliary first, full infinitive

Word order two: infinitive first — the radit ću rule

The auxiliary is a second-position clitic

Negation: neću raditi

Questions: Hoćeš li raditi?

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

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