The Imperative: Forms

The imperative is how you tell someone to do something — Sit down!, Wait!, Let's go! It is one of the first verb forms you will actually need, because it is everywhere in spoken Croatian: instructions, requests, offers, recipes, encouragement. The good news is that the imperative is one of the most regular corners of the verb. There are only three person-forms to build, the endings are short, and once you know the one rule that decides between -j and -i, you can form the imperative of almost any verb on the spot. The one thing you must get right from the start: the imperative is built on the present stem, not the infinitive.

Three forms, not six

Unlike the present tense with its six persons, the imperative has only three forms, because you can only command people you are talking to (or include yourself):

• 2sg — "(you) do it!" — the base form
• 1pl — "let's do it!" — add -mo to the 2sg
• 2pl — "(you all / polite you) do it!" — add -te to the 2sg

There is no "I" imperative and no third-person imperative built this way (for "let him do it" you use a different construction — see negative commands and 'let'). Build the 2sg first; the other two are just that form plus -mo and -te.

The core rule: build from the present stem, then look at its last sound

To find the imperative, do not start from the infinitive. Start from the present tense, take the 3rd-person plural (the oni form), and remove the ending to expose the present stem. Then the last sound of that stem decides the suffix:

• present stem ends in a vowel → add -j (2sg), -jmo (1pl), -jte (2pl)
• present stem ends in a consonant → add -i (2sg), -imo (1pl), -ite (2pl)

Vowel-final stem → -j

Take čitati "to read". The oni form is čitaju → drop -ju and the stem is čita-, ending in a vowel. So the imperative adds -j:

Consonant-final stem → -i

Take raditi "to work". The oni form is rade → drop -e and the stem is rad-, ending in a consonant. So the imperative adds -i:

Notice pisati: its present is pišem (the s changes to š in the present stem), and the imperative inherits that š — piši, not pisi. This is exactly why you build from the present stem: it already carries the consonant changes the infinitive hides.

Why the present stem matters: consonant changes

If you tried to build the imperative from the infinitive, you would miss the sound changes that live in the present. The verb reći "to say" is the classic example. Its present is rečem… reku (with k → č / c), and its imperative is reci "say!" — built on the present consonant, nothing like the infinitive reći. Likewise moći "to be able" gives pomoći "to help" → imperative pomozi "help!" (with ć → z before the -i). You could never predict these from the infinitive; you read them straight off the present stem.

Stems already ending in -j

A few present stems already end in -j. Then you do not double it; the j simply stays and you add the endings. Brojiti "to count" has the present brojim… broje, stem broj- — but since it ends in -j you treat it as it stands: imperative broji, brojimo, brojite. The same logic gives boj se "be afraid" from bojati se. There is no special rule to memorise here; you are just adding the normal -i set to a stem that happens to end in j in some verbs and applying -j where a true vowel stem exists.

The irregulars worth memorising now

A small handful of very common verbs have imperatives you simply learn as fixed forms. They are high-frequency, so the effort pays off immediately.

Two notes. First, htjeti "to want" has no ordinary imperative — you cannot command someone to want something — so it does not appear here. Second, alongside idi "go!" you will constantly hear hajde (often shortened to ajde, ajmo, dela), a lively all-purpose "come on / go on / let's" that functions like an imperative in conversation; more on it in negative commands and 'let'.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• The imperative has only three forms: 2sg (base), 1pl (+ -mo), 2pl (+ -te).
• Build it from the present stem (the oni form minus its ending), never from the infinitive.
• Vowel-final stem → -j (čitaj, pij); consonant-final stem → -i (radi, piši).
• The present stem already carries consonant changes, so pisati → piši, reći → reci, moći/pomoći → pomozi.
• Memorise the high-frequency irregulars: budi, idi, dođi, jedi, daj, reci — and note that htjeti has no imperative.