Basic Verbs of Motion (ići, doći, hodati) | Croatian Grammar

Saying where you go, come, walk, or travel is everyday A1 business, and Croatian makes it pleasantly straightforward. The all-purpose verb is ići "to go", and learning where you are headed comes down to one tidy rule: destination = u or na + accusative. If you have studied Russian you can exhale now — Croatian has none of the determinate/indeterminate manner pairs (idti vs xodit) that torment Russian learners. There is just ići, the general-purpose "go", and any direction or completed-arrival meaning comes later from prefixes (doći, otići), not from a separate set of motion verbs. This page covers the core verbs and the destination rule.

ići — the all-purpose "go"

Ići is irregular in the present and you simply have to learn it, but it is one of the most-used verbs in the language, so it sticks fast. Its past (l-participle) is išao (masculine) / išla (feminine) — note the stem changes shape.

Person	Present	Meaning
ja	idem	I go / I'm going
ti	ideš	you go
on / ona / ono	ide	he / she / it goes
mi	idemo	we go
vi	idete	you (pl./formal) go
oni / one / ona	idu	they go

Kamo ideš tako rano?

Where are you going so early? — 'ideš', present of 'ići'.

Idemo na kavu, hoćeš li s nama?

We're going for a coffee, do you want to come with us? — 'idemo'.

Jučer sam išao pješice jer nije bilo tramvaja.

Yesterday I walked (went on foot) because there was no tram. — l-participle 'išao'.

Note that ići is imperfective: it describes going as an activity or a plan, not a single completed arrival. For "I arrived / I'll arrive" you switch to the perfective doći (see below). The pairing of ići with its prefixed perfectives is explained in aspect and verbs of motion.

Destination: u or na + accusative

Here is the single most important pattern. To say where you are going, use u ("to/into", for most enclosed places and towns/countries) or na ("to/onto", for open areas, events, and a fixed set of nouns) followed by the accusative. The accusative is what marks motion towards a goal — contrast the locative, which would mark merely being there.

Croatian	English	Why u / na
Idem u grad.	I'm going to town/the city centre.	u — into an enclosed/bounded place
Idem u školu.	I'm going to school.	u — building/institution
Idem u Zagreb.	I'm going to Zagreb.	u — towns and most countries
Idem na posao.	I'm going to work.	na — fixed 'na' noun
Idem na fakultet.	I'm going to university.	na — fixed 'na' noun
Idem na koncert.	I'm going to a concert.	na — events
Idem na plažu.	I'm going to the beach.	na — open surfaces

Sutra idem u Split na vjenčanje.

Tomorrow I'm going to Split for a wedding. — 'u Split' (town), 'na vjenčanje' (event), both accusative.

Djeca idu u školu, a ja idem na posao.

The kids go to school and I go to work. — 'u školu', 'na posao' accusative.

Ideš li večeras na utakmicu?

Are you going to the match tonight? — 'na utakmicu', accusative.

Which nouns take u and which take na is partly logical and partly something to memorise — na posao, na fakultet, na kavu, na ručak are common fixed na expressions. The full division is on u and na: location vs direction, and the case logic on accusative of motion and direction.

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The destination rule for going somewhere is: u / na + accusative. The accusative is doing real work here — it signals "towards a goal". If you used the locative (u gradu), you would be saying you are in town, not that you are going there.

The present tense for the near future

Just like English "I'm going to Zagreb tomorrow", Croatian routinely uses the present tense of motion verbs for planned future events. With a time word like sutra (tomorrow) or u petak (on Friday), the present idem reads naturally as "I'm going / I'll go".

Sutra idem k zubaru, baš se veselim.

Tomorrow I'm going to the dentist, I can't wait. (ironic) — present 'idem' for a future plan.

Idemo na more sljedeći tjedan.

We're going to the seaside next week. — present for the future.

doći — "to come / arrive"

Doći is the perfective partner that means "to come" or, more precisely, "to arrive (and be here)". Its present has future meaning on its own (a property of perfectives), and its forms are: dođem, dođeš, dođe, dođemo, dođete, dođu; l-participle došao / došla.

Dođi k meni u sedam.

Come to my place at seven. — imperative of 'doći'.

Vlak je došao na vrijeme, čudo.

The train arrived on time, a miracle. — l-participle 'došao'.

Doći ću čim završim s poslom.

I'll come as soon as I finish work. — future of 'doći'.

Use ići for going as an activity or plan ("I'm going to the gym") and doći for the completed arrival at a point ("come over", "the bus arrived"). The full direction-by-prefix system is on prefixed directional motion verbs.

The other everyday motion verbs

Verb	Present (1sg)	Meaning
hodati	hodam	to walk (manner: on foot, strolling)
trčati	trčim	to run
putovati	putujem	to travel
voziti (se)	vozim (se)	to drive / ride
letjeti	letim	to fly
plivati	plivam	to swim

Volim hodati uz more navečer.

I love walking along the sea in the evening. — 'hodati', manner of motion.

Putujemo vlakom do Rijeke.

We're travelling by train to Rijeka. — 'putovati', means in the instrumental 'vlakom'.

Voziš li ti ili idemo tramvajem?

Are you driving or are we taking the tram? — 'voziti'.

Note the distinction voziti vs voziti se: voziti (transitive) means "to drive (a vehicle)", while reflexive voziti se means "to ride / be driven (as a passenger)". The conveyance verbs are covered in detail on carrying and bringing.

How this differs from English (and Russian)

For an English speaker the news is almost all good: there is one general "go" (ići), and the only genuinely new habit is marking the destination with u/na + accusative rather than just "to". For a Russian speaker the news is that a whole grammatical axis you expect is simply absent. Russian forces you to choose between idti (one-direction, on foot) and xodit (multidirectional/habitual, on foot), and again between exat and ezdit for vehicles. Croatian has no such mandatory pairs. Ići covers "go", "be going", and "go regularly" alike; putovati, voziti, letjeti are each single verbs. Resist the Russian instinct to hunt for a determinate/indeterminate distinction — it is not there, and looking for it will only confuse you.

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Coming from Russian: drop the idti/xodit reflex entirely. Croatian's ići is one verb that does the job of both. Direction and completion come from prefixes (doći, otići, ući), not from a separate motion-verb pair.

Common Mistakes

❌ Idem u gradu.

Incorrect for 'going to town' — 'u gradu' is locative (being there). Motion needs the accusative.

✅ Idem u grad.

I'm going to town. — 'u grad', accusative of destination.

❌ Idem na Zagreb.

Incorrect — towns take 'u', not 'na': 'u Zagreb'.

✅ Idem u Zagreb.

I'm going to Zagreb. — 'u' + town name.

❌ Idem u posao.

Incorrect — 'work' is a fixed 'na' noun: 'na posao'.

✅ Idem na posao.

I'm going to work. — 'na posao'.

❌ Svaki dan dođem u školu pješice.

Wrong aspect for a habit — 'doći' is perfective (one arrival); a daily routine needs imperfective 'dolazim' or 'idem'.

✅ Svaki dan idem u školu pješice.

Every day I walk to school. — imperfective 'ići' for the habit.

Key Takeaways

ići (idem, ideš…; past išao/išla) is the all-purpose, imperfective "go". doći (dođem; došao/došla) is the perfective "come/arrive".
Destination is u / na + accusative — the accusative marks motion towards a goal (Idem u grad, Idem na posao).
Towns and most countries take u; posao, fakultet, koncert, plaža and other fixed nouns take na.
The present tense doubles as the near future for plans (Sutra idem u Split).
Croatian has no Russian-style determinate/indeterminate pairs — there is just one ići; direction comes from prefixes.

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