Reflexive Verbs (se-verbs) | Croatian Grammar

A huge slice of everyday Croatian comes wrapped in a tiny word: se. You wake up and probudiš se, you wash — umiješ se — you get dressed, obučeš se, you feel good, osjećaš se dobro, and you are afraid you'll be late, bojiš se da ćeš zakasniti. All of these are se-verbs. The single most useful thing to understand at the outset is that se is not always "self". Sometimes it really does mean the subject acts on itself; very often it does not mean anything you can translate at all — it is simply glued to the verb. Croatian has four distinct jobs for this little clitic, and once you can tell them apart, a whole category of "mysterious" verbs becomes systematic.

se is a clitic, not a verb ending

Before the four functions, one structural fact governs everything. Se is an unstressed clitic — a "leaning" word that cannot stand alone and cannot bear stress. Like all Croatian clitics it obeys the second-position rule: it slots in after the first stressed unit of the clause, which is often not next to the verb at all. This is the opposite of, say, French, where se is welded to the front of the verb (se laver). In Croatian, se floats.

Sentence	Where se lands	Meaning
Umivam se.	after the verb (verb is first)	I wash (up).
Ja se umivam.	after 'ja'	I wash (up).
Jutros sam se umio.	after 'jutros', inside the clitic cluster	I washed up this morning.
Kako se osjećaš?	after 'kako'	How do you feel?

Svako jutro se tuširam i obučem.

Every morning I shower and get dressed. — 'se' sits in second position, serving both verbs.

Brzo sam se obukla i izašla.

I got dressed quickly and went out. — 'se' is inside the past-tense clitic cluster 'sam se'.

💡

Never glue se to the verb like a prefix. It is a second-position clitic that goes after the first stressed word: Ja se umivam, not Ja umivam se (in a neutral sentence). When the verb itself starts the clause, se follows it — Umivam se. Full placement rules are on the second-position rule page.

Function 1 — true reflexive: the subject acts on itself

This is the textbook meaning and the one English shares: the subject is also the object. Here se stands in for a real "self" object and could be swapped for a noun. Perem auto "I wash the car" → perem se "I wash myself". The test: can you replace se with a different object and still have a sentence? If yes, it is a true reflexive.

Verb	Non-reflexive use	Reflexive use
prati / oprati	prati suđe (wash dishes)	prati se (wash oneself)
obući	obući dijete (dress the child)	obući se (get dressed)
gledati	gledati film (watch a film)	gledati se (look at oneself)
braniti	braniti grad (defend the city)	braniti se (defend oneself)

Obukla se i otišla na posao.

She got dressed and went to work. — true reflexive: she dresses herself.

Pogledao se u ogledalo prije izlaska.

He looked at himself in the mirror before going out. — true reflexive, replaceable object.

For the stressed full forms (sebe, sebi, sobom) used after prepositions, see the reflexive pronoun page.

Function 2 — reciprocal: "each other"

With a plural subject, se can mean that the participants act on one another. Vole se most naturally means "they love each other", not "they love themselves". This is the same overlap English handles with a separate phrase ("each other"); Croatian folds it into se and lets context decide.

Poznaju se još iz škole.

They've known each other since school. — reciprocal 'se'.

Dopisujemo se već godinama.

We've been writing to each other for years. — 'dopisivati se', inherently reciprocal.

Vidimo se sutra!

See you tomorrow! — literally 'we'll see each other tomorrow', the standard goodbye.

When you need to be unambiguous, Croatian adds jedan drugoga "one another" — covered on the reciprocal pronouns page.

Function 3 — inherently reflexive verbs: se means nothing

This is the function that English speakers most need to drill, because it has no parallel in English. A large set of Croatian verbs simply come with se — the se is part of the verb's identity, it has no "self" meaning at all, and there is no non-se version of the verb. Bojati se is "to fear", not "to fear oneself". Smijati se is "to laugh", full stop. You cannot say bojati or smijati on their own. You must memorise these as units, se included, exactly as you memorise a verb's preposition.

Inherent se-verb	Means	Note
bojati se (+ gen)	to be afraid (of)	Bojim se mraka.
smijati se (+ dat)	to laugh (at)	Smiju se šali.
nadati se (+ dat)	to hope (for)	Nadam se najboljem.
sjećati se (+ gen)	to remember	Sjećam se tog dana.
dogoditi se	to happen	Što se dogodilo?
sviđati se (+ dat)	to be pleasing / to like	Sviđa mi se.
brinuti se (o + loc)	to take care / worry	Brinem se o djeci.
žaliti se (na + acc)	to complain	Žale se na buku.

Bojim se da ćemo zakasniti.

I'm afraid we'll be late. — 'bojati se' = to fear; there is no 'fear oneself' here.

Ne sjećam se gdje sam ostavila ključeve.

I don't remember where I left my keys. — 'sjećati se' (+ genitive).

Sviđa mi se ovaj stan.

I like this flat. — literally 'this flat is pleasing to me'; 'sviđati se' has no 'self' meaning at all.

Što se dogodilo? Izgledaš zabrinuto.

What happened? You look worried. — 'dogoditi se' = to happen, always with 'se'.

💡

Treat the se on inherent verbs as part of the dictionary entry, like the preposition that follows it. You learn bojati se + genitive as one package — "to be afraid OF" — the way you learn an English phrasal verb. Trying to find a "self" meaning in smijati se or nadati se will only confuse you. Many of these also govern an unexpected case; see verb government.

Function 4 — impersonal and passive se

The fourth job of se turns a verb impersonal or passive-like: Govori se hrvatski "Croatian is spoken", Kako se kaže …? "How do you say …?", Ovdje se ne puši "No smoking here". Here se signals that the doer is generic, unimportant, or unnamed. This is so central to everyday Croatian — it is the default way to say "one does" or "it is done" — that it has its own page on the se-passive and impersonal. For now, just register it as the fourth member of the family.

Kako se to kaže na hrvatskom?

How do you say that in Croatian? — impersonal 'se', generic 'you/one'.

Ovdje se dobro jede.

The food's good here. — literally 'here one eats well', impersonal 'se'.

si — the dative reflexive ("to/for oneself")

Alongside accusative se there is a dative clitic si, "to/for oneself", used when the subject does something for its own benefit — getting, buying, ordering, treating itself. It is optional and very colloquial-friendly; it adds a flavour of "for myself".

Kupila si je novu jaknu.

She bought herself a new jacket. — dative reflexive 'si'; 'je' is the auxiliary.

Naručit ću si pizzu.

I'll order myself a pizza. — 'si' = for myself.

The four-function map

Function	Does se mean "self"?	Example	Meaning
True reflexive	Yes — subject = object	Perem se.	I wash myself.
Reciprocal	"each other" (plural)	Vole se.	They love each other.
Inherent se-verb	No — se is glued on	Bojim se.	I'm afraid.
Impersonal / passive	No — generic doer	Govori se hrvatski.	Croatian is spoken.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ja umivam se ujutro.

Incorrect placement — in a neutral clause 'se' goes second, right after 'ja'.

✅ Ja se umivam ujutro.

I wash up in the morning. — 'se' in second position.

❌ Bojam mraka.

Incorrect — 'bojati' does not exist without 'se'; it is an inherent se-verb.

✅ Bojim se mraka.

I'm afraid of the dark. — 'bojati se' + genitive, 'se' obligatory.

❌ Volim svidja ovaj stan.

Incorrect — 'liking' is expressed with 'sviđati se' + dative, not 'voljeti'.

✅ Sviđa mi se ovaj stan.

I like this flat. — 'this flat is pleasing to me'.

❌ Sjećam tog dana.

Incorrect — 'sjećati se' is inherently reflexive and takes the genitive: 'sjećam se'.

✅ Sjećam se tog dana.

I remember that day. — 'se' plus genitive 'tog dana'.

❌ Jutros umio sam se.

Incorrect cluster order — 'sam' and 'se' form a fixed cluster after the first word: 'sam se umio'.

✅ Jutros sam se umio.

I washed up this morning. — 'sam se' cluster in second position.

Key Takeaways

se is a second-position clitic, never glued to the verb — Ja se umivam, Jutros sam se umio.
It has four jobs: (1) true reflexive (perem se), (2) reciprocal "each other" (vole se), (3) inherent se-verbs where se means nothing (bojim se, smijem se, sjećam se), and (4) impersonal/passive (govori se).
Function 3 has no English equivalent: learn bojati se, nadati se, sviđati se as fixed units, often with a specific governed case.
Dative si means "to/for oneself" (kupila si je jaknu).
The full impersonal/passive use gets its own treatment on the se-passive page.

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