The past verbal adverb (glagolski prilog prošli) is the verbal adverb of completed, prior action: pročitavši "having read", došavši "having arrived", rekavši "having said". Where the present verbal adverb marks two actions running at the same time, the past verbal adverb marks one action that finishes before the main verb begins — "Having read the letter, she wept." It is the mirror image of the present form in every structural respect: indeclinable, subject-sharing, converb-like. But there is one thing you must internalise before anything else: in modern Croatian this form is genuinely literary. You will read it in novels and formal prose; you will almost never hear it spoken. Your goal is confident recognition, not casual production.
How it is formed: infinitive stem + -vši
Take the infinitive, remove the final -ti, and add -vši if the stem ends in a vowel. This covers the great majority of verbs.
| Infinitive | Stem | Past verbal adverb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| pročitati (to read [pf.]) | pročita- | pročitavši | having read |
| vidjeti (to see) | vidje- | vidjevši | having seen |
| napisati (to write [pf.]) | napisa- | napisavši | having written |
| čuti (to hear) | ču- | čuvši | having heard |
| vratiti se (to return [pf.]) | vrati- | vrativši se | having returned |
When the infinitive stem ends in a consonant — typically the verbs whose masculine l-participle is irregular — the suffix is -avši, attached to the same stem that surfaces in the masculine singular past (rekao → rek-, došao → doš-). It is easiest to learn these off the past participle.
| Infinitive | m.sg. l-participle | Past verbal adverb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| doći (to come [pf.]) | došao | došavši | having come |
| reći (to say [pf.]) | rekao | rekavši | having said |
| otići (to leave [pf.]) | otišao | otišavši | having left |
| pasti (to fall [pf.]) | pao | pavši | having fallen |
| donijeti (to bring [pf.]) | donio | donijevši | having brought |
Pročitavši pismo, dugo je sjedila u tišini.
Having read the letter, she sat in silence for a long time. — 'pročitavši' from 'pročitati'.
Došavši kući, odmah je legao.
Having come home, he lay down at once. — 'došavši' from the consonant stem of 'doći'.
Rekavši to, izašao je i zatvorio vrata.
Having said that, he went out and shut the door. — 'rekavši' from 'reći'.
Only from perfective verbs
The reasoning is the exact complement of the present verbal adverb's. The past verbal adverb means "having completed X" — a bounded action seen as finished and prior. That is the definition of the perfective aspect, so the form is built from perfective verbs. An imperfective verb describes unbounded process and cannot express "having finished"; for an ongoing simultaneous action you reach for the present verbal adverb instead.
| Aspect | Verbal adverb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| imperfective (čitati) | čitajući (present) | while reading |
| perfective (pročitati) | pročitavši (past) | having read |
Pojevši doručak, krenuli su na put.
Having eaten breakfast, they set off. — perfective 'pojesti' → 'pojevši'.
Vidjevši što se događa, odmah je nazvala policiju.
Having seen what was going on, she called the police at once. — 'vidjevši', completed perception preceding the call.
Indeclinable and subject-sharing
Like its present counterpart, the past verbal adverb is frozen — no agreement for gender, number, or case — and its silent subject must be the subject of the main clause. Pročitavši pismo, zaplakala je can only mean that the same person both read the letter and then cried. The form carries the strict "earlier, same doer" logic: first she finished reading, then she cried.
Završivši fakultet, preselila se u Zagreb.
Having finished university, she moved to Zagreb. — one subject does both, in sequence.
Shvativši da kasni, potrčao je prema kolodvoru.
Realising (having realised) he was late, he ran toward the station. — 'shvativši', completed realisation before the running.
Register: this one is genuinely bookish
It is worth saying plainly, because textbooks often gloss over it: the past verbal adverb is markedly literary in present-day Croatian. It is alive and well in literature, essays, and elevated journalism, and it gives prose a compact, formal cadence — but in ordinary speech it sounds stilted, even archaic. Native speakers overwhelmingly replace it with a finite clause: kad + perfective past ("when …"), or nakon što / pošto ("after …"). A learner who drops došavši into a coffee-shop conversation will be understood, but will sound like a nineteenth-century narrator.
| Past verbal adverb (literary) | Everyday finite clause | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Pročitavši pismo, zaplakala je. | Kad je pročitala pismo, zaplakala je. | When/having read the letter, she cried. |
| Došavši kući, legao je. | Nakon što je došao kući, legao je. | After coming home, he lay down. |
| Rekavši to, otišao je. | Pošto je to rekao, otišao je. | Having said that, he left. |
Nakon što je pročitala pismo, zaplakala je.
After she read the letter, she cried. — the natural spoken paraphrase of 'pročitavši pismo, zaplakala je'.
Kad je došao kući, odmah je legao.
When he got home, he lay down at once. — the everyday finite version of 'došavši kući, legao je'.
The conjunctions behind these paraphrases — kad, nakon što, pošto — are treated on subordinating time and cause conjunctions, and the past verbal adverb itself is a recurring feature of literary style.
In real literary use
Encountering the form in context is the best way to read it fluently. It typically opens a sentence, sets a completed prior event, and lets the main clause deliver the consequence — a favourite rhythm of Croatian narrative prose.
Sagnuvši se, podigao je novčić s pločnika.
Bending down, he picked the coin up off the pavement. — 'sagnuvši se', a tidy narrative converb.
Otvorivši vrata, ugledala je potpuno prazan stan.
Having opened the door, she saw a completely empty flat. — 'otvorivši', completed action framing the discovery.
Saslušavši sve svjedoke, sudac je donio odluku.
Having heard all the witnesses, the judge reached a decision. — 'saslušavši', a formal/legal-narrative use.
Common Mistakes
❌ Čitavši pismo, zaplakala je.
Incorrect aspect — 'čitati' is imperfective; for completed prior action use the perfective 'pročitavši'.
✅ Pročitavši pismo, zaplakala je.
Having read the letter, she cried. — perfective base 'pročitati'.
❌ Dolaskši kući, legao je.
Incorrect — consonant-stem verbs build on the past-participle stem: 'doći → došao → došavši'.
✅ Došavši kući, legao je.
Having come home, he lay down. — correct 'došavši'.
❌ Pročitavši pismo, telefon je zazvonio.
Incorrect — different subjects (she reads, the phone rings); the converb demands a shared subject.
✅ Kad je pročitala pismo, telefon je zazvonio.
When she had read the letter, the phone rang. — use a finite clause for mismatched subjects.
❌ Pročitavša pismo, zaplakala je.
Incorrect — the form is indeclinable; it never takes a feminine '-a'.
✅ Pročitavši pismo, zaplakala je.
Having read the letter, she cried. — frozen 'pročitavši'.
Key Takeaways
- Formed from the infinitive/past-participle stem
- -vši (or -avši for consonant stems): pročitati → pročitavši, doći → došavši, reći → rekavši.
- Built only from perfective verbs — it means an action completed before the main verb.
- Indeclinable, and its silent subject must equal the main clause's subject (earlier, same doer).
- It is markedly literary today: recognise it in writing, but in speech use kad / nakon što / pošto
- a finite verb.
- It pairs with the present verbal adverb across the timeline: čitajući "while reading" (imperfective, simultaneous) vs pročitavši "having read" (perfective, prior).
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