The Optative Mood: Wishes and Blessings
In Croatian, dropping the auxiliary verb from the past tense leaves the bare l-participle. This creates the Optative mood (optativ), used to express strong wishes, toasts, and blessings.
Just like in the past tense, the l-participle must agree in gender and number with the subject of the wish.
| Long live the newlyweds! | Živjeli mladenci! |
| May you live a hundred years! | Živjeli sto godina! |
You will also hear this structure in formal or solemn blessings.
| Rest in peace, dear friend! | Počivao u miru, dragi prijatelju! |
Strong Wishes and Curses with Dabogda
To make a wish more intense, start the sentence with dabogda, a fusion of da Bog da (may God grant that).
| hopefully (in curses/wishes) / may God grant that | dabogda |
You can use dabogda to deliver a heartfelt blessing:
| May you find happiness! | Dabogda našao sreću! |
However, dabogda is most famously used in creative, theatrical curses—making it the perfect tool for wishing misfortune upon someone or something.
| May your plan fail! | Dabogda propao tvoj plan! |
| May you burst from rage! | Dabogda pukao od bijesa! |
| May you burn in hell! | Dabogda izgorio u paklu! |
Everyday Warm Wishes
The bare participle alone is also used for everyday expressions of care and affection, such as wishing someone a speedy recovery.
| May you get well for us as soon as possible! | Ozdravio nam što prije! |
