Ja pijem vodu.

I drink water.

Breakdown of Ja pijem vodu.

• ja: I
• piti: to drink
• voda: water

Questions & Answers about Ja pijem vodu.

What’s the difference between Pijem vodu and Ja pijem vodu?

There is no change in basic meaning – both mean “I drink water” or “I am drinking water.” Croatian verbs carry person/number endings, so the subject pronoun ja (“I”) is usually omitted. You include ja only to add emphasis or clarity (for instance, to contrast with someone else).

What person, tense, and aspect is expressed by the verb pijem?

• Person & Number: 1st person singular (“I”)
• Tense: Present
• Aspect: Imperfective (ongoing, habitual or repeated action).
  Imperfective verbs focus on the process (“drinking”), not its completion.

Can you show me the full present-tense conjugation of the verb piti (“to drink”)?

ja pijem
ti piješ
on/ona/ono pije
mi pijemo
vi pijete
oni/one/ona piju

Why does voda become vodu in this sentence?

Voda (“water”) is a feminine noun. As the direct object of the verb, it takes the accusative case. The accusative singular of a feminine –a noun changes –a → –u, so voda → vodu.

How do you say “I am drinking water” versus “I drink water”? Is there a progressive form?

Croatian does not have a separate progressive tense like English. You use the present imperfective for both:

• (Ja) pijem vodu.
  Context tells you whether it’s happening right now or habitually.

What’s the difference between the verbs piti and popiti?

• piti is imperfective “to drink” (focus on the action or its duration).
• popiti is perfective “to drink up/to finish drinking” (focus on the result or completion).
  Example:
  • Pijem vodu. (I’m drinking water.)
  • Popijem vodu. (I drink up the water / I will have drunk the water.)

Croatian has no articles. How would I say “the water” instead of just “water”?

You simply rely on context, or add a demonstrative. For example:

• Pijem tu vodu. (I’m drinking that water.)
• Pijem ovu vodu. (I’m drinking this water.)
  There is no separate word for “the” or “a.”

How do I pronounce Pijem vodu?

Phonetic break-down:
PI-yem VO-du
/ˈpi.jem ˈvo.du/
Stress is on the first syllable of each word. The “ij” in pijem sounds like “ee-yeh.”