Questions & Answers about Ujutro se polako dižem.
Se is a reflexive pronoun (a clitic) and is part of the verb dići se / dizati se = to get up (literally “to raise oneself”).
- Dižem alone means I lift / I raise (something).
- Dižem se means I get up (I raise myself, usually from bed or from sitting).
So in this meaning (to get up), se is necessary.
Without se, the sentence would sound incomplete, as if you were saying “In the morning I slowly raise…” and you’d expect an object (raise what?).
Croatian normally drops subject pronouns when the subject is clear from the verb ending.
- Dižem already tells us it’s 1st person singular (I).
- Therefore, just "Ujutro se polako dižem." is completely natural and neutral.
You can say "Ja se ujutro polako dižem", but:
- Adding ja usually puts emphasis on “I”:
- I (as opposed to someone else) get up slowly in the morning.
- In everyday speech, most of the time people omit ja unless they want to stress it.
Croatian word order is more flexible than English, but there are rules, especially for clitics like se.
Key points:
- Se should be early in the sentence, usually in 2nd position (after the first stressed word or phrase).
- Natural alternatives include:
- Ujutro se polako dižem. (very natural, neutral)
- Ujutro se dižem polako. (also fine, slightly more focus on "slowly")
- Polako se ujutro dižem. (possible; starts by highlighting slowly)
But:
- Ujutro polako se dižem sounds awkward because se is pushed too far back.
As a learner, it’s safest to keep se directly after the first main word/phrase:
- Ujutro se polako dižem.
- Ja se ujutro polako dižem.
- Polako se dižem ujutro.
Both can mean I get up (from bed), but there are nuances:
Ustajem (from ustati / ustajati)
- Default way to say get up / stand up.
- Very commonly used for getting out of bed in the morning.
- Neutral: Ujutro ustajem u sedam. – I get up at seven in the morning.
Dižem se (from dići se / dizati se)
- Also used for getting up, but slightly more “literal”: I raise myself.
- Can feel a bit more descriptive or physical.
- Also widely used and understood as “get up (from bed)”.
In daily speech, for habits like waking up:
- Many speakers would more often say: Ujutro se polako ustajem.
but Ujutro se polako dižem is absolutely correct and natural too.
- Jutro = morning (the noun itself).
- Ujutro = in the morning (time expression).
Croatian often forms time expressions by joining u (in) with a noun:
- u
- jutro → ujutro (in the morning)
- u
- veče / večer → uveče / uvečer (in the evening)
So "Ujutro se polako dižem" literally is “In-the-morning I slowly get up.”
If you said just "Jutro se polako dižem", it would sound wrong; you need ujutro to express time here.
In modern standard Croatian, for the time expression you should write:
- ujutro (one word) = in the morning.
"U jutro" as two words is usually considered incorrect in this meaning and would be read as preposition u + noun jutro in some non-idiomatic sense.
So:
✔ Ujutro se polako dižem.
✖ U jutro se polako dižem. (not standard in the “in the morning” sense)
The present tense in Croatian can express:
- A current, ongoing action
- Sada se dižem. – I’m getting up now.
- A habitual action
- Ujutro se polako dižem. – I (usually) get up slowly in the morning.
In this sentence, because of "Ujutro" and the lack of any “now” context, the natural interpretation is habitual, just like the English simple present (“I get up slowly in the morning.”).
In this sentence, polako is an adverb meaning slowly:
- Ujutro se polako dižem. – In the morning I get up slowly.
Other common uses of polako in Croatian:
- As a general adverb:
Vozim polako. – I drive slowly. - As an interjection meaning “take it easy / calm down / no rush”:
Polako, imamo vremena. – Take it easy, we have time.
But in your sentence, it’s simply describing how you get up: slowly.
Approximation for English speakers:
dižem – /d̪iʒem/
- d as in do
- i as in machine
- ž is like the s in measure, vision
- e as in bed
- stress usually on the first syllable: DÍ-žem
ujutro – /ujutro/
- u like oo in food
- j like y in yes
- t as in top
- r is rolled/trilled
- o as in more (without the English diphthong)
- typical stress: Ú-jut-ro (first syllable).
Dići / dizati is a normal transitive verb that can take an object:
- Dižem kutiju. – I’m lifting the box.
- Dižem ruku. – I’m raising my hand.
When you add the reflexive se, it usually means raising oneself / getting up:
- Dižem se. – I am getting up (from bed, from a chair, etc.).
So:
- Without se: you raise something else.
- With se: you raise yourself (reflexive).
The present form dižem se comes from the verb:
- dizati se – to get up / to raise oneself (imperfective)
- perfective pair: dići se
Infinitive → 1st person singular present:
- dizati → dižem
This change z → ž is a common consonant alternation in Croatian when forming certain present tense forms:
- rezati (to cut) → režem
- vezati (to tie) → vežem
So dižem is the regular present form; you just have to learn that some verbs have this z / ž alternation.
In Croatian, se is a clitic (an unstressed short word) that normally goes in second position in the clause (after the first stressed word or phrase).
- First element: Ujutro
- Second-position clitic: se
- Then the rest: polako dižem.
So:
- ✔ Ujutro se polako dižem. (correct, natural)
- ✖ Ujutro polako dižem se. (sounds wrong; clitic is too far to the right)
As a rule of thumb: put se early, right after the first main word or phrase in your sentence.