Zaboravio sam spomenuti naš plan na sastanku.

I forgot to mention our plan at the meeting.

Breakdown of Zaboravio sam spomenuti naš plan na sastanku.

• biti: to be
• na: at
• naš: our
• plan: plan
• sastanak: meeting
• zaboraviti: to forget
• spomenuti: to mention

Questions & Answers about Zaboravio sam spomenuti naš plan na sastanku.

What does Zaboravio sam literally mean, and why are there two words for “forgot”?

Zaboravio sam literally means “I have forgotten” or “I forgot”.

• zaboravio – past participle of zaboraviti (“to forget”), masculine singular
• sam – present tense of biti (“to be”) for I am

Croatian forms the past tense (perfect) with “biti” (to be) + past participle:

• (ja) sam zaboravio – I forgot (speaker male)
• (ja) sam zaboravila – I forgot (speaker female)

So zaboravio sam = I am forgotten (literally in form) → I forgot in meaning.

Why is it zaboravio sam and not sam zaboravio? Are both correct?

Both zaboravio sam and sam zaboravio are grammatically correct.

In Croatian, the auxiliary sam/si/je/smo/ste/su is quite flexible in word order. Common patterns:

• Zaboravio sam spomenuti naš plan. – neutral; very typical.
• Sam zaboravio spomenuti naš plan. – possible, but sounds a bit marked; you’d usually put sam after the first stressed element.
• Ja sam zaboravio spomenuti naš plan. – adds emphasis on ja = I (as opposed to someone else) forgot to mention our plan.

Default, natural order in this sentence is Zaboravio sam spomenuti….

Why is it zaboravio and not zaboravila?

The ending of the past participle agrees with the gender of the speaker (or subject):

• Male speaker: Zaboravio sam…
• Female speaker: Zaboravila sam…

So, if a woman is speaking, the correct sentence would be:

• Zaboravila sam spomenuti naš plan na sastanku.

The rest of the sentence stays the same.

Why is spomenuti in the infinitive? Could I say da spomenem instead?

After zaboraviti (“to forget”) Croatian commonly uses an infinitive to mean forget to do something:

• Zaboravio sam spomenuti naš plan.
  = I forgot to mention our plan.

You can say:

• Zaboravio sam da spomenem naš plan.

This is also understandable, but it’s less natural and can sound a bit clumsy or more colloquial depending on region. For “forget to do X”, zaboraviti + infinitive (spomenuti) is the most idiomatic choice.

Use zaboraviti + da + finite verb more for forget that…:

• Zaboravio sam da imamo sastanak.
  = I forgot that we have a meeting.

What is the difference between spomenuti and spominjati?

They are two aspects of the same verb:

• spomenuti – perfective

  • one-time, completed act: “to mention (once / as an event)”
  • Zaboravio sam spomenuti naš plan. – I forgot to mention (in that moment).

• spominjati – imperfective

  • ongoing or repeated action: “to mention, to keep mentioning”
  • Često spominjem naš plan. – I often mention our plan.

In your sentence, we’re talking about one specific act that should have happened once at a particular meeting, so spomenuti (perfective infinitive) is the right form.

Why is it na sastanku and not u sastanku?

Croatian often uses na with events, meetings, gatherings, performances, etc.:

• na sastanku – at the meeting
• na koncertu – at the concert
• na predavanju – at the lecture
• na zabavi – at the party

u usually refers more to physical inside-ness (in a room, in a building) or to more stable locations:

• u sobi – in the room
• u uredu – in the office

So na sastanku is the standard, idiomatic way to say “at the meeting.”

Which case is sastanku in, and why?

sastanku is in the locative case.

The preposition na can take either:

• Accusative – for movement towards/onto something:
  
  • Idem na sastanak. – I’m going to the meeting.
• Locative – for location at/on something (no movement):
  
  • Na sastanku sam. – I’m at the meeting.

In Zaboravio sam spomenuti naš plan na sastanku., you are at the meeting when you forgot, so na + locative → na sastanku.

Could I say Zaboravio sam naš plan spomenuti na sastanku? Is that word order okay?

Yes, that word order is grammatically correct and understandable:

• Zaboravio sam spomenuti naš plan na sastanku. – most neutral and natural.
• Zaboravio sam naš plan spomenuti na sastanku. – still correct, but a bit less common; slight emphasis on naš plan as the thing you forgot to mention.

Croatian word order is flexible, but the original version is the default-sounding one.

Can I drop naš and just say Zaboravio sam spomenuti plan na sastanku?

Yes, you can say:

• Zaboravio sam spomenuti plan na sastanku.

This then means simply “the plan”, without specifying whose plan it is.

naš plan = our plan – clarifies possession and is often used if you want to stress that it’s our shared plan (mine and yours, or the team’s, etc.). Whether you use naš depends on context and how clear the ownership already is.

Can I leave out sam and just say Zaboravio spomenuti naš plan na sastanku in speech?

In standard Croatian, you should include the auxiliary:

• Zaboravio sam spomenuti naš plan na sastanku.

In colloquial, fast speech, people sometimes drop sam/si/je…, especially in some dialects:

• Zaboravio spomenuti naš plan na sastanku.

This is very colloquial and can sound incomplete or dialectal in writing or formal speech. For learners, it’s best to always use the auxiliary in past tense: sam, si, je, smo, ste, su.

How would the whole sentence change for different persons (I, you, he, she, we, they)?

Using a male subject as the default (change the participle ending for females):

• Ja sam zaboravio spomenuti naš plan na sastanku. – I forgot…
• Ti si zaboravio spomenuti naš plan na sastanku. – You (sg. male) forgot…
• On je zaboravio spomenuti naš plan na sastanku. – He forgot…
• Mi smo zaboravili spomenuti naš plan na sastanku. – We (mixed/male) forgot…
• Vi ste zaboravili spomenuti naš plan na sastanku. – You (pl./formal) forgot…
• Oni su zaboravili spomenuti naš plan na sastanku. – They (mixed/male) forgot…

For a female subject, use -la (singular) / -le (plural feminine):

• Ja sam zaboravila… (I, female)
• One su zaboravile… (They, all female)