Ne želim gubiti vrijeme.

I don't want to waste time.

Breakdown of Ne želim gubiti vrijeme.

• ne: not
• željeti: to want
• vrijeme: time
• gubiti: to lose

Questions & Answers about Ne želim gubiti vrijeme.

Why is it ne želim and not something like ne hoću?

Croatian actually has two different verbs that are both close to English “want”:

• htjeti – “to want”, very common, often used in the future tense (e.g. neću = “I will not / I don’t want to”)
• željeti – “to want, to wish, to desire”, often felt as a bit softer or more polite, especially in some contexts

In the sentence Ne želim gubiti vrijeme:

• ne = not
• želim = I want
• ne želim = I don’t want

If you tried to use hoću (1st person of htjeti) and negate it, you don’t say ne hoću. The negative form is irregular:

• hoću → neću (not ne hoću)

So possible variants are:

• Ne želim gubiti vrijeme. = I don’t want to waste time.
• Neću gubiti vrijeme. = I won’t waste time / I refuse to waste time.

Ne želim is perfectly natural here and fits the meaning “I don’t want…”.
Ne hoću is simply ungrammatical in standard Croatian.

What person and tense is želim, and what is the infinitive?

• želim is 1st person singular, present tense of the verb željeti (to want/wish).
• The infinitive is željeti.

Basic present-tense forms:

• ja želim – I want
• ti želiš – you (sg.) want
• on/ona/ono želi – he/she/it wants
• mi želimo – we want
• vi želite – you (pl./formal) want
• oni/one/ona žele – they want

So the structure of the sentence is:

• Ne (not) + želim (I want) + gubiti (to lose/waste) + vrijeme (time).

Why is it gubiti and not gubim or da gubim?

In Ne želim gubiti vrijeme, the verb željeti behaves a bit like an English “modal” (want to, like to, etc.): it is followed by an infinitive.

• gubiti is the infinitive = “to lose / to waste”.
• gubim is 1st person singular present = “I (am) losing / I waste”.

Compare:

• Želim gubiti vrijeme.
  Literally: I want to waste time.
  (infinitive after želim)

• Želim da gubim vrijeme.
  Literally: I want that I waste time.
  This is also possible in Croatian (with da

  • present), but with željeti, the infinitive is more standard/neutral, and often preferred in written language.

Using gubim directly after želim without da is wrong:

• ✗ Ne želim gubim vrijeme. – ungrammatical.

What is the difference between gubiti and izgubiti?

Croatian has aspect: most verbs come in imperfective/perfective pairs.

• gubiti – imperfective: to be losing, to lose repeatedly, to waste (ongoing or habitual)
• izgubiti – perfective: to lose once, to end up having lost something (completed action)

In the phrase gubiti vrijeme:

• gubiti vrijeme usually means “to waste time”, in a general/ongoing sense:
  Ne želim gubiti vrijeme. = I don’t want to (be) wasting time.

You can also see izgubiti vrijeme, often for a specific, completed situation:

• Izgubio sam vrijeme na to. = I wasted / lost time on that. (it already happened)

For a general statement like “I don’t want to waste time (in general / now, as a principle)”, gubiti is the natural choice.

What case is vrijeme, and why doesn’t it change form?

Vrijeme is in the accusative singular here, because it is the direct object of gubiti (“to lose/waste what? → time”).

For neuter nouns in Croatian, the nominative singular and accusative singular often look the same:

• Nominative: vrijeme – time (subject)
• Accusative: vrijeme – time (object)

So the form vrijeme can be either nominative or accusative, depending on its role in the sentence.
In Ne želim gubiti vrijeme, it’s clearly the object, so accusative.

Can I change the word order, for example Ne želim vrijeme gubiti?

Yes, Croatian word order is more flexible than English, though there are preferences.

• Ne želim gubiti vrijeme. – neutral, most common order.
• Ne želim vrijeme gubiti. – possible, but sounds more marked / stylistic. It can slightly emphasize gubiti (“I don’t want to waste time”).

Other options:

• Vrijeme ne želim gubiti. – puts extra emphasis on vrijeme (“It’s time that I don’t want to waste.”).
• Ne želim da gubim vrijeme. – also acceptable; more colloquial in feel, with a da-clause instead of the infinitive.

The safest, most neutral version for learners is exactly the original: Ne želim gubiti vrijeme.

Why is the negation on želim (ne želim) and not on gubiti or vrijeme?

In Croatian, the basic, straightforward way to negate a sentence is to put ne directly in front of the finite verb (the main conjugated verb in the clause):

• Želim gubiti vrijeme. – I want to waste time.
• Ne želim gubiti vrijeme. – I don’t want to waste time.

You do not say:

• ✗ Želim ne gubiti vrijeme. – This is very unnatural; it would sound like “I want not to waste time”, but even then Croatians wouldn’t phrase it like this in normal speech.
• ✗ Želim gubiti ne vrijeme. – wrong.

If you actually wanted to say “I want not to waste time” (a bit unnatural in English too), you would normally rephrase in Croatian:

• Želim ne gubiti vrijeme. – grammatical but very stiff/odd in everyday speech.
• More natural: Želim sačuvati vrijeme. / Želim iskoristiti vrijeme.
  (“I want to save/make use of time.”)

For ordinary, clear negation: put ne on the finite verb: ne želim, ne gubim, ne radim, etc.

Does želim change with gender? What if a woman is speaking?

The form želim does not change with gender. It only shows person and number (1st person singular).

So:

• A man: Ne želim gubiti vrijeme.
• A woman: Ne želim gubiti vrijeme.

Exactly the same.

Gender shows up in:

• Past tense:

  • Nisam želio gubiti vrijeme. (male)
  • Nisam željela gubiti vrijeme. (female)

• Conditional politeness forms:

  • Ne bih želio gubiti vrijeme. (male, polite/soft)
  • Ne bih željela gubiti vrijeme. (female, polite/soft)

But in simple present, želim is gender-neutral.

Is Ne želim gubiti vrijeme strong or rude? How can I make it softer or more polite?

Ne želim gubiti vrijeme. is direct but not rude by itself. It can feel:

• neutral in some contexts (stating a fact about yourself),
• quite firm if said to someone (as in “I don’t want to waste time [with this]”).

To soften it, Croatians often use the conditional and/or extra wording:

• Ne bih želio / željela gubiti vrijeme.
  = I wouldn’t like to waste time. (politer, softer)
• Radije ne bih gubio/gubila vrijeme.
  = I’d rather not waste time.
• Ne bih htio / htjela gubiti vrijeme.
  Similar to the first, with htjeti.

So if you want to say this in a more polite way in a formal or semi-formal setting, use:

• Ne bih želio gubiti vrijeme. (if you’re male)
• Ne bih željela gubiti vrijeme. (if you’re female)

How do I pronounce Ne želim gubiti vrijeme?

Approximate pronunciation using English-like hints:

• Ne – “neh”
• želim – “ZHEH-leem”
  
  • ž like French j in je, or English s in measure
  • stress on the first syllable: ŽE-lim
• gubiti – “GOO-bee-tee”
  
  • g always hard, as in go
  • stress on GU: GÙ-bi-ti
• vrijeme – roughly “VREE-ye-meh”
  
  • vr pronounced together; r is rolled/tapped
  • ije is usually pronounced like a long “ye” sound
  • stress on VRI: VRI-je-me

Put together (one natural way to say it):

NE ŽE-lim GÙ-bi-ti VRI-je-me.

Native speakers may vary slightly in pitch and length depending on region, but this will be understood everywhere.

Are there similar or related expressions I should know?

Yes, some very common, closely related phrases:

1. Ne želim gubiti vrijeme.
   I don’t want to waste time. (general statement)

2. Neću gubiti vrijeme.
   I won’t waste time / I refuse to waste time. (stronger, more decisive)

3. Nemoj gubiti vrijeme.
   Don’t waste time. (giving advice or a warning)

4. Ne troši vrijeme. / Nemoj trošiti vrijeme.
   Literally “Don’t spend time.” → also “Don’t waste time.”

5. Nemam vremena.
   I don’t have time. (very common; note vremena = genitive)

6. Nema smisla gubiti vrijeme.
   There’s no point in wasting time.

These all build around the same idea and vocabulary: gubiti (izgubiti), trošiti, vrijeme/vremena, and are very useful in everyday Croatian.