Volim svoju zemlju.

I love my country.

Breakdown of Volim svoju zemlju.

• voljeti: to love
• svoj: own
• zemlja: land

Questions & Answers about Volim svoju zemlju.

Why is there no subject pronoun ja? Why not Ja volim svoju zemlju?

In Croatian, subject pronouns (like ja = I) are usually left out because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• Volim already tells us it’s I love, because:
  • volim = I love
  • voliš = you (singular) love
  • voli = he/she/it loves

So Volim svoju zemlju is the most natural version.
Ja volim svoju zemlju is also correct, but it adds emphasis to ja (like saying I love my country, as opposed to someone else).

What does volim come from, and how is it conjugated?

Volim is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb voljeti (to love / to like).

Present tense of voljeti:

• ja volim – I love
• ti voliš – you (singular) love
• on/ona/ono voli – he/she/it loves
• mi volimo – we love
• vi volite – you (plural/formal) love
• oni/one/ona vole – they love

It’s slightly irregular because the infinitive has -jeti, but the present stem is voli-.

Does volim mean I like or I love?

Volim can mean both I like and I love, depending on context and intensity:

• Volim svoju zemlju. – I love my country.
• Volim čokoladu. – I like/love chocolate.
• Jako te volim. – I love you very much.

Croatian often uses voljeti where English might choose either like or love. For “I like” in the sense of “it appeals to me”, you can also hear Sviđa mi se (e.g. Sviđa mi se ova pjesma. – I like this song).

Why is it svoju and not moju in Volim svoju zemlju?

Croatian has a special reflexive possessive adjective svoj that you use when the thing possessed belongs to the subject of the sentence.

• Subject (understood): ja
• Possession: zemlja that belongs to ja
• So you use svoj, not moj.

Volim svoju zemlju.
= I love my (own) country.

Volim moju zemlju is grammatically possible but sounds marked or contrastive, like stressing my as opposed to someone else’s country (e.g. Ne tvoju, nego moju zemlju volim. – Not your country, but my country I love).

What form is svoju exactly? Why doesn’t it look like svoj?

The base form is svoj, but it changes to agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• Noun: zemlju
  
  • gender: feminine
  • number: singular
  • case: accusative (direct object of volim)

So svoj must match: feminine, singular, accusative → svoju.

Rough pattern (feminine singular):

• Nominative: svoja (e.g. Moja / Svoja zemlja je lijepa.)
• Accusative: svoju (e.g. Volim svoju zemlju.)

Why is it zemlju and not zemlja?

Zemlja is a feminine noun. In this sentence, zemlju is the direct object of the verb volim (What do I love? – my country), so it must be in the accusative case.

For many feminine nouns ending in -a, the singular forms are:

• Nominative: zemlja (subject)
• Accusative: zemlju (direct object)

Examples:

• Zemlja je lijepa. – The country is beautiful. (subject → zemlja)
• Volim svoju zemlju. – I love my country. (object → zemlju)

What else can zemlja mean besides country?

Zemlja is quite flexible in Croatian:

• country / homeland – Volim svoju zemlju.
• land – Ovo je plodna zemlja. (This is fertile land.)
• soil / earth (dirt) – Ruke su mi prljave od zemlje.
• Earth (the planet) – Zemlja se okreće oko Sunca.

When referring to the planet, you will often see it capitalized as Zemlja. For the political sense of country, Croatians also use država (state), e.g. Moja država = my state/country.

Could the word order be Svoju zemlju volim? Is that correct?

Yes, Svoju zemlju volim is grammatically correct.

• Volim svoju zemlju. – neutral, most common order.
• Svoju zemlju volim. – emphasizes svoju zemlju (what you love).

Croatian word order is flexible because case endings show grammatical roles. Moving words around usually changes emphasis, not basic meaning.

How would this sentence change for different persons (you, he, we, etc.)?

You change the verb and the reflexive possessive to match the subject:

• Volim svoju zemlju. – I love my country.
• Voliš svoju zemlju. – You (singular) love your country.
• Voli svoju zemlju. – He/She loves his/her country.
• Volimo svoju zemlju. – We love our country.
• Volite svoju zemlju. – You (plural/formal) love your country.
• Vole svoju zemlju. – They love their country.

Svoju stays the same here because zemlju (fem. sg. acc.) doesn’t change; only the verb form changes.

Is there a perfective partner to voljeti and what’s the difference?

Yes, the usual perfective partner is zavoljeti.

• voljeti (imperfective) – to love / to be in a state of loving (ongoing, general)
  
  • Volim svoju zemlju. – I love my country.
• zavoljeti (perfective) – to come to love, to start loving (single event / change of state)
  
  • Zavolio sam svoju novu zemlju. – I came to love my new country.

You normally use voljeti for general statements like this sentence.

How do you pronounce lj in volim and zemlju?

The Croatian lj is a single sound, not l + j separately. It’s a palatal l, similar to:

• the lli in Italian gli (as in famiglia),
• or the lli in some pronunciations of million (when it’s softened).

Pronunciation:

• volim – roughly VO-leem (with a soft l, tongue closer to the palate)
• zemlju – ZEM-lyu (the lj is between l and y; u is like oo in food)

Can Volim svoju zemlju ever sound strange or overly patriotic?

No, it’s a perfectly normal and neutral sentence in Croatian. Context decides the tone:

• In casual conversation, it can simply mean you feel attached to your homeland.
• In a political or patriotic speech, it can sound more emotional or nationalistic, but that comes from context, not from the words themselves.

It’s also a good model sentence for practicing voljeti + svoj + accusative with other nouns:

• Volim svoju obitelj. – I love my family.
• Volim svoje prijatelje. – I love my friends.
• Volim svoj posao. – I love my job.