Ne želim propustiti ovaj film.

I don’t want to miss this movie.

Breakdown of Ne želim propustiti ovaj film.

• ne: not
• film: movie
• željeti: to want
• ovaj: this
• propustiti: to miss

Questions & Answers about Ne želim propustiti ovaj film.

Why is the negation ne placed before želim, and could it go anywhere else?

In Croatian, the basic way to negate a verb is to put ne directly in front of the finite verb:

• želim = I want
• ne želim = I do not want

You cannot move ne away from the verb, and you cannot put it after the verb. So:

• ✅ Ne želim propustiti ovaj film.
• ❌ Želim ne propustiti ovaj film. (ungrammatical / unnatural)
• ❌ Želim propustiti ne ovaj film. (changes meaning and is wrong here)

The rule: ne immediately precedes the conjugated verb it negates.

Why is propustiti in the infinitive form instead of a conjugated form like propustim?

After verbs of wanting, needing, being able, etc., Croatian normally uses the infinitive:

• želim + infinitive
  
  • želim jesti – I want to eat
  • želim spavati – I want to sleep
  • ne želim propustiti – I don’t want to miss

Using a finite clause would sound unnatural here:

• ❌ Ne želim da propustim ovaj film.

This structure (ne želim + infinitive) directly corresponds to English I don’t want to + verb.

What is the aspect and nuance of the verb propustiti here?

Propustiti is a perfective verb. That means it refers to a single, complete event:

• propustiti film – to miss a film (fail to see it once)

The imperfective counterpart is:

• propuštati film(ove) – to miss films (habitually, repeatedly)

So:

• Ne želim propustiti ovaj film.
  → I don’t want to miss this one showing, this specific film (once).

If you said:

• Ne želim propuštati filmove.
  → I don’t want to (be) missing films in general / as a habit.

The perfective propustiti fits well with a single, specific film in this sentence.

What case is ovaj film in, and why does it look like the nominative?

Grammatically, ovaj film here is in the accusative singular (direct object of the verb propustiti).

However, for inanimate masculine nouns, the nominative and accusative forms are identical. So:

• Nominative: ovaj film – this film (subject)
• Accusative: vidim ovaj film – I see this film (object)

The same happens with the pronoun ovaj:

• Nominative masc. sg.: ovaj
• Accusative masc. sg. (inanimate): ovaj

So ovaj film is functionally accusative, even though its form matches the nominative.

Could I say ovog filma instead of ovaj film?

Not in this sentence. Ovog filma is genitive singular, not accusative:

• ovaj film – nominative / accusative
• ovog filma – genitive

Genitive would appear in patterns like:

• naslov ovog filma – the title of this film
• nema ovog filma – this film is not available / there is no such film

But after propustiti (to miss), the normal object is accusative, so you say:

• ✅ Ne želim propustiti ovaj film.
• ❌ Ne želim propustiti ovog filma. (wrong in standard Croatian)

What’s the difference between ovaj, taj, and onaj (e.g. ovaj film, taj film, onaj film)?

These are all demonstrative pronouns/adjectives meaning this/that, but they differ in distance and context:

• ovaj film – this film (here / just mentioned, close to me/us)
• taj film – that film (near you, or already known in the conversation)
• onaj film – that film (over there / more distant, or “that one we talked about a while ago”)

In everyday speech, ovaj / taj are often used somewhat loosely, but in a neutral context, ovaj film matches English this film: the specific one you’re about to watch or are discussing right now.

Can I change the word order, for example to Ovaj film ne želim propustiti? Does the meaning change?

Yes, you can change the word order, and Croatian allows it quite freely. Common variants:

• Ne želim propustiti ovaj film. (neutral order)
• Ovaj film ne želim propustiti. (emphasis on this film in particular)
• Ne želim ovaj film propustiti. (slight emphasis on this film vs some other)

The core meaning (“I don’t want to miss this film”) stays the same, but the focus/emphasis shifts:

• Fronting ovaj film to the beginning stresses this specific film more strongly:
  • Ovaj film ne želim propustiti = It’s this film that I really don’t want to miss.

Why ne želim and not neću? What’s the difference?

Both are common, but they express slightly different things:

• Ne želim propustiti ovaj film.

  • Literally: I do not want to miss this film.
  • Focus on your desire / intention.

• Neću propustiti ovaj film.

  • Literally: I will not miss this film.
  • Neću is future tense of htjeti (to want → I will); in practice it sounds more like a firm decision or promise: “I won’t miss it.”

So:

• ne želim → about what you (don’t) want
• neću → about what you (won’t) do (a stronger commitment)

Is želim present tense? How is the verb željeti conjugated in the present?

Yes, želim is present tense, 1st person singular of željeti (to want).

Present tense of željeti (singular and plural):

• 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

In the sentence:

• Ne želim propustiti ovaj film.
  → želIm = I want (present), negated with ne.

Why not use hoću instead of želim? Is ne hoću possible?

Croatian has two common verbs for “want”:

• željeti – to want, to wish
• htjeti – to want

Present forms of htjeti are somewhat irregular:

• ja hoću
• ti hoćeš
• on/ona/ono hoće
• mi hoćemo
• vi hoćete
• oni/one/ona hoće

Negation of htjeti is not formed as ne hoću; instead, Croatian uses a special negative form:

• neću (I will not / I don’t want)
• nećeš
• neće, etc.

So:

• Ne želim propustiti ovaj film. – I don’t want to miss this film.
• Neću propustiti ovaj film. – I won’t miss this film. (more like a promise)
• ❌ Ne hoću propustiti ovaj film. – ungrammatical

How would I make this sentence more polite or less direct?

Ne želim propustiti ovaj film. is normal and neutral, but it can sound quite direct.

More polite / softer variants:

• Ne bih htio propustiti ovaj film. (male speaker)
• Ne bih htjela propustiti ovaj film. (female speaker)

Here:

• ne bih – I would not
• htio / htjela – past participle of htjeti (want)

This structure is like English “I wouldn’t want to miss this film” and sounds more tentative and polite.

How are the main words pronounced, and where is the stress?

Approximate pronunciation (stressed syllables in bold):

• Ne – /ne/ (short e, like e in get)
• želim – /ʒelim/
  
  • ž = like s in measure
  • stress on že: ŽE-lim
• propustiti – /propustit̪i/
  
  • stress usually on -pus-: pro-PUS-ti-ti
• ovaj – /ɔvaj/
  
  • stress on o: O-vaj
• film – /film/ (like English film, but shorter and clearer vowels)

So:

• Ne ŽE-lim pro-PUS-ti-ti O-vaj film.

Each vowel is pronounced clearly; there are no “reduced” vowels like English schwa.