Language/Croatian/Grammar/Future-Tense

Croatian Grammar - Future Tense

Hi Croatian learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will be focusing on the future tense in Croatian grammar. The future tense is used to talk about actions or events that will happen in the future. We will explore the different forms of the future tense, how to conjugate verbs, and some examples to help you better understand.

After mastering this lesson, these related pages might interest you: Personal Pronouns & Nouns.

Conjugation

In Croatian, we have two forms of the future tense:

1. Present Future 2. Simple Future

Present Future

The Present Future is constructed using the present tense of the verb "biti" (to be) and the infinitive (base form) of the main verb.

Here are the conjugations of "biti" in the present tense:

Person	Singular	Plural
1st Person	Ja sam	Mi smo
2nd Person	Ti si	Vi ste
3rd Person	On/Ona/Ono je	Oni/One/Ona su

After the present tense of "biti", add the infinitive of the main verb to form the Present Future. Here are some examples:

Croatian	Pronunciation	English
Ja ću piti kavu	Ya choo pee-tee kah-voo	I will drink coffee
Ti ćeš pjevati pjesmu	Tee tchehsh p-yeh-vahtee pyeh-smoo	You will sing a song
On/Ona/Ono će pisati	Ohn/Ohnah/Ohno tcheh pee-sahtee	He/She/It will write
Mi ćemo gledati film	Mee tcheh-moh gleh-dah-tee feelm	We will watch a movie
Vi ćete trčati	Vee tcheh-teh t-rchahtee	You will run
Oni/One/Ona će plivati	Oh-nee/Oh-neh/Oh-nah tcheh plee-vahtee	They will swim

Simple Future

The Simple Future is constructed using the future tense markers "ću", "ćeš", "će", "ćemo", "ćete", and "će" and the infinitive (base form) of the main verb.

Here are the conjugations of the Simple Future:

Person	Marker	Example
1st Person Singular	-ću	Ja ću plivati (I will swim)
2nd Person Singular	-ćeš	Ti ćeš skakati (You will jump)
3rd Person Singular	-će	On/Ona/Ono će pjevati (He/She/It will sing)
1st Person Plural	-ćemo	Mi ćemo raditi (We will work)
2nd Person Plural	-ćete	Vi ćete kuhati (You will cook)
3rd Person Plural	-će	Oni/One/Ona će voziti (They will drive)

Here are some examples:

Croatian	Pronunciation	English
Ja ću kupiti novu knjigu	Ya choo koo-pee-tee no-voo kn-yee-goo	I will buy a new book
Ti ćeš posjetiti Zagreb	Tee tchehsh pohs-yeh-tee-tee Zah-greb	You will visit Zagreb
On/Ona/Ono će putovati	Ohn/Ohnah/Ohno tcheh poo-toh-vahtee	He/She/It will travel
Mi ćemo se družiti s prijateljima	Mee tcheh-moh seh droo-zhee-tee s pree-ya-tehl-yee-ma	We will hang out with friends
Vi ćete imati test	Vee tcheh-teh ee-mah-tee test	You will have a test
Oni/One/Ona će raditi u uredu	Oh-nee/Oh-neh/Oh-nah tcheh rah-dee-tee oo oo-reh-doo	They will work in the office

Exceptions

There are some exceptions to the regular formation of the future tense. Some verbs have stem changes in the infinitive form, and some verbs have irregular future tense forms. Here are some examples:

Croatian	Pronunciation	English
Infinitive: htjeti Future tense: Ja ću htjeti	ht-yeh-tee	I will want
Infinitive: moći Future tense: Ti ćeš moći	moh-tchee	You will be able to
Infinitive: doći Future tense: On/Ona/Ono će doći	doh-chee	He/She/It will come
Infinitive: voljeti Future tense: Mi ćemo voljeti	vol-yeh-tee	We will love
Infinitive: znati Future tense: Vi ćete znati	znahtee	You will know
Infinitive: vidjeti Future tense: Oni/One/Ona će vidjeti	veed-yeh-tee	They will see

Dialogue

Here's a dialogue to help you understand how to use the future tense:

• Person 1: Hoćeš li ići u kino sutra? (Will you go to the cinema tomorrow?)
• Person 2: Da, ići ću s prijateljima. (Yes, I will go with friends.)

Cultural Tidbits

- In Croatia, many people believe in the power of fortune telling. There are certain customs where people look at coffee grounds, tarot cards or play cards to read the future. - Did you know that Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan, Croatia? He is known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system. - Learning Croatian can be challenging, but it's also a lot of fun! The country has a rich history and culture, and speaking the language can help you to explore and understand it better.

Practice

To practice your future tense skills, try translating these sentences from English to Croatian:

1. I will study Croatian. 2. You will meet new people. 3. He will speak Spanish. 4. We will travel to the beach. 5. They will listen to music.

After that, try to make your own sentences using different verbs and subject pronouns.

Sources

• All Shapes of the Future Tense in Serbian and Croatian Language ...
• The future tense in Croatian
• The future tense in the Croatian language, negative - SpeakCRO ...

Other Lessons

• Negation
• Questions
• Nouns
• Give your Opinion
• How to Use Be
• Pronouns
• Conditional Mood
• Adjectives
• How to Use Have