1.biti — the word for "to be" in six forms

With just six little words — sam, si, je, smo, ste, su — you can say who you are, where you are, and how you feel in Croatian.

Your goal

After this article you'll know six little words — sam, si, je, smo, ste, su — and you can use them to talk about yourself, about other people, and about the things around you.

I.biti — the six little words

The word for “to be” is biti. But in a sentence you never say biti by itself. You say a short form, and it changes depending on the person. There are exactly six: sam, si, je, smo, ste, su.

Hrvatski	English
ja sam	I am
ti si	you are
on / ona / ono je	he / she / it is
mi smo	we are
vi / Vi ste	you (pl.) / you (formal) are
oni / one / ona su	they are

Six forms — that's all you need in the present. “Vi” with a capital V = the polite “you.”

Take your time looking at the table. There's nothing more to learn. These six words are with you from your very first conversation.

II.How it sounds in everyday life

The pattern is always the same: first the person, then the little word, then the rest.

Hrvatski	English
Ja sam Ivana.	I am Ivana.(ja = I)
Ti si Jure.	You are Jure.(ti = you)
Stipe je doma.	Stipe is at home.(doma = at home)
Mi smo na poslu.	We are at work.(posao = work)
Vi ste ovdje.	You are here.(ovdje = here)
Oni su umorni.	They are tired.(umorni = tired (pl.))
Kava je dobra.	The coffee is good.(dobra = good (f.))

Seven everyday sentences — each of the six forms at least once.

Once you hear the pattern, you'll hear it everywhere from now on — at the café, on the construction site, on the bus.

III.What's different in English

You already know this game from English: I am, you are, he is — here too the word changes depending on the person. So far, Croatian works just like English.

But there's one nice difference — and it makes your life easier:

Aha — the difference

In English you always have to say “I,” “you,” “we.” In Croatian the little word already shows the person — so you can leave the pronoun out. But watch out: the adjective changes with the gender. A man says “umoran,” a woman says “umorna.”

♀ Weiblich	♂ Männlich	English
Umorna sam.	Umoran sam.	I am tired.
Dobra si.	Dobar si.	You are good/kind.
Sretna sam.	Sretan sam.	I am happy.
Doma smo.(für beide Geschlechter gleich)		We are home.

I am tired.

♀Umorna sam.

♂Umoran sam.

You are good/kind.

♀Dobra si.

♂Dobar si.

I am happy.

♀Sretna sam.

♂Sretan sam.

We are home.

Doma smo.

Adjectives change to match. The we-form (smo) is gender-neutral.

Umoran sam. simply means “I am tired” (umoran = tired, the male form). One word less — and still everything said.

IV.Try it yourself

A little correction task. A beginner asks about Stipe and says:

“Da li je Stipe tu?” — sounds almost right, but it has a Serbian flavor. What's the clean Croatian question?

Hint: you need the little question form of biti (je) and the little word li — right after the form.

V.Watch out — the typical trap

One thing you need to know, or your sentence will sound wrong. These little words can never stand at the very beginning of a sentence. They always want a real word in front of them.

✗ Falsch	✓ Richtig
Sam Ivana.	Ja sam Ivana. I am Ivana.
Je doma Stipe.	Stipe je doma. Stipe is at home.
Si umoran?	Jesi li umoran? Are you tired? (question form)
Su ovdje.	Oni su ovdje. They are here.
Smo na poslu.	Mi smo na poslu. We are at work.

On the left how it sounds WRONG — on the right how you should SAY it. A word in front, then the little word.

Remember the picture: the little word likes to stand in second place. A real word in front — then everything's fine.

VI.What you can do now

Done — six forms, three conversations

With sam, si, je, smo, ste, su you can now have three different mini-conversations:

Hrvatski	English
Ja sam Ivana.	Talk about yourself.
Mi smo na poslu.	Talk about where you are.
Kava je dobra.	Talk about things.

Remember: First a real word, then the little word. Six forms — and from now on you can join in on every conversation.

VII.For the curious

The most common of the six

Of the six words, je (is) is the most common — it's in almost every sentence about another person or a thing. If you want to nail just ONE word first, go with je.

Hrvatski	English
To je kava.	This is coffee.
Mate je doma.	Mate is at home.
Ante je umoran.	Ante is tired.
Kava je dobra.	The coffee is good.
Toni je ovdje.	Toni is here.

And don't worry: how to also ask (“Are you …?”) and say no (“I am not …”) with these words comes next — for that they have a little sister form.