Reflexive verbs are an essential part of daily Croatian grammar.

You use them whenever an action reflects back onto the person performing it.

In English, we usually show this by using words like “myself” or “yourself”.

In Croatian, we handle this entirely differently by using a single short word alongside the main verb.

This guide will show you exactly how to identify, conjugate, and place Croatian reflexive verbs in a sentence.

What is a reflexive verb in Croatian?

A reflexive verb in Croatian always includes the reflexive pronoun se.

The word se roughly translates to “oneself” in English.

When you look up a reflexive verb in a dictionary, you’ll see se listed right next to the infinitive form.

An action is reflexive when the person performing the action is also receiving the action.

This means the subject and the object of the sentence are the exact same person.

The three main types of reflexive verbs

There are three main ways we use reflexive verbs in the Croatian language.

The first category is true reflexive verbs.

These are literal actions you perform on yourself.

A great example is češljati se (to comb oneself).

The second category is reciprocal verbs.

These describe an action that two or more people do to each other.

A common example is vidjeti se (to see each other).

The third category is inherent reflexive verbs.

These are verbs that simply require the word se to exist.

They don’t logically reflect an action onto yourself, but the grammar demands the pronoun anyway.

A very frequent example is smijati se (to laugh).

How to conjugate reflexive verbs

Conjugating these verbs is actually quite simple.

You just conjugate the main verb normally according to its tense and subject.

The word se never changes its form.

It stays exactly the same whether you’re talking about “I”, “you”, or “they”.

Here’s a conjugation table for the verb češljati se (to comb oneself) in the present tense.

Where to place se in a sentence

Knowing where to put se in a sentence is a key rule for beginners to learn.

The word se is an enclitic.

This means it’s an unstressed word that relies on the words around it for rhythm.

Croatian grammar rules dictate that clitics must go in the second position of a sentence or clause.

If you start a sentence with a subject pronoun, se comes immediately after it.

Notice how se takes the second slot in the sentence.

However, Croatian speakers frequently drop subject pronouns.

When you drop the pronoun, the main verb usually comes first.

In this scenario, se moves to follow the verb.

The meaning remains exactly the same, but the placement changes to satisfy the second-position rule.

Here’s an example using a question word at the start of the sentence.

Because zašto (why) takes the first position, se directly follows it.

Common Croatian reflexive verbs list

Here’s a helpful list of the most common reflexive verbs you’ll encounter in Croatian.

Memorizing these early on will significantly improve your daily conversations.

You’ll notice many of these fall into the inherent category and don’t translate literally to English.

Pay close attention to how native speakers use them in everyday speech.