početi

See also: početí

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *počęti.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pǒt͡ʃeːti/
  • Hyphenation: po‧če‧ti

Verb

pòčēti pf (Cyrillic spelling по̀че̄ти)

  1. (intransitive) to begin, start, commence
    Počeo sam čitati svoju novu knjigu.
    I started reading my new book.

Conjugation

Conjugation of početi
infinitive početi
present verbal adverb
past verbal adverb pòčēvši
verbal noun
singular plural
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
present počnem počneš počne počnemo počnete počnu
future future I počet ću1
počeću
počet ćeš1
počećeš
počet će1
počeće
počet ćemo1
počećemo
počet ćete1
počećete
počet ćē1
počeće
future II bȕdēm počeo2 bȕdēš počeo2 bȕdē počeo2 bȕdēmo počeli2 bȕdēte počeli2 bȕdū počeli2
past perfect počeo sam2 počeo si2 počeo je2 počeli smo2 počeli ste2 počeli su2
pluperfect3 bȉo sam počeo2 bȉo si počeo2 bȉo je počeo2 bíli smo počeli2 bíli ste počeli2 bíli su počeli2
aorist počeh poče poče počesmo počeste počeše
conditional conditional I počeo bih2 počeo bi2 počeo bi2 počeli bismo2 počeli biste2 počeli bi2
conditional II4 bȉo bih počeo2 bȉo bi počeo2 bȉo bi počeo2 bíli bismo počeli2 bíli biste počeli2 bíli bi počeli2
imperative počni počnimo počnite
active past participle počeo m / počela f / počelo n počeli m / počele f / počela n
passive past participle počet m / početa f / početo n početi m / počete f / početa n

1   Croatian spelling: others omit the infinitive suffix completely and bind the clitic.
2   For masculine nouns; a feminine or neuter agent would use the feminine and neuter gender forms of the active past participle and auxiliary verb, respectively.
3   Often replaced by the past perfect in colloquial speech, i.e. the auxiliary verb biti (to be) is routinely dropped.
4   Often replaced by the conditional I in colloquial speech, i.e. the auxiliary verb biti (to be) is routinely dropped.
  *Note: The aorist and imperfect were not present in, or have nowadays fallen into disuse in, many dialects and therefore they are routinely replaced by the past perfect in both formal and colloquial speech.

See also

Further reading

  • početi”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025