I Love You in Croatian

Expressing love

Although there are many reasons to learn Croatian, most of our students – and likely many readers of this guide – do so because their partner is Croatian. In this guide, you’ll learn common terms of endearment, romantic phrases, and useful grammar tips to help you express yourself naturally in Croatian.

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Common pet names

Let’s start of with some of the most common pet names for the one you love:

dragi – dear (male)
draga – dear (female)
moj najdraži – my dearest (male)
moja najdraža – my dearest (female)
moja ljubav – my love

Using the vocative case to speak to people directly

When you address someone directly in Croatian, the vocative case is used. That means that if you’re talking to someone about “your love” you would say “moja ljubav”, but if you’re talking directly to your partner and calling them “my love”, you would say “moja ljubavi”.

Most nouns in Croatian have different nominative and vocative forms, here are few examples:

žena – wife >>> vocative: ženo
muž – husband >>> vocative: mužu
cura – girlfriend >>> vocative: curo
dečko – boyfriend >>> vocative: dečko

You can find out more about the vocative case and how to use it correctly here.

Using diminutives to make things smaller

Diminutives are also very common when talking to your partner in Croatian. Here are some general rules on how to create diminutives in Croatian.

Croatians lovingly refer to their partners using a whole host of different animal names. For example, you can say “You are my mouse” (“Ti si moj miš”) or “You are my little mouse” (“Ti si moj mali miš” / “Ti si moj mišić”).

Word Diminutive form Vocative forms
miš – mouse mišić – little mouse mišu, mišiću
zec – rabbit zečić/zeko – little rabbit zeko, zečiću
slon – elephant slonić – little elephant slonu, sloniću
lav – lion lavić – little lion lavu, laviću
riba – fish ribica – little fish ribo, ribice
mačka – cat mačkica – little cat mačko, mačkice

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Exercise: Can you guess what the following phrases mean?

Volim te – I love you

Jako te volim – I love you a lot

Fališ mi – I miss you

Jako mi fališ – I miss you a lot

Kada ćemo se opet vidjeti? – When will we see each other again?

Idemo li večeras van na večeru? – Shall we go out to dinner tonight?

Večeras ja kuham! – I’ll cook tonight

Nađimo se u … sati – Let’s meet at … o’clock

Molim te, baci smeće – Please take the trash out

Danas je tvoj red za čišćenje – It’s your turn to clean today

Idemo spavati – Let’s go to sleep

Ti si moj mali slatki medo – You are my sweet little teddy bear

Gdje je tvoja kreditna kartica? – Where’s your credit card?


Explore our other language guides:

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