How do I say 'I love you' in Croatian?

Although there are a variety of common reasons to learn Croatian, the majority of our students – and probably many readers of this blog – choose to do so because their wife, husband, boyfriend or girlfriend is Croatian.

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 animals 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”).