Cjelina 3: Moja obitelj

🧩 3 | 1 | Lekcija 4: Vjenčanje – Vokabular

Important occasions

In this lesson, you were introduced to some of the most important celebrations in Croatia that bring all family members together.

According to Hrvatski zavod za statistiku (Croatian Bureau of Statistics), Croatia is predominantly a Catholic country. Thus, religious components represent an important part of Croatian identity. Even though people may not be practicing the religion, they will mostly declare themselves to be Catholic. According to 2011 Census, religion among Croatians is as follows:

religija religion %
katolici Catholics 86.28
pravoslavci Orthodocs 4.44
protestanti Protestan 0.34
ostali kršćani Other Christians 0.30
muslimani Muslim 1.47
židovi Judaism 0.01
istočne religije Eastern religion 0.06
ostale religije Other religion 0.06
agnostici Agnostic 0.76
ateisti Atheist 3.81
ne izjašnjavaju se Not declared 2.17
nepoznato Unknown 0.29

To get married

Here are some crucial verbs that express the meaning “to get/be married.” In contrast to English terminology, Croatian distinguishes several verb forms. They are listed below:

When to use each verb?

UDATI SE / OŽENITI SE

It happened. Will happen, but no specific information when it will happen.

  • UDATI SE
    • Ona se udala. [past] / Ona će se udati. [future]
  • OŽENITI SE
    • On se oženio. [past] / On će se oženiti. [future]

UDAVATI SE / ŽENITI SE

It will happen in the near future and we know when it will happen.

  • UDAVATI SE
    • Ona se udaje u subotu. — She is getting married this Saturday.
  • ŽENITI SE
    • On se ženi u subotu. — He is getting married this Saturday.

All these verbs are reflexive verbs. We will work with this type of verb in the near future. For now, this is just an informative page for you to discover the vocabulary related to marriage. Here are the three verbs that will most likely appear in the present tense.

Udavati se

who verb form who verb form
ja uda-jem se mi uda-jemo se
ti uda-ješ se vi uda-jete se
ona uda-je se one uda-ju se

Ženiti se

who verb form who verb form
ja žen-im se mi žen-imo se
ti žen-iš se vi žen-ite se
on žen-i se oni žen-e se

Vjenčati se

who verb form who verb form
ja vjenča-am se mi vjenča-amo se
ti vjenča-aš se vi vjenča-ate se
on/ona vjenča-a se oni/one vjenča-aju se

The most common practice in Croatia is to get married in a church (crkva). However, some people get married only by the registrar (matičar) – which represents only a civil marriage.

How to say […] is/are married?

  • On je oženjen. — He is married.
  • Ona je udana. — She is married.
  • Oni su vjenčani. — They are married.

🧩 Vocabulary list

Hrvatski English
čekati to wait
crkva church
džins jeans
krizma confirmation
krštenje baptism
mlada bride
mladoženja groom
nositi to wear
obred ceremony
oženjen married (male)
pričest first communion
rođendan birthday
svadbeno slavlje wedding celebration
udana married (female)
vidjeti to see
vjenčanje wedding
vjenčanica wedding dress
zgodan good-looking

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