Serbo-Croatian

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *xъtěti.

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): /xtjêti/
  • Hyphenation: htje‧ti

Verb

edit

htjȅti impf (Cyrillic spelling хтје̏ти)

  1. (transitive) to wish, want, desire
    Hoćeš da ti pomognem? Samo reci kako.Do you want me to help you? Just say how.
  2. (intransitive, auxiliary) Used to form the future tense; shall, will, going to
    Ja ću raditi/Ja ću da radim.I will work.
  3. (reflexive, impersonal, informal) to feel like, want
    Nije mi se htjelo.I didn't feel like it. (literally, “It didn't want itself to me.”)

Usage notes

edit

In some dialects and colloquial speech, there is no aspiration so the initial h sound in all forms is never pronounced (e.g. hoću and htio become oću and tio respectively). In formal speech, aspiration is preferred.

Conjugation

edit

Further reading

edit
  • Pero Budmani, editor (1887–1891), “htjȅti”, in Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika[1] (in Serbo-Croatian), volume 3, Zagreb: JAZU, page 716
  • Pero Budmani, editor (1887–1891), “hòtjeti”, in Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika[2] (in Serbo-Croatian), volume 3, Zagreb: JAZU, page 655