Ways to say it
| Croatian | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| disati | /dǐːsati/ | Latin, imperfective |
| dihati | Kajkavian, Latin, imperfective |
disati describes the ongoing act of breathing, drawing air in and out. Useful phrases built around breathing include Duboko udahni, take a deep breath, Izdiši polako, exhale slowly, Nemoj zadržavati dah, don't hold your breath and Teško dišeš, you're breathing heavily.
Which one should you use?
disati is imperfective, so it describes breathing as a continuing process rather than a single breath. For one breath in, the perfective udahnuti means to inhale.
Is it said differently in some regions?
dihati is a dialect variant used mainly in the Kajkavian speaking regions of Croatia.
How does it change in a sentence?
disati is an imperfective verb. Its perfective partner udahnuti specifically means to take a breath in. In the present tense the verb changes its stem, as in Teško dišeš, you're breathing heavily.
How do you pronounce it?
disati is pronounced /dǐːsati/, with a long rising stressed first syllable.
Did you know?
- While English speakers often just say 'breathe', Croatians have dedicated, separate verbs for the specific directions of airflow: udahnuti for inhaling and izdisati for exhaling.
- In Croatian literature, the word for 'breath' dah can be used as a synonym for a person's essence or their very soul.
- While disati is the standard word, using the variant dihati immediately signals to a listener that the speaker is likely from the northern Kajkavian regions of Croatia.
Examples in context
- Povremeno moram polako disati.I have to breathe slowly from time to time.
- Učiteljica nas uči kako pravilno disati.The teacher is teaching us how to breathe correctly.
Example conversation
Mateo and Petra are practicing yoga in a living room.
- PetraMateo, pokušaj polako disati.Mateo, try to breathe slowly.
- MateoTeško mi je disati u ovoj poziciji.It is hard for me to breathe in this position.
- PetraSamo se opusti i nastavi disati.Just relax and keep breathing.
- MateoHvala, sada mi je malo bolje.Thanks, I feel a little better now.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “breathe” translations and entries disati, dihati, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
