nedostaješ mi
Latin
In Croatian, "I miss you" is expressed as nedostaješ mi.
This phrase is used to express that someone is missed. Unlike English, the person who is being missed acts as the subject of the sentence.
Meaning: I miss you (phrase)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase nedostaješ mi literally translates to "you are missing to me".
Which one should you use?
nedostaješ mi is used when addressing a single person informally. If you are addressing one person formally or addressing a group of people, you should use nedostajete mi. To say "I miss you all" to a group, use nedostajete mi svi.
How does it change in a sentence?
The person being missed is the grammatical subject. To say "I miss you too", you can add i ti to the end of the phrase to create nedostaješ mi i ti.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid trying to translate the English verb "miss" directly as a transitive verb (such as nedostajem te). In Croatian, the person being missed must be the subject.
Did you know?
- While nedostaješ mi is the standard way to express longing, you might hear fališ mi in more casual or regional speech. This version comes from the Italian word 'falire', meaning 'to fail' or 'to be lacking'.
- The phrase avoids the English concept of 'missing' as a mistake. To say you 'missed' a bus or a target, you would use the verb propustiti, which is entirely unrelated to nedostajati.
- Because nedostajati refers to a deficiency, Croatians use the same verb to say they are missing a physical object, like a key or a piece of a puzzle.
Examples in context
- Poštovani gospodine Ivanoviću, nedostajete mi. Nadam se da se uskoro vidimo.Dear Mr. Ivanović, I miss you. I hope we see each other soon.
- Dragi Marko, nedostaješ mi jako. Volio/la bih da si ovdje sada.Dear Marko, I miss you a lot. I would like you to be here now.
- Hvala na pozivu, ali neću moći doći na večeru. Nedostajete mi svi i nadam se da ćemo se uskoro vidjeti.Thanks for the invite, but I won't be able to come to dinner. I miss you all and I hope we see each other soon.
- Nedostaješ mi jako puno.I miss you very much.
Example conversation
Luka and Ivana are talking on the phone.
- LukaZdravo Ivana, nedostaješ mi.Hello Ivana, I miss you.
- IvanaLuka, i ti meni nedostaješ!Luka, I miss you too!
- LukaKada se konačno vidimo?When are we finally seeing each other?
- IvanaVidimo se već sljedećeg tjedna.We are seeing each other next week.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “I miss you” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
