Czech Language/Verbs

Learn and practice the following, frequently-used, Czech verbs. In many languages, the most important verbs are often completely irregular, and so must be learned individually and carefully. Many of these verbs, particularly být, are frequently used as auxillary verbs, and are thus doubly important.

Být - To Be

"To be" is the most irregular verb in the Czech language, as indeed it is in English and many other languages. It is also the most important, because it is used as an auxillary verb to form both the past and future tense, and features in other grammatical constructions as well.

Present conjugation

Být has an irregular present-tense conjugation, in that both the stem (js-) and the conjugal suffixes don't follow any of the usual, regular rules for present conjugation in Czech.

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Singular	jsem = I am	jsi = you are	je = he/she/it is
Plural	jsme = we are	jste = you are	jsou = they are

Past participle

byl, byla, bylo; byli, byly, byla. When talking about a singular subject, you need only know the (grammatical) gender of the subject...

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	byl = he was	byla = she was	bylo = it was

... but things are a little different when you want to say "they were".

	Masculine animate	Feminine & masc. inanimate	Neuter
Plural	byli	byly	byla

Future tense

budu, budeš, bude; budeme, budete, budou. For the future imperfect ("I will do such-and-such") aspect, one uses the infinitive (dictionary) form of the verb with the appropriate future tense form of být, which functions like the English future auxillary verb "will".

	1	2	3
Sing.	budu = I will	budeš = you will	bude = he/she/it will
Plu.	budeme = we will	budete = you will	budou = they will

Predictably, the future tense of být by itself, expresses "I/you/he/etc. will be".

Imperative mood

buď, buďte, buďme! There are three ways to order people about in Czech. When it comes to být, the stem for the imperative, buď-, is irregular. If you're talking to one person, you can use the second-person-singular: buď! If there are more than one person, or you wish to be more formal, use the plural: buďte! Finally, if you want to include yourself in the group, there's the first-person-plural: buďme!

Conditional mood

The conditional mood in Czech is constructed from the past participle and special forms of být. We use conditionals whenever we use the phrase "I would..." to say what might have occured had things been otherwise (had some condition prevailed). The most familiar and useful of conditional expressions is "I would like... ": Chtěl bych...

	1	2	3
Sing.	bych = I would	bys = you would	by = he/she/it would
Plu.	bychom = we would	byste = you would	by = they would

Passive voice

One of two ways to form the passive voice in Czech involves the verb být. English speakers also use "to be" when forming a passive sentence, such as the following one. A passive sentence is formed from the approriate tense of být, followed by the passive participle of the main verb. Být does not itself have such a participle, as it cannot meaningfully be used in the passive voice.

Dávat - To Give

Present conjugation

	1	2	3
Sing.	dávám = I give	dáváš = you give	dává = he/she/it gives
Plu.	dáváme = we give	dáváte = you give	dávají = they give

Past participle

	Masculine (animate)	Masculine (inanimate)	Feminine	Neuter
Sing.	dával = he gave	dával = it gave	dávala = she gave	dávalo = it gave
Plu.	dávali	dávaly	dávaly	dávala

Future tense

	1	2	3
Sing.	budu dávat = I'll give	budeš dávat = you'll give	bude dávat = he/she/it'll give
Plu.	budeme dávat = we'll give	budete dávat = you'll give	budou dávat = they'll give

Dělat - To Do or Make

Dělat is not an irregular verb (is is in fact a class-V or á-type verb), but it is a very frequently used and useful one.

Present conjugation

	1	2	3
Sing.	dělám = I do	děláš = you do	dělá = he/she/it does
Plu.	děláme = we do	děláte = you do	dělají = they do

Past participle

	Masculine (animate)	Masculine (inanimate)	Feminine	Neuter
Sing.	dělal = he did	dělal = it did	dělala = she did	dělalo = it did
Plu.	dělali	dělaly	dělaly	dělala

Future tense

	1	2	3
Sing.	budu dělat = I'll do	budeš dělat = you'll do	bude dělat = he/she/it'll do
Plu.	budeme dělat = we'll do	budete dělat = you'll do	budou dělat = they'll do

Chtít - To Want

Present conjugation

	1	2	3
Sing.	chci = I want	chceš = you want	chce = he/she/it wants
Plu.	chceme = we want	chcete = you want	chtějí = they want

Past participle

	Masculine (animate)	Masculine (inanimate)	Feminine	Neuter
Sing.	chtěl = he wanted	chtěl = it wanted	chtěla = she wanted	chtělo = it wanted
Plu.	chtěli	chtěly	chtěly	chtěla

Future tense

	1	2	3
Sing.	budu chtít = I'll want	budeš chtít = you'll want	bude chtít = he/she/it'll want
Plu.	budeme chtít = we'll want	budete chtít = you'll want	budou chtít = they'll want

Jít & Jet - To Go

Present conjugation

	1	2	3
Sing.	jdu = I go	jdeš = you go	jde = he/she/it goes
Plu.	jdeme = we go	jdete = you go	jdou = they go

	1	2	3
Sing.	jedu = I go	jedeš = you go	jede = he/she/it goes
Plu.	jedeme = we go	jedete = you go	jedou = they go

Past participle

šel, šla, šlo; šli, šli, šla. Jít has an irregular set of past participles.

	Masculine (animate)	Masculine (inanimate)	Feminine	Neuter
Sing.	šel = he went	šel = it went	šla = she went	šlo = it went
Plu.	šli	šly	šly	šla

jel, jela, jelo; jeli, jely, jela. Jet has a rather more regular past tense.

	Masculine (animate)	Masculine (inanimate)	Feminine	Neuter
Sing.	jel = he went	jel = it went	jela = she went	jelo = it went
Plu.	jeli	jely	jely	jela

Future tense

půjdu, půjdeš, půjde; půjdeme, půjdete, půjdou. Jít like some other verbs expressing movement, possesses an irregular future tense, instead of using auxillary být. The future tense is constructed from the prefix pů-, and the present conjugation, as shown below.

	1	2	3
Sing.	půjdu = I'll go	půjdeš = you'll go	půjde = he/she/it'll go
Plu.	půjdeme = we'll go	půjdete = you'll go	půjdou = they'll go

pojedu, pojedeš, pojede; pojedeme, pojedete, pojedou. Jet, similarly, posesses a future tense constructed from the present tense, preceded by the prefix po-.

	1	2	3
Sing.	pojedu = I'll go	pojedeš = you'll go	pojede = he/she/it'll go
Plu.	pojedeme = we'll go	pojedete = you'll go	pojedou = they'll go

Mít - To Have

Present conjugation

	1	2	3
Sing.	mám = I have	máš = you have	má = he/she/it has
Plu.	máme = we have	máte = you have	mají = they have

Past participle

	Masculine (animate)	Masculine (inanimate)	Feminine	Neuter
Sing.	měl = he had	měl = it had	měla = she had	mělo = it had
Plu.	měli	měly	měly	měla

Future tense

	1	2	3
Sing.	budu mít = I'll have	budeš mít = you'll have	bude mít = he/she/it'll have
Plu.	budeme mít = we'll have	budete mít = you'll have	budou mít = they'll have