Understanding Verbs

A comprehensive guide to Czech verb mechanics: conjugation, aspect, tense, and moods.

The Verb BÝT (To Be)

Present Tense

Positive	Meaning	Negative	Meaning
jsem	I am	nejsem	I am not
jsi	You are	nejsi	You are not
je	He/she/it is	není	He/she/it is not
jsme	We are	nejsme	We are not
jste	You all are	nejste	You all are not
jsou	They are	nejsou	They are not

Pronunciation Note: 'Jsem' is correctly pronounced as 'sem' in standard speech (though some will argue otherwise). The same applies to 'jmenuju se'. However, in negation, the 'j' returns: 'nejsem', 'nejmenuju se'.

Person & Endings

Personal pronouns always have a corresponding ending on the verb they are paired with. Mostly, the ending is the only way of expressing the person. A personal pronoun (já, ty...) is only used when stressing the subject.

Person	Pronoun	Ending	Person	Pronoun	Ending
I	já	-u, -i, -m	We	my	-me
You	ty	-š	You (pl)	vy	-te
He/She	on/a/o	-e, -í, -á	They	oni	-ou, -í

Conjugation Models Overview

There are five main categories, but for learners, we can summarize the patterns into four main classes based on the ending.

1st Sg (Já)	3rd Pl (Oni)	Infinitive	Examples
-uju	-ujou	-ovat	kupovat, pracovat, studovat
-ám	-ají	-at / -át	dělat, snídat, ptát se
-ím	-í / -ejí	-et / -it	bydlet, mluvit, myslet
-u	-ou	irregular	jít (jdu), psát (píšu), pít (piju)

Note: Until recently, -u/-ou endings for 1st person singular and 3rd person plural were considered colloquial. Nowadays, they are acceptable in almost all contexts.

The Infinitive

The infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb. It always ends in -t (archaically -ti).

It is used after modal verbs (muset, chtít, moct), verbs of intent (potřebovat), and phase verbs (začít).

Czech	English	Czech	English
musím se učit	I have to study	chci mít	I want to have
musím jít	I have to go	chci spát	I want to sleep
musíš psát	You have to write	obědvat	to lunch