Czech conjugation is the system of conjugation (grammatically-determined modifications) of verbs in Czech.
Czech is a null-subject language, i.e. the subject (including personal pronouns) can be omitted if known from context. The person is expressed by the verb:
já dělám = dělám = I do
on dělal = dělal = he was doing
The infinitive is formed by the ending -t, formerly also -ti; on some words -ct (-ci):
být – to be, jít – to go, péct – to bake
Somewhat archaically:
býti – to be, jíti – to go, péci – to bake
Participles are used for forming the past tense, conditionals and the passive voice in Czech. They are related to the short forms of adjectives. Therefore unlike other verb forms, they also express gender which must correspond with the gender of the subject.
The past participle (also known as the "active participle" or "l-participle") is used for forming the past tense and the conditionals.
| Singular | Plural | Rowspan=2 align=center | English | ||||
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine animate | Masculine inanimate & feminine | Neuter | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| byl dělal | byla dělala | bylo dělalo | byli dělali | byly dělaly | byla dělala | was/were did |
The passive participle is also called "n/t-participle" and is used for forming the passive voice. There are two types of endings:
| Singular | Plural | Rowspan=2 align=center | English | ||||
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine animate | Masculine inanimate & Feminine | Neuter | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bit dělán | bita dělána | bito děláno | biti děláni | bity dělány | bita dělána | beaten, battered done |
The predicate must always be in accordance with the subject in the sentence – in number and person (personal pronouns), and with past and passive participles also in gender. This grammatical principle affects the orthography (see also Czech orthography) – it is especially important for the correct choice and writing of plural endings of participles.
Examples:
| Gender | Sg. | Pl. | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine animate | pes byl koupen | psi byli koupeni | a dog was bought/dogs were bought | |
| masculine inanimate | hrad byl koupen | hrady byly koupeny | a castle was bought/castles were bought | |
| feminine | kočka byla koupena | kočky byly koupeny | a cat was bought/cats were bought | |
| neuter | město bylo koupeno | města byla koupena | a town was bought/towns were bought |
The example mentioned shows both past (byl, byla ...) and passive (koupen, koupena ...) participles. The accordance in gender takes effect in the past tense and the passive voice, not in the present and future tenses in active voice.
If the complex subject is a combination of nouns of different genders, masculine animate gender is prior to others and the masculine inanimate and feminine genders are prior to the neuter gender. The neuter endings on the predicate are only used if all nouns in the subject are neuter and plural, otherwise the masculine inanimate/feminine forms are used.[1] [2]
Examples:
Priority of genders:
masculine animate > masculine inanimate & feminine > neuter
The transgressive (přechodník) expresses an action which happens coincidentally with or foregoing some other action.
The transgressive (přechodník) is an archaic form of the verb in Czech and Slovak. Nowadays, it is used only occasionally for artistic purposes or in unchanging expressions. Transgressives were still used quite widely in Czech literature in the beginning of the 20th century (not in the spoken language). For example, Jaroslav Hašek's The Good Soldier Švejk contains a lot of them.
Czech recognizes present and past transgressives. The present transgressive can express present or future action according to the aspect of the verb it is derived from. The past transgressive is usually derived from perfective verbs.
| masculine | feminine + neuter | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| present transgressive | –e –a | –íc –ouc | –íce –ouce | |
| past transgressive | –v –× | –vši –ši | –vše –še |
Examples:
Czech verbs are distinguished by aspect, they are either perfective or imperfective. Perfective verbs indicate the finality of the process. Therefore, they cannot express the present tense.
Perfective verbs are usually formed adding prefixes to imperfective verbs:
psát (imperf.) – to write, to be writing → napsat (perf.) – to write down
Some perfective verbs are not formally related to imperfective ones:
brát (imperf.) – to take, to be taking → vzít (perf.) – to take
Czech verbs express three absolute tenses – past, present and future. Relativity can be expressed by the aspect, sentence constructions and participles.
The present tense can be expressed in imperfective verbs only.
The present tense is formed by special endings:
| Person | Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -u/-i/-m | -eme/-íme/-áme | |
| 2. | -eš/-íš/-áš | -ete/-íte/-áte | |
| 3. | -e/-í/-á | -ejí/-ějí/-í/-ou/-ají |
Verbs are divided into 5 classes according to the way of forming the present tense. They are described in more detail below.
The past tense is formed by the past participle (in a proper gender form) and present forms of the verb být (to be) which are omitted in the 3rd person. The following example is for the male gender (animate in plural):
| Person | Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | dělal jsem | dělali jsme | |
| 2. | dělal jsi | dělali jste | |
| 3. | dělal | dělali |
Dělat – to do
For the choice of past tense form when the number or gender of the subject may not be clear, see .
In imperfective verbs, it is formed by the future forms of the verb být (to be) and the infinitive:
| Person | Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | budu dělat | budeme dělat | |
| 2. | budeš dělat | budete dělat | |
| 3. | bude dělat | budou dělat |
Dělat – to do
Budu, budeš, ... with infinitive has the same meaning as "(I, you, ...) will" in English. If not followed by an infinitive, it means "(I, you, ...) will be" (i.e. I will be = budu, not budu být).
In some verbs of motion, the future tense is formed by adding the prefix po-/pů- to the present form:
půjdu – I will go, ponesu – I will carry, povezu – I will transport (in a vehicle)
In perfective verbs, the present form expresses the future. Compare:
budu dělat – I will be doing
udělám – I will do, I will have done
There is no sequence of tenses in Czech. The types of clauses like in the indirect speech use tenses that express the time which is spoken about. The tense of the subordinate clause is not shifted to the past even though there is the past tense in the main clause:
Říká, že nemá dost peněz. (present tense) – He says he doesn't have enough money.
Říkal, že nemá dost peněz. (present tense) – He said he didn't have enough money.
Říkal, že Petr přišel v pět hodin. (past tense) – He said Peter had come at five o'clock.
Říkal, že to udělá v pátek. (future tense) – He said he would do it on Friday.
The imperative mood is formed for the 2nd person singular and plural and the 1st person plural.
In the 2nd person singular, it takes either null ending or -i/-ej ending, according to the verb class.
The 2nd person plural takes the ending -te/-ete/-ejte and the 1st person plural takes -me/-eme/-ejme.
Examples:
buď! buďte! (be!) buďme! (let's be!)
spi! spěte! (sleep!) spěme! (let's sleep!)
dělej! dělejte! (do!) dělejme! (let's do!)
The conditionals are formed by the past participle and special forms of the verb být (to be). Following example of the present conditional is for the male gender (animate in plural):
| Person | Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | dělal bych | dělali bychom | |
| 2. | dělal bys | dělali byste | |
| 3. | dělal by | dělali by |
dělal bych – I would do
There is also the past conditional in Czech but it is usually replaced by the present conditional.
| Person | Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | byl bych dělal | byli bychom dělali | |
| 2. | byl bys dělal | byli byste dělali | |
| 3. | byl by dělal | byli by dělali |
byl bych dělal – I would have done
By also becomes a part of conjugations aby (so that) and kdyby (if). Therefore, these conjunctions take the same endings:
Kdybych nepracoval, nedostal bych výplatu. If I didn't work, I would get no wages.
There are two ways to form the passive voice in Czech:
1. By the verb být (to be) and the passive participle:
Město bylo založeno ve 14. století. The town was founded in the 14th century.
2. By adding the reflexive pronoun se:
Ono se to neudělalo. It has not been done.
To se vyrábí v Číně. It is produced in China.
However, the use of se is not exclusive to the passive voice.
Reflexive pronouns se and si are components of reflexive verbs (se/si is not usually translated into English):
posadit se – to sit down
myslet si – to think, to suppose
Negation is formed by the prefix ne-. In the future tense and the passive voice it is added to the auxiliary verb být (to be).
nedělat – not to do
nedělám – I do not do
nedělej! do not do!
nedělal jsem – I did not do
nebudu dělat – I will not do
nedělal bych – I would not do
byl bych neudělal or nebyl bych udělal – I would not have done
není děláno – it is not done
Unlike English, a negative pronoun must be used with a negative verb (using a positive verb is ungrammatical) (double negative):
Nic nemám. – I have nothing. (literally I do not have nothing.)
Nikdy to nikomu neříkej. – Never say it to anybody. (literally Do not never say it to nobody.)
See main article: article and Morphological classification of Czech verbs.
| Infinitive | nést | číst | péct | třít | brát | mazat | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | carry | read | bake | rub | take | lubricate | ||||||
| Present tense | nesu neseš neseneseme nesete nesou | čtu čteš čtečteme čtete čtou | peču pečeš pečepečeme pečete pečou | třu třeš třetřeme třete třou | beru bereš berebereme berete berou | mažu mažeš mažemažeme mažete mažou | ||||||
| Past participle | nesl | četl | pekl | třel | bral | mazal | ||||||
| Passive participle | nesen | čten | pečen | třen | brán | mazán | ||||||
| Imperative | nes! neste | nesme! | čti! čtěte | čtěme! | peč! pečte | pečme! | tři! třete | třeme! | ber! berte | berme! | maž! mažte | mažme! |
| Present transgressive | nesa nesouc nesouce | čta čtouc čtouce | peka/peče pekouc/pečíc pekouce/pečíce | tra trouc trouce | bera berouc berouce | maže mažíc mažíce | ||||||
| Past transgressive | (do)nes (do)nesši (do)nesše | (pře)čet (pře)četši (pře)četše | (u)pek (u)pekši (u)pekše | (u)třev (u)třevši (u)třevše | (se)brav (se)bravši (se)bravše | (na)mazav (na)mazavši (na)mazavše |
In imperative, 0/-te/-me endings are in most verbs, -i/-ete/-eme or -i/-ěte/-ěme if two consonants are at the end of the word-stem.
| Infinitive | tisknout | minout | začít | hnout | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | print, press | miss | begin | move | ||||
| Present tense | tisknu tiskneš tisknetiskneme tisknete tisknou | minu mineš minemineme minete minou | začnu začneš začnezačneme začnete začnou | hnu hneš hnehneme hnete hnou | ||||
| Past participle | tiskl | minul | začal | hnul | ||||
| Passive participle | tisknut/tištěn | minut | začnut | hnut | ||||
| Imperative | tiskni! tiskněte | tiskněme! | miň! miňte | miňme! | začni! začněte | začněme! | hni! hněte | hněme! |
| Present transgressive | tiskna tisknouc tisknouce | mina minouc minouce | ||||||
| Past transgressive | (při)tisknuv (při)tisknuvši (při)tisknuvše | minuv minuvši minuvše | začav začavši začavše | hnuv hnuvši hnuvše |
| Infinitive | krýt | kupovat | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | cover | buy | ||
| Present tense | kryji, kryju kryješ kryjekryjeme kryjete kryjí, kryjou | kupuji, kupuju kupuješ kupujekupujeme kupujete kupují, kupujou | ||
| Past participle | kryl | kupoval | ||
| Passive participle | kryt | kupován | ||
| Imperative | kryj! kryjte | kryjme! | kupuj! kupujte | kupujme! |
| Present transgressive | kryje kryjíc kryjíce | kupujíce kupujíc kupujíce | ||
| Past transgressive | (za)kryv (za)kryvši (za)kryvše | kupovav kupovavši kupovavše |
| Infinitive | prosit | čistit | trpět | sázet | bdít | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | beg | clean | suffer | bet | watch | |||||
| Present tense | prosím prosíš prosíprosíme prosíte prosí | čistím čistíš čistíčistíme čistíte čistí | trpím trpíš trpítrpíme trpíte trpí | sázím sázíš sázísázíme sázíte sázejí, sází | bdím bdíš bdíbdíme bdíte bdí | |||||
| Past participle | prosil | čistil | trpěl | sázel | bděl | |||||
| Passive participle | prošen | čištěn | trpěn | sázen | bděn | |||||
| Imperative | pros! proste | prosme! | čisti! čistěte | čistěme! | trp! trpte | trpme! | sázej! sázejte | sázejme! | bdi! bděte | bděme! |
| Present transgressive | prose prosíc prosíce | čistě čistíc čistíce | trpě trpíc trpíce | sázeje sázejíc sázejíce | bdě bdíc bdíce | |||||
| Past transgressive | prosiv prosivši prosivše | (vy)čistiv (vy)čistivši (vy)čistivše | (s)trpěv (s)trpěvši (s)trpěvše | (vy)sázev (vy)sázevši (vy)sázevše |
In imperative, 0/-te/-me endings are in most verbs, -i/-ete/-eme or -i/-ěte/-ěme if two consonants are at the end of the word-stem.
| Infinitive | dělat | |
|---|---|---|
| English | do | |
| Present tense | dělám děláš děláděláme děláte dělají | |
| Past participle | dělal | |
| Passive participle | dělán | |
| Imperative | dělej! dělejte | dělejme! |
| Present transgressive | dělaje dělajíc dělajíce | |
| Past transgressive | dělav dělavši dělavše |
| Infinitive | být | jíst sníst | vědět | chtít | moct | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | be | eat eat up | know | want | be able to | ||||
| Present tense | jsem jsi je/(obsolete)jestjsme jste jsou | jím/sním jíš/sníš jí/sníjíme/sníme jíte/sníte jedí/snědí | vím víš vívíme víte vědí | chci chceš chcechceme chcete chtějí | mohu/můžu můžeš můžemůžeme můžete mohou/můžou | ||||
| Past participle | byl | jedl, snědl | věděl | chtěl | mohl | ||||
| Passive participle | (-byt) | jeden/sněden | věděn | chtěn | |||||
| Imperative | buď! buďte | buďme! | jez/sněz! jezte/snězte | jezme/snězme! | věz! vězte | vězme! | chtěj! chtějte | chtějme! | |
| Present transgressive | jsa jsouc jsouce | jeda jedouc jedouce | věda vědouc vědouce | chtě/chtěje chtíc/chtějíc chtíce/chtějíce | moha mohouc mohouce | ||||
| Past transgressive | byv byvši byvše | (vy)jed, sněd (vy)jedši, snědši (vy)jedše, snědše | (z)věděv (z)věděvši (z)věděvše | chtěv chtěvši chtěvše |
Irregular future tense:
Irregular negation: