Czech conjugation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Czech verbs)

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

Infinitive[edit]

The infinitive is formed by the ending -t, formerly also -ti; on some words -ct (-ci):

t – to be, t – to go, ct – to bake

Somewhat archaically:

ti – to be, ti – to go, ci – to bake

Participles[edit]

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.

Past participle[edit]

The past participle (also known as the "active participle" or "l-participle") is used for forming the past tense and the conditionals.

Singular Plural 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

Passive participle[edit]

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 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

Agreement between subject and predicate[edit]

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:

  • muži a ženy byli – men and women were
  • kočky a koťata byly – cats and kittens were
  • kotě a štěně byly – a puppy and a kitten were
  • koťata a štěňata byla – puppies and kittens were
  • my jsme byli (my = we all/men) vs. my jsme byly (my = we women) – we were

Priority of genders:

masculine animate > masculine inanimate & feminine > neuter

Transgressives[edit]

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:

  • Usednuvši u okna, začala plakat. (Having sat down at a window, she began to cry.) – past transgressive (foregoing action)
  • Děti, vidouce babičku, vyběhly ven. (The children, seeing grandma, ran out.) – present transgressive (coincident action/process)

Aspect[edit]

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

Tenses[edit]

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.

Present tense[edit]

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.

Past tense[edit]

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 Czech declension § Gender and number of compound phrases.

Future tense[edit]

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:

jdu – 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

Tenses in subordinate clauses[edit]

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.

Imperative[edit]

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!)

Conditionals[edit]

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.

Passive voice[edit]

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 verbs[edit]

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[edit]

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.)

Verb classes[edit]

Class I[edit]

Infinitive nést číst péct třít brát mazat
English carry read bake rub take lubricate
Present
tense
nesu
neseš
nese

neseme
nesete
nesou

čtu
čteš
čte

čteme
čtete
čtou

peču
pečeš
peče

pečeme
pečete
pečou

třu
třeš
tře

třeme
třete
třou

beru
bereš
bere

bereme
berete
berou

mažu
mažeš
maže

mažeme
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.

Class II[edit]

Infinitive tisknout minout začít hnout
English print, press miss begin move
Present
tense
tisknu
tiskneš
tiskne

tiskneme
tisknete
tisknou

minu
mineš
mine

mineme
minete
minou

začnu
začneš
začne

začneme
začnete
začnou

hnu
hneš
hne

hneme
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

Class III[edit]

Infinitive krýt kupovat
English cover buy
Present
tense
kryji, kryju
kryješ
kryje

kryjeme
kryjete
kryjí, kryjou

kupuji, kupuju
kupuješ
kupuje

kupujeme
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

Class IV[edit]

Infinitive prosit čistit trpět sázet bdít
English beg clean suffer bet watch
Present
tense
prosím
prosíš
prosí

prosíme
prosíte
prosí

čistím
čistíš
čistí

čistíme
čistíte
čistí

trpím
trpíš
trpí

trpíme
trpíte
trpí

sázím
sázíš
sází

sázíme
sázíte
sázejí, sází

bdím
bdíš
bdí

bdíme
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.

Class V[edit]

Infinitive dělat
English do
Present
tense
dělám
děláš
dělá

děláme
děláte
dělají

Past
participle
dělal
Passive
participle
dělán
Imperative dělej!
dělejte!
dělejme!
Present
transgressive
dělaje
dělajíc
dělajíce
Past
transgressive
dělav
dělavši
dělavše

Irregular verbs[edit]

Infinitive být jíst
sníst
vědět chtít moct
English be eat
eat up
know want be able to
Present
tense
jsem
jsi
je/(obsolete)jest

jsme
jste
jsou

jím/sním
jíš/sníš
jí/sní

jíme/sníme
jíte/sníte
jedí/snědí

vím
víš

víme
víte
vědí

chci
chceš
chce

chceme
chcete
chtějí

mohu/můžu
můžeš
může

můžeme
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:

  • jít – půjdu, půjdeš, půjde; půjdeme, půjdete, půjdou
  • být – budu, budeš, bude; budeme, budete, budou

Irregular negation:

  • být – 3rd person sg: není (not neje)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Shoda přísudku s podmětem". Internet linguistic manual of Institute of the Czech Language. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  2. ^ "PRAVIDLA – Shoda přísudku s podmětem". Pravopisné. Retrieved 23 September 2021.

External links[edit]