Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Czech language
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Verb conjugation=== {{Main|Czech conjugation}} Czech verbs agree with their subjects in [[grammatical person|person]] (first, second or third), [[grammatical number|number]] (singular or plural), and in constructions involving [[participle]]s, which includes the past tense, also in [[grammatical gender|gender]]. They are conjugated for tense (past, present or [[future tense|future]]) and mood ([[indicative]], [[imperative mood|imperative]] or [[conditional mood|conditional]]). For example, the conjugated verb ''[[wikt:mluvit|mluvíme]]'' (we speak) is in the present tense and first-person plural; it is distinguished from other conjugations of the [[infinitive]] ''mluvit'' by its ending, ''-íme''.<ref name="Naughton 2005 131"/> The infinitive form of Czech verbs ends in ''-t'' (archaically, ''-ti'' or ''-ci''). It is the form found in dictionaries and the form that follows auxiliary verbs (for example, ''můžu tě slyšet''—"I can ''hear'' you").<ref>{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|p=7}}</ref> ====Aspect==== {{See also|Grammatical aspect in Slavic languages}} Typical of Slavic languages, Czech marks its verbs for one of two [[grammatical aspect]]s: [[perfective aspect|perfective]] and [[imperfective aspect|imperfective]]. Most verbs are part of inflected aspect pairs—for example, ''[[wikt:koupit|koupit]]'' (perfective) and ''[[wikt:kupovat|kupovat]]'' (imperfective). Although the verbs' meaning is similar, in perfective verbs the action is completed and in imperfective verbs it is ongoing or repeated. This is distinct from [[past tense|past]] and [[present tense]].<ref name="Naughton 2005 146">{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|p=146}}</ref> Any verb of either aspect can be conjugated into either the past or present tense,<ref name="Naughton 2005 131">{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|p=131}}</ref> but the future tense is only used with imperfective verbs.<ref name="Naughton 2005 151">{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|p=151}}</ref> Aspect describes the state of the action at the time specified by the tense.<ref name="Naughton 2005 146"/> The verbs of most aspect pairs differ in one of two ways: by prefix or by suffix. In prefix pairs, the perfective verb has an added prefix—for example, the imperfective ''psát'' (to write, to be writing) compared with the perfective ''napsat'' (to write down). The most common prefixes are ''na-'', ''o-'', ''po-'', ''s-'', ''u-'', ''vy-'', ''z-'' and ''za-''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|p=147}}</ref> In suffix pairs, a different infinitive ending is added to the perfective stem; for example, the perfective verbs ''koupit'' (to buy) and ''prodat'' (to sell) have the imperfective forms ''kupovat'' and ''prodávat''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|pp=147–148}}</ref> Imperfective verbs may undergo further morphology to make other imperfective verbs (iterative and [[frequentative]] forms), denoting repeated or regular action. The verb ''jít'' (to go) has the iterative form ''chodit'' (to go regularly) and the frequentative form ''chodívat'' (to go occasionally; to tend to go).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lukeš|first1=Dominik|publisher=DominikLukeš.net|title=Gramatická terminologie ve vyučování – Terminologie a platonický svět gramatických idejí|url=http://www.dominiklukes.net/bibliography/platonickysvetgramatickychkategorii|access-date=August 5, 2014|year=2001|archive-date=September 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923003624/http://www.dominiklukes.net/bibliography/platonickysvetgramatickychkategorii|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many verbs have only one aspect, and verbs describing continual states of being—''[[wikt:být|být]]'' (to be), ''[[wikt:chtít|chtít]]'' (to want), ''[[wikt:moct|moct]]'' (to be able to), ''[[wikt:ležet|ležet]]'' (to lie down, to be lying down)—have no perfective form. Conversely, verbs describing immediate states of change—for example, ''[[wikt:otěhotnět|otěhotnět]]'' (to become pregnant) and ''[[wikt:nadchnout se|nadchnout se]]'' (to become enthusiastic)—have no imperfective aspect.<ref>{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|p=149}}</ref> ====Tense==== {|class="wikitable floatleft" |+Conjugation of ''být'' in future tense |- !Person !Singular !Plural |- !1. | ''budu'' | ''budeme'' |- !2. | ''budeš'' | ''budete'' |- !3. | ''bude'' | ''budou'' |} The present tense in Czech is formed by adding an ending that agrees with the person and number of the subject at the end of the verb stem. As Czech is a [[null-subject language]], the subject pronoun can be omitted unless it is needed for clarity.<ref>{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|pp=134}}</ref> The past tense is formed using a [[participle]] which ends in ''-l'' and a further ending which agrees with the gender and number of the subject. For the first and second persons, the auxiliary verb ''být'' conjugated in the present tense is added.<ref>{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|pp=140–142}}</ref> In some contexts, the present tense of perfective verbs (which differs from the English [[present perfect]]) implies future action; in others, it connotes habitual action.<ref>{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|p=150}}</ref> The perfective present is used to refer to completion of actions in the future and is distinguished from the imperfective future tense, which refers to actions that will be ongoing in the future. The future tense is regularly formed using the future conjugation of ''být'' (as shown in the table on the left<!-- Please change directions here if moving table -->) and the infinitive of an imperfective verb, for example, ''budu jíst''—"I will eat" or "I will be eating".<ref name="Naughton 2005 151"/> Where ''budu'' has a noun or adjective complement it means "I will be", for example, ''budu šťastný'' (I will be happy).<ref name="Naughton 2005 151"/> Some verbs of movement form their future tense by adding the prefix ''po-'' to the present tense forms instead, e.g. ''jedu'' ("I go") > ''pojedu'' ("I will go").<ref>{{cite web |last1=Karlík |first1=Petr |last2=Migdalski |first2=Krzysztof |title=FUTURUM (budoucí čas) |url=https://www.czechency.org/slovnik/FUTURUM |website=Nový encyklopedický slovník češtiny |access-date=18 August 2019}}</ref> ====Mood==== {|class="wikitable floatright" |+Conditional form of ''[[wikt:koupit|koupit]]'' (to buy) |- !Person !Singular !Plural |- !1. | ''koupil/a bych'' | ''koupili/y bychom'' |- !2. | ''koupil/a bys'' | ''koupili/y byste'' |- !3. | ''koupil/a/o by'' | ''koupili/y/a by'' |} Czech verbs have three [[grammatical mood]]s: [[indicative]], [[imperative mood|imperative]] and [[conditional mood|conditional]].<ref name="Rothstein 2010 359">{{Harvnb|Rothstein|Thieroff|2010|p=359}}</ref> The imperative mood is formed by adding specific endings for each of three person–number categories: ''-Ø/-i/-ej'' for second-person singular, ''-te/-ete/-ejte'' for second-person plural and ''-me/-eme/-ejme'' for first-person plural.<ref>{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|p=157}}</ref> Imperatives are usually expressed using perfective verbs if positive and imperfective verbs if negative.<ref>{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|p=159}}</ref> The conditional mood is formed with a conditional [[auxiliary verb]] after the participle ending in -l which is used to form the past tense. This mood indicates hypothetical events and can also be used to express wishes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|pp=152–154}}</ref> ====Verb classes==== {{main|Morphological classification of Czech verbs}} Most Czech verbs fall into one of five [[morphological classification of Czech verbs|classes]], which determine their conjugation patterns. The future tense of ''být'' would be classified as a Class I verb because of its endings. Examples of the present tense of each class and some common irregular verbs follow in the tables below:<ref>{{Harvnb|Naughton|2005|pp=136–140}}</ref> {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} {|class=wikitable |- ! !Class I !Class II !Class III !Class IV !Class V |- !Definition |to carry |to print |to wander |to suffer |to do, to make |- !Infinitive |''nést'' |''tisknout'' |''putovat'' |''trpět'' |''dělat'' |- !1st p. sg. |''nesu'' |''tisknu'' |''putuji'' |''trpím'' |''dělám'' |- !2nd p. sg. |''neseš'' |''tiskneš'' |''putuješ'' |''trpíš'' |''děláš'' |- !3rd p. sg. |''nese'' |''tiskne'' |''putuje'' |''trpí'' |''dělá'' |- !1st p. pl. |''neseme'' |''tiskneme'' |''putujeme'' |''trpíme'' |''děláme'' |- !2nd p. pl. |''nesete'' |''tisknete'' |''putujete'' |''trpíte'' |''děláte'' |- !3rd p. pl. |''nesou'' |''tisknou'' |''putují'' |''trpí'' |''dělají'' |} {{col-2}} {|class=wikitable |+Irregular verbs !Definition |to be |to want |to eat |to know |- !Infinitive |''být'' |''chtít'' |''jíst'' |''vědět'' |- !1st p. sg. |''jsem'' |''chci'' |''jím'' |''vím'' |- !2nd p. sg. |''jsi'' |''chceš'' |''jíš'' |''víš'' |- !3rd p. sg. |''je'' |''chce'' |''jí'' |''ví'' |- !1st p. pl. |''jsme'' |''chceme'' |''jíme'' |''víme'' |- !2nd p. pl. |''jste'' |''chcete'' |''jíte'' |''víte'' |- !3rd p. pl. |''jsou'' |''chtějí'' |''jedí'' |''vědí'' |} {{col-end}}
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)