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Conjugation groups - Konjugační skupiny

Structure

The present tense conjugation forms (also called indicative) are derived from the present tense stem which is accompanied by a morphematic suffix and a personal ending.(1)

  1. Personal ending is the ending for a particular person.

    There are three persons (1st, 2nd, 3rd) in two numbers (singular, plural)

    person singular plural
    1. já
    ENG: I    		 my
    ENG: we
    2. ty
    ENG: you    		 vy
    ENG: you
    3. on, ona, ono
    ENG: he, she, it    		 oni, ony, ona
    ENG: they

For example, verb muset (to must) has the 2nd singular person present tense form
(ty) musíš (you must) made of: 

graph LR
  A[present tense stem<br /><b>mus</b>]-- + ---B["suffix<br /><b>í</b>"]
  B-- + --- C["2nd SG personal ending<br /><b>š</b>"]

The present tense stem and the infinitive stem of a verb usually differ.

Groups

There are three 2 main conjugation groups which are recognisable by the last vowel (the morphematic suffix) in the 3rd person singular form:

To this group belong:

  • verbs whose infinitive ends in an -at (but not -ovat; see group -E), e.g.:

    volat → on volá (to call → he calls)
    dělat → on dělá (to do → he does)

  • some verbs ending in an -át, e.g.:

    dát → on dá (to give → he gives)
    ptát se → on se ptá (to ask → he asks)
    znát → on zná (to know → he knows)

  • irregular verb mít → on má (to have → he has).

See complete overview of this group.

Model verb volat (to call)

Person Singular Plural
1. (já) volám (my) voláme
2. (ty) voláš (vy) voláte
3. (on, ona) volá (oni) volají
Past tense volal
volal
volala
volalo		 volali
volaly
volaly
volala		 
graph LR
A[present tense stem<br /><b>vol</b>]-- + ---B["suffix<br /><b>á</b>"]
B-- + --- C["personal ending<br /><b>š</b>"]

Third person plural has shortened -a (-ají).

To this group belong:

  • verbs whose infinitive ends in a long vowel before the last consonant(s)
    such as -át, -ít, -ýt, -íst, -ést, -ást, -ůst, e.g.:

    hrát → on hraje (to play → he plays)
    žít → on žije (to live → he lives)
    mýt → on myje (to wash → he washes)
    číst → on čte (to read → he reads)
    nést → on nese (to carry → he carries)
    krást → on krade (to steal → he steals)
    růst → on roste (to grow → he grows)

  • verbs whose infinitive ends in an -ovat, e.g.:

    pracovat → on pracuje (to work → he works)
    studovat → on studuje (to study → he studies)

  • some verbs ending in an -at, e.g.:

    lízat → on líže (to lick → he licks)
    mazat → on maže (to grease, to spread, to lubricate, to oil)

  • irregular verbs:

    jít → on jde (to go on foot, to walk)
    jet → on jede (to go by a mean of transport)
    moct → on může (to can)
    pomoct → on pomůže (to help)

See complete overview of this group.

Model verb nést (to carry)

Person Singular Plural
1. nesu neseme
2. neseš nesete
3. nese nesou
Past tense nesl
nesl
nesla
neslo		 nesli
nesly
nesly
nesla		 
graph LR
A[present tense stem<br /><b>nes</b>]-- + ---B["suffix<br /><b>e</b>"]
B-- + --- C["personal ending<br /><b>š</b>"]

The long infinitive vowel sometimes alternates with its short variant: nést → nesu.

There are a lot of irregularities in this group. Check more information on the page for Group -E.

To this group belong:

  • verbs whose infinitive ends in a short vowel before the last consonant(s)
    such as -it, -et, -ět, e.g.:

    vařit → on vaří (to cook → he cooks)
    bolet → (to) bolí (to hurt → it hurts)
    sedět → on sedí (to sit → he sits)

  • irregular verbs:

    jíst → on jí (to eat → he eats)
    spát → on spí (to sleep → he sleeps)
    stát → on stojí(to stand → he stands)
    bát se → on se bojí (to be afraid → he is afraid)

See complete overview of this group.

Model verb vařit (to cook)

Person Singular Plural
1. (já) vařím (my) vaříme
2. (ty) vaříš (vy) vaříte
3. (on, ona) vaří (oni) vaří
Past tense vařil
vařil
vařila
vařilo		 vařili
vařily
vařily
vařila		 
graph LR
A[present tense stem<br /><b>vař</b>]-- + ---B["suffix<br /><b>í</b>"]
B-- + --- C["personal ending<br /><b>š</b>"]

The third person singular form has zero ending 1, i.e. the conjugation group is easily detectable from it.

Groups comparison

Person Singular Plural
1. volám / nesu / vařím voláme / neseme / vaříme
2. voláš / neseš / vaříš voláte / nesete / vaříte
3. volá / nese / vaří volají / nesou / vaří

Personal endings

There are similiarities between personal endings of conjugation groups:

  • -m is always used for 1st singular of -Á and -Í group (mám, vím ...);
  • -u is dominantly used for 1st singular of -E group (nesu, žiju...);
  • -š is always used for 2nd singular (máš, chceš, vidíš, mluvíš ...); 3
  • -∅ (zero ending) is always used for 3rd singular (má, chce, vidí, mluví ...);
  • -me is always used for 1st plural (máme, chceme, vidíme, mluvíme ...);
  • -te is always used for 2nd plural (máte, chcete, vidíte, mluvíte ...);
  • -ají with a short a is the proper ending for 3rd plural of -Á group (mají, volají ...); 4
  • -ou is the ending for 3rd plural of -E group (nesou, čtou ...)

Verb být (to be)

Essential verb být has following conjugation:

Person Singular Plural
1. jsem jsme
2. jsi jste
3. je jsou
Past tense byl
byl
byla
bylo		 byli
byly
byly
byla
Imperative buď buďte
Note

The variant jseš, used for the 2nd person singular, is common in spoken Czech.

In spoken Czech, the initial sound [j-] is very commonly omitted in all forms (except the 3rd person singular), especially in fast or casual speech:

/sem/
/si/, /seš/
/sme/
/ste/
/sou/

Negative forms are:

Person Singular Plural
1. nejsem nejsme
2. nejsi nejste
3. není nejsou
Note

The variant jseš (in negative: nejseš), used for the 2nd person singular, is common in spoken Czech.

  1. The so-called zero ending is a concept of linguistics which is trying to explain that also nothing (a blank space) in morphology can carry a meaning. For example, verb číst has present tense stem čt, morphematic suffix e and, for 3rd singular person, zero personal ending (čt+e+∅), whereas for 1st person plural is utilized personal ending me (čt-e-me) ↩

  2. Traditional Czech grammar describes verbs using 5 groups. ↩

  3. An important exception is the verb být (to be): ty jsi (you are). ↩

  4. Some verbs in your -E group also end in -ají in the third-person plural, e.g., hrát → hrají (to play) ↩