Common Irregular Verbs in Czech

In Brief

Five essential Czech verbs have present forms that cannot be predicted reliably from the infinitive: jít (to go), jíst (to eat), vědět (to know), chtít (to want), and říkat/říct (to say or tell). Learn forms such as jdu, jím, vím, and chci as complete words. One important distinction is that říká means “he/she says” in the present, while perfective řekne normally means “he/she will say” or “will tell.”

Overview

These verbs appear constantly in basic Czech: you use them to say where you are going, what you eat, what you know, what you want, and what somebody says. They are introduced at A1, but their stems change enough that simply attaching a familiar ending to the infinitive will often produce the wrong form.

A conjugation is the set of forms a verb takes to show who performs the action. English marks this only lightly—I want but she wants—whereas Czech normally has a different ending for each person. Because the verb form identifies the subject (the person doing the action), Czech often leaves out já (I), ty (you), and other subject pronouns. Vím by itself already means “I know.”

The beginner goal is practical: recognize and use the six present-person forms of each verb. Later, these verbs also introduce two larger Czech systems: verbs of motion, such as jít/chodit, and verbal aspect, the contrast between an ongoing or repeated action and a completed action.

How It Works

Person and subject

The grammatical “person” tells you whether the subject is the speaker, the listener, or somebody else. Czech distinguishes singular and plural forms, including informal singular ty and plural or polite vy.

Person	Czech pronoun	Plain meaning
1st person singular	já	I
2nd person singular	ty	you, one person, informal
3rd person singular	on / ona / ono	he / she / it
1st person plural	my	we
2nd person plural	vy	you, several people; also polite “you”
3rd person plural	oni / ony / ona	they

In normal conversation, use the pronoun mainly for emphasis or contrast:

• Jdu domů. — I’m going home.
• Já jdu domů, ale Petr jde do práce. — I’m going home, but Petr is going to work.

Unlike English, Czech does not add a separate equivalent of do to make present-tense questions. Jíš maso? literally has the same words as “you eat meat,” with the question shown by intonation and the question mark.

Jít — to go, to be going on foot

The infinitive jít has the present stem jd-. The vowel appears only in some endings, so learn the full set.

Person	Form	English
já	jdu	I go / I am going
ty	jdeš	you go / are going
on / ona / ono	jde	he / she / it goes, is going
my	jdeme	we go / are going
vy	jdete	you go / are going
oni / ony / ona	jdou	they go / are going

At beginner level, use jít for one journey in one direction, especially on foot: Teď jdu do školy (“I’m going to school now”). Regular or repeated movement is usually expressed with chodit: Každý den chodím do školy (“I go to school every day”). Travel by vehicle commonly uses jet, not jít.

Jíst — to eat

The infinitive jíst alternates between jí- and jed- in the present.

Person	Form	English
já	jím	I eat / am eating
ty	jíš	you eat / are eating
on / ona / ono	jí	he / she / it eats, is eating
my	jíme	we eat / are eating
vy	jíte	you eat / are eating
oni / ony / ona	jedí	they eat / are eating

Notice the long vowels in jím, jíš, jí, jíme, jíte. The third-person plural is not jí but jedí.

Vědět — to know a fact

The short forms vím and víš look very different from vědět, while the plural vědí brings back the věd- stem.

Person	Form	English
já	vím	I know
ty	víš	you know
on / ona / ono	ví	he / she / it knows
my	víme	we know
vy	víte	you know
oni / ony / ona	vědí	they know

Use vědět for knowing information or knowing that something is true: Vím, kde bydlí (“I know where he/she lives”). For knowing or being familiar with a person, place, or work, Czech generally uses znát: Znám Janu (“I know Jana”).

Chtít — to want

Chtít has the first-person form chci, not the expected-looking form chtím. It is often followed directly by a thing or by an infinitive (the dictionary form of a verb).

Person	Form	English
já	chci	I want
ty	chceš	you want
on / ona / ono	chce	he / she / it wants
my	chceme	we want
vy	chcete	you want
oni / ony / ona	chtějí	they want

Two useful patterns are:

• chtít + noun: Chci kávu. — I want coffee.
• chtít + infinitive: Chci jít domů. — I want to go home.

English requires to in “want to go”; Czech simply places the infinitive after chtít, with no extra word.

Říkat and říct — to say, to tell

This meaning is normally learned as a pair. Říkat is imperfective, meaning it presents the action as ongoing, repeated, or without focus on its completion. Its present forms describe the real present. Říct is perfective, meaning it presents saying something as one complete event. Although its forms look like a present-tense conjugation, they normally refer to the future.

Person	Říkat: present “say / be saying”	Říct: completed future “will say / tell”
já	říkám	řeknu
ty	říkáš	řekneš
on / ona / ono	říká	řekne
my	říkáme	řekneme
vy	říkáte	řeknete
oni / ony / ona	říkají	řeknou

For an action happening now or regularly, choose říkat:

• Co říkáš? — What are you saying? / What do you say?
• Vždycky říká pravdu. — He/She always tells the truth.

For one complete statement, often in the future, choose říct:

• Řeknu ti to zítra. — I’ll tell you tomorrow.

A person who receives information is commonly in the dative case (the noun or pronoun form used for the recipient): řeknu ti means “I will tell you.” A clause with že gives the content of the statement: Říká, že přijde (“He/She says that he/she will come”).

Making negatives

Put ne- directly on the verb. There is no separate equivalent of English do not:

Positive	Negative	English
jdu	nejdu	I am not going
jíš	nejíš	you do not eat / are not eating
vím	nevím	I do not know
chci	nechci	I do not want
říká	neříká	he/she is not saying
řeknou	neřeknou	they will not say / tell

Nejdu is irregular in spelling because Czech uses nej-, not nejd-, before this form.

Examples in Context

Czech	English	Note
Jdu do obchodu.	I’m going to the store.	One journey now
Jdeš dnes do práce?	Are you going to work today?	Question without an auxiliary like do
Jdou domů.	They’re going home.	Third-person plural of jít
Jíš maso?	Do you eat meat?	Second-person singular of jíst
Děti jedí polévku.	The children are eating soup.	jedí, not jí
Vím to.	I know it.	The subject já is understood
Víš, kde je nádraží?	Do you know where the station is?	Knowing information
Nevíme, co chce.	We don’t know what he/she wants.	Two irregular verbs in one sentence
Chci se učit česky.	I want to learn Czech.	chtít + infinitive
Chceme dva lístky, prosím.	We would like two tickets, please.	A request softened by prosím
Chceš jít se mnou?	Do you want to go with me?	chtít + jít
Říká, že ano.	He/She says yes.	Present, so use říkat
Co říkáte?	What are you saying?	Plural or polite vy form
Řeknu ti to zítra.	I’ll tell you tomorrow.	One complete future statement
Neřeknou nám pravdu.	They won’t tell us the truth.	Perfective future, negative

Common Mistakes

Confusing jít and jíst

• Wrong: Jím do školy. — intended: “I’m going to school.”
• Right: Jdu do školy.
• Why: Jím means “I eat”; jdu means “I go/am going.” The infinitives differ by only one letter, so learn each first-person form with its meaning.

Building an irregular form from the infinitive

• Wrong: Já jde do obchodu.
• Right: Jdu do obchodu.
• Why: Jde is third-person singular (“he/she goes”). The first-person singular is jdu. Adding já does not allow you to keep the wrong verb form.

Saying vědím instead of vím

• Wrong: Vědím to.
• Right: Vím to.
• Why: The first-person singular of vědět is irregular. Memorize the high-frequency pair vím — nevím.

Using říct for an ordinary present action

• Wrong: Každý den řeknu to samé. — intended as a present habit
• Right: Každý den říkám to samé. — I say the same thing every day.
• Why: Řeknu normally points to one completed future act. A current or repeated act uses imperfective říkat.

Copying English question structure

• Wrong: Děláš jíst maso?
• Right: Jíš maso?
• Why: Czech does not use a form of “do” to build this question. Conjugate the main verb and use question intonation.

Using chcu in standard Czech

• Nonstandard or regional: Chcu kávu.
• Standard: Chci kávu.
• Why: Chcu is common in parts of Moravia and may be heard in informal speech, but chci is the standard form to learn and use everywhere.

Usage Notes

Pronouns are usually optional

English needs an explicit subject in “I know” and “they want.” Czech verb endings already carry that information, so vím and chtějí can stand without já and oni. Add a pronoun when contrasting people: Já to vím, ale on neví (“I know it, but he doesn’t”).

Ty and vy affect the verb

Use ty forms with one person you address informally: chceš, víš, jdeš. Use vy forms for more than one person and for polite address to one person: chcete, víte, jdete. Czech may capitalize polite Vy and its related forms in formal writing, especially in letters and emails, but the verb form remains the same.

“Know” does not map to one Czech verb

English know covers both facts and familiarity. Czech separates them:

• Vím, že je doma. — I know that he/she is at home.
• Znám ho. — I know him.
• Znám Prahu. — I know Prague / I am familiar with Prague.

Ask yourself whether you could continue with “that…,” “where…,” or “why….” If so, vědět is often the right choice.

Direct wants and polite requests

Chci kávu is grammatically correct, but in some service situations it can sound more direct than English “I’d like a coffee.” At A1, adding prosím makes it more courteous: Chci kávu, prosím. Later you will commonly use Chtěl bych kávu (said by a man) or Chtěla bych kávu (said by a woman), literally “I would like coffee.”

Říct and říci

Říct and říci are variants of the same perfective infinitive and share forms such as řeknu and řekl. Říct is extremely common in everyday Czech; říci is more typical of careful or formal written style. Both are standard.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of the following at A1, but these forms explain many sentences you will meet later.

Motion and aspect

Jít belongs to a wider motion system. It usually describes movement in one direction on foot, while chodit describes repeated, habitual, or multidirectional movement. For movement by vehicle, compare jet (one current journey) and jezdit (habitual or repeated travel). English often translates every member of these pairs simply as go, so the Czech choice carries information that English leaves to context.

The říkat/říct pair illustrates verbal aspect: how Czech presents an action rather than when it happens. Imperfective říkat can describe an action in progress or a habit; perfective říct treats the statement as one complete event. Since a complete event cannot normally be unfolding in the present, řeknu, řekneš, řekne… have future meaning.

Useful past and future forms

The Czech past uses an l-participle (a past form ending in -l that changes for gender and number), often together with a form of být in the first and second persons. The irregular stems are worth recognizing:

Infinitive	Masculine past form	Feminine past form	Example meaning
jít	šel	šla	went
jíst	jedl	jedla	ate
vědět	věděl	věděla	knew
chtít	chtěl	chtěla	wanted
říct	řekl	řekla	said / told

Thus Šel jsem domů means “I went home,” spoken by a man, while Šla jsem domů is the form spoken by a woman.

Future formation differs across the set:

• půjdu — I will go; jít has a special future based on půjd-
• budu jíst — I will eat / be eating
• budu vědět — I will know
• budu chtít — I will want
• řeknu — I will say / tell; the perfective form itself has future meaning

These are later patterns, but noticing them now prevents the misleading assumption that every Czech future uses budu + infinitive.

Practice Tips

1. Learn first-person anchors. Say the sequence jdu — jím — vím — chci — říkám — řeknu aloud, then attach one short sentence to each form. This separates verbs whose infinitives look or sound similar.
2. Build six-person chains from real phrases. Conjugate a useful phrase rather than an isolated verb: jdu domů, jdeš domů, jde domů… Then repeat with vím to and chci kávu.
3. Sort “say” examples by time and completion. Put current and repeated statements under říkat and one completed statement under říct. Include time words such as teď (now), každý den (every day), and zítra (tomorrow) to make the contrast visible.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Personal Pronouns — identifies the six persons used in the conjugation tables.
• Related: Conjugation (-u/-eš) — provides a broader present-tense pattern that overlaps with forms such as jdu, jdeš.
• Related: Modal Verbs — develops chtít + infinitive alongside other essential modal constructions.
• Next step: Verbal Aspect — explains the imperfective/perfective contrast seen in říkat/říct.
• Next step: Verbs of Motion — expands the contrast between jít, chodit, jet, and jezdit.