Infinitive Constructions in Czech

In Brief

The Czech infinitive—the basic verb form such as dělat “to do” or přijít “to come”—can act as the subject of a sentence, follow an impersonal adjective, express purpose after a verb of motion, or combine with a question word: Plavat je zdravé, Je těžké to pochopit, Přišel jsem pomoci, Nemám co říct. Unlike English, Czech normally uses no equivalent of dummy “it” and no separate word equivalent to infinitival “to.”

Overview

An infinitive is the unconjugated form used as a verb’s dictionary entry: číst “to read,” pracovat “to work,” říct “to say.” It does not show person or number, so číst by itself does not tell you who reads. It still behaves like a verb, however: it can take an object, carry se or si, be negated, and preserve the verb’s aspect—the contrast between an activity and a completed result.

By B2, infinitives are useful for much more than combinations with modal verbs such as muset “must” and chtít “want.” Czech uses a whole infinitive phrase as a subject (what the sentence is about), often evaluates an action with an impersonal expression such as je těžké “it is difficult,” and uses a bare infinitive after motion verbs to say why someone goes or comes. It also has compact patterns such as není co řešit “there is nothing to discuss.”

These structures often look deceptively similar to English. English uses “to” before many infinitives and often inserts “it” or makes an object into the grammatical subject: “It is easy to read this book” or “This book is easy to read.” Czech organizes those ideas differently. Learning the whole Czech pattern, rather than replacing words one by one, prevents the most common errors.

How It Works

Recognizing the infinitive

Most modern Czech infinitives end in -t:

Pattern	Infinitive	Meaning
-at / -ovat	dělat, pracovat	to do, to work
-it / -et / -ět	prosit, rozumět, vidět	to ask, to understand, to see
-nout	zapomenout	to forget
shortened stem + -t / -ct / -st	číst, péct, říct	to read, to bake, to say
irregular	být, jít, jet	to be, to go on foot, to go by vehicle

Longer forms ending in -ti, such as dělati or říci, occur in older literature, deliberately elevated writing, and fixed stylistic imitation. Everyday contemporary Czech uses dělat and říct (or standard říci in more formal usage).

There is no infinitive marker corresponding to English to. In chci odejít “I want to leave,” odejít alone is the infinitive. A Czech preposition cannot be added merely because English has “to.”

The infinitive phrase as subject

A complete action can fill the subject position:

infinitive phrase + predicate

• Plavat je zdravé. — Swimming is healthy.
• Učit se česky vyžaduje čas. — Learning Czech takes time.
• Každý den dojíždět není příjemné. — Commuting every day is not pleasant.

When the predicate contains an adjective, Czech normally uses its neuter singular form because the entire action is treated as one abstract idea: zdravé “healthy,” obtížné “difficult,” nemožné “impossible.” Compare Plavání je zdravé, where plavání “swimming” is itself a neuter noun.

The infinitive phrase can come first, especially when it is the topic. It can also come later:

• Plavat v řece je nebezpečné.
• Je nebezpečné plavat v řece.

Both mean “Swimming in the river is dangerous.” The second order is especially natural when the evaluation—je nebezpečné—is the starting point. Czech does not need a pronoun meaning dummy “it”; the verb simply remains in the third-person singular: je, bylo, bude.

Impersonal evaluation: je těžké něco udělat

A very productive pattern is:

je/bylo/bude + neuter adjective + infinitive phrase

• Je snadné udělat chybu. — It is easy to make a mistake.
• Bylo těžké najít hotel. — It was difficult to find the hotel.
• Bude zajímavé sledovat výsledek. — It will be interesting to watch the result.

The adjective describes the action, not a noun. It therefore stays neuter singular: je snadné, not je snadný or je snadná.

Be careful with English sentences such as “This book is easy to read.” Czech usually prefers one of these two structures:

• Tuto knihu je snadné číst. — This book is easy to read. Literally, “It is easy to read this book.”
• Tato kniha se snadno čte. — This book reads easily.

In the first version, tuto knihu is the direct object (the thing directly affected by reading), so it is accusative. The adjective remains impersonal and neuter: snadné. Do not copy the English structure as Tato kniha je snadná číst.

In Je těžké to pochopit, to means “that/it” and is the object of pochopit. It is not the meaningless “it” of English “It is hard to understand.” If no object is intended, Czech simply says Je těžké pochopit, proč odešel “It is hard to understand why he left.”

Other common impersonal frames include je možné “it is possible,” je nutné “it is necessary,” je lepší “it is better,” and není třeba “it is not necessary”:

• Je možné rezervaci zrušit. — It is possible to cancel the reservation.
• Je nutné předložit pas. — It is necessary to present a passport.
• Není třeba čekat. — There is no need to wait.

Purpose after verbs of motion

After verbs meaning go, come, arrive, or set off, a bare infinitive can state the purpose of the movement:

motion verb + infinitive

• Jdu nakoupit. — I’m going shopping / I’m going to buy groceries.
• Přišel jsem ti pomoci. — I came to help you.
• Zastavila se pozdravit sousedy. — She stopped by to greet the neighbors.

The person moving is normally also understood as the person performing the infinitive action. In Přišel jsem pomoci, “I” both came and help. Pronouns keep the case required by the infinitive: ti is dative because pomoci někomu means “to help someone.” Reflexive particles stay with the infinitive too: Šli jsme se projít “We went for a walk.”

This pattern is compact and common, particularly with jít, jet, přijít, přijet, běžet and purpose activities. Czech may instead use a purpose clause with aby when the doer must be stated separately, when the sentence is more complex, or when the speaker wants to make the purpose explicit:

• Přišel jsem, abych ti pomohl. — I came so that I could help you.
• Poslal mě, abych ti pomohl. — He sent me to help you.

The second sentence cannot be reduced to Poslal mě pomoci in every context without changing its style or clarity; the abych form clearly marks “I” as the helper.

Question word + infinitive

Czech can combine an interrogative word—one that asks “what,” “where,” “how,” and so on—with an infinitive:

• Nevím, co dělat. — I don’t know what to do.
• Poradíš mi, kam jít? — Will you advise me where to go?
• Nemáme kde spát. — We have nowhere to sleep.
• Ukázal mi, jak přístroj zapnout. — He showed me how to switch the device on.

A particularly common pattern is mít/nemít + question word + infinitive:

• Má co říct. — He has something to say.
• Nemá co říct. — He has nothing to say.
• Nemám s kým mluvit. — I have nobody to talk to.
• Máme kde zaparkovat. — We have somewhere to park.

The positive meaning depends on context: mít co číst means to have something to read; mít kde bydlet means to have somewhere to live. The negative nemít co/kde/s kým… produces “nothing/nowhere/nobody … with.” Any preposition required by the meaning stays before the question word: s kým mluvit “with whom to speak,” o čem psát “what to write about.”

Infinitives after another verb

Infinitives also complete the meaning of modal, phase, and intention verbs:

• Musím odejít. — I have to leave.
• Chce studovat medicínu. — She wants to study medicine.
• Začalo pršet. — It started to rain.
• Přestal kouřit. — He stopped smoking.

This familiar pattern helps reveal two properties that apply throughout the article. First, the infinitive can govern its own object: studovat medicínu. Second, aspect remains meaningful. Psát presents writing as an activity, while napsat points toward producing a completed text: Chci psát každý den “I want to write every day” versus Chci napsat článek “I want to write and finish an article.”

Examples in Context

Czech	English	Note
Plavat je zdravé.	Swimming is healthy.	The infinitive phrase is the subject.
Pracovat z domova mi vyhovuje.	Working from home suits me.	A longer infinitive phrase fills the subject role.
Je těžké to pochopit.	It is hard to understand that.	To is the object of pochopit.
Bylo příjemné tě zase vidět.	It was nice to see you again.	Past impersonal evaluation; tě is accusative.
Tuto žádost je možné podat online.	This application can be submitted online.	The object is fronted; možné remains neuter.
Je lepší rezervovat si stůl předem.	It is better to reserve a table in advance.	The reflexive si belongs to rezervovat si.
Přišel jsem ti pomoci.	I came to help you.	Motion plus purpose; ti is dative.
Jdu si uvařit kávu.	I’m going to make myself a coffee.	Si expresses benefit for oneself.
O víkendu jsme jeli navštívit rodiče.	At the weekend we went to visit our parents.	The travelers are also the visitors.
Nevím, jak mu to vysvětlit.	I don’t know how to explain it to him.	Question word plus infinitive.
Nemá co říct.	He has nothing to say.	Nemít co + infinitive.
Po povodni neměli kde bydlet.	After the flood they had nowhere to live.	Nemít kde + infinitive.
Máš s kým jít na koncert?	Do you have someone to go to the concert with?	The preposition comes before kým.
Musíme najít jiné řešení.	We have to find another solution.	Modal verb plus perfective infinitive.
Proč se hádat kvůli maličkosti?	Why argue over a small thing?	Independent infinitive in a rhetorical question.

Common Mistakes

Adding a Czech equivalent of infinitival “to”

• Wrong: Chci k odejít domů.
• Right: Chci odejít domů.
• Why: Czech infinitives do not take a general marker corresponding to English “to.” Prepositions such as k and do have their own concrete meanings and govern nouns, not infinitives in this pattern.

Making the adjective agree with a nearby noun

• Wrong: Tato kniha je snadná číst.
• Right: Tuto knihu je snadné číst.
• Also natural: Tato kniha se snadno čte.
• Why: In the impersonal construction, the adjective evaluates the action and stays neuter singular. The book is the object of číst, not the subject of je snadné.

Inserting dummy to

• Wrong: To je důležité přijít včas.
• Right: Je důležité přijít včas.
• Why: Czech normally has no dummy pronoun corresponding to English “it” in “It is important to arrive on time.” Use to only when it refers to something: Je důležité to vědět “It is important to know that.”

Losing the case required by the infinitive

• Wrong: Přišel jsem tě pomoci.
• Right: Přišel jsem ti pomoci.
• Why: Pomoci takes the dative case—the form used here for the person receiving help—so “you” is ti, not accusative tě.

Using a bare purpose infinitive with the wrong understood doer

• Unclear or misleading: Přišel Petr pomoci Janovi when word order and context make the intended subject hard to follow.
• Clear: Petr přišel pomoct Janovi.
• Different doer made explicit: Petr mě poslal, abych pomohl Janovi.
• Why: With motion plus infinitive, the subject of the motion verb normally performs the infinitive action. Use an aby clause when another person performs it or clarity requires a finite verb.

Forgetting the preposition in a question-word construction

• Wrong: Nemám kdo mluvit.
• Right: Nemám s kým mluvit.
• Why: Czech keeps the preposition required by the relationship: mluvit s někým “talk with someone” becomes s kým mluvit.

Usage Notes

The short purpose construction is especially natural with everyday movement: jdu nakoupit, jedu pracovat, přišla se podívat. An aby clause is longer but more explicit. It is not automatically more formal; speakers choose it when they need to identify the doer, add tense or conditional meaning, or avoid a cramped chain of infinitives.

Both pomoct and pomoci are standard infinitives. Pomoct is very frequent in ordinary speech, while pomoci often feels more neutral or formal in writing. Similarly, říct is the normal everyday infinitive; říci is also standard but is more common in careful or formal style. Forms such as pomáhati belong to an older or intentionally archaic register.

Czech word order is flexible, but unstressed short pronouns and auxiliary forms tend to gather near the second position: Přišel jsem ti pomoci and Je těžké mu to vysvětlit. Treat combinations such as jsem ti and mu to as a rhythmical group rather than placing each word where its English equivalent appears.

Negation normally goes on the expression carrying the intended negative meaning. Compare Nechci odejít “I do not want to leave,” Není snadné odejít “It is not easy to leave,” and the much more marked Chci neodejít “I want not to leave.” With question-word constructions, nemít creates the negative series: nemám co číst, nemám kde spát, nemám s kým jít.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Infinitives can stand independently in signs, recipes, rules, and official instructions. A negative infinitive gives an impersonal prohibition without naming the reader:

• Nekouřit! — No smoking!
• Nevstupovat! — Do not enter!
• Uchovávat v chladu. — Keep refrigerated / Store in a cool place.

This style sounds concise and institutional. In direct conversation, an imperative is usually more natural: Nekuřte tady “Don’t smoke here.”

An independent infinitive also appears in deliberative or rhetorical questions: Co dělat? “What can be done?”, Kam jít? “Where should we go?”, Proč čekat? “Why wait?” The missing modal meaning—can, should, would—is supplied by context. This makes the expression compact, but it can also sound philosophical, resigned, or persuasive.

The pattern mít + infinitive deserves separate attention because it does not always mean simple possession. Depending on intonation and context, it can express an expected action, arrangement, or request for guidance:

• Mám zavolat večer. — I am supposed to call in the evening.
• Mám zavolat večer? — Should I call in the evening?
• Vlak má přijet v osm. — The train is due to arrive at eight.

Do not confuse this with mít co + infinitive: Mám zavolat means “I am to/should call,” while Mám komu zavolat means “I have someone to call.”

Finally, formal writing often favors impersonal infinitive structures because they avoid naming an agent: Je nutné žádost podepsat “It is necessary to sign the application.” Administrative instructions may go further and use only an infinitive: Vyplnit hůlkovým písmem “Fill in using block capitals.” In ordinary conversation, naming the person or using a finite verb often sounds warmer and clearer.

Practice Tips

1. Build four versions around one verb. With číst, make a subject sentence (Číst je užitečné), an evaluation (Je těžké číst bez brýlí), a purpose sentence (Jdu si číst), and a question-word pattern (Nemám co číst). Repeat with five common verbs.
2. Transform English “easy to” sentences instead of translating their word order. Change “This article is easy to understand” into the Czech impersonal pattern: Tento článek je snadné pochopit, or use se: Tento článek se snadno chápe. Check the noun’s case and keep the adjective neuter.
3. Listen for compact motion phrases. In Czech conversations, note combinations after jít, jet, přijít, and přijet. Record the full phrase—including se/si and pronouns—as one unit: jít se podívat, jet nakoupit, přijít někomu pomoct.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Impersonal Constructions — provides the foundation for expressions such as je třeba, je možné, and other structures that evaluate an action without naming a personal subject.