2.4 – Conjugation of -e- verbs
There are a few -e- verbs in this chapter. The endings are as follows:
|
(já) |
-u |
(my) |
-eme |
|
(ty) |
-eš |
(vy) |
-ete |
|
(on/ona/ono) |
-e |
(oni/ony/ona) |
-ou |
With -á- and -í- verbs, it was easy to determine where to put the endings (mluv ím, íš, í… ‘to speak’). For -e- verbs, you will mostly have to memorize the stem for particular verb.
psát; stem = píš- ‘to write’
|
(já) |
píšu ‘I write / am writing’ |
(my) |
píšeme ‘we write / are writing’ |
|
(ty) |
píšeš ‘you write / are writing’ |
(vy) |
píšete ‘you all write / are writing’
‘you (formal) write / are writing’ |
|
(on/ona/ono) |
píše ‘he/she/it writes / is writing’ |
(oni/ony/ona) |
píšou ‘they write / are writing’ |
číst; stem = čt- ‘to read’
|
(já) |
čtu ‘I read / am reading’ |
(my) |
čteme ‘we read / are reading’ |
|
(ty) |
čteš ‘you read / are reading’ |
(vy) |
čtete ‘you all read / are reading’
‘you (formal) read / are reading’ |
|
(on/ona/ono) |
čte ‘he/she/it reads / is reading’ |
(oni/ony/ona) |
čtou ‘they read / are reading’ |
žít; stem = žij- ‘to live’[1]
|
(já) |
žiju ‘I live’ |
(my) |
žijeme ‘we live’ |
|
(ty) |
žiješ ‘you live’ |
(vy) |
žijete ‘you all live’
‘you (formal) live’ |
|
(on/ona/ono) |
žije ‘he/she/it lives’ |
(oni/ony/ona) |
žijou ‘they live’ |
Some stems from this unit:
|
Infinitive |
Stem |
Meaning |
|
hrát |
hraj- |
‘to play’ |
|
plavat |
plav- |
‘to swim’ |
|
číst |
čt- |
‘to read’ |
|
psát |
píš- |
‘to write’ |
|
žít |
žij- |
‘to live’ |
verbs ending in -ovat
There is a large group of -ovat verbs whose stems are easy to predict — verbs ending in -ovat, such as pracovat ‘to work’, studovat ‘to study, be a student’, jmenovat se ‘to be called’ (as in my name is), etc. To arrive at the stem for these verbs, just drop the -ovat and replace it with -uj-. This is the form you add the endings to. These stems are as follows:
|
Infinitive |
Stem |
Meaning |
|
cestovat |
cestuj- |
‘to travel’ |
|
fotografovat |
fotografuj- |
‘to take pictures’ |
|
jmenovat se |
jmenuj- se |
‘to be called’ |
|
nakupovat |
nakupuj- |
‘to go shopping’ |
|
pracovat |
pracuj- |
‘to work’ |
|
studovat |
studuj- |
‘to study’ |
|
tancovat |
tancuj- |
‘to dance’[2] |
cestovat; stem = cestuj-
|
(já) |
cestuju ‘I travel / am traveling’ |
(my) |
cestujeme ‘we travel / are traveling’ |
|
(ty) |
cestuješ ‘you travel / are traveling’ |
(vy) |
cestujete ‘you all travel / are traveling’
‘you (formal) travel / are traveling’ |
|
(on/ona/ono) |
cestuje ‘he/she/it travels / is traveling’ |
(oni/ony/ona) |
cestujou ‘they travel / are traveling’ |
Examples:
|
Lucička píše ve škole. Lucička is writing in school. |
Často čtu zajímavé knihy a romány. I often read interesting books and novels. |
|
Miroslav často cestuje. Miroslav travels often. |
Tihle lidi nakupujou. These people |
Final Note – Alternate Forms Used in Writing
|
(já) |
-u (-i) |
(my) |
-eme |
|
(ty) |
-eš |
(vy) |
-ete |
|
(on/ona/ono) |
-e |
(oni/ony/ona) |
-ou (-í) |
Many -e- verbs have special forms for the 1st person singular ending in -i. That is to say, in addition to the most common form ending in -u, they use -i as well (cestuji instead of cestuju ‘I travel’) and 3pl -í (cestují instead of cestujou ‘they travel’). These forms are found primarily in more formal, primarily written Czech. It is recommended that you learn to recognize these forms, but not worry about using them actively.
The one exception to this is the form děkuji, literally “I thank”. You can use form děkuju and děkuji, but děkuji sounds a bit more proper. Both are totally acceptable for you to use and you should be acquainted with both.
Images used in this document come from these sources.
[1] we’ve already learned bydlet ‘to live, reside’, žít ‘to live’ can also be used to talk about where you live, though also is used to talk about living your life or even how you are doing, i.e. Jak žiješ? ‘How are you doing (lit. living)?’
[2] wait, didn’t we already learn the -í- verb tančit? Yes, we did! Czech has two verbs meaning ‘to dance’. The verb tančit is used a bit more in written or more formal spoken Czech, while tancovat is more colloquial.