2.3 – Czech Present Tense

2.3 – Czech Present Tense, part 1

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2.3 – Czech Present Tense, part 1
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2.3 – Czech Present Tense

In this unit we have learned to conjugate verbs in Czech. One thing that you may have already noticed in the translation of sentences is that there is more than one way to translate the conjugated forms.

English has a few different present tenses:

Simple present – I jump, she runs, they walk, we eat, they talk, etc. – these types of forms are used when we are talking about some activity that we do in general.

Emphatic simple present – I do jump, she does run, they do walk, we do eat, they do talk, etc. – these are used when we want to be particularly emphatic that someone does something, e.g. – “Katka doesn’t run. -Oh yes she does…she does run.”

Present progressive (present continuous) – I am jumping, she is running, they are walking, we are eating, they are talking, etc. – these are used when are talking about something that is currently going on.

The good thing is that Czech does not have separate forms for making these distinctions. In other words, a verb conjugated in the present tense can have any of the above meanings. See the following examples below:

Simple Present

Present Continuous

Věra cvičí každý den.

Věra exercises every day.

Věra cvičí.

Věra is exercising.

Simple Present

Present Continuous

Studenti často dělají domácí úkol.

The students often do their hw.

Studenti dělají domácí úkol.

The students are doing their hw.

Simple Present

Present Continuous

Pavel často spí.

Pavel often sleeps.

Pavel spí.

Pavel is sleeping.

It probably isn’t necessary to focus on this too much at this point, as the practice you will do both in and outside of class will have you use these verbs in all of these types of situations. However, students often do have questions about what these verbs can mean (or try to translate the constructions literally from Czech into English). Just keep in mind that you do not need to do this. The Czech verb conjugated in its simple present tense forms has both the simple and progressive meaning.

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