Morphological classification of Czech verbs

Class I (-e-)

The indicative present stem suffix is -e- (nes-e-š, nes-e, nes-e-me, nes-e-te) except the 1st person sing. (nes-u < *nes-ǫ) and the 3rd person plur. (nes-ou < OCz nes-ú < *nes-ǫ-tъ).

Contents

• Class I e
• Group 1
• nese nesl nsti
• vede vedl vsti
• pee pekl pci
• zebe zbl zbsti
• Group 2
• jme jal jti jmouti
• te tel tti
• mele mlel mlti
• Group 3
• bere bral brti
• zve zval zvti
• Class II ne
• Class III je
• kryje kryl krti
• laje ll lti
• daruje daroval darovati
• Class IV
• pros prosil prositi
• trp trpl trpti
• sz szel szeti
• um uml umti
• Class V
• tes tee tesal tesati
• hb hbe hbal hbati
• or oe oral orati
• pyk pye pykal pykati
• trest tresce trestal trestati
• Athematic verbs
• mti mm
• References

¹⁾ reduced imperative endings used in most cases: nes (but nesiž), nesme, neste
²⁾ full imperative endings used if the root has no vowel: jmi, jměme, jměte; after some consonants the original iotation has been lost, e.g. třeme, třete < OCz třěme, třěte (in such case the modern imperative forms are undistinguishable from the present indicative forms)

The verbs of this class are divided in three groups according to the infinitive stem.

Group 1

The infinitive stem has no distinctive suffix and is equal to the primary stem that ends in a consonant (nes-l, vez-l, ved-l, plet-l, pek-l, moh-l, záb-l).

nese • nesl ~ nésti

The primary stem ends in s or z (nes-, vez-).

¹⁾ arch. spásti (not to be confused with the common prefixed verb spásti < pásti) → replaced by spasiti (spasí), except the passive participle and the verbal noun (spasen, spasení)

vede • vedl ~ vésti

The primary stem ends in d or t (ved-, plet-).
The infinitive ends in -sti (vésti < *ved-ti, plésti < *plet-ti).

peče • pekl ~ péci

The primary stem ends in k or h (pek-, moh- < *mog-).
The infinitive ends in -ci (péci < *pek-ti, moci < *mog-ti).

Common Czech uses the forms peču, pečou, peč, péct instead of peku, pekou, pec, péci and můžu, můžou, -mož, moct instead of mohu, mohou, -moz, moci.

¹⁾ the present stem forms řku, řčeš, rci, etc. of the verb říci are bookish ("rci mi pravdu a nic víc").
²⁾ arch. stříci (střiže) → replaced by stříhati (stříhá), -střihnouti (-střihne).
³⁾ arch. žíci (žže) → replaced by other verbs (páliti, žhnouti, -žehnouti).

zebe • zábl ~ zábsti

The primary stem ends in b or p (zeb-, tep-).
The infinitive ends in -s-ti (inserted s).
The verbs of this type are obsolete except zábsti that is still in use (see also přísti).

¹⁾ arch. hřébsti or hřésti (hřebe) → replaced by pohřbívati (pohřbívá)
²⁾ arch. skúbsti or skústi (skube) → replaced by škubati (škube)
³⁾ arch. dlúbsti (dlube) → replaced by dlabati (dlabe), dloubati (dloubá); still used in some dialects ("proč do toho dlubeš?")
⁴⁾ arch. tépsti (tepe) → replaced by tepati (tepe)

In a similar conjugation, now obsolete, the primary stem ends in v (živ-) that is dropped in some infinitive stem forms (e.g. žíti < *živti, pléti < *plevti).

¹⁾ arch. žíti (žive) → replaced by žíti (žije); adj. živoucí is still in use (beside žijící)
²⁾ arch. pléti (pleve) → replaced by plíti (pleje)

Group 2

The infinitive stem has no distinctive suffix and ends in a vowel (ja-l, tře-l, mle-l).

jme • jal ~ jíti (jmouti)

• the original stem ended in m or n (*jьm-, *jem-; *pьn-, *pen-)
• the present stems: jm-e- < *jьm-e-, pn-e- < *pьn-e-, dm-e- < *dъm-e-, etc.
• the infinitive stems: je-/ja- < *ję- < *jem-, pě-/pja- < *pę- < *pen-, du-/dou- < *dǫ- < *dom-, etc.

¹⁾ The infinitive j-mou-ti (see also Class II) is a newly created form as the original infinitive jíti (jme) < jieti < *jęti can be confused with the homonymous infinitive jíti (jde) < *iti. The original infinitive jíti (after some prefixes -níti) is mostly used in the prefixed verbs where the confusion is not an issue, e.g. vzíti (vezme) vs. vzejíti (vzejde), odníti (odejme) vs. odejíti (odejde), etc.

¹⁾ The infinitive p-nou-ti (see Class II) is a newly created form as the original infinitive píti (pn-e) < pieti < *pęti can be confused with the homonymous infinitive píti (pije). In contemporary Czech the original infinitive píti (pne) is not in use.
²⁾ The original verb míti (mn-e) < mieti < *męti (the infinitive of which could be confused with the athematic verb míti < jmieti) has been replaced by a newly created verb m-nou-ti (m-ne) with identical present stem forms (see Class II).
³⁾ The original verb klíti (kln-e) < kléti < *klęti has been replaced by two newly created verbs: kl-nou-ti (kl-ne) with identical present stem forms (see Class II) and klí-ti (kle-je) with identical infinitive stem forms (see Class III). The new verbs have slightly different meaning.
⁴⁾ The original verb douti (dm-e) < dúti < *dǫti has been replaced by two newly created verbs: d-mou-ti (d-me) with identical present stem forms (see Class II) and dou-ti (du-je) with identical infinitive stem forms (see Class III). The new verbs have different meaning ("hruď se dme", "vítr duje").

tře • třel ~ tříti

The original stem ended in r (*ter-ti).

mele • mlel ~ mlíti

The original stem ended in l (*mel-ti).

• The indicative present forms meli, melí, melíc, etc. (with umlaut -u > -i and -ú > -í) are archaic.
• The passive participles mlen, mlena, etc. are less common.
• There are no other verbs of this type in contemporary Czech.

Group 3

The infinitive stem suffix is -a- (br-a-, zv-a-, maz-a-).

bere • bral ~ bráti

The present stem forms béřeš, beř, etc. are archaic.

zve • zval ~ zváti

The present stem forms zovu, zůveš, zovi, zova, etc. are archaic ("moudrost sama k sobě hloupé zůve").

Class II (-ne-)

The indicative present stem suffix is -ne- (tisk-ne-š, tisk-ne, tisk-ne-me, tisk-ne-te) except the 1st person sing. (tisk-nu < *tisk-nǫ) and the 3rd person plur. (tisk-nou < tisk-nú < *tisk-nǫ-tъ).

This class is divided in two groups according to the primary stem ending (1. tisk-, 2. ply-).

Group 1

The primary stem ends in a consonant (tisk-, h-, m-).

Group 2

The primary stem ends in a vowel, syllabic r or syllabic l (ply-ne, ply-nu-l, tr-ne, tr-nu-l, osl-ne, osl-nu-l).

Class III (-je-)

The indicative present stem suffix is -je- (kry-je-š, kry-je, kry-je-me, kry-je-te) except the 1st person sing. (kry-ji < kry-ju < *kry-jǫ) and the 3rd person plur. (kry-jí < kry-jú < *kry-jǫ-tъ).

This class is divided in two groups according to the infinitive stem (1. kry-l, 2. dar-ova-l).

Group 1

The primary stem ends in a vowel (kry-, la-).

kryje • kryl ~ krýti

Common Czech uses the indicative present forms kryju and kryjou instead of kryji and kryjí.

laje • lál ~ láti

Common Czech uses the indicative present forms laju and lajou instead of laji and lají.

Group 2

The primary stem ends in a consonant except few verbs of foreign origin (e.g. kon-stru-uje-, kon-stru-ova-ti from Latin con-stru-ere).
The infinitive stem suffix is -ova- (dar-ova-l, dar-ova-ti).

daruje • daroval ~ darovati

Common Czech uses the forms daruju and darujou instead of daruji and darují.

Class IV (-í-)

The indicative present stem suffix is -í- (pros-í-m, pros-í-š, pros-í, pros-í-me, pros-í-te, pros-í) except the 3rd person plur. of sázeti and uměti (sázejí, umějí).

The verbs of this class are divided in two groups according to the infinitive stem (1. pros-i-l, 2. trp-ě-l/sáz-e-l).

Group 1

The infinitive stem suffix is -i- (pros-i-l, pros-i-ti).

prosí • prosil ~ prositi

¹⁾ The passive participles spasen, spasena, etc. and the verbal noun spasení are in fact forms of the archaic verb spásti (see Class I-1). The corresponding forms of spasiti would be spašen and spašení (that are not in use).

Group 2

The infinitive stem suffix is -ě- or -e- (trp-ě-l, trp-ě-ti, sáz-e-l, sáz-e-ti, um-ě-l, um-ě-ti).

trpí • trpěl ~ trpěti

Common Czech uses the 3rd person plur. indicative present form trpěj besides trpí.

sází • sázel ~ sázeti

Common Czech uses the 3rd person plur. indicative present forms sázej and sází besides sázejí.

umí • uměl ~ uměti

Common Czech uses the 3rd person plur. indicative present forms uměj and umí besides umějí.

Class V (-á-)

The indicative present stem suffix is -á- (děl-á-m, děl-á-š, děl-á, děl-á-me, děl-á-te) except the 3rd person plur. (děl-a-jí < děl-a-jú < *děl-a-jǫ-tъ). The infinitive stem suffix is -a- (děl-a-ti, tes-a-ti).

The verbs of this class are divided in two groups according to the original present stem suffix (1. *-a-je-, 2. *-je-).

Group 1

The indicative present stem suffix -á- is a contraction of the original suffix *-a-je- (děl-á- < *děl-a-je-). The 3rd person plur. indicative present form as well as the present transgressive forms remain uncontracted (děl-a-jí < děl-a-jú < *děl-a-jǫtъ).

Group 2

The original present stem suffix was *-je- (teš-e- < *tes-je-) and not *-a-je-. The new present stem suffix -á- in tes-á- is an analogy to děl-á- (see dělati in Group 1).

tesá, teše • tesal ~ tesati

The primary stem ends in s or z (tes-á-me, tes-a-l, řez-á-me, řez-a-l).

Both the original present stem forms (teši, teš, etc.) and the new forms (tesám, tesej, etc.) are in use.
The literary language prefers the forms teši, teší to tešu, tešou.

hýbá, hýbe • hýbal ~ hýbati

The primary stem ends in b, p, v, f or m (hýb-á-me, hýb-a-l, klep-á-me, klep-a-l, dřím-á-me, dřím-a-l).

The original indicative present forms (hýbu, hýbeš, etc.) and the new forms (hýbám, hýbáš, etc.) are equally frequent. The original imperative forms are generally less frequent. The original present transgressive forms (hýbě, hýbíc, hýbíce) have been completely replaced by the new forms (hýbaje, hýbajíc, hýbajíce).

orá, oře • oral ~ orati

The primary stem ends in r, l or n (or-á-me, or-a-l, ston-á-me, ston-a-l).

The original present stem forms are generally less frequent.
The literary language prefers the indicative present forms oři and oří to ořu and ořou.

pyká, pyče • pykal ~ pykati

The primary stem ends in k, h or ch (pyk-á-me, pyk-a-l, strouh-á-me, strouh-a-l, dých-á-me, dých-a-l).

The original present stem forms (pyči, pyčeš, pyč, pyče, pyčíc, etc.) are either archaic ("jeho smrti velmi pyčí = litují", "stýště se duši mé v životě mém") or at least bookish ("nešlechetník nešlechetnost páše").

trestá, tresce • trestal ~ trestati

The primary stem ends in t or d (trest-á-me, trest-a-l, hlod-á-me, hlod-a-l).

The original present stem forms (tresci, tresceš, tresce, trescíc, etc.) are either archaic/bookish ("padělání se tresce podle zákona", "anobrž k zvuku trouby řehce", "vězeň svou pověst šepce dál") or regional ("Co tady léceš?").

Athematic verbs

The verbs with athematic present stems.

míti, mám

The passive participles jměn, jmín, etc. are archaic ("blázen, mlče, za moudrého jmín bývá").