{"history":[],"article":{"id":"04ef9789-0dce-4085-b256-b36c66573d60","title":"Morphological classification of Czech verbs","slug":"morphological-classification-of-czech-verbs","content":":::summary\n:::\n\n# \n[Czech](https://bliptext.com/articles/czech-language) [verbs](https://bliptext.com/articles/verb) can be classified (arranged in classes) in several ways.\nThe verbal classes can be characterised in terms of their [morphological](https://bliptext.com/articles/morphology-linguistics) properties.\nVerbs that belong to the same class typically accept the same range of [suffixes (endings)](https://bliptext.com/articles/suffix).\nThis article concerns the morphological classification of the Czech verbs and the formation of their admissible forms (including, to some extent, bookish and archaic ones).\nThe first attempts to classify Czech verbs from the morphological point of view were made in the 16th century, for example in Matouš Benešovský's Grammatica Bohemica from 1577.\n[Vavřinec Benedikt Nudožerský](https://bliptext.com/articles/vavrinec-benedikt-of-nedo-ery) in his work Grammaticæ bohemicæ libri duo (1603) distinguished four classes according to the present indicative ending of the 1st person singular: I. – ám, II.\n– ím, III.\n– u, IV.\n– i. Pavel Doležal in his Grammatica Slavico-Bohemica (1746), inspired by the Latin grammar, for the first time classified the Czech verbs according to the infinitive: I. vol-a-ti (vocāre), II.\nmil-ova-ti (amāre), III.\nlež-e-ti (iacēre), IV.\nuč-i-ti (docēre), V. pí-ti (bibere), VI.\nhr-nou-ti (sēmovēre, āmovēre) and, moreover, verba anomala, i.e. an arbitrary list of several tens of \"irregular\" verbs including the athematic ones.\nThe Czech (and generally [Slavic](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-languages)) verbs have two distinct [stems](https://bliptext.com/articles/word-stem): the [present](https://bliptext.com/articles/present-tense) stem (used in forming [present](https://bliptext.com/articles/present-tense) indicative, [imperative](https://bliptext.com/articles/imperative-mood) and [present](https://bliptext.com/articles/present-tense) [transgressive](https://bliptext.com/articles/transgressive-linguistics)) and the [infinitive](https://bliptext.com/articles/infinitive) stem ([infinitive](https://bliptext.com/articles/infinitive), past and passive [participles](https://bliptext.com/articles/participle), past [transgressive](https://bliptext.com/articles/transgressive-linguistics) and [verbal noun](https://bliptext.com/articles/verbal-noun)).\nBoth stems are equally important and frequent, which means there are two basic possibilities of systematic classification of the Czech (generally Slavic) verbs, based either on the present stems or on the infinitive stems.\nFor comparison the [Latin verbs](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin-conjugation) have three distinct stems (present, perfect, supine) and their classification is traditionally based on the present stem (I. vocā-, II. tenē-, III. leg-(ĕ,ǐ)-, IV. audī-), the infinitive itself is derived from the present stem (vocāre, tenēre, légĕre, audīre).\nAs there are six types of the infinitive stem, there are also six corresponding classes ([Franz Miklosich](https://bliptext.com/articles/franz-miklosich), Formenlehre der slawischen Sprachen, 1856 and [Jan Gebauer](https://bliptext.com/articles/jan-gebauer), Historická mluvnice jazyka českého, 1898), usually arranged in the following manner: I. nés-ti, vés-ti (*ved-ti), péci (*pek-ti), krý-ti, etc. (no stem suffix), II.\ntisk-nou-ti, III.\nslyš-e-ti, trp-ě-ti, um-ě-ti, IV.\npros-i-ti, V. děl-a-ti, sáz-e-ti (*sad-ja-ti), láti (*la-ja-ti), bráti (*bьr-a-ti), kov-a-ti, VI.\nkup-ova-ti.\nThis classification is very similar to the Doležal's one (though the class order is different).\nThe classification based on the present stem (e.g. [August Schleicher](https://bliptext.com/articles/august-schleicher), Formenlehre der kirchenslawischen Sprache, 1852, and esp. [August Leskien](https://bliptext.com/articles/august-leskien), Handbuch der altbulgarischen Sprache, 2nd ed., 1886) distinguishes five classes, the classes I-IV have a distinct present stem suffix: I. nes-e-, ved-e-, jьm-e-, etc., II.\ndvig-ne-, III.\nkry-je-, *tes-je-, dêl-a-je-, *sad-ja-je-, kup-u-je-, IV.\nchval-i-, trъp-i-, V. *jes-, *dad-, *jad-, *vêd- (athematic consonantal present stems).\nThe system presented in this article is a system based on the Leskien's classification, adapted to the contemporary Czech language.\nThe main differences are: a) the few athematic (and highly irregular) verbs are treated separately, b) the contracted děl-á- < *dêl-a-je- has moved from the class III to a new class V, c) the contracted sáz-í- < *sad-ja-je- has moved from the class III to the class IV.\n\n# Class I (-e-)\nTh**********e********** indicativ**********e********** pr**********e**********s**********e**********nt st**********e**********m suffix is -**********e**********- (n**********e**********s-**********e**********-š, n**********e**********s-**********e**********, n**********e**********s-**********e**********-m**********e**********, n**********e**********s-**********e**********-t**********e**********) **********e**********xc**********e**********pt th**********e********** 1st p**********e**********rson sing.\n(nes-**u** < *nes-ǫ) and the 3rd person pl**u**r.\n(nes-**ou** < †nes-ú < *nes-ǫ-tъ).\n1) reduced ****i****mperat****i****ve end****i****ngs used ****i****n most cases: nes (but nes****i****ž), nes**me**, nes**te** 2) full ****i****mperat****i****ve end****i****ngs used ****i****f the root has no vowel: jm****i****, jmě**me**, jmě**te**\n3) after some consonants the original iotation has been lost, e.g. tř**ete** < †tř**ěte** (so the modern imperative forms are undistinguishable from the present indicative forms)\nThe verbs of this class are divided in three groups according to the infinitive stem.\n\n## Group 1\nThe infinitive stem has no suffix and is equal to the primary stem that ends in a consonant (nes-, vez-, ved-, plet-, pek-, moh-, záb-).\n\n### nese – nesl – nésti\nThe primary ****s****tem end****s**** in ****s**** or ****z**** (ne****s****-, ve****z****-).\n1) for tř**e**su ↔ tř**a**su, **e**tc. s**e****e** Root vow**e**l mut**a**tion (přísti) 2) hrýzti (hryz**e**) is **a**rch**a**ic („svědomí j**e** hryz**e**“, OCz „črvi**e** mě hryzú“ = m**e** v**e**rm**e**s rodunt) → r**e**pl**a**c**e**d by hryz**a**ti (hryž**e**), obs.\nhrýzati (hrýže)\n\n### vede – vedl – vésti\nThe primary s**t**em en**d**s in **d** or **t** (ve**d**-, ple**t**-).\nThe infinitive ends in -**sti** (vé**sti** < *ved-ti, plé**sti** < *plet-ti).\n1) růsti < *orst-ti: pass. part. rosten is not in use, there is a noun růst instead of rostení\n\n### peče – pekl ~ péci\n[Common Czech](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\n1) říci: the present stem forms řku, řčeš, rci, etc. are bookish (\"…rci mi pravdu a víc nic, jest v Gilead balzám těchy…\") → replaced by the present stem forms of -řeknouti (the infinitive only with a prefix): řeknu, řekneš, řekni and -řknouti (prefixed): -řknu, -řkneš, -řkni 2) arch.\nstříci (střiže) → replaced by stříhati (stříhá), -střihnouti (-střihne)\n3) arch. žíci (žže) → replaced by other verbs: žhnouti (žhne), -žehnouti (-žehne), páliti (pálí)\n\n### zebe • zábl – zábsti\nNote: In a similar conjugation, now obsolete, the primary stem ended in **v**, e.g. žíti (ži**v**-e) < *ži**v**ti (cf. ži**v**oucí, ži**v**ot) → replaced by žíti (ži-je), similarly pléti (ple**v**-e) < *ple**v**ti (cf. ple**v**el) → replaced by plíti (ple-je), see Class III.\nThe verbs of this type are obsolete except **zábsti** that is still in use.\n1) arch. **hřébsti** or hřésti (hřebe) → replaced by pohřbívati (pohřbívá), pohřbíti (pohřbí) 2) arch.\n**skúbsti** or skústi (skube) → replaced by škubati (škube)\n3) arch. dlúbsti (dlube) → replaced by dlabati (dlabe), dloubati (dloubá); still used in some dialects (\"proč do toho dlubeš?\") 4) arch.\ntépsti (tepe) → replaced by tepati (tepe)\n\n## Group 2\nThe infinitive stem has no distinctive suffix and ends in a vowel (ja-, tře-, mle-).\n\n### jme • jal – jíti (-níti) → jmouti\nN.B. The infinitive jmouti (see also Class II) is a newly created form as the original infinitive jíti (jme) < *jęti can be confused with the homonymous infinitive jíti (jde) < *iti.\nThe original infinitive jíti (after some prefixes -níti) is mostly preserved in the prefixed verbs where the confusion is not an issue, e.g. vzíti (vezme) vs. vzejíti (vzejde), odníti (odejme) vs. odejíti (odejde), vyníti (vyjme) vs. vyjíti (vyjde), etc. However new infinitives like odejmouti, vyjmouti are also in use (vzíti is an exception).\n1) The infinitive pnouti (see Class II) is a newly created form as the original infinitive píti (pne) < †pieti < *pęti can be confused with the homonymous infinitive píti (pije). In contemporary Czech the original infinitive (píti) is not in use. 2) The original verb míti (mne) < †mieti < *męti (the infinitive of which could be confused with the athematic verb míti < †jmieti) has been replaced by a newly created verb mnouti (mne) with identical present stem forms (see Class II).\n3) The original verb †kléti (klne) < *klęti has been replaced by two newly created verbs: klnouti (klne) with identical present stem forms (see Class II) and klíti (kleje) with identical infinitive stem forms (see Class III). The new verbs have slightly different meaning. 4) The original verb †dúti (dme) < *dǫti has been replaced by two newly created verbs: dmouti (dme) with identical present stem forms (see Class II) and douti (duje) with identical infinitive stem forms (see Class III).\nThe new verbs have different meaning (\"hruď se dme\", \"vítr duje\").\n\n### tře • třel – tříti\n\n### mele • mlel – mlíti\nThe forms mlen, mlena, etc. and mlení are less common.\nThere are no other verbs of this type except **mlíti** in contemporary Czech.\n\n## Group 3\nThe infinitive stem suffix is -********a********- (br-********a********-, zv-********a********-, m********a********z-********a********-).\n\n### bere • bral – bráti\nThe present stem forms béřeš, beř, etc. are archaic.\n\n### zve • zval ~ zváti\nThe present stem forms zovu, zůveš, zovi, zova, etc. are archaic (\"moudrost sama k sobě hloupé zůve\").\n\n### maže • mazal ~ mazati\n\n# Class II (-ne-)\nThe indicative present stem suffix is -**********ne**********- (tisk-**********ne**********-š, tisk-**********ne**********, tisk-**********ne**********-me, tisk-**********ne**********-te) except the 1st person sing.\n(tisk-**nu** < *tisk-nǫ) and the 3rd person plur.\n(tisk-**nou** < †tisk-nú < *tisk-nǫ-tъ).\nThe verbs of this class are divided in two groups according to the primary stem ending.\n\n## Group 1\nThe p**r**ima**r**y stem ends in a consonant except sy**l****l**abic **r** o**r** **l** (tisk-, h-).\n\n### tiskne • tiskl – tisknouti\nThe forms tisknul, tisknut, (s)tisknuv, tisknutí are later created infinitive stem forms (formed regularly by using the suffix -nu-).\nLiterary Czech prefers the original shorter forms (without the suffix -nu-) if they are in use (e.g. \"dveře jsou zamčeny\" is better than \"dveře jsou zamknuty\").\nHowever some verbs use prevalently or exclusively the infinitive stem forms with the suffix -nu-.\nIn some cases there is a difference in usage (e.g. \"kniha je tištěna\", but \"ruka je tisknuta\").\n\n### pne • pnul, pjal – pnouti\n\n## Group 2\nThe p**r**ima**r**y stem ends in a vowe**l** o**r** sy**l****l**abic **r** o**r** sy**l****l**abic **l** (p**l**y-, t**r**-, k**l**-).\n\n### plyne • plynul – plynouti\n\n# Class III (-je-)\nThe indicative present stem suffix is -**********je**********- (kry-**********je**********-š, kry-**********je**********, kry-**********je**********-me, kry-**********je**********-te) except the 1st person sing.\n(kry-**ji** < kry-ju < *kry-jǫ) and the 3rd person plur.\n(kry-**jí** < kry-jú < *kry-jǫ-tъ).\nThis class is divided in two groups according to the infinitive stem (1. kry-l, 2. dar-**ova**-l).\n\n## Group 1\nThe primary stem ends in a vowel (kry-, la-).\n\n### kryje • kryl ~ krýti\n[Common Czech](https://bliptext.com/articles/common-czech) uses the indicative present forms kryju and kryjou instead of kryji and kryjí.\n\n### laje • lál ~ láti\n[Common Czech](https://bliptext.com/articles/common-czech) uses the indicative present forms laju and lajou instead of laji and lají.\n\n## Group 2\nThe 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).\nThe infinitive stem suffix is -******ova******- (dar-******ova******-l, dar-******ova******-ti).\n\n### daruje • daroval ~ darovati\n[Common Czech](https://bliptext.com/articles/common-czech) uses the forms daruju and darujou instead of daruji and darují.\n\n# Class IV (-í-)\nThe 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.\nof sázeti and uměti (sáz**ejí**, um**ějí**).\nTh**e** v**e**rbs of th**i**s class ar**e** d**i**v**i**d**e**d **i**n two groups accord**i**ng to th**e** **i**nf**i**n**i**t**i**v**e** st**e**m (1. pros-**i**-l, 2. trp-**ě**-l/sáz-**e**-l).\n\n## Group 1\nThe ******i******nf******i******n******i******t******i******ve stem suff******i******x ******i******s -******i******- (pros-******i******-l, pros-******i******-t******i******).\n\n### prosí • prosil ~ prositi\n1) 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).\n\n## Group 2\nTh******e****** infinitiv******e****** st******e******m suffix is -**********ě**********- or -******e******- (trp-**********ě**********-l, trp-**********ě**********-ti, sáz-******e******-l, sáz-******e******-ti, um-**********ě**********-l, um-**********ě**********-ti).\n\n### trpí • trpěl ~ trpěti\n[Common Czech](https://bliptext.com/articles/common-czech) uses the 3rd person plur.\nindicative present form trpěj besides trpí.\n\n### sází • sázel ~ sázeti\n[Common Czech](https://bliptext.com/articles/common-czech) uses the 3rd person plur.\nindicative present forms sázej and sází besides sázejí.\n\n### umí • uměl ~ uměti\n[Common Czech](https://bliptext.com/articles/common-czech) uses the 3rd person plur.\nindicative present forms uměj and umí besides umějí.\n\n# Class V (-á-)\nThe 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.\n(děl-**a**-**jí** < †děl-**a**-jú < *dêl-**a**-jǫtъ).\nThe infinitive stem suffix is -******a******- (děl-******a******-ti, tes-******a******-ti).\nThe verbs of this cl**a**ss **a**re divided in two groups **a**ccording to the origin**a**l present stem suffix (1. *-**a**-je-, 2. *-je-).\n\n## Group 1\nThe indicative present stem suffix -****á****- is a contraction of the original suffix *-a-je- (děl-****á****- < *dêl-a-je-).\nThe 3rd person plur**a**l present indic**a**tive form **a**s well **a**s the present tr**a**nsgressive forms rem**a**in uncontr**a**cted (děl-**a**-jí < †děl-**a**-jú < *dêl-**a**-jǫtъ).\n\n### dělá – dělal – dělati\nSome other verbs:\n**dbáti** impf.\n< †tbáti < *tъbati **:** dbám, dbej, dbaje — dbal, (nezane)dbav, dbán, dbání;\n**zanedbati** perf.\n**:** zanedbám, zanedbej, (zanedbávaje) — zanedbal, zanedbav, zanedbán, zanedbání;\n**znáti** impf.\n**:** znám, znej, znaje — znal, (po)znav, znán, (po-,vy-,do-,u-)znání;\n**poznati** perf.\n**:** poznám, poznej, (poznávaje) — poznal, poznav, poznán, poznání;\n**poznávati** impf.\n**:** poznávám, poznávej, poznávaje — poznával, (poznav), poznáván, poznávání\n**nechati** perf.\n**:** nechám, nechej (nech), (nechávaje) — nechal, nechav, nechán, nechání;\n**nechávati** impf.\n**:** nechávám, nechávej, nechávaje — nechával, (nechav), necháván, nechávání;\n**obědvati** denom.\n< *obêdъ **:** obědvám, obědvej, obědvaje — obědval, (po)obědvav, obědván, obědvání;\n**hráti** < †j**hráti** < *jьgrati **:** obs.\nind.\nhrám, hráš … hrají (replaced by hraji, hraješ …, see láti, Class III), hrej, hraje — obs.\npart.\nhral, hrali (replaced by hrál, hráli, see láti, Class III), (se)hrav, hrán, hraní;\n**-dolati** perf.\n(o-,z-,u-) **:** -dolám, -dolej, (-dolávaje) — -dolal, -dolav, -dolán, -dolání;\n**plácati** (drncati, kecati, cucati, etc.) **:** plácám, plácej, plácaje — plácal, (u)plácav, plácán, plácání;\n\n## Group 2\nTh**e** original pr**e**s**e**nt st**e**m suffix was *-j**e**-, add**e**d dir**e**ctly to th**e** consonantal primary st**e**m (t**e**š-**e**- < *t**e**s-j**e**-) and not *-a-j**e**-.\nThe new present stem suffix -******á******- in tes-******á******- is an analogy to děl-******á******- (see dělati in Group 1).\nThe verbs of this group have two sets of the present stem forms (original teše and new tesá).\n\n### tesá ∥ teše – tesal – tesati\n• In the case of common verbs both the new present stem forms (tesá, tesej, etc.) and the original forms (teše, teš, etc.) are commonly in use (e.g. „češe si vlasy – česá ovoce“, „nakluše do práce – kůň klusá“, etc.).\n• In the case of less common verbs the original present stem forms are mostly bookish or dialectal (e.g. „hlad tě opáše“, „břečka kyšíc proměňuje sloučenství“, „vykaše si rukávy“, etc.).\n• The present **i**nd**i**cat**i**ve forms teš**i** and teš**í** (w**i**th end**i**ngs -**i** < -u and -**í** < -ú) are book**i**sh.\n• The present transgressive forms are generally bookish, the forms teše, tešíc even more than tesaje, tesajíc.\n• The infinitive stem forms ****a****re regul****a****r, formed ****a****ccording to děl-****a****-ti, m****a****z-****a****-ti.\nSome other verbs:\n**hlásati :** hlásá, hláše; — **plesati :** plesá, pleše; — **kysati :** kysá, kyše; — **pásati (se) :** pásá, páše (páchá, páše is a different verb) — **kasati :** kasá, kaše — **kolísati :** kolísá, kolíše; — **knísati (se) :** knísá, kníše; — **klouzati :** klouzá, klouže.\n\n### hýbá ∥ hýbe – hýbal – hýbati\n• The new present indicative forms (hýbá, etc.) and the original forms (hýbe, etc.) are equally frequent.\n• The or**i**g**i**nal present **i**nd**i**cat**i**ve forms hýb**i** and hýb**í** (w**i**th end**i**ngs -**i** < -u and -**í** < -ú) are obsolete.\n• The original present transgressive forms (hýbě, hýbíc, etc.) are obsolete.\n• The original imperative forms (hyb, hybte, etc.) are obsolete with some exceptions (e.g. syp, plav).\n• The infinitive stem forms ****a****re regul****a****r, formed ****a****ccording to děl-****a****-ti, m****a****z-****a****-ti.\nSome other verbs:\n**škrabati** ( or škrábati) **:** škrabá, škrabe; – drápati **:** drápá, drápe; – chrápati **:** chrápá, chrápe; – dupati **:** dupá, dupe; – loupati **:** loupá, loupe; – rýpati **:** rýpá, rýpe; – štípati **:** štípá, štípe; – šlapati **:** šlapá, šlape; – chápati **:** chápá, chápe; – sápati **:** sápá, sápe; – skřípati **:** skřípá, skřípe; – šlapati **:** šlapá, šlape; – tápati **:** tápá, tápe; – dřímati **:** dřímá, dříme; – klamati **:** klamá, klame; – lámati **:** lámá, láme; – plavati **:** plavá, plave.\n\n### orá ∥ oře – oral – orati\n• The original present stem forms are generally less frequent, in some cases they are archaic or dialectal („nemajíce sobě zač chleba kúpiti, chodili po domích žebříce“, „proč se v tom šťářeš?“).\n• The present indicative forms oři and oří (with endings -i < -u and -í < -ú) are bookish („polí svých oří“).\n• The infinitive stem forms ****a****re regul****a****r, formed ****a****ccording to děl-****a****-ti, m****a****z-****a****-ti.\nSome other verbs:\n**škemrati :** škemrá, škemře; – **krákorati :** krákorá, krákoře; – **čabrati :** čabrá, čabře; – **šťárati :** šťárá, šťáře; – **babrati :** babrá, babře; – **(s)bírati :** (s)bírá, (s)bíře; – **(u)mírati :** (u)mírá, (u)míře ''impf.\n(umře is perf.); – **(za)vírati :** (za)vírá, (za)víře impf.\n(zavře is perf.)''; – **plápolati :** plápolá, plápole; – **bublati :** bublá, buble; – **huhlati :** huhlá, huhle; – **dudlati :** dudlá, dudle; – **brblati :** brblá, brble; – **frflati :** frflá, frfle.\nExamples of using original forms:\n„ktož uoře (< óře) chtě bohat býti“ — „ten [kůň] vždy vůře“ — „zemí našich nevořeme“ — „jimi [voly] rolí oříce [Egypťané]“ — „ti, kdo pod rouškou horlivosti jiné káří“ — „co žehřeš proti snoubenci svému?“ — „žehří naň všickni“ — „Priamus proti Eneášovi žehře (= žehraje) takto vece“ — „písně svoje skuhřeme“ — „skuhřete, že zle zní naše řeč“ — „pyšný žebrák nic nevyžebře“ — „v zimě žebřú“ — „máš křídla, že krákořeš?“ — „kuře krákoře“ — „ženy jako slepice krákoří“ — „co se s tím babřeš?“ — „škemře o pochopení“ — „šťáře se v uchu“ — „koně kašlou, chrchlí“ — „ve škole všichni chrchlou“.\n\n### pyká ∥ pyče – pykal – pykati\n• The original present stem forms are generally less frequent, in most cases they are bookish or dialectal (e.g. „stýště se duši mé v životě mém“, „nešlechetník nešlechetnost páše“, „matka hrůzou sotva dýše“, „zajíc v lese, a on rožeň strouže“ — „co se mne týče“ = as far as I am concerned (fixed expression) — „když jde pomalu, tak kulže“, „co to říčete?“, „malá furt fňuče“).\n• In the case of the verb pykati the original present stem forms are very archaic (e.g. „jeho [Husovy] smrti velmi pyčí = litují“, „pyčtež mne panny a šlechetné panie = litujtež“, „minulých věcí nepyč = nelituj“).\n• The infinitive stem forms ****a****re regul****a****r, formed ****a****ccording to děl-****a****-ti, m****a****z-****a****-ti.\nSome other verbs:\n**blýskati (se) ****:****** blýská, blýště (*-sk-je- > -ště-); — **lákati ****:****** láká, láče; — **kdákati ****:****** kdáká, kdáče; — **krákati ****:****** kráká, kráče; — **kvákati ****:****** kváká, kváče; — **říkati ****:****** říká, říče; — **smýkati ****:****** smýká, smýče; — st**říkati ****:****** stříká, stříče; — **soukati** < súkati ****:**** souká, souče (dial. súče); — tleskati ****:**** tleská, tleště; — výskati ****:**** výská, výště; — **získati** perf. < †jískati < *jьskati (= hledati) ****:**** získá, zíště (†jíště = hledá); — kulhati ****:**** kulhá, kulže; — páchati ****:**** páchá, páše (pásá, páše is a different verb); — dial. brkati ****:**** brká, brče; — fňukati ****:**** fňuká, fňuče.\n\n### trestá ∥ tresce – trestal – trestati\n• The original present stem forms are either archaic or dialectal (e.g. „padělání se tresce dle zákona“, „vězeň svou pověst šepce dál“, „žabí havěď v potoce pohřební píseň skřehoce“, „komoňové lační boje řehcí“ — „co tady léceš?“, „do úla jim lécou aj vosy“, „husy gagocú“).\n• After losing iotation the imperative forms tresceme, trescete < †treskcěme, treskcěte and the present transgressive form tresce < †treskcě became homophonous with some indicative forms.\nTransition to the new forms has solved the problem.\n• The infinitive stem forms ****a****re regul****a****r, formed ****a****ccording to děl-****a****-ti, m****a****z-****a****-ti.\nSome other verbs:\n**blekotati **:**** blekotá, blekoce; — **breptati **:**** breptá, brepce; — **drkotati **:**** drkotá, drkoce; — **hrkotati **:**** hrkotá, hrkoce; — **chechtati (se) **:**** chechtá, chechce; — **chlemtati **:**** chlemtá, chlemce; — **chrochtati **:**** chrochtá, chrochce; — **chytati **:**** chytá, chyce (only dial.); — **jektati **:**** jektá, jekce; — **klevetati **:**** klevetá, klevece; — **kloktati **:**** kloktá, klokce; — **klokotati **:**** klokotá, klokoce; — **k**lopotati **:****** klopotá, klopoce; — **kutati **:**** kutá, kuce (only dial.); — **lechtati **:**** lechtá, lechce; — **leptati **:**** leptá, lepce; — **létati **:**** létá, léce; — **lopotati **:**** lopotá, lopoce; — **mihotati **:**** mihotá, mihoce; — **řehotati **:**** řehotá, řehoce; — sk**řehotati **:**** skřehotá, skřehoce; — **soptati **:**** soptá, sopce; — **štěbetati** < †ščebetati **:** štěbetá, štěbece; — troskotati (se) **:** troskotá, troskoce; — třepotati **:** třepotá, třepoce; — hvízdati **:** hvízdá, hvíždě (*-zd-je- > -ždě-).\n\n# Athematic (irregular) verbs\nThe verbs with an athematic present stem (být, dáti, jísti, věděti) and míti.\n\n## býti, jsem\n\n## dáti, dám\n\n## jísti, jím\n\n## věděti, vím\n\n## míti, mám\nThe passive participles jměn, jmín, etc. are archaic (\"blázen, mlče, za moudrého jmín bývá\").\n\n# Comments, explanatory notes\n\n## Root vowel mutation (přísti)\nThe verb **přísti** demonstrates a regular root vowel mutation (umlaut) in the roots in which the original Protoslavic root vowel was **-ę-** (nasal **ẽ**):\nHowever the regular pattern shown in the table has been eventually corrupted.\nN****e****w umlaut****e****d forms hav****e**** b****e********e****n cr****e****at****e****d by analogy, alb****e****it th****e****r****e**** was no r****e****ason for umlaut (****e****.g. př****e****du, př****e****dl, ****e****tc.).\nNowadays both original and new forms are in use, with different, regionally dependent frequency.\nThe following table shows the forms that are preferred by majority of the Czech speakers:\n1) all forms in common use are umlauted; non-umlauted forms are used only sporadically („přadlena každý den přadla“)\n2) no umlauted forms are used nowadays; the umlauted verbal noun zm**ě**tení is bookish („babylonské zm**ě**tení jazyků“)\n3) the uml**a**uted infinitive z**í**bst is region**a**l **a**s well **a**s the non-uml**a**uted form z**a**bou („z**a**bou mě nohy“)","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-26T11:55:11.710Z","updated_at":"2025-01-26T11:55:11.710Z","search_vector":"'classif':2 'czech':4 'morpholog':1 'verb':5","search_content":" \n \n\n# \n[Czech](https://bliptext.com/articles/czech-language) [verbs](https://bliptext.com/articles/verb) can be classified (arranged in classes) in several ways.\nThe verbal classes can be characterised in terms of their [morphological](https://bliptext.com/articles/morphology-linguistics) properties.\nVerbs that belong to the same class typically accept the same range of [suffixes (endings)](https://bliptext.com/articles/suffix).\nThis article concerns the morphological classification of the Czech verbs and the formation of their admissible forms (including, to some extent, bookish and archaic ones).\nThe first attempts to classify Czech verbs from the morphological point of view were made in the 16th century, for example in Matouš Benešovský's Grammatica Bohemica from 1577.\n[Vavřinec Benedikt Nudožerský](https://bliptext.com/articles/vavrinec-benedikt-of-nedo-ery) in his work Grammaticæ bohemicæ libri duo (1603) distinguished four classes according to the present indicative ending of the 1st person singular: I. – ám, II.\n– ím, III.\n– u, IV.\n– i. Pavel Doležal in his Grammatica Slavico-Bohemica (1746), inspired by the Latin grammar, for the first time classified the Czech verbs according to the infinitive: I. vol-a-ti (vocāre), II.\nmil-ova-ti (amāre), III.\nlež-e-ti (iacēre), IV.\nuč-i-ti (docēre), V. pí-ti (bibere), VI.\nhr-nou-ti (sēmovēre, āmovēre) and, moreover, verba anomala, i.e. an arbitrary list of several tens of \"irregular\" verbs including the athematic ones.\nThe Czech (and generally [Slavic](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-languages)) verbs have two distinct [stems](https://bliptext.com/articles/word-stem): the [present](https://bliptext.com/articles/present-tense) stem (used in forming [present](https://bliptext.com/articles/present-tense) indicative, [imperative](https://bliptext.com/articles/imperative-mood) and [present](https://bliptext.com/articles/present-tense) [transgressive](https://bliptext.com/articles/transgressive-linguistics)) and the [infinitive](https://bliptext.com/articles/infinitive) stem ([infinitive](https://bliptext.com/articles/infinitive), past and passive [participles](https://bliptext.com/articles/participle), past [transgressive](https://bliptext.com/articles/transgressive-linguistics) and [verbal noun](https://bliptext.com/articles/verbal-noun)).\nBoth stems are equally important and frequent, which means there are two basic possibilities of systematic classification of the Czech (generally Slavic) verbs, based either on the present stems or on the infinitive stems.\nFor comparison the [Latin verbs](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin-conjugation) have three distinct stems (present, perfect, supine) and their classification is traditionally based on the present stem (I. vocā-, II. tenē-, III. leg-(ĕ,ǐ)-, IV. audī-), the infinitive itself is derived from the present stem (vocāre, tenēre, légĕre, audīre).\nAs there are six types of the infinitive stem, there are also six corresponding classes ([Franz Miklosich](https://bliptext.com/articles/franz-miklosich), Formenlehre der slawischen Sprachen, 1856 and [Jan Gebauer](https://bliptext.com/articles/jan-gebauer), Historická mluvnice jazyka českého, 1898), usually arranged in the following manner: I. nés-ti, vés-ti (*ved-ti), péci (*pek-ti), krý-ti, etc. (no stem suffix), II.\ntisk-nou-ti, III.\nslyš-e-ti, trp-ě-ti, um-ě-ti, IV.\npros-i-ti, V. děl-a-ti, sáz-e-ti (*sad-ja-ti), láti (*la-ja-ti), bráti (*bьr-a-ti), kov-a-ti, VI.\nkup-ova-ti.\nThis classification is very similar to the Doležal's one (though the class order is different).\nThe classification based on the present stem (e.g. [August Schleicher](https://bliptext.com/articles/august-schleicher), Formenlehre der kirchenslawischen Sprache, 1852, and esp. [August Leskien](https://bliptext.com/articles/august-leskien), Handbuch der altbulgarischen Sprache, 2nd ed., 1886) distinguishes five classes, the classes I-IV have a distinct present stem suffix: I. nes-e-, ved-e-, jьm-e-, etc., II.\ndvig-ne-, III.\nkry-je-, *tes-je-, dêl-a-je-, *sad-ja-je-, kup-u-je-, IV.\nchval-i-, trъp-i-, V. *jes-, *dad-, *jad-, *vêd- (athematic consonantal present stems).\nThe system presented in this article is a system based on the Leskien's classification, adapted to the contemporary Czech language.\nThe main differences are: a) the few athematic (and highly irregular) verbs are treated separately, b) the contracted děl-á- -ště-); — **lákati ****:****** láká, láče; — **kdákati ****:****** kdáká, kdáče; — **krákati ****:****** kráká, kráče; — **kvákati ****:****** kváká, kváče; — **říkati ****:****** říká, říče; — **smýkati ****:****** smýká, smýče; — st**říkati ****:****** stříká, stříče; — **soukati** -ždě-).\n\n# Athematic (irregular) verbs\nThe verbs with an athematic present stem (být, dáti, jísti, věděti) and míti.\n\n## býti, jsem\n\n## dáti, dám\n\n## jísti, jím\n\n## věděti, vím\n\n## míti, mám\nThe passive participles jměn, jmín, etc. are archaic (\"blázen, mlče, za moudrého jmín bývá\").\n\n# Comments, explanatory notes\n\n## Root vowel mutation (přísti)\nThe verb **přísti** demonstrates a regular root vowel mutation (umlaut) in the roots in which the original Protoslavic root vowel was **-ę-** (nasal **ẽ**):\nHowever the regular pattern shown in the table has been eventually corrupted.\nN****e****w umlaut****e****d forms hav****e**** b****e********e****n cr****e****at****e****d by analogy, alb****e****it th****e****r****e**** was no r****e****ason for umlaut (****e****.g. př****e****du, př****e****dl, ****e****tc.).\nNowadays both original and new forms are in use, with different, regionally dependent frequency.\nThe following table shows the forms that are preferred by majority of the Czech speakers:\n1) all forms in common use are umlauted; non-umlauted forms are used only sporadically („přadlena každý den přadla“)\n2) no umlauted forms are used nowadays; the umlauted verbal noun zm**ě**tení is bookish („babylonské zm**ě**tení jazyků“)\n3) the uml**a**uted infinitive z**í**bst is region**a**l **a**s well **a**s the non-uml**a**uted form z**a**bou („z**a**bou mě nohy“)","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}

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