Czech Verb Conjugation

Czech verbs are categorized into four main classes based on their present-tense endings. The verbal aspect system — perfective vs. imperfective — is central to Czech grammar, with most verbs existing as aspect pairs that share a root but differ in prefix or suffix.

The Four Classes: Class I verbs end in -e (nese), Class II in -ne (tiskne), Class III in -je (kupuje), and Class IV in -í (prosí). Identifying the class tells you which endings to use across all tenses.

Past Tense: Czech past tense uses an L-participle that agrees in gender and number, combined with auxiliary forms of "být" (dropped in 3rd person). This means "he did" and "she did" have different verb forms — a feature English speakers must get used to.