Czech verbs can be classified (arranged in classes) in several ways. The verbal classes can be characterised in terms of their morphological properties. Verbs that belong to the same class typically accept the same range of suffixes (endings). This article concerns the morphological classification of the Czech verbs and the formation of their admissible forms (including, to some extent, literary and archaic ones).
The 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. Vavřinec Benedikt Nudožerský in his work Grammaticæ bohemicæ libri duo (1603) distinguished four classes according to the present indicative ending of the 1st person singular: . 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. (), II. (), III. (), IV. (), V. (), VI. () and, moreover, , i.e. an arbitrary list of several tens of "irregular" verbs including the athematic ones.
The Czech (and generally Slavic) verbs have two distinct stems: the present stem (used in forming present indicative, imperative and present transgressive) and the infinitive stem (infinitive, past and passive participles, past transgressive and verbal noun). Both 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. For comparison the Latin verbs have three distinct stems (present, perfect, supine) and their classification is traditionally based on the present stem (I. , II. , III. , IV. ), the infinitive itself is derived from the present stem ().
As there are six types of the infinitive stem, there are also six corresponding classes (Franz Miklosich, Formenlehre der slawischen Sprachen, 1856 and Jan Gebauer, Historická mluvnice jazyka českého, 1898), usually arranged in the following manner: I. , etc. (no stem suffix), II. , III. , IV. , V. , VI. . This classification is very similar to the Doležal's one (though the class order is different).
The classification based on the present stem (e.g. August Schleicher, Formenlehre der kirchenslawischen Sprache, 1852, and esp. August Leskien, Handbuch der altbulgarischen Sprache, 2nd ed., 1886) distinguishes five classes, the classes I-IV have a distinct present stem suffix: I. , etc., II. , III. , IV. , V. (athematic consonantal present stems).
The system presented in this article is a system based on the Leskien's classification, adapted to the contemporary Czech language. The main differences are: a) the few athematic (and highly irregular) verbs are treated separately, b) the contracted has moved from the class III to a new class V, c) the contracted has moved from the class III to the class IV.
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 < †nes-ú < *nes-ǫ-tъ).
+ Class I — endings of the present forms sing. plur.ind. pres. 1. -u 2. -eš 3. -e 1. -eme 2. -ete 3. -ouimp.1) 2. 3. -Ø 1. -me 2. -teimp.2) 2. 3. -i 1. -ěme3) 2. -ěte3)pres. transgr. m. -a f. n. -ouc m. f. n. -ouce 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 3) after some consonants the original iotation has been lost, e.g. třete < †třěte (so 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. + Class I — division Group 1 no infinitive stem suffix, infinitive stem (= primary stem) ends in a consonant2 no infinitive stem suffix, infinitive stem ends in a vowel3 infinitive stem suffix -a-
Group 1
The infinitive stem has no suffix and is equal to the primary stem that ends in a consonant (nes-, vez-, ved-, plet-, pek-, moh-, záb-).
nese – nesl – nésti The primary stem ends in s or z (nes-, vez-). + pers. ind. pres. sing. ind. pres. plur. imper. sing. imper. plur.1. nesu neseme — nesme2. neseš nesete nes neste3. nese nesou nes (nesiž) — participlespast nesl nesla neslo nesli nesly neslapass. nesen nesena neseno neseni neseny nesena transgressivespres. nesa nesouc nesoucepast (od)nes (od)nesši (od)nesše infinitive verbal noun nésti nesení + Other verbs of this type inf. ind. pres. imper. pres. tr. part. past tr. pásti pasu, paseš pas, paste pasa pásl, pasen (pro)pás třásti třesu ∥ třasu1), třeseš třes, třeste třesa ∥ třasa1) třásl, třesen (za)třás vézti vezu, vezeš vez, vezte veza vezl, vezen (od)vez lézti lezu, lezeš lez, lezte leza lezl, lezen (vy)lez hrýzti2) hryzu, hryzeš hryz, hryzte hryza hryzl, hryzen (vy)hryz 1) for třesu ↔ třasu, etc. see Root vowel mutation (přísti) 2) hrýzti (hryze) is archaic („svědomí je hryze“, OCz „črvie mě hryzú“ = me vermes rodunt) → replaced by hryzati (hryže), obs. hrýzati (hrýže)
vede – vedl – vésti
The primary stem ends in d or t (ved-, plet-). The infinitive ends in -sti (vésti < *ved-ti, plésti < *plet-ti).
+ pers. ind. pres. sing. ind. pres. plur. imper. sing. imper. plur.1. vedu vedeme — veďme2. vedeš vedete veď veďte3. vede vedou veď (vediž) — participlespast vedl vedla vedlo vedli vedly vedlapass. veden vedena vedeno vedeni vedeny vedena transgressivespres. veda vedouc vedoucepast (od)ved (od)vedši (od)vedše infinitive verbal noun vésti < *ved-ti vedení
+ Some other verbs of this type inf. ind. pres. imper. pres. tr. part. past tr. krásti kradu, kradeš kraď, kraďte krada kradl, kraden (u)krad housti hudu, hudeš huď, huďte huda hudl, huden (za)hud břísti bředu, bředeš břeď, břeďte bředa bředl, bředen (za)břed plésti pletu, pleteš pleť, pleťte pleta pletl, pleten (u)plet mésti metu, meteš meť, meťte meta metl, meten (za)met másti matu, mateš mať, maťte mata mátl, maten (z)mát hnísti hnětu, hněteš hněť, hněťte hněta hnětl, hněten (u)hnět růsti1) rostu, rosteš rosť, rosťte rosta rostl, (rosten) (vy)rost 1) růsti < *orst-ti: pass. part. rosten is not in use, there is a noun růst instead of rostení
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). + pers. ind. pres. sing. ind. pres. plur. imper. sing. imper. plur.1. peku pečeme — pecme2. pečeš pečete pec pecte3. peče pekou pec (peciž) — participlespast pekl pekla peklo pekli pekly peklapass. pečen pečena pečeno pečeni pečeny pečena transgressivespres. peka pekouc pekoucepast (u)pek (u)pekši (u)pekše infinitive verbal noun péci < *pek-ti pečení Modern Czech uses the forms peču, pečou, peč, péct instead of the archaic (and very rare) peku, pekou, pec, péci and můžu, můžou, (-mož), moct instead of mohu, mohou, -moz, moci.
+ Other verbs of this type inf. ind. pres. imper. pres. tr. part. past tr. noun téci teku, tečeš tec, tecte teka tekl, tečen (vy)tek tečení tlouci tluku, tlučeš tluc, tlucte tluka tloukl, tlučen (vy)tlouk tlučení říci řku, řčeš1) rci, rcete1) řka1) řekl, řečen (do)řek řečení moci mohu, můžeš -moz, -mozte moha mohl, možen (vy)moh -možení stříci (se) střehu, střežeš střez, střezte střeha střehl, střežen (vy)střeh střežení stříci2) střihu, střižeš střiz, střizte střiha střihl, střižen (vy)střih střižení žíci3) žhu, žžeš žzi, žzete žha žehl, žžen (se)žeh žžení 1) 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. stříci (střiže) → replaced by stříhati (stříhá), -střihnouti (-střihne) 3) arch. žíci (žže) → replaced by other verbs: žhnouti (žhne), -žehnouti (-žehne), páliti (pálí)
zebe • zábl – zábsti The primary stem ends in b or p (zeb-, tep-). The infinitive ends in -s-ti (inserted s). + pers. ind. pres. sing. ind. pres. plur. imper. sing. imper. plur.1. zebu zebeme — zebme2. zebeš zebete zeb zebte3. zebe zebou zeb (zebiž) — participlespast zábl zábla záblo zábli zábly záblapass. (zeben, zebena, zebeno) (zebeni, zebeny, zebena) transgressivespres. zeba zebouc zeboucepast (za)záb (za)zábši (za)zábše infinitive verbal noun zábsti zebení Note: In a similar conjugation, now obsolete, the primary stem ended in v, e.g. žíti (živ-e) < *živti (cf. živoucí, život) → replaced by žíti (ži-je), similarly pléti (plev-e) < *plevti (cf. plevel) → replaced by plíti (ple-je), see Class III. The verbs of this type are obsolete except zábsti that is still in use. + Archaic (now obsolete) verbs of this type inf. ind. pres. imper. pres. tr. part. past tr. hřébsti1) hřebu, hřebeš hřeb, hřebte hřeba hřebl, hřeben (po)hřeb skúbsti2) skubu, skubeš skub, skubte skuba skubl, skuben (vy)skub dlúbsti3) dlubu, dlubeš dlub, dlubte dluba dlubl, dluben (vy)dlub tépsti4) tepu, tepeš tep, tepte tepa tepl, tepen (vy)tep 1) arch. hřébsti or hřésti (hřebe) → replaced by pohřbívati (pohřbívá), pohřbíti (pohřbí) 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)
Group 2
The infinitive stem has no distinctive suffix and ends in a vowel (ja-, tře-, mle-).
jme • jal – jíti (-níti) → jmouti The original stem ended in m or n (*em-, *pen-, *dom-). The present stems: jme- < *j-ьm-e-, pne- < *pьn-e-, dme- < *dъm-e-, etc. The original infinitive: *j-ę-ti < *em-, *pę-ti < *pen-, *dǫ-ti < *dom-, etc. + pers. ind. pres. sing. ind. pres. plur. imper. sing. imper. plur.1. jmu jmeme — jměme2. jmeš jmete jmi jměte3. jme jmou jmi (jmiž) — participlespast jal jala jalo jali jaly jalapass. jat jata jato jati jaty jato transgressivespres. jma jmouc jmoucepast (za)jav (za)javši (za)javše infinitive verbal noun jíti (-níti) < †jieti < *jęti → jmouti (za)jetí, (od)nětí → (na)jmutí N.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. The 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).
+ Other verbs of this types inf. ind. pres. imper. pres. tr. part. past tr. noun vzíti vezmu < *vъz-ьmǫ vezmi, vezměte — vzal, vzat vzav vzetí -číti -čnu < *čьnǫ -čni, -čněte -čna -čal, -čat (po)čav -četí píti1) → pnouti pnu < *pьnǫ pni, pněte pna pjal, pjat (se)pjav pětí títi → tnouti tnu < *tьnǫ tni, tněte tna ťal, ťat (s)ťav tětí žíti → žnouti žnu < †žňu < *žьnjǫ žni, žněte žna žal, žat (na)žav žetí míti2) → mnouti mnu < *mьnǫ mni, mněte mna — — — klíti3) → klnouti klnu < *klьnǫ klň, klňte klna klel, klet (klat) (pro)klev kletí douti4) → dmouti dmu < *dъmǫ dmi, dměte dma dul, dut (na)duv dutí 1) 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).