Saturday, 26 October 2013

Lesson 6– Verb conjugations (basics, division)

 There are four verb groups in Czech (and some +/- million exceptions). It might be less difficult for those who speak French because both Czech and French have very similar systems.

    As I mentioned before, every single Czech verb infinitive ends in -t. But to recognize what group it belongs in you need to learn which suffixes indicate what group. Each group has its vary conjugation suffixes for each pronoun/person.

GROUP I

Suffixes -at and -átFor example "hádat" (to guess), "dát" (to give).

Já          hádám/ dávám        My          hádáme/ dáváme
Ty         hádáš/ dáváš            Vy           hádáte/ dáváte
On/a/o  hádá/ dává                Oni/y/a    hádají/ dávají

GROUP II

Suffixes -ovat-ít and -ýt. Verbs like "darovat" (to give, to dedicate), "šít" (to sew), "mýt" (to wash).

Já          daruji/ šiji/ myji*               My         darujeme/ šijeme/ myjeme
Ty          daruješ/ šiješ/ myješ     Vy          darujete/ šijete/ myjete
On/a/o   daruje/ šije/ myje            Oni/y/a    darují/ šijí/ myjí
*Czechs often use ending -ju instead of -ji when speaking but it's incorrect, nevertheless tolerated. We never use the suffix -ju in written form.

GROUP III

Suffixes -it, -et and -ět. Verbs such as "platit" (to pay, to be accurate/in effect), "válet" '(to roll, to rock [slang]), "rozumět" (to understatnd).

Já            platím/ válím/ rozumím          My          platíme/ válíme/ rozumíme
Ty           platíš/ válíš/ rozumíš               Vy           platíte/ válíte/ rozumíte
On/a/o    platí/ válí/ rozumí                      Oni/y/a    platí/ válí/ rozumí

GROUP IV

Suffixes -ést and -ci. For instance "nést" (to carry), "moci" (can, to be able to, to be allowed to).

Já             nesu/ můžu (mohu*)       My         neseme/ můžeme
Ty            neseš/ můžeš                    Vy          nesete/ můžete
On/a/o     nese/ může                          Oni/y/a    nesou/ můžou (mohou*)
* these forms are archaic but still you can hear them from elders or when somebody wants to be deemed an educated man.


      As regards the exceptions, most of them can be classified in these groups, the only problem is that they don't end in those suffixes listed above.

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