Czech verbs express three absolute tenses - past, present and future. Relativity can be expressed by the aspect, sentence constructions and participles.

The present tense can be expressed in imperfective verbs only.

Present tense

The present tense is formed by special endings:

Person

Singular

Plural

1.

-m/-i/-u

-me

2.

-š

-te

3.

-á/-í/-e

-ají/-(ej)í/-ou

Verbs are divided into 5 classes according to the way of forming the present tense.

Past tense

The past tense is formed by the past participle (in a proper gender form) and present forms of the verb být (to be) which are omitted in the 3rd person. The following example is for the male gender (animate in plural):

Person

Singular

Plural

1.

dělal jsem

dělali jsme

2.

dělal jsi

dělali jste

3.

dělal

dělali

Dělat - to do

Future tense

In imperfective verbs, it is formed by the future forms of the verb být (to be) and the infinitive:

Person

Singular

Plural

1.

budu dělat

budeme dělat

2.

budeš dělat

budete dělat

3.

bude dělat

budou dělat

Dělat - to do

Budu, budeš, … with infinitive has the same meaning as “(I, you, …) will” in English. If not followed by an infinitive, it means “(I, you, …) will be” (i.e. I will be = budu, not budu být).

In some verbs of motion, the future tense is formed by adding the prefix po-/pů- to the present form:

půjdu - I will be going, ponesu - I will be bearing, povezu - I will be carrying

In perfective verbs, the present form expresses the future. Compare:

budu dělat - I will be doing

udělám - I will do, I will have done

 

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