What Is Verb Aspect in Czech?
In Czech, verbs come in two aspects:
Perfective (dokonavý) – focuses on the completion of an action.
Imperfective (nedokonavý) – focuses on the process or repetition of an action.
Comparing Perfective and Imperfective Verbs
To understand the difference, let’s look at an example:
| English Meaning | Imperfective (Process, Habitual) | Perfective (Completed Action) |
|---|---|---|
| To write | Psát → “Píšu e-mail.” (I’m writing an email.) | Napsat → “Napíšu e-mail.” (I’ll write the email.) |
| To read | Číst → “Čtu knihu.” (I’m reading a book.) | Přečíst → “Přečtu knihu.” (I’ll read the book completely.) |
| To pay | Platit → “Platím účet.” (I pay the bill regularly.) | Zaplatit → “Zaplatím účet.” (I’ll pay the bill once.) |
How Czech Forms Perfective Verbs
Czech often forms perfective verbs by adding a prefix to an imperfective verb:
Psát (to write) → Napsat (to write and finish)
Číst (to read) → Přečíst (to read completely)
Platit (to pay) → Zaplatit (to pay and finish)
Čistit (to clean) → Vyčistit (to clean completely)
However, prefixes can sometimes change the meaning of the verb, not just its aspect:
Psát (to write) → Odepsat (to reply in writing)
Podepsat (to sign)
Popsat (to describe)
Imperfective Verbs Can Be Formed by Changing the Suffix
To go from perfective back to imperfective, Czech often changes the suffix:
| Perfective | Imperfective |
| Podepsat (to sign) | Podepisovat (to be signing) |
| Odepsat (to reply) | Odepisovat (to be replying) |
| Popsat (to describe) | Popisovat (to be describing) |
| Dát (to give) | Dávat (to be giving) |
| Říct (to say) | Říkat (to be saying) |
Perfective Verbs Have No Present Tense!
This is a key difference between the two aspects:
✅ Imperfective verbs can be used in the present, past, and future:
“Čistím zrcadlo.” → (I am cleaning the mirror.) (present)
“Čistil jsem zrcadlo.” → (I was cleaning the mirror.) (past)
“Budu čistit zrcadlo.” → (I will be cleaning the mirror.) (future)
❌ Perfective verbs have no present tense! Instead, their “present” form actually refers to the future:
“Vyčistil jsem zrcadlo.” → (I cleaned the mirror.) (past)
“Vyčistím zrcadlo.” → (I will clean the mirror.) (future)
If a verb describes a completed action, it cannot happen right now—it must refer to either the past or the future.
Note:
Although perfective verbs don’t have true present-tense forms, in some specific cases, you might encounter perfective verbs being used to describe actions that happen in the present — especially when expressing occasional or habitual actions.
For example: „Bob semtam umyje nádobí.” – Bob does the dishes now and then.
Here, umyje is a perfective verb that technically expresses future tense, but in this case it’s used to describe a repeating completed action that happens from time to time — still rooted in the idea of completion.
These uses are more advanced and less common, and we’ll cover them in more detail in a future post/video.
Watch the Full Video Explanation
If you prefer a visual explanation with more examples, watch my video below:
Download materials from the video here:
Summary of Czech Verb Aspect
- Perfective verbs focus on completed actions and do not have a present tense.
- Imperfective verbs focus on ongoing or repeated actions and can be used in all tenses.
- Perfective verbs are often formed by adding prefixes.
- Imperfective verbs can be formed by changing the suffix.
- Some prefixes change both aspect and meaning.
The system of Czech verbs is complex, and aspect is one of the most crucial parts to understand. Unlike English, Czech has a limited number of tenses, so aspect plays a major role in expressing whether an action is completed or ongoing. In this post, we’ll break down perfective and imperfective verbs in Czech, how they work, and how to use them correctly.