The most common and productive verb class in Czech. New verbs entering the language almost always adopt this pattern.
How to Identify
Look for infinitives ending in -at: dělat, hrát, čekat, volat. The 'a' before 't' is the key marker.
Remove -at from the infinitive to get the stem. For 'dělat', the stem is 'děl-'. Some verbs like 'hrát' have a vowel change: hrát → hraj-.
Why Endings Encode the Subject
Czech inherited rich verb morphology from Proto-Slavic. Each ending uniquely identifies the subject, making pronouns optional. 'Dělám' can only mean 'I do'—the -ám ending encodes first person singular. This allows Czech incredible word order flexibility that English lost centuries ago.
Notice the long 'á' vowel throughout the paradigm (except -ají). This is the signature of -at verbs. If you see these endings, you know the infinitive ends in -at.
| Person | Pronoun | English | Ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | já | I | -ám |
| 2nd sg. | ty | you (sg.) | -áš |
| 3rd sg. | on/ona/ono | he/she/it | -á |
| 1st pl. | my | we | -áme |
| 2nd pl. | vy | you (pl./formal) | -áte |
| 3rd pl. | oni/ony/ona | they | -ají |
Past participle: -al/-ala/-alo
Example Verbs4
Present Tense
Past Tense (with gender)
děl-Remove -at: dělat → děl-. Add endings directly to this stem.
Present Tense
Past Tense (with gender)
hraj-Stem vowel changes: hrát → hraj-. The 'j' appears in conjugation.
Present Tense
Past Tense (with gender)
ček-Remove -at: čekat → ček-. Regular stem formation.
Present Tense
Past Tense (with gender)
vol-Remove -at: volat → vol-. Regular stem.