Past Tense (Minulý čas)
The past tense in Czech is used to describe actions that happened in the past.
It covers both what in English would be “simple past” (I did) and “present perfect” (I have done). Czech does not make this distinction.
Mood:
- Indicative mood = real situations, facts, events
Aspect:
- Imperfective verbs = describe ongoing, repeated, or unfinished past actions
- Perfective verbs = describe single, completed past actions
Voice:
- Active voice is the standard in everyday Czech past tense.
Formation
The past tense is formed using the past participle (l-participle) + a present tense form of být (to be).
The auxiliary být is often dropped in the 3rd person.
Example verb: pracovat (“to work”)
| Person | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| já (I) | pracoval jsem / pracovala jsem | I worked |
| ty (you sg.) | pracoval jsi / pracovala jsi | you worked |
| on (he) | pracoval (auxiliary often dropped) | he worked |
| ona (she) | pracovala | she worked |
| ono (it) | pracovalo | it worked |
| my (we) | pracovali jsme | we worked |
| vy (you pl./formal) | pracovali jste | you worked |
| oni/ony (they) | pracovali / pracovaly | they worked |
- Affirmative: Já jsem pracoval (I worked)
- Negative: Já jsem nepracoval (I did not work)
- Interrogative: Pracoval jsi? (Did you work?)
Usage
- Completed actions in the past
- Včera jsem pracoval. (I worked yesterday.)
- Ongoing or repeated actions in the past (with imperfective verbs)
- Když jsem byl malý, často jsem pracoval na zahradě. (When I was little, I often worked in the garden.)
- Narration of events
- Přišel, viděl, zvítězil. (He came, he saw, he conquered.)
Examples
- Affirmative: Ona pracovala v nemocnici. (She worked in a hospital.)
- Negative: On nepracoval celý týden. (He did not work all week.)
- Interrogative: Pracovali jste tam dlouho? (Did you work there long?)
Notes
- The -l / -la / -li endings mark the past participle and are the core signal of the past tense.
- The auxiliary být (“to be”) is often omitted in the 3rd person.
- Negatives are formed with ne- added to the verb.
- Word order can shift in Czech for emphasis, but the verb forms remain the same.
Common Time Expressions
| Expression | Example |
|---|---|
| včera (yesterday) | Včera jsem pracoval. (I worked yesterday.) |
| minulý týden (last week) | Minulý týden jsme pracovali hodně. (We worked a lot last week.) |
| před rokem (a year ago) | Před rokem pracovala v Praze. (She worked in Prague a year ago.) |
| když (when) | Když jsem byl dítě, pracoval jsem venku. (When I was a child, I worked outside.) |
Irregular Verbs
Some verbs are irregular in the past tense:
- být (to be) → byl, byla, bylo, byli
- jít (to go) → šel, šla, šlo, šli
- nést (to carry) → nesl, nesla, neslo, nesli
- mít (to have) → měl, měla, mělo, měli
- vědět (to know) → věděl, věděla, vědělo, věděli
- chtít (to want) → chtěl, chtěla, chtělo, chtěli
These irregular forms must be memorized, as they are very frequent in everyday Czech.
