Verbs: Past 1 is the 26th skill (assuming read left to right) of the Czech language tree. This skill introduces the Czech past tense.
Grammar Notes[]
Czech only has one past tense. The simplest form is for the male third person singular. Here the past tense for most verbs is obtained by replacing the –t of the infinitive with an –l. The other third person past tense verbs are then formed by inflecting for number and gender of the subject. As an example:
| Number/Gender | Inflected ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Sg. M (on) | -l | hledal |
| Sg. F (ona) | -la | hledala |
| Sg. N (ono) | -lo | hledalo |
| Pl. M-a (oni) | -li | hledali |
| Pl. F/M-i (ony) | -ly | hledaly |
| Pl. N (ona) | -la | hledala |
To form past tenses for 1st and 2nd person, we add the auxiliary verb být inflected for person and number:
| Number/Person | Auxiliary |
|---|---|
| Sg. 1st (já) | jsem |
| Sg. Informal 2nd (ty) | jsi (-s) |
| Pl. 1st (my) | jsme |
| Pl./Formal 2nd (vy) | jste |
Notes:
- The past-tense auxiliary is always placed at the second position of a sentence. It is an obligatory enclitic with the highest priority for this position, overriding, for example, the reflexive se.
- The informal 2nd person auxiliary, the –s form, is simply an s which is attached to the end of a word in the first position, often a verb, pronoun, or question word. E.g.
- Byls tady včera? (Were you here yesterday?)
- Kdes to hledala? (Where were you looking for it?) [Informal, addressing a female.]
- The formal 2nd person forms are inconsistent in the past tense. We use the plural auxiliary with one of the singular gendered l-forms depending on context. Examples:
- Františku, kde jste hledal Kateřinu? (František, where did you look for Kateřina?) [Formal address of a male. Note singular -l and not -li to refer to him alone.]
- Žofie a Matěj hledali své dítě. (Žofie and Matěj were looking for their child.) [Plural M-a form because at least one member of the group is masculine animate.]
- Hledala jsem ho tady. (I looked for him/it here.) [Female speaker.]
Lessons[]
Lesson 1[]
- Byl tvůj dědeček vysoký? = Was your grandfather tall?
- Jak dlouhé byly ty dva kabáty? = How long were those two coats?
- Které ženy tady včera byly? = Which women were here yesterday?
- Čí auto to bylo? = Whose car was it?
- Kteří chlapci tady včera byli? = Which boys were here yesterday?
- Její manžel byl tady včera. = Her husband was here yesterday.
- To byla jeho poslední slova. = These were his last words.
- Já jsem byl její muž. = I was her husband.
- Byla to dobrá žena. = She was a good woman.
- Jak stará byla? = How old was she?
- Jaké barvy byl ten automobil? = What color was that car?
- Jaké barvy bylo to auto? = What color was that car?
- Její jméno bylo velmi dlouhé. = Her name was very long.
- Tyto knihy byly příliš dlouhé. = These books were too long.
- Včera tady bylo jiné děvče. = Yesterday there was a different girl here.
- Naše děti ještě byly malé. = Our children were still small.
- František a Matěj byli bratři. = Frantisek and Matej were brothers.
- Matěj a František nebyli bratři. = Frantisek and Matej were not brothers.
- To byl František. = That was Frantisek.
Lesson 2[]
- Byl jste to vy, Františku? = Was it you, Frantisek?
- Byls tady včera? = Were you here yesterday?
- Byla jsi tam? = Have you been there?
- Bylas tam? = Were you there?
- Byli jsme mladí! = We were young!
- Kdo byli ti lidé? = Who were those people?
- Ty jsi tam včera byla. = You were there yesterday.
- Kde jste včera byli? = Where were you yesterday?
- Byls tehdy zvláštní. = You were strange then.
- Byla jsem jeho žena. = I was his wife.
- Já jsem byl její muž. = I was his husband.
- Byls velmi dobrý manžel. = You were a very good husband.
- Byl jsem mladý. = I was young.
- Byli jsme velmi rádi. = We were very glad.
- Byl jste tady nový. = You were new here.
- Byl jsi tady nový. = You were new here.
- Tehdy jsi byl mladý muž. = You were a young man then.
- Bylas tehdy ráda. = You were glad then.
- Bylas už tehdy ma manželka. = You were even then my wife.
Lesson 3[]
- Ty žluté svetry nebyly dost velké. = These yellow sweaters were not big enough.
- Nebyla jsem to já. = It was not me.
- Nebyl jsem to já. = It was not me.
- Nebylas ještě vdaná. = You were not yet married yet.
- Nebylas ještě ženatý. = You were not yet married yet.
- Nebylo co jíst! = There was nothing to eat.
- Nebylo se na co dívat! = There was nothing to look at.
- Matěj a Kateřina nebyli manželé. = Matej and Katerina were not husband and wife.
- Kateřina a Žofie nebyly sestry. = Kateřina and Žofie were not sisters.
- Kateřina a Žofie byly sestřenice. = Katerina and Zofie were cousins.
- Ta žena nebyla Žofie ale Kateřina. = That woman was not Žofie but Kateřina.
- Nebyls nikdy příliš vysoký. = You were never too tall.
- Nebylas poslední. = You weren't the last.
- Ta prasata nebyla dost velká. = Those pigs were not big enough.
- Ty knihy tady včera nebyly. = Those books were not here yesterday.
- To nebylo pivo. = It was not beer.
- Už jste tam nebyla. = You were not there anymore.
- Už jste tam nebyli. = You were not there anymore.
- Už jste tam nebyly. = You were not there anymore.
- Už jsi tam nebylas. = You were not there anymore.
- Už jsi tam nebyl. = You were not there anymore.
- Ještě jsme tam nebyli. = We haven't been there yet.
- Ještě nikde nebyl. = He has not been anywhere yet.
- Ještě vůbec nikde nebyl. = He has not been anywhere at all.
- Nebylas tady. = You were not here.
- Neměl jsem hlad. = I was not hungry.
- To nebyla příliš dobrá kniha. = That was not a very good book.
Lesson 4[]
- Babička měla syna a dvě dcery. = Granny had a son and two daughters.
- Tvoje prase tady hledalo žrádlo. = Your pig was looking for food here.
- Kde nás hledali? = Where were they looking for us?
- Koho jste hledal? = Who were you looking for?
- Tři domy jsem nepotřeboval. = I did not need three houses.
- Včera jsme měly žízeň. = We were thirsty yesterday.
- Včera jsme měli žízeň. = We were thirsty yesterday.
- Pil jste vodu? = Were you drinking water.
- Pila jste vodu? = Were you drinking water.
- Vy jste pili vodu? = Were you drinking water.
- Potřebovali jsme nové stroje. = We needed new machines.
- Vždy jsem chtěl medvěda. = I have always wanted a bear.
- Ne, tebe jsem nehledal. = No, I was not looking for you.
- Kateřina tě hledala. = Kateřina was looking for you.
- Hledala tě Kateřina. = Kateřina was looking for you.
- Co jedlo to děvče? = What was that girl eating?
- Ne, včera už příliš nepili. = No, yesterday they were no longer drinking too much.
- Ráno kávu neměli. = They did not have coffee in the morning.
- Díky, já jsem už jedla. = Thanks, I have already eaten.
- Díky, už jsem jedl. = Thanks, I have already eaten.
- Proč ses na ni tak díval? = Why were you looking at her like that?
- Potřebovala někde bydlet. = She needed to live somewhere.
Lesson 5[]
- Viděla jste to už? = Have you seen it?
- Už mluvila. = She was speaking already.
- Už nemluvil. = He was not speaking any more.
- Ještě jsem to neviděla. = I have not seen it yet.
- Já jsem nemluvil příliš často = I didn't speak too often.
- Žofie se asi nedívala. = Zofie probably was not looking.
- Vůbec jsem ji neznal. = I did not know her at all.
- Znali toho chlapce tvoji rodiče? = Did your parents know that boy?
- Spali jsme jinde. = We slept somewhere else.
- Moje babička to město znala velmi dobře. = My grandmother knew that city very well.
- Byl jsem černá ovce rodiny. = I was the black sheep of the family.
- Černou ovci jsem už viděl. = I have already seen a black sheep.
- Včera nás viděli. = They saw us yesterday.
- Včera jsem nespal. = I did not sleep yesterday.
- Kde jste tehdy bydlel? = Where did you live back then?
- Kde jste tehdy bydleli? = Where did you live back then?
- Já jsem tady nikdy nebydlel. = I have never lived here.
- Tady její babička bydlela. = Her grandmother lived here.
- Tady bydlela její babička. = Her grandmother lived here.
- Dívala ses? = Did you watch?
- Ty ses ale díval! = But you were looking!
- Kde jsi spala? = Where did you sleep?
- Nechtěla mít děti, ale má čtyři. = She did not want to have children, but has four.
Lesson 6[]
- Proč jste to dělal tak pomalu? = Why did you do it so slowly?
- Co jsi tam dělala? = What were you doing there?
- Snažili jsme se jíst. = We were trying to eat.
- Také jsme to dělaly. = We were also doing that.
- Ani se nesnažil! = He was not even trying!
- Snažil ses? = Were you trying?
- Celý den jsem četla knihy. = I was reading books the whole day.
- Matěj celou noc četl. = Matej was reading all night.
- Celou noc psala. = She was writing all night.
- Celý den jsme psali dopisy. = We were writing letters all day.
- Psal jsem ten dopis celý den. = I was writing that letter the whole day.
- Já jsem celý den četl tvoje dopisy. = I was reading your letters all day.
Lesson 7[]
- Šli jsme hodně rychle. = We were walking very fast.
- Moje sestry šly dělat polévku. = My sisters went to make soup.
- Ta prasata vážila hodně. = Those pigs weighed a lot.
- Kdo tam jel? = Who went there?
- Brali se velmi mladí. = They got married very young.
- Chtěl tam jít, ale nešel. He wanted to go there but didn't.
- Kam šel? = Where did he go?
- Příliš rychle jsem nejel. = I was not going too fast.
- Jela tam jeho dcera. = His daughter went there.
- Matěj tam sěl včera. = Matěj went there yesterday.
- František a Matěj slí hledat svou kočku. = Frantisek and Matej went to look for their cat.
- Kateřino, proč sis brala Františka? = Katerina, why did you marry Frantisek?
- Vážil sis svého dědečka? = Did you respect your grandmother?
- Matěje sis nevážila. = You did not respect Matej.
- Kdy se brali? = When did they get married?
Lesson 8[]
- Toto děvče už napsalo čtyři knihy! = This girl has already written four books!
- Kde jsi koupila tento sýr? = Where did you buy this cheese?
- Včera jsem přečetla celou knihu. = Yesterday I read an entire book.
- Koupil ten stroj Matěj nebo František? = Did Matej or Frantisek buy that machine?
- Žofie rychle snědla tři hrušky. = Zofie quickly ate three pears.
- Vy jste ale nepřečetly celý dopis! = But you did not read the entire letter!
- Kdo snědl moje jablko? = Who ate my apple?
- Příliš mnoho mléka jsme nekoupili. = We did not buy too much milk.
- Přečetl to slovo špatně. = He read the word wrong.
- Ještě jsem ten dopis nenapsala. = I haven't written the letter yet.
- Napsal jsi už ten dopis? = Have you written the letter yet?
- Ty jsi vypila všechno moje pivo! = You drank all my beer!
- Proč jste vypili všechno mléko? = Why did you drink all the milk?
- Kdo vypil všechno mléko? = Who drank all the milk?
- Matěj zase snědl všechno maso! = Matěj ate all the meat!
References[]