The Polite vy and Verb Agreement | Czech Grammar

Czech has two words for "you": informal ty and formal vy. When to use each — the social etiquette — is covered in full on the tykání and vykání page. This page handles the grammar: how the polite vy declines, why it drags a plural verb along even for a single person, and the one genuinely tricky point — why the verb is plural but the participle or adjective stays singular and gendered.

vy is grammatically plural

The key fact, and the source of every downstream rule: the polite vy is identical in form to plural "you all," and it stays grammatically plural even when you're speaking to one single person. It is not "a polite singular pronoun" — it is literally "you (plural)," repurposed as a mark of respect.

That means the finite verb always takes its plural ending (the -te ending), whether you're addressing a crowd or one stranger.

Informal (ty, one friend)	Formal (vy, one stranger)	Meaning
Co děláš?	Co děláte?	What are you doing?
Kde bydlíš?	Kde bydlíte?	Where do you live?
Máš čas?	Máte čas?	Do you have time?
Můžeš mi pomoct?	Můžete mi pomoct?	Can you help me?

Promiňte, máte chvíli? Potřeboval bych poradit.

Excuse me, do you have a moment? I could use some advice.

Pane doktore, co mi doporučujete?

Doctor, what do you recommend?

💡

Never let the plural slip to singular with vy. To one stranger it is Jste…? and Máte…?, never Jsi…? or Máš…? — the singular verb is the unmistakable sound of being too familiar.

How vy declines

Like every Czech pronoun, vy changes case. These are the forms you'll need for "to you," "for you," "with you," and so on. The same set serves the polite singular and the literal plural.

Case	Form	Example use
nominative	vy	Vy jste tady nový?
genitive	vás	bez vás (without you)
dative	vám	Dám vám to. (I'll give it to you.)
accusative	vás	Vidím vás. (I see you.)
locative	(o) vás	o vás (about you)
instrumental	vámi	s vámi (with you)

The matching possessive is váš / vaše / vaši ("your"), parallel to informal tvůj / tvoje / tvoji.

Děkuju vám, byl jste moc laskavý.

Thank you, you were very kind. (to one man)

Můžu jít s vámi? Nerad bych šel sám.

May I go with you? I'd rather not go alone.

The tricky part: plural verb, singular participle

Now the point that even confident learners get wrong. With polite vy to one person, you hold two agreements at once:

the finite verb / auxiliary is plural (out of respect): jste, byste;
but the past participle (the -l form) and any predicate adjective agree with the person's real number and gender — so they stay singular and gendered.

Compare addressing one man and one woman in the past tense. The auxiliary jste never changes; only the participle does.

Addressee	Auxiliary	Participle	Full form
one man	jste (pl.)	přišel (m. sg.)	Vy jste přišel.
one woman	jste (pl.)	přišla (f. sg.)	Vy jste přišla.
a group	jste (pl.)	přišli (m. anim. pl.)	Vy jste přišli.

So the auxiliary says "plural" as a courtesy, while the participle quietly tells the truth about who is actually standing there.

Pane Nováku, vy jste včera přišel pozdě, stalo se něco?

Mr Novák, you came late yesterday — did something happen? (to one man)

Paní Horáková, vy jste to napsala opravdu výborně.

Mrs Horáková, you wrote it really excellently. (to one woman)

The same logic governs predicate adjectives — "Are you tired?", "Are you sure?" The adjective takes the singular, gendered ending while the verb jste stays plural.

To one man	To one woman	Meaning
Jste unavený?	Jste unavená?	Are you tired?
Jste si jistý?	Jste si jistá?	Are you sure?
Byl jste spokojený?	Byla jste spokojená?	Were you satisfied?

Jste si jistá, že je to správná adresa?

Are you sure it's the right address? (to a woman)

Kam jste šel po té schůzce?

Where did you go after that meeting? (to a man)

For the full set of l-participle endings — including the neuter plural -a (děvčata přišla) you'll meet elsewhere — see the participle agreement page.

The conditional works the same way

The conditional auxiliary for vy is byste, and like jste it stays plural while the participle agrees with the real addressee.

Mohl byste mi to prosím zopakovat?

Could you please repeat that for me? (to a man)

Nechtěla byste se posadit? Vypadáte unaveně.

Wouldn't you like to sit down? You look tired. (to a woman)

Capitalized Vy in letters

In letters and emails, the (formal) convention is to capitalize every form of vy and its possessive — Vy, Vás, Vám, Vámi, Váš — as a written gesture of respect to the addressee. (Informal ty is capitalized the same way in personal correspondence: Ty, Tobě, Tvůj.) In ordinary running text and in speech there's no such distinction — it's purely an orthographic courtesy in direct written address.

Děkuji Vám za Váš dopis a přeji Vám hezký zbytek dne.

Thank you for your letter and I wish you a pleasant rest of the day.

Obracím se na Vás s prosbou o radu.

I'm writing to you with a request for advice.

💡

The capital is for direct address in writing only. When you mention some third party — "I'll send it to you and to them" — only the form addressing your reader takes the capital. And it's a courtesy, not a hard grammar rule: lowercase isn't an error, just less polished.

Common mistakes

❌ Vy jste přišli pozdě, pane Nováku.

Incorrect — to one man the participle is singular: Vy jste přišel pozdě.

✅ Vy jste přišel pozdě, pane Nováku.

You came late, Mr Novák.

❌ Jsi tady poprvé?

Incorrect — to a stranger the verb must be plural: Jste tady poprvé?

✅ Jste tady poprvé?

Are you here for the first time?

❌ Jste unavení?

Incorrect — to one woman the adjective stays singular and gendered: Jste unavená?

✅ Jste unavená?

Are you tired? (to one woman)

❌ Děkuju ti za pomoc, pane učiteli.

Incorrect — addressing a teacher you keep vy: Děkuju vám za pomoc.

✅ Děkuju vám za pomoc, pane učiteli.

Thank you for the help, teacher.

❌ Mohl by jste mi pomoct?

Incorrect — the conditional vy form is one word, byste: Mohl byste mi pomoct?

✅ Mohl byste mi pomoct?

Could you help me?

Key takeaways

Polite vy is grammatically plural even for one person: the verb and auxiliary always take the plural ending (jste, máte, byste).
vy declines: vy – vás – vám – vás – vás – vámi; possessive váš.
The split agreement is the heart of it: auxiliary plural (jste) but participle/adjective singular and gendered — Vy jste přišel (m), Vy jste přišla (f).
A group of people takes the plural participle too: Vy jste přišli.
In letters and emails, capitalize Vy / Vás / Vám / Váš as a written politeness marker.

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