číst / přečíst — to read (aspect pair card) | Czech Grammar

This is the quick-reference aspect card for číst / přečíst "to read" — the pair you use every time you pick up a book, a message, or a label. If you want the full conjugation walkthrough, every paradigm cell, and the imperative spelling rules, go to the complete číst / přečíst page. This card boils the verb down to the one decision you actually make in the moment: the imperfective číst (reading as an activity — in progress, repeated, or habitual) versus the perfective přečíst (reading as one finished act, the book closed at the end).

The pair at a glance

	Imperfective	Perfective
Infinitive	číst	přečíst
Present stem	čt- (means "is reading")	přečt- (means "will read")
Past stem	čet-	přečet-
Imperative	čti	přečti
Aspect role	the activity, the process	the single completed act

💡

The perfective is just the imperfective with the prefix pře- ("through, all the way") glued on. Every form of přečíst is pře- plus the matching číst form: přečtu = pře + čtu, přečetl = pře + četl, přečti = pře + čti. So you learn one verb and one prefix, not two verbs.

Three stems — the thing that trips everyone

číst is irregular in a way that has nothing to do with aspect: it shows three completely different-looking stems, and no beginner-friendly rule connects them. You memorize all three as facts.

Where	Stem	Example
Infinitive	čí-	číst
Present / imperative	čt-	čtu, čteš… / čti
Past (l-participle)	čet-	četl, četla…

The perfective inherits the same three faces, just under pře-: přečíst / přečtu / přečetl. Get číst — čtu — četl automatic and the whole verb gives you no further trouble.

Present (číst) vs future (přečíst)

This is the heart of the card. The imperfective čtu is a real present ("I am reading / I read"). The perfective přečtu has present-tense shape but future meaning ("I will read it through"), because perfective verbs in Czech have no present tense at all. Both run on Class I (-e-) endings — the same set you meet in nese / bere.

Person	číst → present	přečíst → future
1st sg.	čtu	přečtu
2nd sg.	čteš	přečteš
3rd sg.	čte	přečte
1st pl.	čteme	přečteme
2nd pl.	čtete	přečtete
3rd pl.	čtou	přečtou

Čtu zrovna skvělou knížku, nemůžu se od ní odtrhnout.

I'm reading a great book right now, I can't tear myself away from it.

Tu zprávu si přečtu ve vlaku.

I'll read that message on the train (and get through it).

To say you'll be reading for a stretch of time — an ongoing future — you can't use the perfective; you need the imperfective future budu číst.

Večer budu číst dětem pohádky.

In the evening I'll be reading the kids bedtime stories (ongoing).

Past — same stem, different packaging

Both halves build the past on čet-, so the forms differ only by the pře- prefix; the meaning difference is pure aspect. Mind the plural endings, especially the neuter plural -a.

Subject	číst	přečíst
masculine sg.	četl jsem	přečetl jsem
feminine sg.	četla jsem	přečetla jsem
masc. animate pl.	četli jsme	přečetli jsme
fem. / masc. inan. pl.	četly jsme	přečetly jsme
neuter pl.	četla	přečetla

Celý víkend jsem četla a vůbec mi to nevadilo.

I read all weekend and didn't mind in the least (said by a woman, process).

Tu trilogii jsem přečetl za týden.

I read that trilogy in a week (said by a man, finished it).

The contrast is sharp: četl jsem tu knihu reports the activity ("I was reading / I read that book") with no claim that I reached the end; přečetl jsem tu knihu says I finished it.

Imperative — pick the aspect on purpose

The command splits by aspect, and the choice carries meaning. Čti! urges the activity ("go on reading, read away"); přečti! demands a finished result ("read it through, all of it").

Čti potichu, ať nevzbudíš malého.

Read quietly so you don't wake the little one.

Přečti si to pozorně, je to důležité.

Read it carefully — it's important.

Government: accusative thing + optional dative person

číst / přečíst takes the thing read in the accusative, and you can add the person you read to in the dative — Czech spells out a role English leaves implicit.

Čtu knihu.

I'm reading a book (knihu = accusative).

Babička čte vnoučatům pohádku.

Grandma is reading the grandchildren a fairy tale (vnoučatům = dative, pohádku = accusative).

Two perfectives: přečíst vs dočíst

pře- is not the only prefix that makes číst perfective. dočíst ("finish reading") exists alongside it, and the two are not interchangeable. přečíst views the whole reading as one complete event, start to finish. dočíst zooms in on bringing an already-started reading to its end.

Ještě jsem to nedočetl, zbývá mi poslední kapitola.

I haven't finished it yet — I have the last chapter left (said by a man).

💡

If you stopped on page 200 of 300: you still have to dočíst the last hundred pages, and only once you do have you přečetl the whole book. přečíst = read the whole thing through; dočíst = finish what you'd already begun.

Why English speakers stumble here

English "read" is aspect-neutral: the same word covers "I was reading" and "I read it and finished," and you only disambiguate with extra words (was reading, have read, read through, finished). Czech makes you commit before you even choose a tense, by picking the verb itself — číst or přečíst. That is the mental flip: in English the verb stays put and you bolt nuance onto it; in Czech the nuance is the verb. So the question to ask every time isn't "which tense?" but "do I mean the activity (číst) or the finished result (přečíst)?" Answer that, and the form follows.

Když jsi volal, zrovna jsem četl tvůj vzkaz.

When you called, I was just reading your note (ongoing → imperfective).

Common Mistakes

❌ Čístím tu knihu.

Incorrect — the present stem is čt-, giving čtu; there is no *čístím.

✅ Čtu tu knihu.

I'm reading the book.

❌ Včera jsem čtl celý večer.

Incorrect — the past is built on čet-, not čt-: četl.

✅ Včera jsem četl celý večer.

Yesterday I read all evening (said by a man).

❌ Zítra budu přečíst tu zprávu.

Incorrect — přečíst is perfective; its present already means future, so no budu.

✅ Zítra si přečtu tu zprávu.

Tomorrow I'll read the message (through).

❌ Celý večer přečtu.

Incorrect — 'all evening' is an ongoing activity; that needs the imperfective future.

✅ Celý večer budu číst.

I'll be reading all evening.

❌ Číst mi to nahlas!

Incorrect — a command needs the imperative čti, not the infinitive.

✅ Čti mi to nahlas!

Read it to me out loud!

Key Takeaways

Three stems, three facts: infinitive číst, present čtu, past četl (perfective adds pře-).
Present čtu, čteš, čte, čteme, čtete, čtou; imperative čti.
Perfective přečtu is a future; ongoing future of the process is budu číst.
Governs accusative (what) + optional dative (to whom): čtu dětem pohádku.
přečíst = read all the way through; dočíst = finish a reading you'd already started.

Now practice Czech

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Czech→