končit / skončit — to finish, to end | Czech Grammar

Končit and skončit are the everyday verbs for things coming to an end — films, meetings, work shifts, summers — and for you finishing something off. They form a clean aspect pair: imperfective končit (an ending in progress, habitual, or general) and perfective skončit (one ending, completed). The pair is unusually friendly to learn because the perfective is just the imperfective with a s- prefix, but it hides two things worth getting right: the government (it can take a direct object, s + instrumental, or stand alone) and the fact that it is both transitive ("to finish something") and intransitive ("something ends").

Conjugation

Imperfective končit is a regular class-IV (prosí) verb, built on a long -í-. Perfective skončit conjugates identically — just with the s- on the front — but remember that a perfective present has future meaning.

Person	končit (impf.) — present	skončit (pf.) — present = future
já	končím	skončím
ty	končíš	skončíš
on / ona / ono	končí	skončí
my	končíme	skončíme
vy	končíte	skončíte
oni / ony / ona	končí	skončí

Form	končit (impf.)	skončit (pf.)
Past (m./f./n.)	končil / končila / končilo	skončil / skončila / skončilo
Past plural	končili / končily / končila	skončili / skončily / skončila
Imperative	konči!	skonči!
Future	budu končit (ongoing)	skončím (completed)

Note the neuter-plural past participle in -a: Jednání skončila "the negotiations ended," not *skončily.

Intransitive: something ends

The most common use is intransitive — an event or period comes to an end on its own. Here there is no object; the thing that ends is the subject.

Film končí v deset hodin.

The film ends at ten o'clock. (general / scheduled → imperfective)

Schůze skončila dřív, než jsme čekali.

The meeting ended earlier than we expected. (a single completed end → perfective)

Léto pomalu končí.

Summer is slowly ending. (in progress → imperfective)

The aspect choice follows the usual logic: imperfective končí for something general, scheduled, or unfolding now; perfective skončil for one ending viewed as a finished whole. This is the same split you can read more about on what perfective means.

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A very common standalone use: Končím! "I'm done! / I'm clocking off!" and the question V kolik dnes končíš? "What time do you finish today?" — no object needed, the activity is understood.

V kolik dnes končíš v práci?

What time do you finish work today?

Transitive: finishing something off

With a direct object in the accusative, the verb means "to finish / wind up something":

Končím práci a jdu domů.

I'm finishing work and going home. (accusative object: práci)

Skončíme tu schůzku do hodiny.

We'll wrap up this meeting within an hour.

Government with s + instrumental: quitting an activity

To say you are finishing with / quitting / breaking off an ongoing activity or relationship, Czech uses skončit (or končit) with the preposition s + the instrumental case. This is the construction English would render with "quit," "give up," or "be done with."

Skončil s kouřením, když se mu narodil syn.

He quit smoking when his son was born. (s + instrumental: s kouřením)

Skončila s ním po pěti letech.

She broke up with him after five years. (s + instrumental: s ním)

Už s tím konečně skonči!

Just stop that already! (imperative + s + instrumental)

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For permanently giving up a habit, reach for skončit s + instrumental (skončit s kouřením) or the verb přestat + infinitive (přestat kouřit). Do not use a bare infinitive with skončit for this meaning — see the mistakes below.

With a dependent infinitive

Končit can also take an imperfective infinitive in the colloquial sense of "to be finishing up / wrapping up doing something right now":

Už končím psát ten e-mail, vydrž chvilku.

I'm just finishing writing that email, hold on a sec. (informal)

In careful writing this sense is more often expressed with dokončit (below) or s + instrumental, but the infinitive is normal in speech. (informal)

Neighbours: začít and dokončit

Skončit lives next to two verbs you should learn alongside it.

začínat / začít "to begin" is its direct antonym — the pair that opens what končit / skončit closes. They share the same intransitive-and-transitive flexibility.

Film začíná v osm a končí v deset.

The film starts at eight and ends at ten.

dokončit (perfective; imperfective dokončovat) means "to finish to completion, to complete." The prefix do- stresses that the thing is carried all the way through. Contrast it with skončit, which only says something stopped or ended — it may or may not have been brought to completion.

Konečně jsem dokončil tu knihu.

I finally finished (writing/reading) that book. (carried to completion → dokončit)

So Skončil školu says he finished/left school, while Nedokončil školu says he never completed it (dropped out) — do- is doing the "all the way through" work.

Common Mistakes

❌ Skončil kouřit.

Incorrect — a bare infinitive can't express 'quit a habit' with skončit.

✅ Skončil s kouřením.

He quit smoking. (s + instrumental) — or: Přestal kouřit.

Second, the classic aspect-and-future error — trying to build a future with budu plus a perfective:

❌ Budu skončit v pět.

Incorrect — a perfective verb can't combine with budu.

✅ Skončím v pět.

I'll finish at five. (perfective present = future)

Third, using the imperfective končí for a one-off, already-completed end:

❌ Koncert už končí, můžeme jít.

Off if you mean it's already over — končí = is (still) ending.

✅ Koncert už skončil, můžeme jít.

The concert is already over, we can go. (completed → skončil)

Fourth, reaching for skončit when you mean complete something:

❌ Skončil jsem ten projekt, je hotový.

Weak — skončit says it stopped, not that it was completed.

✅ Dokončil jsem ten projekt, je hotový.

I finished the project, it's done. (completion → dokončit)

Key Takeaways

končit (impf.) / skončit (pf.) — a clean s--prefix pair; both are class-IV -í- verbs (končím, skončím).
It is intransitive (Film končí — the film ends) and transitive (Končím práci — I'm finishing work).
"Quit / be done with" an activity → s + instrumental (skončit s prací, skončit s kouřením).
skončit = stop / come to an end; dokončit = finish to completion. Antonym pair: začít "to begin."

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