mluvit / promluvit — to speak, to talk | Czech Grammar

Mluvit is the everyday verb for "to speak / to talk." Its perfective partner promluvit means "to say a few words / to speak up (once)." In practice you will use mluvit overwhelmingly more than promluvit, because talking is something we picture as ongoing rather than as a single completed act — and that is exactly what the imperfective is for. The trickier part of this verb is not its conjugation but its government: which preposition and case follow it. This page handles both.

Conjugation: mluvit (imperfective)

Mluvit is a Class IV (-í-) verb of the prosit type. Drop the -it to get the stem mluv-, then add -ím, -íš, -í, -íme, -íte, -í.

Person	Present
já	mluvím
ty	mluvíš
on / ona / ono	mluví
my	mluvíme
vy	mluvíte
oni / ony / ona	mluví

The past participle is mluvil / mluvila / mluvili; the imperative is mluv / mluvte; the imperfective future is budu mluvit.

Mluvíš moc rychle, nestíhám.

You're talking too fast, I can't keep up.

O víkendu spolu skoro nemluvíme.

At the weekend we barely talk to each other.

Government: mluvit česky (adverb of language)

To say what language someone speaks, Czech uses an adverb, not a noun — mluvit česky ("speak Czech"), not mluvit čeština. This catches English speakers every time, because English uses the noun ("speak Czech / speak English").

Mluvíš česky?

Do you speak Czech?

Mluvím trochu německy a plynně anglicky.

I speak a little German and fluent English.

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The pattern is the -y / -sky / -cky adverb: česky, anglicky, německy, francouzsky, rusky, slovensky. Compare Učím se češtinu ("I'm learning Czech" — here the noun čeština is the object of učit se) with Mluvím česky ("I speak Czech" — adverb). The verb decides the form.

Government: mluvit s + instrumental (talk WITH someone)

To talk with a person, use s (or se before some consonant clusters) plus the instrumental case. There is no separate "to talk to" — Czech treats conversation as a joint, mutual act, so it's literally "talk with."

Můžu si s tebou na chvíli promluvit?

Can I talk with you for a moment?

Včera jsem mluvil s ředitelem.

Yesterday I spoke with the director. (male speaker)

Musíme si o tom promluvit s rodiči.

We need to talk about it with our parents.

Government: mluvit o + locative (talk ABOUT something)

The topic of talk takes o ("about") plus the locative case.

Pořád mluví jen o práci.

He only ever talks about work.

O čem jste spolu mluvili?

What were the two of you talking about?

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These combine naturally: Mluvil jsem se šéfem o platu — "I talked with the boss about my salary" (s + instrumental for the person, o + locative for the topic). Learn the two slots together; almost every real conversation sentence fills both.

The perfective: promluvit

Promluvit views speaking as a single, bounded event — usually "to say a few words," "to speak up," or "to have a (one-off) talk." The prefix pro- gives it a sense of getting some words out, breaking a silence.

Because perfectives have no present-tense meaning, the present-looking promluvím is in fact future: "I'll speak / I'll have a word."

Na svatbě promluvil i dědeček.

At the wedding even grandpa said a few words.

Promluvím si s ním ještě dnes.

I'll have a word with him later today.

Po té nehodě dlouho nepromluvil.

After the accident he didn't speak for a long time.

mluvit vs říct vs povídat

English "speak / talk / say / tell" map onto several Czech verbs. Keep these apart:

mluvit — to speak / talk (the activity, imperfective). No specific content required: Mluví anglicky, Mluvíme o tobě.
říct / říkat — to say (something specific). This pair always implies content: you say what. Říct is perfective ("say it"), říkat imperfective ("keep saying / be saying"). See říct/říci.
povídat (si) — to chat / tell (informal). A relaxed, conversational register: Povídali jsme si celý večer ("We chatted all evening").

Mluvil dlouho, ale nic konkrétního neřekl.

He talked for a long time but didn't say anything specific.

Řekni mi pravdu.

Tell me the truth. (specific content → říct)

Povídali jsme si u kávy o starých časech.

We chatted over coffee about old times. (informal)

Past tense

Subject	mluvit (impf.)	promluvit (pf.)
já (m.) / (f.)	mluvil(a) jsem	promluvil(a) jsem
ty (m.) / (f.)	mluvil(a) jsi	promluvil(a) jsi
on / ona / ono	mluvil / mluvila / mluvilo	promluvil / promluvila / promluvilo
my (m.) / (f.)	mluvili / mluvily jsme	promluvili / promluvily jsme
vy (m.) / (f.)	mluvili / mluvily jste	promluvili / promluvily jste
oni / ony / ona	mluvili / mluvily / mluvila	promluvili / promluvily / promluvila

Mluvila jsem s ní celé odpoledne.

I talked with her the whole afternoon. (female speaker)

Konečně jsem si s ním promluvil.

I finally had a (proper) talk with him. (male speaker)

Imperative and future

The imperatives are mluv / mluvte (impf., "speak / keep speaking") and promluv / promluvte (pf., "speak up / say something"). The imperfective future is budu mluvit; the perfective future is the simple promluvím.

Mluv pomalu, prosím.

Speak slowly, please.

Promluv, neboj se!

Speak up, don't be afraid!

Common mistakes

❌ Mluvíš čeština?

Wrong: a language after mluvit is an adverb, not a noun.

✅ Mluvíš česky?

Correct: 'Do you speak Czech?'

❌ Mluvím k tobě.

Wrong: 'talk to' is mluvit s + instrumental, not 'k'.

✅ Mluvím s tebou.

Correct: 'I'm talking with you.'

❌ Mluvíme o práce.

Wrong case: 'o' here governs the locative, so 'práci' not 'práce'.

✅ Mluvíme o práci.

Correct: 'We're talking about work.'

❌ Mluv mi pravdu.

Wrong verb: stating specific content needs říct, not mluvit.

✅ Řekni mi pravdu.

Correct: 'Tell me the truth.'

Key takeaways

mluvit (impf.) = "speak / talk"; the everyday verb, Class IV, mluvím … mluví.
promluvit (pf.) = "say a few words / speak up"; a single, bounded event; promluvím is future.
Government to memorize: česky (adverb of language), s + instrumental (with a person), o + locative (about a topic).
For specific content use říct/říkat; for casual chatting use povídat si.

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