This card pairs the everyday spát "to sleep" with its usual perfective partner vyspat se "to get a good sleep / sleep in," and it comes with an honesty warning attached: these are not a clean aspect pair. Most pairs share one meaning across two aspects (dělat / udělat = do). Here the meaning shifts. spát is the open-ended state of being asleep; vyspat se is not just "the finished version of sleeping" — it specifically means to get enough sleep, to sleep your fill, to be well-rested afterwards. You can sleep (spát) badly all night and still not have vyspat se. Treat them as a working partnership rather than a mirror image. For the full conjugation of spát, see the dedicated spát page; this card sets the two verbs against each other.
The two verbs, side by side
spát is a Class IV (-í-) verb whose long infinitive á shortens to í in the present (spát → spím). vyspat se takes the prefix vy- and the reflexive se, and its present-as-future runs on the same shortened -spí- stem.
| Person | spát (impf.) — present | vyspat se (pf.) — future meaning |
|---|---|---|
| já | spím | vyspím se |
| ty | spíš | vyspíš se |
| on / ona / ono | spí | vyspí se |
| my | spíme | vyspíme se |
| vy | spíte | vyspíte se |
| oni | spí (formal: spějí) | vyspí se |
Why they aren't a tidy pair
A genuine aspect pair keeps the lexical meaning constant and only swaps the aspect. spát / vyspat se doesn't quite do that, and being honest about it saves you from mistakes:
- spát = to sleep, to be asleep (a state, no built-in endpoint).
- vyspat se = to sleep enough, to get your fill of sleep, to wake up rested. The vy- here is a "to satisfaction / exhaustively" prefix, and se turns the benefit back on the sleeper.
So vyspat se adds the idea of sufficiency that spát simply doesn't carry. That's why the natural perfective of "sleep" is the reflexive vyspat se and not a bare prefixed *pospat in this sense.
Spal jsem osm hodin, ale stejně jsem se nevyspal.
I slept eight hours but still didn't get a proper rest (male speaker).
That sentence is impossible to translate word-for-word into one English verb, and it's the clearest proof that spát ≠ a mere imperfective of vyspat se: you can do the first without achieving the second.
spát — the state
Use spát for being asleep, sleeping well or badly, sleeping a certain number of hours, or sleeping somewhere. It is intransitive — there's no direct object.
Pšt, malá ještě spí.
Shh, the little one's still asleep.
Špatně se mi spí, když je v pokoji horko.
I sleep badly when the room is hot (literally: it sleeps badly to me).
Dnes budu spát u babičky.
Tonight I'll sleep over at grandma's.
Because spát is a plain imperfective, its future is the regular budu spát — no special prefixed form.
vyspat se — the satisfying result
Use vyspat se for getting a good, full sleep, sleeping in, or sleeping something off. Add z + genitive for what you're sleeping off, and the very common idiom vyspat se na to means "to sleep on it" (to decide after a night's sleep).
O víkendu se konečně pořádně vyspím.
At the weekend I'll finally get a proper night's sleep.
Vyspi se na to a ráno se rozhodneš.
Sleep on it, and you'll decide in the morning.
Potřebuju se vyspat z té cesty.
I need to sleep off that journey.
The imperative vyspi se / vyspěte se is the warm "get some good rest" you say to someone tired.
usnout and prospat — two more relatives
Two prefixed perfectives round out the family, and they mean different things again:
- usnout (pf., Class II -ne-: usnu, usneš…, past usnul / usnula) = to fall asleep — the moment of dropping off, not the sleeping itself.
- prospat (pf.: prospím, prospíš…) = to sleep through / sleep away a period of time — and, used reflexively-ish with an object, "to oversleep and miss" something.
Nemůžu usnout, mám v hlavě samé starosti.
I can't fall asleep, my head is full of worries (usnout = the moment of dropping off).
Prospal celé odpoledne a vzbudil se až večer.
He slept right through the afternoon and didn't wake until evening.
The past tense
Both build the past from the l-participle; spát restores its long á (spal), and vyspat se keeps se in the clitic cluster.
| Subject | spát | vyspat se |
|---|---|---|
| masc. sg. | spal jsem | vyspal jsem se |
| fem. sg. | spala jsem | vyspala jsem se |
| masc. anim. pl. | spali jsme | vyspali jsme se |
| fem. pl. | spaly jsme | vyspaly jsme se |
Konečně jsem se pořádně vyspala, cítím se skvěle.
I finally got a proper sleep, I feel great (female speaker).
Common mistakes
❌ Zítra vyspím do deseti.
Incorrect — vyspat se is reflexive; the se is obligatory.
✅ Zítra se vyspím do deseti.
Tomorrow I'll sleep in until ten.
The perfective is vyspat se, and the se can never be dropped.
❌ Včera jsem se dobře spal.
Wrong verb — 'sleep well' as an ongoing state is plain spát (no se); the rested-result verb is vyspat se.
✅ Včera jsem dobře spal.
I slept well yesterday (male speaker).
For the state of sleeping well, use plain spát (no se). The reflexive belongs to vyspat se (the rested result).
❌ Nemůžu spát, ležím tu už hodinu.
Imprecise — for the moment of dropping off, use usnout, not spát.
✅ Nemůžu usnout, ležím tu už hodinu.
I can't fall asleep, I've been lying here for an hour.
"Can't get to sleep" is usnout (fall asleep), not spát (be asleep).
❌ Po té cestě jsem potřeboval spát se.
Incorrect — spát is not reflexive; it's the rested perfective vyspat se that takes se.
✅ Po té cestě jsem se potřeboval vyspat.
After that trip I needed to get a good sleep (male speaker).
Don't graft se onto spát. The reflexive lives on vyspat se.
Key takeaways
- spát = to be asleep, sleep well/badly (a state, no endpoint); vyspat se = to get enough sleep, sleep in, wake rested.
- They are not a clean aspect pair — vyspat se adds the meaning "to satisfaction," which spát lacks. You can spát badly and still not vyspat se.
- Present: spím, spíš, spí… vs vyspím se, vyspíš se, vyspí se…; the se of vyspat se is obligatory.
- usnout = fall asleep (the moment); prospat = sleep through a stretch of time.
- Idiom: vyspat se na to = "to sleep on it."
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Start learning Czech→Related Topics
- spát — to sleepA1 — Full conjugation of spát, a Class IV -í- verb with the spí- present, plus its reflexive perfective vyspat se and the related usnout.
- vstávat / vstát — to get up, to stand upA2 — Side-by-side conjugation of vstávat (imperfective) and vstát (perfective), the vstá-/vstan- present alternation, the z + genitive government, and how the pair carries daily-routine and 'stand up' meanings.
- Class IV: -í- Verbs (prosit, trpět, sázet)A2 — The -í- present class, where three different infinitive endings all feed one tidy paradigm.
- The Dative Reflexive siB2 — How the dative reflexive si marks an action done to, for, or in the interest of oneself — koupit si, dát si, umýt si ruce — and how it differs from accusative se.
- Aspect Pairs: The Core SystemA2 — How most Czech verbs come as a two-member aspect pair — one imperfective, one perfective — and how to learn, look up, and choose between them.