This is the aspect card for učit se / naučit se — the verb you use to talk about studying anything, from Czech itself to the guitar. Both members are reflexive (they carry the clitic se) and both belong to Class IV (-í-), the prosit type. The imperfective učit se means to study, to be learning (the process). The perfective naučit se means to learn successfully, to master (the result — you now know it). And lurking next door is the dangerously similar učit without the se, which means the opposite: to teach.
The pair at a glance
| Imperfective | Perfective | |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | učit se | naučit se |
| Meaning | to study, be learning (process) | to learn, master (result) |
| Present | učím se (means "I'm studying") | naučím se (means "I will learn") |
| Past | učil se | naučil se |
| Imperative | uč se | nauč se |
Present of učit se (Class IV, -í-)
Because učit se is imperfective, its present tense is a real present — I am studying, I study. The reflexive se travels with the verb (in second position; more on that below).
| Person | učit se (present) | naučit se (future) |
|---|---|---|
| já | učím se | naučím se |
| ty | učíš se | naučíš se |
| on/ona/ono | učí se | naučí se |
| my | učíme se | naučíme se |
| vy | učíte se | naučíte se |
| oni/ony | učí se | naučí se |
Note the usual perfective twist: naučím se has present-tense shape but future meaning ("I will learn it"), because perfective verbs have no present tense in Czech.
Učím se česky každý večer aspoň hodinu.
I study Czech every evening for at least an hour. (process — imperfective učit se)
Do léta se naučím řídit.
By summer I'll have learned to drive. (result, future — perfective naučit se)
Government: the part that actually trips people up
učit se takes its complement in several different shapes depending on what you are studying, and this is the genuinely tricky bit. There is no single "object case" — you choose by the kind of thing learned.
A subject or skill named as a noun → the dative (standard) or the accusative (colloquial). The traditional, careful form puts the thing studied in the dative: učit se češtině, matematice. In everyday speech the accusative (učit se češtinu) is extremely widespread and now broadly accepted.
Učím se češtině už dva roky.
I've been studying Czech for two years. (dative češtině — traditional government)
Celý týden se učím chemii na test.
I've been studying chemistry all week for a test. (accusative chemii — colloquial, very common)
A skill expressed as an action → the infinitive.
Učím se plavat, ale jde mi to pomalu.
I'm learning to swim, but it's slow going.
Učíš se hrát na kytaru?
Are you learning to play the guitar?
"Learning to speak a language" → the bare adverb (česky, anglicky). Be careful: česky in učit se česky is an adverb ("in the Czech way"), not the accusative of a noun. So Učím se česky literally means "I'm learning [to do things] in Czech."
Učím se česky, abych si mohl popovídat s tchýní.
I'm learning Czech so I can chat with my mother-in-law. (česky = adverb)
Studying for something → na + accusative.
Musím se učit na zkoušku, nemůžu jít ven.
I have to study for the exam, I can't go out. (na + accusative)
naučit se = crossing the finish line
The perfective naučit se adds the idea of completion: you didn't just study it, you now actually know it. It pairs naturally with results, deadlines, and "by heart."
Naučil jsem se tu báseň nazpaměť.
I learned the poem by heart. (said by a man — finished, I know it now)
Konečně jsem se naučila lyžovat!
I finally learned to ski! (said by a woman — mastered the skill)
Nauč se to do zítřka, jinak budeš mít problém.
Learn it by tomorrow, or you'll be in trouble. (perfective imperative nauč se)
The past forms agree with the subject like any l-participle, including the neuter plural -a: naučil se (m.), naučila se (f.), naučili se (m. anim. pl.), naučily se (f./inan. pl.), naučila se (n. pl.).
The booby trap: učit (to teach) vs učit se (to learn)
Drop the se and the meaning flips. učit without se means to teach, and its government is the mirror image: the person taught goes in the accusative, and the subject taught goes in the dative (traditional) or, very commonly, also the accusative (the "double accusative").
Učitel učí děti matematiku.
The teacher teaches the children maths. (děti = accusative person, matematiku = accusative subject — the common double-accusative)
Učím studenty češtině.
I teach the students Czech. (studenty = accusative, češtině = dative — the traditional pattern)
Babička mě naučila péct buchty.
Grandma taught me to bake buns. (mě = accusative person, péct = infinitive)
So the same root gives you a perfect minimal pair: učit se (I am the learner) versus učit (I am the teacher). The single syllable se decides who is sitting on which side of the desk.
Where se sits: the clitic rule
The reflexive se is a second-position clitic — it wants to be the second meaningful unit in the clause, not necessarily glued to the verb. When the verb comes first, se follows it (učím se). But front something else and se jumps to second position, leaving the verb behind:
Češtinu se učím sám, bez učitele.
I'm learning Czech on my own, without a teacher. (object fronted → se moves to second position)
In the past, the auxiliary and the reflexive cluster together, auxiliary before se:
Včera jsem se neučil, byl jsem unavený.
I didn't study yesterday, I was tired. (order: jsem + se, then the negated participle)
For the full ordering rules of se and si, see placing se and si.
Common Mistakes
❌ Učím češtinu.
Incorrect — without se this means 'I teach Czech'; to say 'I'm learning Czech' you need the reflexive: učím se.
✅ Učím se češtinu.
I'm learning Czech.
❌ Učím se studenty matematiku.
Incorrect — teaching others takes učit without se; učit se is only for learning yourself.
✅ Učím studenty matematiku.
I teach the students maths.
❌ Zítra se učím tu báseň nazpaměť.
Incorrect — a one-off completed result needs the perfective; učím se (imperfective) describes the process, not the achievement.
✅ Zítra se naučím tu báseň nazpaměť.
Tomorrow I'll learn the poem by heart.
❌ Učím se hrát na kytaře.
Incorrect — the skill takes the infinitive (hrát), and 'play an instrument' uses na + accusative kytaru, not the locative.
✅ Učím se hrát na kytaru.
I'm learning to play the guitar.
❌ Učím česky se.
Incorrect — the clitic se can't sit at the end; it belongs in second position: Učím se česky.
✅ Učím se česky.
I'm learning (to speak) Czech.
Key Takeaways
- učit se (imperfective) = study/be learning; naučit se (perfective) = learn successfully, master.
- Both are Class IV (-í-): učím se… / naučím se…; imperatives uč se / nauč se.
- The thing studied: dative (standard češtině) or accusative (colloquial češtinu); a skill takes the infinitive; a language-as-speech takes the adverb česky.
- Drop the se and you flip to učit = to teach (accusative person + dative/accusative subject).
- se is a second-position clitic: učím se, but Češtinu se učím; in the past jsem se.
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Start learning Czech→Related Topics
- Class IV: -í- Verbs (prosit, trpět, sázet)A2 — The -í- present class, where three different infinitive endings all feed one tidy paradigm.
- 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.
- Reflexive Verbs: se and si (Introduction)A2 — Czech has a whole class of reflexive verbs that carry se or si as part of their dictionary form; this page introduces them from the verb side — how the particle attaches, what the three types are, and how it travels through the conjugation.
- Verbs Governing the DativeA2 — The dative is one fixed government class in the verb-valency system: a set of verbs whose object is lexically required to stand in the dative, not the accusative.
- Placing se and siA2 — Where the reflexive clitics se and si sit — second in the clause, after the auxiliary but before object pronouns — and the ses/sis contractions.