jít — to go (on foot) | Czech Grammar

jít is the everyday verb for going somewhere on foot, right now, in one direction. It is one of the first verbs any learner of Czech meets, and also one of the most irregular — it has a suppletive past tense and a future that no rule could predict. This page gives you every form you need, plus the logic that tells you when to reach for jít rather than its partner chodit.

What kind of verb jít is

Czech splits its basic motion verbs into two members. jít is the determinate member: it describes a single, ongoing, goal-directed trip on foot. Its indeterminate partner chodit covers habitual, repeated, or aimless walking. Both are imperfective — neither one packages the action as a completed whole. (To say you arrived or left, you add a prefix: přijít, odejít.)

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English uses one verb, "to go," for every kind of going. Czech forces a double choice: on foot or by vehicle (jít vs jet), and this specific trip or a habit (jít vs chodit). You cannot opt out of either distinction.

Present tense

The present stem is jd-, and the verb conjugates like a Class I (-e-) verb.

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	jdu	jdeme
2nd	jdeš	jdete
3rd	jde	jdou

Because jít is determinate and imperfective, its present describes movement happening now, toward a destination.

Kam jdeš?

Where are you going?

Jdu do práce, jsem už trochu pozdě.

I'm going to work, I'm already a bit late.

Počkej, jdeme s tebou!

Wait, we're coming with you!

Past tense (the suppletive š- stem)

Here is the verb's biggest trap. The past tense is not built on jd- or even on jí-. It is suppletive: it switches to a completely different stem, š-, inherited from an older Slavic root. You form the l-participle from š- and add the auxiliary být in the present (it stands in second position in the clause).

Subject	l-participle	Full past form (1st person)
masculine sg.	šel	šel jsem
feminine sg.	šla	šla jsem
neuter sg.	šlo	(šlo) — rare with people
masc. animate pl.	šli	šli jsme
feminine / masc. inan. pl.	šly	šly jsme
neuter pl.	šla	děvčata šla (the girls went)

Note the masculine singular šel — the only form with an extra -e- between the consonants. All the others drop straight to šl-.

Včera jsem šel pěšky domů.

Yesterday I walked home (said by a man).

Šla jsem na nákup a koupila chleba.

I went shopping and bought some bread (said by a woman).

Šli jsme do kina, ale film byl vyprodaný.

We went to the cinema, but the film was sold out.

Future tense (the irregular půjdu)

This is the second great irregularity. Most imperfective verbs build their future with budu + infinitive — but jít refuses. You can almost never say budu jít. Instead, Czech uses a special prefixed future where the prefix po- fuses onto the present forms:

Person	Singular	Plural
1st	půjdu	půjdeme
2nd	půjdeš	půjdete
3rd	půjde	půjdou

Watch the spelling: the ů with the little ring (kroužek) appears only here, in the future. The present has plain jdu; the future has půjdu.

Zítra půjdu k doktorovi.

Tomorrow I'll go to the doctor's.

Půjdeš se mnou na procházku?

Will you come for a walk with me?

V sobotu půjdeme na výlet, jestli bude hezky.

On Saturday we'll go on a trip, if the weather's nice.

Imperative

The imperative is built on the present stem jd-, with softening that gives jdi.

Form	Imperative
2nd sg. (ty)	jdi (colloquial: jdi / di)
1st pl. (let's)	jděme
2nd pl. / formal (vy)	jděte

Jdi domů, je pozdě.

Go home, it's late.

Pojďme už, nebo zmeškáme vlak!

Let's go now, or we'll miss the train!

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In real speech, "let's go" is almost always pojďme (and the singular pojď "come on / let's go"), built on the same po- that gives půjdu. The textbook jděme is correct but stiff. Learn pojď / pojďme for everyday use.

The partner verb chodit

Whenever the going is repeated or habitual, switch from jít to chodit. Compare:

Teď jdu do školy.

I'm on my way to school right now.

Každý den chodím do školy.

I go to school every day (habitually).

The cue words každý den (every day), vždycky (always), často (often) all force chodit. A specific moment — now, tomorrow — calls for jít (or its future půjdu). For the full treatment, see jít / chodit and the decision guide choosing jít vs chodit.

Prefixed perfectives

Adding a prefix to jít makes a perfective verb that keeps the -jít / -šel pattern but adds a precise meaning — and a completed-action reading:

Verb	Meaning	Past
přijít	to arrive, come (on foot)	přišel, přišla
odejít	to leave, go away	odešel, odešla
vyjít	to go out / step out	vyšel, vyšla
dojít	to reach / to run out	došel, došla

Přišel jsem pozdě, protože ujel mi autobus.

I arrived late because I missed the bus (said by a man).

Useful idioms with jít

jít appears in two extremely common impersonal idioms that no longer mean physical walking:

jde to — "it works / it's possible / it's going OK." Literally "it goes."
jde o (+ accusative) — "it's about / what's at stake is."

Jak ti to jde v práci? — Jde to, díky.

How's it going at work? — It's going OK, thanks.

Nejde mi to zapnout.

I can't get it to turn on (it won't turn on for me).

Tady nejde o peníze, jde o princip.

This isn't about money, it's about the principle.

Common Mistakes

❌ Zítra budu jít k doktorovi.

Incorrect — jít does not form its future with budu.

✅ Zítra půjdu k doktorovi.

Tomorrow I'll go to the doctor's.

❌ Každý den jdu do práce.

Incorrect — a daily habit needs the indeterminate chodit, not jít.

✅ Každý den chodím do práce.

I go to work every day.

❌ Včera jsem jdul domů.

Incorrect — there is no *jdul; the past is suppletive (š- stem).

✅ Včera jsem šel domů.

Yesterday I walked home (said by a man).

❌ Šel jsem na nákup. (said by a woman)

Incorrect — the l-participle must agree in gender; a woman says šla.

✅ Šla jsem na nákup.

I went shopping (said by a woman).

❌ Jedu pěšky do centra.

Incorrect — jet is for vehicles; on foot you must use jít.

✅ Jdu pěšky do centra.

I'm walking to the centre.

Key Takeaways

Present jdu, jdeš, jde, jdeme, jdete, jdou — going on foot, now, one way.
Past is suppletive: šel / šla / šli / šly (only šel keeps the -e-).
Future is the irregular půjdu, půjdeš, půjde… — never budu jít. Mind the ů.
A habit switches the verb entirely to chodit.
Everyday "let's go" is pojď / pojďme, not the bookish jděme.

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