mít — to have | Czech Grammar

Mít ("to have") is, after být, the most-used verb in Czech. You need it for possession (I have a dog), for states (I have time, I'm hungry — literally "I have hunger"), for soft obligation (I'm supposed to work), and for two of the most common phrases a learner ever says: Jak se máš? ("How are you?") and mít rád ("to like"). Its present tense is irregular, and its stem vowel flips between a long á and an ě in a way you simply learn — so this page lays out every form and every major use.

The present tense

The present is irregular but short and very regular-looking once you have it. The stem is má- with a long á throughout, except the third-person plural, which contracts to mají.

Person	Affirmative	Negative
já	mám	nemám
ty	máš	nemáš
on / ona / ono	má	nemá
my	máme	nemáme
vy	máte	nemáte
oni	mají	nemají

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Mind the vowel length. The present stem is long: mám, máš, má with a long á (the accent is mandatory — mam would be a different, wrong word). But in the past the stem turns short and changes vowel entirely to ě: měl, měla. Keeping these two stems separate — long á for the present, ě for the past — is the whole battle with this verb.

Mám dva bratry a jednu sestru.

I have two brothers and one sister.

Nemáš náhodou nabíječku na iPhone?

You wouldn't happen to have an iPhone charger?

Nemáme čas, musíme jít.

We don't have time, we have to go.

What mít governs: the accusative

What you have goes in the accusative case — the object of the verb, with no preposition. This holds for concrete things (a dog, a car) and for abstract "states" that Czech treats as possessions: time, hunger, fear, an idea.

Máme nového psa, jmenuje se Bertík.

We have a new dog, his name is Bertík.

Mám hlad a strašnou žízeň.

I'm hungry and terribly thirsty.

That second example is pure Czech logic: where English is hungry, Czech has hunger (hlad) — and hlad sits in the accusative as the thing possessed.

The past tense

The past uses the l-participle built on the ě-stem: měl, měla, mělo, měli / měly, plus the auxiliary jsem / jsi / jsme / jste for the first and second persons.

Subject	Participle	First-person example
masc. sg.	měl	měl jsem (I had)
fem. sg.	měla	měla jsem (I had)
neut. sg.	mělo	mělo (it had)
masc. anim. pl.	měli	měli jsme (we had)
fem. pl.	měly	měly jsme (we had)

Měl jsem štěstí, že jsem to stihl.

I was lucky to make it in time. (male speaker)

Měli jsme krásnou dovolenou v Chorvatsku.

We had a lovely holiday in Croatia.

The future tense

Mít is imperfective and has no everyday perfective partner, so its future is the analytic budu-future: a future form of být plus the infinitive mít.

Person	Form
já	budu mít
ty	budeš mít
on / ona / ono	bude mít
my	budeme mít
vy	budete mít
oni	budou mít

Příští rok budeme mít vlastní byt.

Next year we'll have our own flat.

The imperative and conditional

The imperative is built on the ě-stem softened: měj (you sg.), mějme (let's), mějte (you pl./formal). It mostly survives in set wishes.

Měj se hezky, ahoj!

Take care, bye!

Mějte hezký den.

Have a nice day. (polite/formal)

The conditional combines the ě-participle with the conditional auxiliary bych / bys / by / bychom / byste / by:

Měl bych čas až po páté.

I'd have time only after five. (male speaker)

mít + infinitive: soft obligation

This is one of the most important constructions in the language. Mít followed by an infinitive means "to be supposed to / ought to" — a softer, more deontic obligation than muset ("must"). It expresses expectation, instruction, or what's been arranged, not iron necessity.

Mám dneska pracovat, ale vůbec se mi nechce.

I'm supposed to work today, but I really don't feel like it.

Co s tím máme dělat?

What are we supposed to do with this?

Měl jsi mi to říct dřív.

You should have told me sooner. (to a male)

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Don't confuse mám pracovat (I'm supposed to work — someone expects it) with musím pracovat (I have to work — there's no way out). Mít is the gentler obligation: it covers schedules, instructions, and reproaches ("you should have..."), where muset is hard necessity. See mít as obligation for the full contrast.

Two idioms you can't live without

mít se ("to be / to fare," literally "to have oneself") is how Czechs ask how you're doing:

Ahoj, jak se máš?

Hi, how are you?

Mám se fajn, díky, a ty?

I'm doing fine, thanks, and you?

mít rád ("to like," literally "to have [someone/something] gladly") expresses liking people, animals, and things you have a standing fondness for. The word rád agrees with the subject in gender and number (rád / ráda / rádi / rády), and the thing liked is in the accusative.

Mám rád klasickou hudbu.

I like classical music. (male speaker)

Naše dcera má moc ráda zvířata.

Our daughter really loves animals.

Common mistakes

❌ Já jsem hlad.

Incorrect — Czech does not say 'I am hunger'; it uses mít.

✅ Mám hlad.

I'm hungry.

States like hunger, thirst, and fear are possessed in Czech: mít hlad / žízeň / strach, never být + adjective.

❌ Mam psa.

Incorrect — the present stem is long; the accent on á is required.

✅ Mám psa.

I have a dog.

The long á is not optional. Mam without the accent is simply a misspelling.

❌ Včera jsem mál čas.

Incorrect — the past participle is měl, built on the ě-stem, not the á-stem.

✅ Včera jsem měl čas.

Yesterday I had time. (male speaker)

The present and past stems are different vowels. Never carry the á into the past — it's měl, not mál.

❌ Mám rád tě.

Incorrect word order — the short pronoun tě can't sit at the end like that.

✅ Mám tě rád.

I love you. (male speaker)

In mít rád, the short object pronoun (tě) slots in second position, between mám and rád: Mám tě rád / Mám tě ráda.

Key takeaways

Present: mám, máš, má, máme, máte, mají (long á); negation nemám...nemají.
The thing had — including abstract states like hunger — is in the accusative, no preposition.
Past uses the ě-stem: měl, měla, měli / měly
- auxiliary; future is budu mít.
mít + infinitive = soft obligation ("be supposed to"), distinct from muset ("must").
Two essential idioms: mít se (Jak se máš?) and mít rád (to like, with rád agreeing and an accusative object).

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