říci / říct ("to say, to tell") is the verb you use to report speech, pass on information, and tell someone something. It is the perfective member of an aspect pair whose imperfective partner is říkat. Two things make this verb worth a careful page: it has a tricky infinitive-versus-present-stem mismatch, and it governs a dative for the person addressed — a pattern that surprises English speakers.
Two infinitives: říci and říct
There are two spellings of the perfective infinitive, and they differ only in register, not in meaning:
- říci — the older, literary / formal infinitive, ending in the archaic -ci.
- říct — the everyday colloquial and modern standard form, ending in -ct.
In speech and ordinary writing, říct is what you will hear and say almost without exception. říci lives in elevated prose, set phrases, and careful formal style. Both conjugate identically in every other form.
Chci ti něco říct.
I want to tell you something. (everyday — říct)
Dovolte mi říci pár slov.
Allow me to say a few words. (formal/literary — říci, as at a ceremony)
The infinitive-vs-present mismatch
Here is the feature that trips learners: the infinitive is říct/říci, but the present-tense stem is řekn-. The two look almost unrelated — there is no říc- anywhere in the present. This is a real morphological seam you simply have to memorize, much like English "go" → "went." The verb conjugates as a -ne- type (the tiskne class), with k → kn in the stem.
| Form | Shape |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | říct / říci |
| Present-future stem | řekn- |
| Past stem | řek- (řekl, řekla…) |
| Imperative stem | řekn- (řekni) |
Present-future of říci/říct (perfective)
Perfective, so the present-form endings express the future — a single completed act of saying. Built on řekn-, with the soft -eš, -e endings of the -ne- class.
| Person | Form | Meaning (future) |
|---|---|---|
| já | řeknu | I'll say / I'll tell |
| ty | řekneš | you'll say |
| on / ona / ono | řekne | he / she / it will say |
| my | řekneme | we'll say |
| vy | řeknete | you'll say |
| oni / ony / ona | řeknou | they'll say |
Řeknu ti to později.
I'll tell you (it) later. (ti = dative addressee)
Co na to řekne máma?
What will Mum say to that?
A near-synonym you will also hear is povědět (1sg povím, "to tell"), which overlaps with říct in many contexts (Povím ti to = Řeknu ti to) but is felt as slightly warmer or more colloquial in set phrases.
Government: dative addressee + what is said
This is the case fact to lock in. The person you tell goes in the dative ("to whom"), and what you say is either an accusative thing (often the pronoun to, "it") or a whole clause introduced by že ("that…").
Řekl mi pravdu.
He told me the truth. (mi = dative 'to me', pravdu = accusative)
Řekni jí, ať počká.
Tell her to wait. (jí = dative; the request follows as a clause)
Řekl, že přijde v pět.
He said (that) he'll come at five. (content clause with že — note Czech keeps the comma before že)
English says "tell someone" with no preposition and "say to someone" with one; Czech uses the bare dative for both. See dative verbs and the dative as indirect object.
The imperfective partner: říkat
The imperfective member of the pair is říkat — a fully regular -á- class verb (stem říká-). Use it for habitual, repeated, or in-progress saying: what someone always says, keeps saying, or is saying right now.
| Person | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| já | říkám | I say / I'm saying |
| ty | říkáš | you say |
| on / ona / ono | říká | he / she / it says |
| my | říkáme | we say |
| vy | říkáte | you say |
| oni / ony / ona | říkají | they say |
Vždycky říkám, že upřímnost je nejlepší.
I always say that honesty is best. (habitual — imperfective)
Jak se to říká česky?
How do you say that in Czech? (general — the reflexive říká se = 'one says')
Past tense
The past stem is řek- (no -e- before the -l, like nesl, vedl), giving řekl / řekla / řekli. The imperfective past is built on říka-: říkal / říkala / říkali. The auxiliary být appears in the first and second persons. See forming the past tense.
| Subject | říct (perfective) | říkat (imperfective) |
|---|---|---|
| já (m.) | řekl jsem | říkal jsem |
| já (f.) | řekla jsem | říkala jsem |
| on | řekl | říkal |
| ona | řekla | říkala |
| ono | řeklo | říkalo |
| my (m. anim.) | řekli jsme | říkali jsme |
| my (f.) | řekly jsme | říkaly jsme |
Řekla jsem mu to a hned mu bylo líp.
I told him (it) and he felt better right away. (one completed telling — female speaker)
Pořád nám říkali, ať jsme zticha.
They kept telling us to be quiet. (repeated — imperfective past)
Imperative
The imperative is built on řekn- for the perfective and říkej for the imperfective.
| Person | říct (perfective) | říkat (imperfective) |
|---|---|---|
| ty | řekni | říkej |
| my | řekněme | říkejme |
| vy | řekněte | říkejte |
Řekni mi pravdu.
Tell me the truth. (one specific request — perfective)
Neříkej to nikomu!
Don't tell anyone! (negative commands prefer the imperfective)
Common mistakes
❌ Říknu ti to.
Wrong — the present stem is řekn-, not 'říkn-'; don't carry the infinitive vowels into the present.
✅ Řeknu ti to.
I'll tell you (it).
❌ Řekl mě pravdu.
Wrong case — mě is accusative; the addressee of říct must be dative.
✅ Řekl mi pravdu.
He told me the truth. (mi = dative)
❌ Řekl že přijde.
Wrong punctuation — Czech requires a comma before the conjunction že.
✅ Řekl, že přijde.
He said that he'll come.
❌ Budu říct ti to.
Wrong — budu cannot take the perfective infinitive říct.
✅ Řeknu ti to. / Budu ti to říkat.
I'll tell you (it). / I'll keep telling you (it).
❌ Vždycky řeknu, že upřímnost je nejlepší.
Wrong aspect — a habit needs the imperfective.
✅ Vždycky říkám, že upřímnost je nejlepší.
I always say that honesty is best.
Now practice Czech
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Start learning Czech→Related Topics
- 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.
- 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.
- The Dative as Indirect ObjectA1 — How the Czech dative case marks the person to or for whom something is given, said, shown, or sent — with no preposition at all.
- Class II: -ne- Verbs (tisknout, minout)A2 — The -ne- conjugation, built mostly from -nout infinitives — predictable in the present, but full of perfectives whose 'present' actually means the future.
- dělat / udělat — to do, to makeA1 — Full conjugation of the aspect pair dělat (imperfective) and udělat (perfective), the model verb for the whole -á- class.