znát — to know, to be acquainted with | Czech Grammar

Znát means "to know" in the sense of being acquainted or familiar with someone or something — a person, a place, a song, a language. It is the partner of vědět, which covers knowing facts. Where English uses one verb, Czech draws a sharp line: if you can point at what is known (a person, a city, a book), you use znát; if what you know is information that fits in a clause, you use vědět. The good news is that znát itself is fully regular and easy to conjugate.

Conjugation — regular Class V (-á-)

Znát follows the regular dělat pattern (Class V, -á-): drop -t from the infinitive to get the stem zná-, then add the present endings -m, -š, -∅, -me, -te, -jí.

Person	Present
já	znám
ty	znáš
on / ona / ono	zná
my	známe
vy	znáte
oni / ony / ona	znají

The negative is regular: neznám, neznáš, nezná, neznáme, neznáte, neznají.

Znám ji ze školy.

I know her from school.

Znáš tu písničku?

Do you know that song?

Neznáme tady nikoho.

We don't know anyone here.

Government: a direct object in the accusative

The defining feature of znát is that it takes a direct object in the accusative case — the person, place, or thing you are acquainted with. This is the structural opposite of vědět, which takes a clause.

Znám Prahu jako svoje boty.

I know Prague like the back of my hand. (literally 'like my own shoes')

Znám tvého bratra.

I know your brother. (animate masculine accusative: tvého bratra)

Znáte dobrou restauraci poblíž?

Do you know a good restaurant nearby?

Because the object is accusative, you must watch case and animacy: an animate masculine noun takes the genitive-shaped accusative (Znám toho pána — "I know that man"), while inanimate masculines and the other genders behave as expected. For the full picture, see the accusative as direct object.

znát vs vědět — the sharp line

Hold these two example pairs side by side; they are the whole distinction in miniature:

Znám ho.

I know him. (I'm acquainted with him)

Vím, kdo to je.

I know who that is. (I know the fact of his identity)

You can know a fact about someone you have never met (Vím, kdo to je — a famous person), and you can be acquainted with someone whose details you do not know (Znám ho, ale nevím, kde bydlí — "I know him, but I don't know where he lives"). The two verbs are not interchangeable.

	znát	vědět
Object type	noun in the accusative	clause (že / jestli / wh-) or "to"
Meaning	be acquainted / familiar with	know a fact
Test	Can you point at it? → znát	Does it fit "…that / …whether"? → vědět

Znám to město, ale nevím, jak se tam dostat.

I know that town, but I don't know how to get there.

For the broader four-way comparison with umět ("know how to") and moci ("can"), see moci / umět / znát / vědět.

Past tense

The past uses the l-participle znal / znala / znalo plus the auxiliary být, dropped in the third person.

Subject	Past form
já (m.) / (f.)	znal jsem / znala jsem
ty (m.) / (f.)	znal jsi / znala jsi
on / ona / ono	znal / znala / znalo
my (m.) / (f.)	znali jsme / znaly jsme
vy (m.) / (f.)	znali jste / znaly jste
oni / ony / ona	znali / znaly / znala

Znal jsem ho ještě z dětství.

I knew him back from childhood. (male speaker)

Znali jsme se už dlouho.

We'd known each other for a long time.

Future tense

Znát is imperfective; the future is budu znát and so on.

Person	Future
já	budu znát
ty	budeš znát
on / ona / ono	bude znát
my	budeme znát
vy	budete znát
oni / ony / ona	budou znát

Brzy budeš znát celé město.

Soon you'll know the whole city.

The imperative znej / znejte exists but is rare; you almost never command someone to be acquainted with something.

The perfective: poznat

Znát is imperfective and describes a state — being acquainted. Its perfective partner poznat describes the event of entering that state: "to get to know," "to meet (for the first time)," or "to recognise." This is a beautifully clean example of how a prefix turns a state into its onset.

Poznali jsme se na svatbě.

We met (got to know each other) at a wedding.

Hned jsem ho poznal podle hlasu.

I recognised him at once by his voice. (male speaker)

Ráda bych tě líp poznala.

I'd like to get to know you better. (female speaker)

Reflexive: znát se — to know each other

Adding the reflexive se gives znát se ("to know each other / be acquainted with one another"), and znát se s někým ("to be acquainted with someone").

Známe se ze základní školy.

We know each other from primary school.

Znáš se s Petrem?

Do you know Petr (are you two acquainted)?

Common mistakes

❌ Znám, že bydlí v Brně.

Wrong: znát cannot introduce a 'že' clause.

✅ Vím, že bydlí v Brně.

Correct: a fact-clause takes vědět.

❌ Vím tvoji sestru.

Wrong: a person can't be the object of vědět.

✅ Znám tvoji sestru.

Correct: be acquainted with a person → znát + accusative.

❌ Znám tvůj bratr.

Wrong: an animate masculine object must be in the accusative (= genitive form).

✅ Znám tvého bratra.

Correct: animate masculine accusative is tvého bratra.

❌ Oni znajou tu cestu.

Colloquial only: *znajou is obecná čeština, not standard.

✅ Oni znají tu cestu.

Correct standard form: znají.

Key takeaways

znát = be acquainted/familiar with; it takes an accusative object (a person, place, thing).
Conjugation is regular Class V: znám, znáš, zná, známe, znáte, znají.
For facts and information, use vědět with a clause instead.
The perfective poznat means "get to know / recognise"; the reflexive znát se means "know each other."

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