Chtít ("to want") is irregular for one structural reason: it carries three different stems, and no single conjugation class predicts the jump from one to the next. This card lays them out, then organizes the verb around the thing you will actually do with it all day long — ask for things, at three rising levels of politeness, from blunt chci to deferential chtěl bych poprosit. For the sound change that produces chc-, see irregular present: chtít; for meaning and the aby-clause, see chtít — want, will, intend.
Three stems, one verb
Most Czech verbs build every form from one stem. Chtít uses three, and that is exactly why it resists every regular pattern:
| Stem | Where it appears | Forms |
|---|---|---|
| chc- | present, sg. + 1st/2nd pl. | chci, chceš, chce, chceme, chcete |
| chtěj- | present, 3rd pl. only | chtějí |
| cht- | infinitive, past, future, conditional | chtít, chtěl, budu chtít, chtěl bych |
The infinitive shows cht- (chtít), but the present softens that -t- to -c- before the vowel ending, giving the chc- stem — so chtít surfaces as chci, not the *chtím a learner naturally guesses. The third-person plural alone refuses the chc- stem and reaches for chtěj- (chtějí).
The present tense
| Person | Present | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| já | chci | nechci |
| ty | chceš | nechceš |
| on / ona / ono | chce | nechce |
| my | chceme | nechceme |
| vy | chcete | nechcete |
| oni / ony / ona | chtějí | nechtějí |
Chtít takes either an accusative object (wanting a thing) or a bare infinitive (wanting to do something):
Chci ten modrý svetr, ne ten šedý.
I want the blue jumper, not the grey one. (accusative object)
Chci si dnes večer jenom odpočinout.
I just want to rest this evening. (dependent infinitive)
Děti chtějí na hřiště, ale venku prší.
The kids want to go to the playground, but it's raining outside. (3rd plural chtějí)
Ne, díky, už nic nechci, jsem najedený.
No thanks, I don't want anything else, I'm full. (male speaker)
The politeness scale — the real point of chtít
Here is where chtít earns its own page. The bare present chci states a raw want. It is grammatical, but to a stranger, a waiter, or your boss it lands like "I want coffee" barked across a counter. Czech softens the demand in two clear steps, both built on the cht- stem.
| Tier | Form | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — blunt | Chci kávu. | fine among intimates; abrupt to strangers |
| 2 — polite | Chtěl/Chtěla bych kávu. | the default courteous request: "I'd like…" |
| 3 — very polite | Chtěl/Chtěla bych poprosit o kávu. | deferential: "I'd like to ask for…" |
Tier 2 is the conditional chtěl bych ("I would like"), the workhorse of ordering and asking. The participle agrees with the speaker's gender and number, and the auxiliary bych / bys / by / bychom / byste / by sits in second position:
| Subject | Conditional |
|---|---|
| já (m. / f.) | chtěl bych / chtěla bych |
| ty (m. / f.) | chtěl bys / chtěla bys |
| on / ona | chtěl by / chtěla by |
| my | chtěli bychom / chtěly bychom |
| vy | chtěli byste / chtěly byste |
| oni / ony | chtěli by / chtěly by |
Chtěl bych jeden lístek do Brna, prosím.
I'd like one ticket to Brno, please. (male speaker, tier 2)
Tier 3 wraps the conditional around a second verb of asking — most often poprosit ("to ask for") with o + accusative, or se zeptat ("to ask a question"). This is the register for favours, officials, and anything you feel you're imposing with:
Chtěl bych vás poprosit o radu.
I'd like to ask you for some advice. (very polite; poprosit o + accusative)
Chtěla bych se zeptat, jestli máte volný stůl pro dva.
I'd like to ask whether you have a free table for two. (very polite; female speaker)
nechce se mi — the dative "I don't feel like it"
A high-frequency idiom turns chtít impersonal: chce se mi ("I feel like…"), almost always heard in the negative nechce se mi ("I don't feel like it / I can't be bothered"). The person becomes a dative experiencer (mi, ti, mu, jí, nám…), the verb stays in the fixed 3rd-singular (ne)chce, and any following verb is an infinitive.
Nechce se mi dnes nikam chodit, zůstanu doma.
I don't feel like going anywhere today, I'll stay home.
Chce se ti jít na zmrzlinu, nebo radši na kafe?
Do you feel like going for an ice cream, or rather for a coffee?
Past and future, in brief
Both build on the cht- stem. The past is the l-participle chtěl / chtěla / chtělo / chtěli / chtěly plus the auxiliary jsem, jsi… (dropped in the 3rd person). The future, since chtít is imperfective, is budu chtít, budeš chtít … budou chtít.
Chtěla jsem ti zavolat, ale ztratil se mi mobil.
I wanted to call you, but I lost my phone. (female speaker)
Po té túře budeš chtít jenom spát.
After that hike you'll want nothing but sleep.
Common mistakes
❌ Chtím kávu, prosím.
Incorrect — *chtím doesn't exist; the present stem is chc-, giving chci.
✅ Chci kávu, prosím.
I want a coffee, please. (or, more politely, Chtěl bych kávu.)
❌ Oni chtí počkat venku.
Incorrect — the 3rd plural reverts to chtěj-, giving chtějí.
✅ Oni chtějí počkat venku.
They want to wait outside.
❌ Chtěla bych jedno pivo. (řekl muž)
Wrong agreement — a male speaker must use chtěl bych; chtěla bych is feminine.
✅ Chtěl bych jedno pivo.
I'd like one beer. (male speaker)
❌ Nechci se mi vstávat.
Wrong form — the impersonal idiom fixes the verb in the 3rd singular: nechce se mi.
✅ Nechce se mi vstávat.
I don't feel like getting up.
Key takeaways
- Chtít is irregular because it juggles three stems: chc- (most of the present), chtěj- (only chtějí), and cht- (infinitive, past, future, conditional).
- "I want" is chci — never *chtím, never written *chcu; "they want" is chtějí.
- Climb the politeness scale: Chci (blunt) → Chtěl/Chtěla bych (polite) → Chtěl/Chtěla bych poprosit / se zeptat (very polite); the participle always agrees with the speaker.
- The dative idiom nechce se mi ("I don't feel like it") fixes the verb in the 3rd singular and puts the person in the dative.
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Start learning Czech→Related Topics
- chtít — to wantA1 — Conjugation and usage of the irregular verb chtít, including the polite conditional chtěl bych ('I would like').
- chtít — Want, Will, IntendA2 — Using chtít to express desires, intentions and plans — with an object, with an infinitive, with an aby-clause when the subjects differ, and in the impersonal chce se mi pattern.
- Irregular Present: chtítA2 — Why the present tense of chtít ('to want') is irregular — the cht → chc stem change in chci/chceš/chce and the odd third plural chtějí.
- Conditional for Polite RequestsA2 — How Czech builds politeness into the grammar itself — chtěl bych, mohl byste, prosil bych — so that asking with the conditional, not just adding 'please', is what makes a request courteous.
- moci — modal reference (full paradigm)A2 — Reference conjugation of the modal moci with both literary and colloquial forms, presented as the model verb of the velar-stem (-ci/-ct) class.