pít — to drink | Czech Grammar

Pít ("to drink") looks short and simple, but it hides a stem shift that catches every beginner: the infinitive stem pí- turns into the present stem pij-, with a -j- that appears out of nowhere. Once you see that j, the conjugation is regular and rhythmic. This page lays out the full paradigm, the accusative object, and the two perfective partners — one of which, napít se, governs a case English speakers never expect: the genitive.

The present tense

The present stem is pij- — the infinitive's pí- drops its long vowel and grows a j. The endings are the ordinary -u/-eš/-e set of the nese/bere-type class.

Person	Form (spoken / literary)	Meaning
já	piju / piji	I drink
ty	piješ	you drink (sg.)
on / ona / ono	pije	he / she / it drinks
my	pijeme	we drink
vy	pijete	you drink (pl./formal)
oni	pijou / pijí	they drink

The first-person singular and third-person plural come in two flavours. Piju and pijou are the everyday spoken forms (informal); piji and pijí are the literary/written ones (formal). They are interchangeable in meaning — a friend says piju kafe, a novel says piji kávu.

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The whole point of pít is the disappearing-and-reappearing stem. The infinitive pít has a long í and no j; the moment you conjugate it in the present, the í shortens and a j appears: piju, piješ, pije. Don't try to build present forms off pí- — you'll never produce the right shape. The present lives on pij-, full stop.

Ráno piju vždycky kafe, jinak nefunguju.

In the morning I always drink coffee, otherwise I don't function.

Co piješ? Dáš si víno, nebo radši pivo?

What are you drinking? Will you have wine, or rather beer?

Děti pijou moc málo vody.

Kids drink too little water.

Negation is the prefix ne-: nepiju, nepiješ, nepije, nepijeme, nepijete, nepijou.

What pít governs: the accusative

The drink goes in the accusative case — a plain direct object, no preposition.

Piju jenom vodu, alkohol nepiju vůbec.

I only drink water, I don't drink alcohol at all.

Babička pije bylinkový čaj každý večer.

Grandma drinks herbal tea every evening.

The past tense

The past tense is built from the l-participle on a short pi- stem: pil, pila, pilo, pili / pily, plus the auxiliary jsem / jsi / jsme / jste.

Subject	Participle	First-person example
masc. sg.	pil	pil jsem (I drank)
fem. sg.	pila	pila jsem (I drank)
neut. sg.	pilo	pilo (it drank)
masc. anim. pl.	pili	pili jsme (we drank)
fem. pl.	pily	pily jsme (we drank)

Včera večer jsem pil jenom čaj, řídil jsem.

Last night I only drank tea, I was driving. (male speaker)

Na té oslavě jsme pili až do rána.

At that party we drank until morning.

The future tense

Pít is imperfective, so the future is the analytic budu-future: a future form of být plus the infinitive pít.

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

Od ledna nebudu pít kávu, zkusím to bez ní.

From January I won't drink coffee, I'll try going without it.

The imperative

The imperative is built on the present pij- stem: pij (you sg.), pijme (let's drink), pijte (you pl./formal).

Pij pomalu, je to horké.

Drink slowly, it's hot.

Pijte hodně vody, je vedro.

Drink lots of water, it's hot out.

Aspect: the perfective partners

Like jíst, pít describes drinking as an activity. To package it as a completed event, Czech offers two perfectives, and the case they govern is the key difference:

vypít — "to drink (it) up, to finish the whole drink." Takes an accusative object, like pít. Present-future vypiju / vypiji, vypiješ... vypijou / vypijí; past vypil, vypila, vypili.
napít se — "to have a drink, to take a sip / quench one's thirst." This one is reflexive (with se) and governs the genitive — you drink of something. Present-future napiju se, napiješ se... napijou se; past napil se, napila se.

Vypil jsem celou láhev minerálky.

I drank the whole bottle of mineral water. (male speaker)

Vypij to mlíko, ať nezkysne.

Drink up that milk so it doesn't go off.

Napiju se vody a hned zase poběžím.

I'll have some water and then I'll be off running again.

Napij se trochu čaje, zahřeje tě to.

Have a bit of tea, it'll warm you up.

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The case is the trap. Pít and vypít take the accusative — piju vodu, vypil jsem vodu ("the water," whole object). But napít se takes the genitive — napiju se vody ("some water," a partitive amount). That genitive is doing real work: it signals "some of," a portion rather than the whole, which is exactly what "have a drink" implies.

Common mistakes

❌ Pím vodu.

Incorrect — there is no form pím; the present stem is pij-.

✅ Piju vodu.

I drink water.

The single most common error: trying to conjugate off the infinitive's pí-. The present stem has the j: piju, never pím.

❌ Včera jsem pijl pivo.

Incorrect — the past participle drops the j: it's pil, not pijl.

✅ Včera jsem pil pivo.

Yesterday I drank beer. (male speaker)

The j belongs to the present stem only. The past participle is pil / pila / pili.

❌ Napiju se vodu.

Incorrect — napít se governs the genitive, not the accusative.

✅ Napiju se vody.

I'll have some water.

After the reflexive napít se, the drink goes in the genitive: vody, not vodu.

❌ Vypiju se kávu.

Incorrect — vypít is not reflexive and does not take se.

✅ Vypiju kávu.

I'll finish the coffee.

Keep the two perfectives apart: vypít (accusative, no se) for finishing a whole drink, napít se (genitive, with se) for having some.

Key takeaways

Present stem is pij- (a j appears): piju/piji, piješ, pije, pijeme, pijete, pijou/pijí.
The -u/-ou forms (piju, pijou) are colloquial; -i/-í (piji, pijí) are literary.
The drink takes the accusative with pít and vypít; past participle drops the j: pil.
Future is imperfective: budu pít; imperative pij / pijte.
Perfectives: vypít (drink up, accusative) and napít se (have a drink, reflexive, genitive).

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