Smát se ("to laugh") packs three things an A2 learner needs to get right. Its stem shifts from infinitive smá- to present směj-, exactly the kind of jump you already met in pít → piju. It is always reflexive — the se never leaves. And it governs the dative: you laugh at something, and that something takes the dative case. Below is the full paradigm, plus the close-but-different verb usmívat se ("to smile"), which governs something else entirely.
The present tense: směj-
The infinitive smát drops its smá- shape in the present, which is built on směj- (note the ě). As with several -j- verbs, the first-person singular and third-person plural come in two registers.
| Person | Form (spoken / literary) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| já | směju se / směji se | I'm laughing |
| ty | směješ se | you're laughing (sg.) |
| on / ona / ono | směje se | he / she / it is laughing |
| my | smějeme se | we're laughing |
| vy | smějete se | you're laughing (pl./formal) |
| oni / ony | smějí se / smějou se | they're laughing |
The -i/-í forms (směji se, smějí se) are the literary/written choices (formal); the -u/-ou forms (směju se, smějou se) are the everyday spoken ones (informal). They mean the same thing.
The key point: smát se takes the dative
In English you "laugh at" something. Czech uses no preposition — the thing or person laughed at goes into the dative case. This is the heart of the verb.
Čemu se směješ? Není to vtipné.
What are you laughing at? It's not funny.
Směju se tomu pokaždé, i když to znám.
I laugh at it every time, even though I know it already.
Nesměj se mi, myslím to vážně.
Don't laugh at me, I mean it seriously.
Here co → čemu, to → tomu, and já → mi are all dative. Notice the contrast with its sibling verb bát se, which takes the genitive: you fear something in the genitive (bojím se psa) but laugh at something in the dative (směju se tomu). Two reflexive verbs, two different cases — worth pinning side by side.
Všichni se smáli jeho historkám.
Everyone laughed at his stories.
A note on tone: smát se někomu (laughing at a person, dative) often carries a mocking edge — laughing at them, not with them. To laugh with someone, Czech says smát se s někým (s + instrumental): Smáli jsme se spolu = "We laughed together."
The past tense
The past is built from the l-participle on the smá- stem (long á) plus the auxiliary and the reflexive se.
| Subject | Participle + clitics | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| masc. sg. | smál jsem se | I laughed |
| fem. sg. | smála jsem se | I laughed |
| neut. sg. | smálo se | it laughed |
| masc. anim. pl. | smáli jsme se | we laughed |
| fem. pl. | smály jsme se | we laughed |
The clitic order is fixed: the past auxiliary comes before se, giving jsem se, jsme se.
Celý večer jsme se smáli, až nás bolelo břicho.
We laughed all evening until our bellies hurt.
Smála se nahlas a vůbec se nestyděla.
She laughed out loud and wasn't embarrassed at all. (female speaker)
The future and the imperative
Smát se is imperfective, so the future is the analytic budu-future — and the se slips in right after the auxiliary: budu se smát.
| Person | Future |
|---|---|
| já | budu se smát |
| ty | budeš se smát |
| on / ona / ono | bude se smát |
| my | budeme se smát |
| vy | budete se smát |
| oni | budou se smát |
The imperative is built on the present stem: směj se (sg.), smějme se (let's), smějte se (pl./formal).
Směj se, je to jen vtip!
Laugh, it's only a joke!
Aspect: zasmát se
To package laughter as a single, completed burst, Czech uses the perfective zasmát se — "to have a laugh, to give a laugh." Its present-future is zasměju se / zasměji se; past zasmál se, zasmála se.
Zasmál jsem se a hned mi bylo líp.
I had a laugh and felt better right away. (male speaker)
Pěkně jsme se u toho filmu zasmáli.
We had a good laugh at that film.
Don't confuse it with usmívat se / usmát se (to smile)
A laugh has sound; a smile is silent. Czech keeps these apart with a different verb: usmívat se (imperfective) / usmát se (perfective) = "to smile." Crucially, it governs differently — you smile at someone with na + accusative, not the dative of smát se.
Babička se na nás mile usmála.
Grandma smiled at us sweetly. (perfective: usmát se na + accusative)
Usmívá se na každého, koho potká.
She smiles at everyone she meets.
So the same English "at" splits two ways: smát se + dative (laugh at — směju se ti) versus usmívat se + na + accusative (smile at — usmívám se na tebe).
Common mistakes
❌ Smám se tomu.
Incorrect — the present runs on směj-, not on the infinitive smá-.
✅ Směju se tomu.
I'm laughing at that.
❌ Smeju se.
Incorrect — the stem keeps the ě: směju, never smeju.
✅ Směju se.
I'm laughing.
❌ Směju se tebe.
Incorrect — that's the genitive of bát se; smát se takes the dative.
✅ Směju se ti.
I'm laughing at you.
❌ Směju se na tebe.
Incorrect for 'laugh at' — na + accusative belongs to usmívat se (smile).
✅ Směju se ti.
I'm laughing at you.
❌ Směju tomu.
Incorrect — smát se is reflexive; the se cannot be dropped.
✅ Směju se tomu.
I'm laughing at that.
Key takeaways
- Infinitive smá-, present směj- (with ě): směju/směji se, směješ se, směje se, smějeme se, smějete se, smějí/smějou se.
- The -u/-ou forms are colloquial; -i/-í are literary. The verb is always reflexive — keep the se.
- Smát se governs the dative of what or whom you laugh at: směju se tomu, smáli se mi.
- Past smál / smála / smáli se (long á); future budu se smát; imperative směj se / smějte se.
- Perfective zasmát se = "have a laugh." Don't confuse it with usmívat se / usmát se ("to smile"), which takes na + accusative.
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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.
- Verbs That Govern the DativeA2 — The important class of Czech verbs whose only object stands in the dative, even though English uses a direct object.
- pít — to drinkA1 — Full conjugation of pít (to drink), its pí- to pij- stem shift, accusative object, and the perfective partners vypít and napít se with its genitive.
- bát se — to be afraidA2 — Full conjugation of the reflexive verb bát se, its bá-/boj- stem alternation, the genitive of the thing feared, the o + accusative 'fear for' construction, and second-position se.
- The Second-Position (Wackernagel) RuleB1 — Why clitics must sit in the second slot of the clause.