Stát is one Czech verb doing two everyday jobs: to stand (be on one's feet, be located) and to cost. Both jobs run on the same present stem stoj-, so you learn one paradigm and get both meanings free. The real difficulty is not these two meanings but a third verb that looks identical in the infinitive — the reflexive perfective stát se ("to happen / to become") — which conjugates completely differently and governs the instrumental. This page nails down stát and then draws a hard line between it and stát se.
The present tense: stoj-
The infinitive is stát, but the present lives on the stem stoj- with the -í- endings of the prosí-type class. There is no t and no long á anywhere in the present.
| Person | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| já | stojím | I stand / it costs (1st sg.) |
| ty | stojíš | you stand (sg.) |
| on / ona / ono | stojí | he / she / it stands; it costs |
| my | stojíme | we stand |
| vy | stojíte | you stand (pl./formal) |
| oni / ony | stojí | they stand; they cost |
Meaning 1 — to stand (be on one's feet, be located)
Used of people standing and, just as often, of things being situated somewhere — a building, a car, a bottle on the table.
Stojím tady už půl hodiny, kde jsi?
I've been standing here for half an hour, where are you?
Hrad stojí na kopci nad městem.
The castle stands on a hill above the town.
Nestůj ve dveřích, pojď dál.
Don't stand in the doorway, come on in.
Note the first example: Czech uses the plain present stojím where English needs "have been standing." A Czech present covers an action that started earlier and still continues.
Meaning 2 — to cost
The price question every traveller needs is built on the very same stojí. The price itself goes in the accusative.
Kolik to stojí?
How much does it cost?
Ta kniha stojí tři sta korun.
That book costs three hundred crowns.
Kolik stály ty boty?
How much did those shoes cost?
There is a useful idiom hiding here: stát za to = "to be worth it." Stojí to za to — literally "it stands for it" — means "it's worth it." And stát o něco (with o + accusative) means "to be keen on / want" something: Nestojím o to = "I'm not interested."
The past tense
The past is built from the l-participle on the long stem stá-, plus the auxiliary jsem / jsi…. Mind the long á, and the i/y split in the plural.
| Subject | Participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masc. sg. | stál | stál jsem (I stood / it cost) |
| fem. sg. | stála | stála jsem |
| neut. sg. | stálo | stálo to (it cost) |
| masc. anim. pl. | stáli | stáli jsme |
| fem. pl. | stály | stály jsme |
Stál jsem ve frontě skoro dvě hodiny.
I stood in line for almost two hours. (male speaker)
Ten výlet nás stál spoustu peněz.
That trip cost us a lot of money.
The future and the imperative
Stát (stand/cost) is imperfective, so the future is the analytic budu-future: a future form of být plus the infinitive stát.
| Person | Future |
|---|---|
| já | budu stát |
| ty | budeš stát |
| on / ona / ono | bude stát |
| my | budeme stát |
| vy | budete stát |
| oni | budou stát |
The imperative is stůj (sg.), stůjme (let's), stůjte (pl./formal) — and here comes a spelling trap.
Stůj! Na červenou se nepřechází.
Stop! You don't cross on a red light.
Budu stát před kinem, přijď v sedm.
I'll be standing in front of the cinema, come at seven.
The trap: stát versus stát se
Now the crucial part. Czech has a second, separate verb that happens to share the infinitive shape: the reflexive perfective stát se, meaning "to happen" or "to become." Despite the identical infinitive, it does not conjugate like stát. Its present-future stem is stan- (the -ne- class), and it always carries the reflexive se.
| Person | stát (stand/cost) | stát se (happen/become) |
|---|---|---|
| já | stojím | stanu se |
| ty | stojíš | staneš se |
| on / ona / ono | stojí | stane se |
| my | stojíme | staneme se |
| vy | stojíte | stanete se |
| oni | stojí | stanou se |
Because stát se is perfective, its "present" forms (stane se) are really future or generic, and its past is stal se, stala se, stalo se, stali se.
Sense A — "to happen." Usually impersonal, with neuter se stalo:
Co se stalo? Vypadáš vyděšeně.
What happened? You look frightened.
Nic se nestalo, jen mi spadl telefon.
Nothing happened, I just dropped my phone.
Sense B — "to become." Here is the government point: "to become X" puts X in the instrumental case.
Chci se stát lékařem.
I want to become a doctor.
Po čase se z něj stal výborný učitel.
In time he became an excellent teacher.
The imperfective partner of stát se is stávat se — "to keep happening / to be becoming": To se stává = "That happens (sometimes)."
Common mistakes
❌ Kolik to stám?
Incorrect — there is no form stám; the present stem is stoj-.
✅ Kolik to stojí?
How much does it cost?
❌ Stuj! Nehýbej se!
Incorrect — the imperative needs ů with the ring: stůj.
✅ Stůj! Nehýbej se!
Stop! Don't move!
❌ Co se stojí?
Incorrect — 'what happened' uses stát se, not stát: it's stalo se.
✅ Co se stalo?
What happened?
❌ Chci se stát lékaře.
Incorrect — 'become X' takes the instrumental, not the accusative.
✅ Chci se stát lékařem.
I want to become a doctor.
❌ Stanu před kinem.
Incorrect — 'I'll be standing' is the imperfective budu stát; stanu belongs to stát se (become).
✅ Budu stát před kinem.
I'll be standing in front of the cinema.
Key takeaways
- One verb stát covers standing and costing, both on the present stem stoj-: stojím, stojíš, stojí… (no form stám).
- The price after "cost" is accusative: Kolik to stojí? Stojí to sto korun.
- Past stál / stála / stáli (long á); future budu stát; imperative stůj / stůjte — always with ů.
- A separate verb, the perfective stát se (stem stan-, with se), means happen (Co se stalo?) and become.
- "Become X" governs the instrumental: stát se lékařem, not lékaře.
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Start learning Czech→Related Topics
- Class IV: -í- Verbs (prosit, trpět, sázet)A2 — The -í- present class, where three different infinitive endings all feed one tidy paradigm.
- Verbs Governing the InstrumentalB2 — Verbs whose complement stands in the instrumental — becoming and remaining a role (stát se lékařem), occupying oneself with something (zabývat se), and moving, waving, boasting, despising, and suffering.
- Verbs Governing the AccusativeA2 — The accusative is the default object case in Czech: the vast majority of transitive verbs put their direct object in the accusative, and only a marked minority demand the dative, genitive, or instrumental instead.
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