běžet / běhat — to run (determinate/indeterminate)

Czech splits "to run" into two imperfective verbs that English keeps as one. běžet is the determinate verb — running in one direction, on one occasion, usually right now: Běžím na autobus ("I'm running for the bus"). běhat is the indeterminate verb — running habitually, repeatedly, or all over the place: Běhám každé ráno ("I go running every morning"). Picking the wrong one is not a small error; it changes the picture from a single dash to a daily routine. This page is your reference card for both, with the full forms, the everyday command Běž!, and a prefixed perfective to round things out.

The one-direction vs all-over distinction

Both verbs are imperfective — neither one says the action is completed. The split is about shape of motion, not about aspect:

• běžet = one trip, one direction, in progress or toward a goal. Think of an arrow.
• běhat = no single direction: a habit (every morning), a back-and-forth, running around, or jogging as a sport. Think of a scribble.

The third one is telling: even though it is happening right now, it is běhají, because the kids are running around with no single destination. Direction, not the clock, decides.

Present tense

The two verbs sit in different conjugation classes, so the endings look quite different. běžet is an -í verb (the sázet/trpět type); běhat is an -á verb (the dělat type).

Watch the two third persons: běží is identical in the singular and the plural (on běží / oni běží), while běhat distinguishes them (ona běhá / ony běhají). The hook on ž (běžím) and the long á of běhám are both load-bearing — drop them and the word is wrong.

Past tense

Both use the regular l-participle. běžet gives běžel, and běhat gives běhal. They agree with the subject in gender and number like any past tense.

Note the neuter plural -a: Ta zvířata běžela přes silnici ("Those animals ran across the road") uses běžela, which is spelled the same as the feminine singular but agrees with a neuter plural noun.

The contrast survives perfectly into the past: běžel jsem domů is one dash home; běhala jsem describes a childhood habit of running about.

Future tense

Because both verbs are imperfective, both build the future analytically with budu + infinitive — there is no synthetic perfective future here (that is what the prefixed verbs are for, below).

Imperative

The commands are extremely common, especially the short Běž!

Běž! is one of the workhorse commands of spoken Czech. Literally "Run!", it is also the everyday "Go!", "Go on!", "Off you go!" — used far beyond actual running, much like English "Go!".

The prefixed perfective přiběhnout

Prefixing běžet turns it perfective and adds a direction. The most common is přiběhnout ("to come running, to arrive at a run") — perfective, so it views the arrival as a single completed event. Its present-form endings (-nu, -neš, -ne…) carry future meaning, as perfectives always do, and its past is přiběhl.

Other prefixes give a whole family: odběhnout ("to run off [for a moment]"), doběhnout ("to run up to / to catch up with"), vyběhnout ("to run out / up the stairs"), uběhnout ("to elapse," of time). They all behave like přiběhnout. For the wider picture of how prefixes reshape motion verbs, see prefixed motion verbs.

The wider motion family

běžet/běhat is one member of a tight family of determinate/indeterminate imperfective pairs. The companion you will meet next is letět/létat ("to fly"), which behaves identically; the two are treated together in běžet/běhat and letět/létat. The carrying pair nést/nosit and the going-on-foot pair jít/chodit follow the very same one-direction-vs-habit logic, so once běžet/běhat clicks, you have the whole system's blueprint.

Common Mistakes

A repeated, habitual action is the textbook case for běhat. The determinate běžím would describe one specific run happening now, which clashes with every morning.

Catching a particular bus is a single dash in one direction, so the imperative is Běž! (from běžet), not Běhej! (from běhat).

When the dog is chasing one ball in one direction in front of you, it is běží. Use běhá only for the dog running around generally.

You can never combine budu with a perfective infinitive. The perfective přiběhnout makes its future from the present-form endings: přiběhnu.

A recurring yearly event is habitual, so the indeterminate běhala is right; běžela would pin it to one specific run.

Key Takeaways

• Both běžet and běhat are imperfective; the split is one-direction (běžet) vs habitual/all-over (běhat).
• Present: běžím, běžíš, běží (3rd sg. = 3rd pl.) vs běhám, běháš, běhá… běhají.
• Past: běžel vs běhal; neuter plural takes -a (běžela, běhala).
• Future of both is analytic (budu běžet / budu běhat); the determinate verb also has a synthetic poběžím.
• Běž! is the everyday "Go!" command. The perfective přiběhnout ("come running") forms its future as přiběhnu.