dojít and docházet are the prefixed motion pair built on jít / chodit ("to go on foot") with the prefix do-. That prefix means all the way to the goal — reaching something, arriving at the end of a stretch. From this single spatial idea the pair fans out into some of the most useful idioms in Czech: running out of something, getting somewhere, and the impersonal dojít k + dative meaning "to come to / to happen." Perfective dojít describes one act of reaching; imperfective docházet describes habitual reaching or a process of gradually getting there or running low.
The conjugation
dojít is perfective, so its present-tense forms carry future meaning (one completed arrival still to come). docházet is imperfective and behaves as a normal present.
| dojít (perfective → future) | docházet (imperfective → present) | |
|---|---|---|
| já | dojdu | docházím |
| ty | dojdeš | docházíš |
| on / ona / ono | dojde | dochází |
| my | dojdeme | docházíme |
| vy | dojdete | docházíte |
| oni | dojdou | docházejí |
The past tense uses the -šel / -šla stem inherited from jít:
| Subject | dojít — past | docházet — past |
|---|---|---|
| masculine sg. | došel | docházel |
| feminine sg. | došla | docházela |
| neuter sg. | došlo | docházelo |
| masc. animate pl. | došli | docházeli |
| fem. / masc. inan. pl. | došly | docházely |
| neuter pl. | došla | docházela |
The imperative is dojdi (sg.), dojděte (pl.) for the perfective; the imperfective imperative docházej is rarer.
Sense 1 — reaching a place on foot (the literal core)
The base meaning is to go somewhere on foot and arrive — to cover the distance to a goal. Perfective dojít is a single completed walk to a destination.
Včera jsem došel domů až po půlnoci.
Yesterday I got home only after midnight.
Dojdeš pěšky na nádraží za deset minut.
You'll get to the station on foot in ten minutes.
A very common everyday use is dojít pro + accusative — to pop out and fetch something (go all the way there and bring it back):
Dojdu pro chleba, hned jsem zpátky.
I'll run out for bread, I'll be right back.
Můžeš dojít pro mléko do večerky?
Can you run out for milk to the corner shop?
Imperfective docházet describes habitually going somewhere on foot — turning up regularly:
Dochází na hodiny češtiny každý čtvrtek.
She attends Czech lessons every Thursday.
Sense 2 — running out (the dative-subject idiom)
When supplies dwindle, Czech uses docházet / dojít with the thing that is running out as the grammatical subject and the person affected in the dative. The picture is literal: the supply is "reaching its end." Imperfective docházet = it's running low; perfective dojít = it has run out / will run out.
Došly mi peníze, musím počkat na výplatu.
I've run out of money, I have to wait for my paycheck.
Dochází nám benzín, zastavíme u pumpy.
We're running low on gas, we'll stop at the station.
Note the agreement: in došly mi peníze, the verb agrees with peníze (the subject), not with the person. The dative mi marks who is affected — exactly the dative of the experiencer pattern, where the person is not the doer but the one something happens to.
Došla nám trpělivost.
Our patience ran out.
Sense 3 — dojít k + dative: "it came to / it happened"
The most idiomatic use is impersonal dojít k + dative (perfective) / docházet k + dative (imperfective). Literally "it reached [a point]," it is the standard way to say an event occurred — common in news, reports, and neutral narration. The neuter došlo / dochází is the subjectless verb; the event sits in the dative after k.
Na křižovatce došlo k vážné nehodě.
A serious accident happened at the intersection.
Při jednání došlo k dohodě.
An agreement was reached during the negotiations.
V poslední době dochází k častým výpadkům proudu.
Lately there have been frequent power outages.
This construction is a register marker: došlo k nehodě is the crisp, slightly formal way a report phrases "there was an accident," where casual speech might say stala se nehoda. Learn it for reading newspapers and official texts.
Sense 4 — dojde mi to: realizing, getting it
A lovely colloquial idiom: dojít + dative meaning that understanding finally reaches you — the penny drops. The thing understood is to (it), the person is in the dative.
Až teď mi došlo, co tím myslel.
Only now did it dawn on me what he meant.
Neboj, časem ti to dojde.
Don't worry, you'll get it in time.
Here dojde is the perfective-present-as-future ("it will reach you" = "you'll get it"), and došlo is the past ("it reached me" = "I realized").
Common Mistakes
❌ Bojím se, že docházím domů pozdě dnes večer.
Incorrect — for one specific arrival tonight you need the perfective future, not the habitual imperfective.
✅ Bojím se, že dnes večer dojdu domů pozdě.
I'm afraid I'll get home late tonight.
❌ Došel jsem peníze.
Incorrect — 'I' is not the subject; the money runs out, and you go in the dative.
✅ Došly mi peníze.
I've run out of money. (the money is the subject)
❌ Došlo nehodu na dálnici.
Incorrect — this construction needs the preposition k + dative, not a bare accusative.
✅ Došlo k nehodě na dálnici.
There was an accident on the highway.
❌ Dojdu pro chleba včera.
Incorrect — dojdu is a future form and cannot combine with 'yesterday'; use the past.
✅ Došel jsem pro chleba včera.
I went out for bread yesterday.
❌ Konečně mi došel, co se stalo.
Incorrect — the realized thing is neuter 'to,' so the verb is došlo, not the masculine došel.
✅ Konečně mi došlo, co se stalo.
It finally dawned on me what happened.
Key Takeaways
- do- = reach the goal / all the way to the end; dojít is one reaching, docházet is habitual or in-progress reaching.
- Perfective dojdu is a future ("I'll get there"); imperfective docházím is a real present.
- "Run out" puts the supply in the nominative and the person in the dative: Došly mi peníze.
- dojít k
- dative = "an event occurred" (formal/neutral): Došlo k nehodě.
- dojde mi to = "I'll get it / realize it," with the past došlo mi to = "it dawned on me."
- For the unprefixed base, see jít / chodit; for the wider system, see prefixed motion verbs.
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- jít / chodit — to go on foot (determinate / indeterminate)A2 — The determinate verb jít (one trip on foot, now) paired with its indeterminate partner chodit (habitual, repeated walking), fully conjugated side by side.
- Prefixed Motion Verbs (přijít, odejít, přijet)B2 — How prefixes turn motion verbs into directional perfectives and their imperfectives.
- přijít / přicházet — to arrive, to come (on foot)A2 — The prefixed arrival pair built on jít: perfective přijít (a single arrival) versus its secondary imperfective přicházet (arriving as a process or habit), fully conjugated with their do / k / na government.
- odejít / odcházet — to leave, to depart (on foot)A2 — The prefixed departure pair built on jít: perfective odejít (a single departure) versus its secondary imperfective odcházet (leaving as a process or habit), with their z / od government and the mirror-image relationship to přijít.
- The Experiencer DativeA2 — The very common impersonal pattern — je mi zima, je mi smutno, je mi líto — where the person who feels something stands in the dative and there is no subject at all.
- jít vs chodit (Going on Foot)B1 — The determinate jít and indeterminate chodit and when to use each.