The determinate motion verbs nést "carry (a thing)" and vést "lead (a person, on foot)" are the base for a whole family of prefixed perfectives. The recipe is regular: a prefix supplies the direction and makes the verb perfective, and a matching -ášet / -ádět suffix builds its secondary imperfective. Learn the four most common prefixes once and you can read dozens of derived verbs. This page lays out přinést, odnést, přivést, odvést with their imperfective partners, and then tackles the pair English speakers most often confuse: donést ("carry all the way to") versus dovést ("lead all the way to" — and also "be able to").
The system in one table
Notice how each prefix means the same thing on nést (objects) as on vést (people): the only difference is thing vs person.
| Prefix | Direction | nést (a thing) — pf. / impf. | vést (a person) — pf. / impf. |
|---|---|---|---|
| při- | here, toward | přinést / přinášet (bring) | přivést / přivádět (bring [sb]) |
| od- | away | odnést / odnášet (take away) | odvést / odvádět (lead away) |
| do- | all the way to a goal | donést / donášet (carry to, deliver) | dovést / dovádět (lead to; also "manage") |
Key present forms
The prefixed perfectives inherit the stems of their base verbs: nést → stem nes-, vést → stem ved-. Because they are perfective, their present-tense forms carry future meaning.
| Verb | Present (= future) 1sg / 3sg | Past (m / f) |
|---|---|---|
| přinést (pf.) | přinesu / přinese | přinesl / přinesla |
| odnést (pf.) | odnesu / odnese | odnesl / odnesla |
| donést (pf.) | donesu / donese | donesl / donesla |
| přivést (pf.) | přivedu / přivede | přivedl / přivedla |
| odvést (pf.) | odvedu / odvede | odvedl / odvedla |
| dovést (pf.) | dovedu / dovede | dovedl / dovedla |
The secondary imperfectives are ordinary verbs and take the plain budu-future: budu přinášet, budu přivádět. Their present is přináším / přinášíš… and přivádím / přivádíš….
přinést / přinášet — bring (a thing)
Prefix the carrying verb with při- ("here, toward the speaker") and you get přinést "to bring (an object) here." Government: accusative thing + an optional dative recipient.
Přines mi prosím sklenici vody.
Please bring me a glass of water (accusative thing + dative me).
Zítra ti přinesu ty knížky, co jsi chtěl.
Tomorrow I'll bring you the books you wanted.
The imperfective přinášet is for repeated or ongoing bringing: Pošťák nám přináší poštu ("the postman brings us the mail [as a routine]").
odnést / odnášet — take away (a thing)
od- means "away from here." odnést is to carry something off, clear it away, take it back.
Odnes ten talíř do kuchyně, prosím.
Take that plate to the kitchen, please.
Číšník nám odnesl prázdné sklenice.
The waiter took away our empty glasses.
přivést / přivádět — bring (a person)
For people, you don't carry — you lead. přivést is the human counterpart of přinést: to bring someone here on foot. You přinést a cake but přivést a guest.
Můžu na oslavu přivést kamaráda?
Can I bring a friend to the party?
Přiveď zítra i sestru, bude ráda.
Bring your sister along tomorrow too, she'll be glad.
odvést / odvádět — lead (a person) away
odvést is to lead a person away, take them off somewhere. It also has the idiomatic odvést dobrou práci "to do a good job (of work)."
Policista odvedl výtržníka stranou.
The policeman led the troublemaker aside.
Řemeslníci odvedli skvělou práci.
The workmen did a great job.
The trap: donést vs dovést
Both start with do- ("all the way to a goal"), both look almost identical, and both are perfective — but they split exactly along the thing-vs-person line of their base verbs, and dovést has a second life that donést does not.
- donést (from nést, carry) = to carry an object all the way to / deliver it to a destination. Stem nes-: donesu, doneseš…, past donesl.
- dovést (from vést, lead) = to lead a person all the way to somewhere. Stem ved-: dovedu, dovedeš…, past dovedl. And separately: dovést
- infinitive = to be able to / know how to / manage to do something.
Donesl jsem balík až ke dveřím.
I carried the parcel all the way to the door (an object — donést, male speaker).
Dovedu tě až na nádraží, neboj.
I'll take you all the way to the station, don't worry (a person — dovést).
That second, non-motion meaning of dovést is extremely common and trips everyone up:
Nedovedu si to vůbec představit.
I can't imagine that at all (dovést + infinitive = be able to).
On to dovede vysvětlit líp než já.
He can explain it better than I can.
A note on stems, the perennial nuisance
Every form is built off the base verb's stem, never off the infinitive's surface shape. nést-verbs run on nes- (přinesu, odnesu, donesu), and vést-verbs on ved- (přivedu, odvedu, dovedu). The masculine past is -nesl / -vedl (the -d- and -s- surface), and the plural past splits the usual way: přinesli (m anim.), přinesly (f / m inan.), přinesla (neuter). Get the stem right and the prefixes take care of themselves.
Common Mistakes
❌ Přinesu na večírek kamaráda.
Incorrect — people are led, not carried; bringing a person is přivést.
✅ Přivedu na večírek kamaráda.
I'll bring a friend to the party.
You přinést a thing but přivést a person. Carrying a friend would be very literal indeed.
❌ Dovedu ti ten balík zítra.
Incorrect — a parcel is an object, so it's delivered with donést, not the person-leading dovést.
✅ Donesu ti ten balík zítra.
I'll bring you the parcel tomorrow.
A parcel is a thing → donést (donesu). dovést is for leading a person (or means "be able to").
❌ Nedonesu si to představit.
Incorrect — 'be able to' is dovést + infinitive, never donést.
✅ Nedovedu si to představit.
I can't imagine that.
The "be able to / know how to" sense belongs only to dovést + infinitive.
❌ Přinesil jsem ti dárek.
Incorrect — there is no *přinesil; the masculine past is přinesl.
✅ Přinesl jsem ti dárek.
I brought you a present (male speaker).
The past participle is přinesl (stem nes- + -l), with no extra -i-.
❌ Budu přinést ty knihy.
Incorrect — přinést is perfective, so it has no budu-future; use the present-as-future přinesu, or the imperfective budu přinášet for repeated bringing.
✅ Přinesu ty knihy. / Budu ti přinášet knihy každý týden.
I'll bring the books. / I'll bring you books every week.
A perfective like přinést never combines with budu; its present form přinesu already means "I'll bring."
Key Takeaways
- A prefix adds direction and perfectivity; the -ášet / -ádět suffix builds the secondary imperfective (přinést → přinášet, přivést → přivádět).
- Things are carried (nést-family: přinést, odnést, donést); people are led (vést-family: přivést, odvést, dovést).
- při- = bring here, od- = take/lead away, do- = all the way to a goal.
- donést (stem nes-) delivers a thing; dovést (stem ved-) takes a person — and dovést + infinitive means "to be able to / know how to."
- All forms run on the base stems nes- and ved-: přinesu / přinesl, přivedu / přivedl.
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- nést / nosit — to carry (determinate/indeterminate)B1 — Reference table for the determinate nést vs. indeterminate nosit.
- vést / vodit — to lead, to take (determinate/indeterminate)B1 — Reference table for the determinate vést vs. indeterminate vodit.
- nést — to carry (determinate)A2 — Full conjugation of nést, the model Class I -e- verb and determinate carrying verb.
- vést — to lead (determinate)A2 — Full reference for vést 'to lead, conduct' — its ved- present stem, its determinate/indeterminate partner vodit, and how to keep it apart from its near-twin vézt.
- Prefixed Motion Verbs (přijít, odejít, přijet)B2 — How prefixes turn motion verbs into directional perfectives and their imperfectives.
- Forming Perfectives with PrefixesB1 — How a prefix turns an imperfective into its perfective partner.