letět / létat — to fly (determinate/indeterminate) | Czech Grammar

letět and létat are the two ways Czech says "to fly," and choosing between them is not about formality or region — it is about whether you mean flying in one direction right now / on this trip (letět) or flying as a habit, repeatedly, or around (létat). Both are imperfective. Together with jít/chodit (go on foot) and jet/jezdit (go by vehicle), they complete the everyday triad of motion verbs — letět/létat is the one you reach for whenever an aeroplane (or a bird, or a thrown ball) is involved.

Determinate vs indeterminate

This is the same split you have seen with jít/chodit and jet/jezdit. The determinate verb (letět) describes a single, ongoing, goal-directed flight — one trip, one direction, happening now or framed as a specific occasion. The indeterminate verb (létat) describes flying that is habitual, repeated, or has no single direction.

Letím do Prahy, přistáváme za hodinu.

I'm flying to Prague, we land in an hour. (this flight, now)

Často létám služebně po Evropě.

I often fly around Europe for work. (habit, all over)

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Ask yourself: this one flight or flying in general? "I'm flying to Prague (right now / this trip)" is letím; "I fly to Prague every month" is létám.

letět — present, past, future, imperative

letět belongs to the consonant-stem -et conjugation type (like sedět). Its present endings are -ím, -íš, -í, -íme, -íte, -í.

Person	Present
já	letím
ty	letíš
on / ona / ono	letí
my	letíme
vy	letíte
oni / ony / ona	letí

The past tense uses the l-participle letěl (masc.), letěla (fem.), letělo (neut. sg.), with the plural participles letěli (masc. anim.), letěly (other plurals), and letěla (neuter plural).

Letěl jsem celou noc a vůbec jsem nespal.

I flew all night and didn't sleep at all.

The future of the determinate verb has two correct forms. You can use the regular analytic future budu letět, but the neat, very common synthetic future is poletím — formed with the prefix po-, exactly like půjdu and pojedu.

Person	Synthetic future
já	poletím
ty	poletíš
on / ona / ono	poletí
my	poletíme
vy	poletíte
oni / ony / ona	poletí

V pátek poletím do Vídně na pohřeb.

On Friday I'll fly to Vienna for a funeral.

The imperative is leť (sg.), leťme (let's), leťte (pl./formal).

Leť opatrně a dej mi vědět, až přistaneš.

Fly safe and let me know when you land.

létat — present, past, future, imperative

létat is a regular -at verb (the -á- conjugation type, like dělat). Note the long á in the stem throughout.

Person	Present
já	létám
ty	létáš
on / ona / ono	létá
my	létáme
vy	létáte
oni / ony / ona	létají

The past tense participle is létal / létala / létalo, plural létali / létaly, neuter plural létala. Because létat is indeterminate, its future is always analytic: budu létat (there is no synthetic poletám).

Jako dítě jsem strašně rád létal letadlem.

As a kid I absolutely loved flying by plane.

Až dostuduju, budu hodně létat po světě.

Once I finish my studies, I'll be flying around the world a lot.

The imperative is létej / létejme / létejte.

Government: where you are flying

Like the other motion verbs, the destination is most often expressed with do + genitive for places you go into (countries, cities), and na + accusative for events, islands, and certain destinations.

Letíme do Itálie, máme tam svatbu.

We're flying to Italy, we have a wedding there.

Příští měsíc letím na Kanárské ostrovy.

Next month I'm flying to the Canary Islands.

Holubi létají z věže přímo na náměstí.

The pigeons fly from the tower straight to the square.

For the means of travel you can add letadlem (by plane, instrumental) when you need to specify it, though with letět/létat it is usually obvious.

Prefixed perfectives: přiletět, odletět, doletět

Putting a directional prefix on the determinate verb produces a perfective verb naming one completed flight. These are the words you actually use at the airport.

Perfective (from letět)	Meaning	Imperfective partner (from létat)
přiletět	to arrive (by air)	přilétat
odletět	to depart, fly off	odlétat
doletět	to reach (by flying)	dolétat
uletět	to fly away	ulétat

Letadlo z Dubaje přiletí v půl třetí.

The flight from Dubai arrives at half past two.

Odletěli jsme s několikahodinovým zpožděním.

We departed several hours late.

Notice that the perfective přiletí / odletí look like the present forms of letět but are read as future or completed — that is the normal perfective-present-as-future pattern, the same one behind napíšu.

How English differs

English has just one verb, to fly, and uses tense and adverbs to do the work that Czech does with two separate verbs. "I fly to Prague" is ambiguous in English between a habit and a current trip; Czech forces you to disambiguate the moment you pick létám vs letím. English speakers also tend to over-use the continuous ("I am flying to Prague every week"), but in Czech a habit is the plain indeterminate present, Létám do Prahy každý týden — never the determinate letím for a repeated action.

Common Mistakes

❌ Každý týden letím do Prahy.

Incorrect — a weekly habit needs the indeterminate verb.

✅ Každý týden létám do Prahy.

Every week I fly to Prague.

❌ Zrovna teď létám do Prahy.

Incorrect — one flight happening now needs the determinate verb.

✅ Zrovna teď letím do Prahy.

Right now I'm flying to Prague.

❌ Zítra budu letět do Vídně.

Acceptable but clunky — Czechs prefer the synthetic future for one trip.

✅ Zítra poletím do Vídně.

Tomorrow I'll fly to Vienna.

❌ Letam do Brna občas.

Incorrect — létat keeps its long á in every form.

✅ Létám do Brna občas.

I fly to Brno occasionally.

❌ Letíme na Kanárské ostrovy každou zimu.

Wrong verb for a yearly habit.

✅ Létáme na Kanárské ostrovy každou zimu.

We fly to the Canary Islands every winter.

Key Takeaways

letět = one flight, one direction, now or this occasion. Present letím; synthetic future poletím; past letěl; imperative leť.
létat = habitual / repeated / multidirectional flying. Present létám (long á!); future budu létat; past létal; imperative létej.
Destination: do + genitive for cities/countries, na + accusative for events and islands.
Directional prefixes on letět give the perfectives přiletět (arrive), odletět (depart) — the airport vocabulary.

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