Class IV is the -í- conjugation: in the present tense the personal endings hang off a long -í-, giving pros-í-š, vid-í-š, sáz-í-š. It is the second-largest class after class V (dělat) and, crucially, it is where the largest share of everyday verbs of speaking, perceiving, and locating live. The class is named after its 3rd-person singular marker, -í (prosí, vidí, sází). What makes it tricky is that the present is uniform but the infinitive, the past, and the imperative split into three subtypes — traditionally called the prosit, trpět, and sázet types. This page gives you all three side by side.
The shared present tense
Whatever the subtype, every Class IV verb conjugates the same way in the present. The endings are -ím, -íš, -í, -íme, -íte in the first five cells; only the 3rd-person plural varies (more on that below).
| Person | prosit (ask) | trpět (suffer) | sázet (plant/bet) |
|---|---|---|---|
| já | prosím | trpím | sázím |
| ty | prosíš | trpíš | sázíš |
| on / ona / ono | prosí | trpí | sází |
| my | prosíme | trpíme | sázíme |
| vy | prosíte | trpíte | sázíte |
| oni / ony / ona | prosí | trpí / trpějí | sázejí / sází |
Prosím tě, zavolej mi, až dojedeš.
Please, call me when you arrive.
Z okna vidím celé město.
From the window I can see the whole city.
Babička na jaře sází na zahradě rajčata.
In spring Grandma plants tomatoes in the garden.
The 3rd-person plural split: -í vs -ejí/-ějí
The one cell that is not uniform is the 3rd-person plural. This is the single most useful thing to know about Class IV.
- prosit-type verbs always take a short -í: prosí ("they ask"), mluví ("they speak"), chodí ("they walk").
- trpět-type verbs allow both, but the longer -ějí is the careful, written choice: trpí / trpějí. In everyday speech the short -í dominates. (Not every -ět verb takes the long variant — vidět and slyšet, for instance, have only vidí, slyší.)
- sázet-type verbs strongly favour the longer -ejí: sázejí, házejí, vracejí — though the short sází is heard.
Sousedi pořád házejí odpadky do našeho popelníku.
The neighbours keep throwing rubbish into our bin (informal).
Mnozí lidé dnes trpí nedostatkem spánku.
Many people today suffer from a lack of sleep.
Studenti vracejí knihy do knihovny na konci semestru.
Students return books to the library at the end of the term.
Subtype 1: the prosit-type (infinitive -it)
These verbs end in -it in the infinitive and have a plain past in -il. This is the biggest and most regular of the three.
| Form | prosit |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | prosit |
| Present 3sg / 3pl | prosí / prosí |
| Imperative (sg.) | pros! |
| Past (m / f / n sg.) | prosil / prosila / prosilo |
| Past (m anim. / inanim.+f / n pl.) | prosili / prosily / prosila |
Other common prosit-type verbs: mluvit (to speak), chodit (to walk/go), učit (to teach), platit (to pay), koupit (to buy), vařit (to cook), nosit (to carry). Note the neuter-plural past: prosila ("they (the neuter things) asked") is a distinct cell from the singular prosilo.
Včera jsem dlouho mluvil s bratrem o stěhování.
Yesterday I talked with my brother for a long time about moving.
Pros ho slušně a možná ti pomůže.
Ask him politely and maybe he'll help you.
Subtype 2: the trpět-type (infinitive -ět/-et, past -ěl/-el)
These verbs end in -ět (or -et after a hard consonant) and form a past in -ěl/-el. The distinguishing mark versus the sázet-type is the imperative, which ends in a bare consonant just like prosit (trp!), and the past vowel -ě-.
| Form | trpět |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | trpět |
| Present 3sg / 3pl | trpí / trpí (trpějí) |
| Imperative (sg.) | trp! |
| Past (m / f / n sg.) | trpěl / trpěla / trpělo |
| Past (m anim. / inanim.+f / n pl.) | trpěli / trpěly / trpěla |
Other common trpět-type verbs: vidět (to see), slyšet (to hear), sedět (to sit), ležet (to lie), bydlet (to live/reside), letět (to fly), viset (to hang). The full paradigm of vidět sits in its own reference entry.
Celé odpoledne jsme seděli na terase a povídali si.
We sat on the terrace all afternoon and chatted.
Slyšíš to taky? Někdo klepe na dveře.
Do you hear that too? Someone's knocking at the door.
Subtype 3: the sázet-type (infinitive -et, past -el, imperative -ej)
These also have a -í- present, but their telltale is the imperative in -ej (sázej!) and the longer 3pl -ejí. Their infinitive ends in -et and the past in -el. Almost all of them are secondary imperfectives — derived imperfectives built off a perfective — which is why they cluster around the "habitual/repeated action" meaning.
| Form | sázet |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | sázet |
| Present 3sg / 3pl | sází / sázejí (sází) |
| Imperative (sg.) | sázej! |
| Past (m / f / n sg.) | sázel / sázela / sázelo |
| Past (m anim. / inanim.+f / n pl.) | sázeli / sázely / sázela |
Other common sázet-type verbs: házet (to throw), věšet (to hang up), vracet (to return/give back), uklízet (to tidy), odpovídat belongs to class V, but vracet is the model you'll meet most — its perfective partner is vrátit, the prosit-type verb, in the pair vracet–vrátit.
Pověs kabát do skříně a sázej, na koho chceš.
Hang your coat in the wardrobe and bet on whoever you like.
Vždycky vracím knihy včas, nerad platím pokuty.
I always return books on time — I don't like paying fines.
Why the three imperatives differ
The split that matters in practice is the imperative, and it isn't arbitrary. The imperative is built from the present stem. The prosit- and trpět-types have stems ending in a single consonant (pros-, trp-), so the imperative is just that bare consonant: pros!, trp!. The sázet-type has a present stem that ends in -ej- before the -í ending (sáz-ej-í in the literary 3pl), and that -ej- surfaces as the imperative: sázej!. Once you hear the 3rd-person plural, the imperative is predictable: prosí → pros, trpí → trp, sázejí → sázej. The mechanics of building imperatives across all classes are covered on the imperative formation page.
Consonant alternations in derivation
Class IV verbs in -it hide a consonant change that surfaces when you build the passive participle and the verbal noun. The stem-final consonant softens: prosit → prošen ("asked"), prosba ("a request"); platit → placen ("paid"); vrátit → vrácen ("returned"). The pattern is the regular Czech palatalization s → š, t → c, d → z and so on. You don't conjugate with these alternations, but you'll recognize them in derived forms.
Žádost byla nakonec schválena a poplatek prominut.
The application was eventually approved and the fee waived (formal).
Common mistakes
❌ Oni prosejí o pomoc každý den.
Incorrect — the prosit-type takes 3pl -í, never -ejí: prosí.
✅ Oni prosí o pomoc každý den.
They ask for help every day.
❌ Sáz tady ty stromky podél plotu.
Incorrect — the sázet-type imperative ends in -ej: sázej.
✅ Sázej tady ty stromky podél plotu.
Plant these saplings along the fence here.
❌ Prosu tě, počkej na mě.
Incorrect — Class IV 1sg is -ím, not -u: it's prosím.
✅ Prosím tě, počkej na mě.
Please, wait for me.
❌ Ty děti seděly tiše a poslouchaly; pak sedělo i my.
Incorrect — the neuter-plural past is sedělo only for neuter nouns; with my (we) the form is seděli.
✅ Ty děti seděly tiše a poslouchaly; pak jsme seděli i my.
The children sat quietly and listened; then we sat too.
❌ Slyšiš mě? Mluv hlasitěji.
Incorrect — the 2sg ending has a long -íš: slyšíš.
✅ Slyšíš mě? Mluv hlasitěji.
Can you hear me? Speak louder.
Key takeaways
- Class IV verbs all share the -í- present: prosím, prosíš, prosí, prosíme, prosíte.
- The three subtypes split on infinitive, past, and imperative, not on the present.
- prosit-type (-it, past -il, imper. bare consonant): mluvit, chodit, učit, platit.
- trpět-type (-ět/-et, past -ěl, imper. bare consonant): vidět, slyšet, sedět, ležet, bydlet.
- sázet-type (-et, past -el, imper. -ej, 3pl -ejí): házet, věšet, vracet.
- Watch the 3pl: short -í for prosit, -ejí for sázet, both for trpět.
Now practice Czech
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Start learning Czech→Related Topics
- Czech Conjugation Classes: OverviewA2 — A reference index to the five present-tense conjugation classes — one lookup table mapping each class to its 3sg ending, model verb, and full paradigm page.
- Class V (-á-): the dělat patternA2 — Full reference table for the Class V -á- conjugation, modelled on the verb dělat, plus the -at infinitives that follow it and the ones that don't.
- Forming the ImperativeA2 — Reference for building the singular, 1pl, and 2pl imperative across verb classes.
- vidět — to seeA1 — Conjugation and usage of the perception verb vidět, its perfective uvidět, and the contrast with intentional dívat se / koukat.
- vracet / vrátit — to return, to give backB1 — Side-by-side conjugation of imperfective vracet and perfective vrátit, the c/t alternation, the transitive 'give back' and reflexive 'come back' meanings, and the accusative-thing-plus-dative-recipient government.
- The Five Conjugation ClassesA2 — A map of the five Czech present-tense classes, named by their 3rd-person-singular marker -e, -ne, -je, -í, -á.