Czech Conjugation Classes: Overview | Czech Grammar

This is the index page for the five Czech present-tense conjugation classes — a place to look up which class a verb belongs to and jump to its full paradigm. It does not re-teach the class system: for the underlying logic (why the infinitive can't be trusted, how to store verbs, the Spanish contrast) read the dedicated lesson, The Five Conjugation Classes. Use this page as a quick reference grid.

The five classes at a glance

Each class is named after the vowel or syllable in its 3rd-person singular. The right-hand column links to the full per-class paradigm.

Class	3sg marker	Model verb (3sg)	Full paradigm
I	-e	nést → nese (to carry)	class-e-nest
II	-ne	tisknout → tiskne (to press)	class-ne-tisknout
III	-je	kupovat → kupuje (to buy)	class-je-kryt
IV	-í	prosit → prosí (to ask)	class-i-prosit-trpet-sazet
V	-á	dělat → dělá (to do)	class-a-delat

Read the 3sg column aloud top to bottom — nese, tiskne, kupuje, prosí, dělá — and you have heard every present-tense class the language has.

Číšník nese pití ke stolu.

The waiter is carrying the drinks to the table (class I).

Babička mě stiskne v náručí pokaždé, když přijdu.

Grandma squeezes me in a hug every time I come (class II).

Bratr pracuje v Brně a kupuje si tam byt.

My brother works in Brno and is buying a flat there (class III).

Soused vždycky prosí o klid po desáté.

The neighbour always asks for quiet after ten (class IV).

Co děláš o víkendu?

What are you doing this weekend (class V)?

The shared personal endings

All five classes carry the same family of personal endings — the consonants -š (2sg), -me (1pl) and -te (2pl) are constant across every class. Only the linking vowel and the two edge cells (1sg, 3pl) differ. This grid is the full present-tense reference:

Person	I (nést)	II (tisknout)	III (kupovat)	IV (prosit)	V (dělat)
já	nesu	tisknu	kupuju / kupuji	prosím	dělám
ty	neseš	tiskneš	kupuješ	prosíš	děláš
on / ona	nese	tiskne	kupuje	prosí	dělá
my	neseme	tiskneme	kupujeme	prosíme	děláme
vy	nesete	tisknete	kupujete	prosíte	děláte
oni	nesou	tisknou	kupujou / kupují	prosí	dělají

The two sub-families to notice: classes I–III take 1sg -u and 3pl -ou (literary -i / -í in class III), while classes IV–V take 1sg -m (-ím / -ám) and 3pl -í / -ají. The double forms kupuju / kupuji and kupujou / kupují are a register split — -u / -ou are everyday (informal), -i / -í are written (formal).

The machinery every class shares

The class determines only the present tense and the imperative stem. Everything else — the past, the future, the conditional — is built by one shared mechanism regardless of class. Look those up here:

Form	Built from	Reference
Past	l-participle + present of být	past-l-participle
Future (impf.)	budu + infinitive	future-formation
Imperative	present (3pl) stem + ending	imperative-formation
Conditional	l-participle + bych / bys / by…	conditional-formation

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This is why learning the present class pays off twice: the same stem that gives you nese also gives you the imperative nes and feeds the participle system. Pin down the class, and the rest of the verb follows from the shared machinery above — you never re-learn the past or future class by class.

Dělám to každý den, dělal jsem to včera a budu to dělat i zítra.

I do it every day, I did it yesterday, and I'll be doing it tomorrow too.

Kdybych měl čas, koupil bych ti to sám.

If I had time, I'd buy it for you myself.

These two sentences run a class-V and a class-III verb through the past, future and conditional — and the endings (-l jsem, budu, -l bych) are identical regardless of class. That uniformity is the whole point of treating the past, future and conditional as shared machinery rather than per-class drills.

Common Mistakes

❌ Nesám tu tašku já.

Incorrect — class I takes 1sg -u, not the class-V -ám: it's nesu.

✅ Nesu tu tašku já.

I'll carry that bag.

❌ Prosu tě o pomoc.

Incorrect — class IV takes 1sg -ím, not -u: it's prosím.

✅ Prosím tě o pomoc.

I'm asking you for help.

❌ Rodiče dělajou zahradu.

Incorrect — class V's standard 3pl is -ají, not the dialectal -ajou: dělají.

✅ Rodiče dělají na zahradě.

My parents are working in the garden.

❌ Děti tisknají knoflík.

Incorrect — tisknout is class II (1pl/3pl on the -n- stem): the 3pl is tisknou.

✅ Děti tisknou knoflík.

The kids are pressing the button.

❌ Studuju a pak budu studit dál.

Incorrect — the infinitive of class-III studovat is studovat, so the future is budu studovat.

✅ Studuju a pak budu studovat dál.

I'm studying and then I'll keep studying.

Key Takeaways

Five present classes, named by the 3sg marker: -e / -ne / -je / -í / -á → models nese / tiskne / kupuje / prosí / dělá.
The personal endings -š / -me / -te are constant; classes I–III take 1sg -u, classes IV–V take 1sg -m.
The class governs only the present and imperative; the past, future and conditional use one shared mechanism — see the machinery index above.
For the why behind the system, go to The Five Conjugation Classes; for any single class, follow its link in the table above.

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