Two more pairs round out the everyday motion-verb set: běžet / běhat (to run) and letět / létat (to fly). They obey exactly the logic you already know from jít / chodit — determinate for one directed action in progress, indeterminate for habitual, repeated, multi-directional, or "ability" motion — but they add a useful flavor: the indeterminate members běhat and létat are the default verbs for sport and general capability (jogging, "I run for exercise"; "the plane can fly," "I love flying"). Get these two pairs and you control the four most common Czech verbs of movement.
běžet — the determinate verb (running now)
Běžet is running as one directed burst, in progress: you are sprinting toward something specific. It is a -í class verb but with a fixed stem běž-; do not confuse it with the indeterminate běhat.
| Person | běžet — present |
|---|---|
| já | běžím |
| ty | běžíš |
| on / ona / ono | běží |
| my | běžíme |
| vy | běžíte |
| oni / ony | běží |
Běžím na autobus, nemůžu teď mluvit.
I'm running for the bus, I can't talk right now. (one directed dash)
Pes běží za míčkem do parku.
The dog is running after the ball into the park. (one direction)
A handy idiom: běžet is also the verb for what is currently showing or running — a film, a programme, a tap left on.
V kině zrovna běží nový český film.
A new Czech film is showing at the cinema right now.
běhat — the indeterminate verb (running habitually, jogging, sport)
Běhat is running in general: jogging for fitness, running around in several directions, or running as a repeated activity. Regular -á class (dělat).
| Person | běhat — present |
|---|---|
| já | běhám |
| ty | běháš |
| on / ona / ono | běhá |
| my | běháme |
| vy | běháte |
| oni / ony | běhají |
Každé ráno běhám v parku kolem rybníka.
Every morning I jog in the park around the pond. (sport / habit)
Děti běhaly po zahradě a smály se.
The children were running around the garden and laughing. (multi-directional)
Běháš závodně, nebo jen tak pro radost?
Do you run competitively, or just for fun?
The contrast inside one pair of sentences:
Běží domů, protože začalo pršet.
He's running home because it started raining. (one dash — běžet)
Běhá v parku, ať prší, nebo svítí slunce.
He runs in the park whether it rains or shines. (habit — běhat)
letět — the determinate verb (flying now / this flight)
Letět is flying as one trip / this flight, in progress or planned. -í class, stem let-.
| Person | letět — present |
|---|---|
| já | letím |
| ty | letíš |
| on / ona / ono | letí |
| my | letíme |
| vy | letíte |
| oni / ony | letí |
Zítra v šest ráno letím do Londýna na pohovor.
Tomorrow at six in the morning I'm flying to London for an interview. (this flight)
Podívej, letí tam hejno hus k jihu.
Look, a flock of geese is flying south over there. (one directed flight)
Colloquially letět even stands in for "to dash / rush": Musím letět! "I've got to fly!" — the same one-direction-now feeling.
létat — the indeterminate verb (flying habitually / ability)
Létat covers flying in general: a frequent flyer, a creature that can fly, planes that operate a route. Note the long á in létat — this is the spelling that separates it from letět. Regular -á class.
| Person | létat — present |
|---|---|
| já | létám |
| ty | létáš |
| on / ona / ono | létá |
| my | létáme |
| vy | létáte |
| oni / ony | létají |
Kvůli práci létám skoro každý měsíc.
I fly almost every month for work. (habit)
Tučňáci nelétají, ale výborně plavou.
Penguins can't fly, but they swim brilliantly. (general ability)
Ráda létám, ale bojím se startu.
I love flying, but I'm scared of take-off. (flying in general)
The seasonal-migration contrast captures the split cleanly:
Ten pták letí na jih sám.
That bird is flying south on its own. (one bird, one flight — letět)
Ptáci létají na jih každý podzim.
Birds fly south every autumn. (recurring migration — létat)
The full grid
| Meaning | Determinate (one action now) | Indeterminate (habitual / ability) |
|---|---|---|
| run | běžet — běžím | běhat — běhám |
| fly | letět — letím | létat — létám (long á) |
A note on the spelling traps
These two pairs hide their distinction in the vowels, so be precise:
- běžet (short, -í class: běžím) vs běhat (-á class: běhám) — different stems, different conjugation classes.
- letět (short e: letím) vs létat (long á: létám). The long á in létat is the orthographic fingerprint of the indeterminate verb. Dropping it (letat) is a spelling error.
Why English speakers stumble here
English has one run and one fly, and it signals the determinacy flavor with tense — "I'm running" vs "I run," "the bird is flying" vs "birds fly." Czech makes you pick the lexical verb first. The most common error is using the determinate for a habit or sport: saying Běžím každé ráno ("I'm sprinting every morning"?) when you mean Běhám každé ráno ("I jog every morning"), or Letím často when you mean Létám často ("I fly often"). As always, ask first: one action happening now, or the activity in general?
Prefixed forms
Prefixing converts these pairs into aspect, exactly as elsewhere. Běžet feeds perfectives of running (přiběhnout "to come running," odběhnout "to run off," vběhnout "to run in") — note these use a -nout perfective stem — with imperfectives from the běhat family (přibíhat, odbíhat). Letět gives přiletět / přilétat "to arrive by air," odletět / odlétat "to fly off / depart." The whole system is on the prefixed motion verbs page.
Letadlo z Říma přiletí v půl třetí.
The plane from Rome arrives at half past two. (perfective přiletět)
Pes přiběhl, jakmile uslyšel své jméno.
The dog came running the moment it heard its name. (perfective přiběhnout)
Common Mistakes
❌ Každé ráno běžím v parku.
Incorrect — a daily fitness habit is the indeterminate běhat: běhám.
✅ Každé ráno běhám v parku.
Every morning I jog in the park.
❌ Rychle, běhám na vlak!
Incorrect — one urgent dash right now is the determinate běžet: běžím.
✅ Rychle, běžím na vlak!
Quick, I'm running for the train!
❌ Často letím služebně do Německa.
Incorrect — frequent flying is the indeterminate létat: létám.
✅ Často létám služebně do Německa.
I often fly to Germany on business.
❌ Ptáci letí na jih každý podzim.
Incorrect — a recurring seasonal habit needs the indeterminate létat: létají.
✅ Ptáci létají na jih každý podzim.
Birds fly south every autumn.
❌ Letam zítra do Vídně.
Incorrect spelling and verb — this single flight is letím (and létat is always spelled with long á anyway).
✅ Letím zítra do Vídně.
I'm flying to Vienna tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
- běžet / běhat = run (one dash now / habitual, sport, multi-directional).
- letět / létat = fly (this flight / frequently, ability, recurring).
- The indeterminate members are the sport and ability verbs (běhám, létám).
- Mind the vowels: letět (short e) vs létat (long á); běžet (-í class) vs běhat (-á class).
- Prefixing turns them into aspect pairs: letět → přiletět / přilétat; běžet → přiběhnout / přibíhat.
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Start learning Czech→Related Topics
- Motion Verbs: Determinate vs IndeterminateA2 — Czech verbs of movement come in pairs that are both imperfective but differ in determinacy — one directed trip in progress versus habitual or multi-directional motion.
- jít vs chodit (Going on Foot)B1 — The determinate jít and indeterminate chodit and when to use each.
- nést vs nosit, vést vs vodit (Carrying and Leading)B2 — More determinate/indeterminate motion pairs for carrying and leading — including nosit meaning 'to wear'.
- Prefixed Motion Verbs (přijít, odejít, přijet)B2 — How prefixes turn motion verbs into directional perfectives and their imperfectives.
- Irregular Present: jít and jetA2 — The present of the two basic motion verbs jít (go on foot) and jet (go by vehicle).
- Prepositions That Take the GenitiveA2 — The large family of genitive prepositions — do, z, od, bez, u, vedle, podle, kolem, během, místo, kromě, uprostřed — and why the case is fixed no matter what they mean.