Czech builds the future in two different ways, and they negate in two different places. With the imperfective (budu) future, the negative prefix ne- lands on the auxiliary; with the perfective future, it lands on the main verb. English speakers, who negate the future with a single fixed pattern ("will not / won't" on the helper), have to learn to aim ne- at the right word — and that word depends on which future you are using. Get the aim right and both futures negate with the same little prefix you already know from the present and the past: a fused, written-as-one-word ne-.
Two futures, one prefix, two landing spots
Before negating anything, recall the split. The imperfective future is periphrastic: a finite auxiliary from budu, budeš, bude… plus the imperfective infinitive — budu pracovat "I will work / be working." The perfective future is not periphrastic at all: a perfective verb in its present-tense form simply means the future — udělám to "I will do it." (If that split is shaky, review the budu-future and the perfective future first.)
The rule for negation follows the same logic everywhere in Czech: ne- attaches to the finite verb — the conjugated word that carries person and number. In the budu-future the finite verb is the auxiliary; in the perfective future the finite verb is the main verb itself. That single principle resolves both cases.
Negating the imperfective (budu) future: ne- on the auxiliary
In the periphrastic future, ne- glues onto the front of budu, budeš, bude, budeme, budete, budou. The infinitive that follows stays completely untouched — it is non-finite, so it can never carry the negation.
| Subject | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| já | budu pracovat | nebudu pracovat |
| ty | budeš čekat | nebudeš čekat |
| on / ona / ono | bude spát | nebude spát |
| my | budeme učit | nebudeme učit |
| vy | budete platit | nebudete platit |
| oni / ony | budou pomáhat | nebudou pomáhat |
Zítra nebudu pracovat, mám dovolenou.
I won't be working tomorrow, I'm on holiday. (ne- on the auxiliary budu)
Na tebe čekat nebudeme, přijď včas.
We won't wait for you, come on time. (ne- on budeme; the infinitive čekat is untouched)
Bez kontroly to dítě nebude jíst.
That child won't eat without supervision. (nebude + the bare infinitive jíst)
The thing you must not do is push the negation onto the infinitive. A sentence like *budu nepracovat is wrong — it tries to negate a non-finite form while leaving the finite auxiliary positive. The negation rides the auxiliary, full stop.
Negating the perfective future: ne- on the main verb
The perfective future has no auxiliary — the perfective verb conjugated in the present is the future. So the finite verb is the perfective verb, and that is exactly where ne- goes. There is no helper to negate; you negate the verb that carries the meaning.
Neudělám to za tebe, musíš se to naučit sám.
I won't do it for you, you have to learn it yourself. (ne- on the perfective udělám)
Nepřijdu na schůzku, omlouvám se.
I won't come to the meeting, I'm sorry. (ne- on the perfective přijdu)
Tu chybu už nikdy neudělám.
I'll never make that mistake again. (perfective neudělám; note that nikdy 'never' also pairs with the negated verb)
Because the perfective present-form is the future, neudělám simultaneously means "I will not do (it)" — there is no separate future marker to worry about. The same prefix you would put on a present-tense verb does double duty as a future negation, purely because the verb is perfective.
Negating the motion futures: nepůjdu, nepojedu
The everyday "I'll go" futures — půjdu (on foot) and pojedu (by vehicle) — are formed with the prefix po- on the irregular motion verbs and behave like perfective futures: they are single finite words, so ne- simply prefixes the whole thing. (See the motion futures page for how půjdu / pojedu are built.)
| Affirmative | Negative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| půjdu | nepůjdu | I won't go (on foot) |
| půjdeš | nepůjdeš | you won't go |
| pojedu | nepojedu | I won't go (by vehicle) |
| pojedeme | nepojedeme | we won't go |
Dnes večer nikam nepůjdu, jsem unavený.
I'm not going anywhere tonight, I'm tired. (nepůjdu, on foot; nikam 'nowhere' pairs with the negated verb)
V neděli nepojedeme k babičce, je nemocná.
On Sunday we won't go to grandma's, she's ill. (nepojedeme, by vehicle)
Watch the spelling carefully: the ů in nepůjdu keeps its kroužek (ring), and pojedu takes a plain o. These are two different verbs (going on foot vs. by vehicle), and the negation does not change that distinction — it just prefixes whichever one you mean.
Contrasting the two futures side by side
The clearest way to lock in the rule is to negate both members of an aspect pair and watch where ne- lands.
Dneska se učit nebudu, ale tu látku se stejně naučím.
I won't study today, but I'll learn the material anyway. (nebudu = imperfective future, ne- on the auxiliary; naučím = perfective future, positive)
Nebudu se to učit nazpaměť — prostě se to nenaučím.
I won't study it by heart — I simply won't learn it. (nebudu se učit = imperfective, ne- on auxiliary; nenaučím = perfective, ne- on the verb)
Čekat na něj nebudu a ven dnes nepůjdu.
I won't wait for him and I won't go out today. (nebudu + infinitive vs. the perfective-style motion future nepůjdu)
Notice the parallel in that last one: nebudu čekat puts ne- on the auxiliary (budu-future), while nepůjdu puts ne- on the single finite motion verb. Same prefix, two landing spots, decided entirely by which future you chose.
Why English speakers aim ne- wrong
English negates every future the same way: will + not on the one helper, with the main verb staying a bare infinitive — "I will not work," "I won't come." There is only ever one helper and the negation always sits on it. So an English speaker arrives expecting a single, fixed target for negation.
Czech offers two targets. In the budu-future the helper budu is the finite verb, so the English instinct happens to work — negate the helper. But in the perfective future there is no helper, so the same instinct leaves the learner hunting for one to negate, and they sometimes try to invent a budu that does not belong (*nebudu udělat). The cure is to stop thinking "negate the helper" and start thinking "negate the finite verb": in udělám the finite verb is udělám itself, so neudělám is the whole answer.
A note on the future of být itself
The future of být ("to be") is just budu, budeš, bude… used on its own — and its negative is the same nebudu, nebudeš, nebude… you already know, now meaning "I won't be," not "I won't be doing." Context tells the two apart: with a following infinitive it is the future auxiliary, alone it is the lexical "be."
Zítra nebudu doma, jedu pryč.
I won't be home tomorrow, I'm going away. (nebudu = 'won't be', standing alone)
V kanceláři nikdo nebude, je státní svátek.
There'll be nobody in the office, it's a public holiday.
Common Mistakes
❌ Budu nepracovat zítra.
Incorrect — you can't negate the infinitive while leaving the auxiliary positive; the ne- rides the finite budu.
✅ Nebudu zítra pracovat.
I won't work tomorrow.
❌ Ne budu na tebe čekat.
Incorrect — ne- must fuse to the auxiliary as one word, never float separately.
✅ Nebudu na tebe čekat.
I won't wait for you.
❌ Nebudu to udělat.
Incorrect — the perfective future has no auxiliary; you don't build a budu-future from a perfective verb. Negate the perfective verb directly.
✅ Neudělám to.
I won't do it.
❌ Nebudu přijít na schůzku.
Incorrect — přijít is perfective, so it forms its own future (přijdu) and negates as nepřijdu; you can't tuck a perfective infinitive under budu.
✅ Nepřijdu na schůzku.
I won't come to the meeting.
❌ Dnes nikam budu nejít.
Incorrect — nejít is an infinitive and can't carry the future; the motion future is the single finite nepůjdu.
✅ Dnes nikam nepůjdu.
I'm not going anywhere today.
Key Takeaways
- ne- always grabs the finite verb. In the budu-future that's the auxiliary (nebudu, nebudeš…); in the perfective future it's the main verb (neudělám, nepřijdu).
- Never negate the infinitive in the budu-future: *budu nepracovat is impossible — say nebudu pracovat.
- The perfective future has no auxiliary, so there's nothing to add — just prefix the perfective verb: udělám → neudělám.
- Motion futures negate as single words: nepůjdu (on foot), nepojedu (by vehicle) — mind the ů.
- English negates one fixed helper; Czech makes you pick the right finite verb first. Ask "which word is conjugated?" and negate that.
Now practice Czech
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Start learning Czech→Related Topics
- The Imperfective Future (budu + infinitive)A2 — How Czech builds the future of imperfective verbs with budu + an infinitive, why it pairs only with imperfectives, and when to use it instead of the perfective.
- The Perfective Future (= perfective present)B1 — How the perfective present form expresses a completed future action.
- Special Motion Futures (půjdu, pojedu)B1 — The irregular prefixed futures of jít and jet.
- Negating the Past TenseA2 — How to negate the Czech past tense — the prefix ne- attaches to the l-participle, never to the auxiliary jsem/jsi.
- Negating the Verb with ne-A1 — How Czech negates a clause by gluing ne- onto the verb — no 'do/does/did', no separate word for 'not'.