If the -á- class is the friendly one, the -e- class — traditionally class I — is the one that bites. Its endings are simple enough, but its present stem often looks nothing like the infinitive: you would never guess nesu ("I carry") from nést, or beru ("I take") from brát. This class also contains a large share of the most basic, highest-frequency verbs in the language, so you cannot postpone it. The honest truth is that here you must learn the present tense as a separate fact about each verb, not derive it from the infinitive.
The two model verbs: nést and brát
The class is built on two reference verbs. Nést ("to carry") shows the endings on a stem that at least keeps its consonant; brát ("to take") shows how violently the stem can change.
| Person | nést (stem nes-) | brát (stem ber-) |
|---|---|---|
| (já) | nesu | beru |
| (ty) | neseš | bereš |
| (on / ona / ono) | nese | bere |
| (my) | neseme | bereme |
| (vy) | nesete | berete |
| (oni / ony / ona) | nesou | berou |
Počkej, pomůžu ti — co to neseš?
Wait, I'll help you — what are you carrying there?
Nesou ty bedny už hodinu a jsou úplně hotoví.
They've been carrying those crates for an hour and they're completely done in.
Beru si k snídani jen kávu a rohlík.
For breakfast I just have a coffee and a roll.
The signature endings: -u … -ou
The endings that define class I are -u, -eš, -e, -eme, -ete, -ou. Two of them are the class's fingerprints: the first person singular -u (nesu, beru) and the third person plural -ou (nesou, berou). If you hear or see those two, you are almost certainly in class I. Contrast this with the -á- class, whose corresponding endings are -ám and -ají (dělám, dělají). The whole skeleton differs.
| Person | Class I (nese) | Class V (dělá) |
|---|---|---|
| (já) | nesu | dělám |
| (on/ona/ono) | nese | dělá |
| (oni/ony/ona) | nesou | dělají |
There is one refinement to know. Verbs of this class whose present stem ends in a soft consonant (like píš- from psát, or maž- from mazat) have an extra, (literary) first-person singular in -i and third-person plural in -í, used in careful or formal writing: píšu / píši, píšou / píší. The hard-stem nést / brát type has no such variant — only nesu / nesou, beru / berou.
Píšu ti to do mailu, ať to nezapomeneš.
I'm writing it to you in an email so you don't forget. (neutral píšu)
Tímto Vám píši ve věci Vaší objednávky.
I am writing to you hereby regarding your order. (literary píši, in a formal letter)
The hard part: the present stem is unpredictable
Here is the central difficulty, stated plainly: in class I you cannot derive the present stem from the infinitive. You take the stem — nes-, ber-, per- — and add the endings above; but which stem belongs to which infinitive is simply a lexical fact you memorise. The safest thing to learn with each new class-I verb is its first person singular, because that one form reveals the whole present tense.
| Infinitive | Meaning | Present stem | 1sg | 3pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nést | to carry | nes- | nesu | nesou |
| brát | to take | ber- | beru | berou |
| prát | to wash (laundry) | per- | peru | perou |
| hnát | to drive, to chase, to rush | žen- | ženu | ženou |
| vést | to lead | ved- | vedu | vedou |
| vézt | to transport (by vehicle) | vez- | vezu | vezou |
| číst | to read | čt- | čtu | čtou |
Look at how far the stem can travel from the infinitive. brát → ber- swaps a whole vowel; prát → per- does the same; hnát → žen- changes both the consonant (h → ž) and the vowel; číst → čt- drops the vowel entirely. None of this is guessable. There is no logical shortcut — these alternations are fossils of sound changes a thousand years old, and the only realistic strategy is to memorise the 1sg of each verb as you meet it.
Dneska peru, tak mi sem hoď i tu košili.
I'm doing laundry today, so toss me that shirt too. (prát → peru)
Pořád mě někam ženou, ani se nestihnu nadechnout.
They're always rushing me somewhere, I don't even get a chance to breathe. (hnát → ženou)
Tahle cesta vede přímo k nádraží.
This road leads straight to the station. (vést → vede)
Ráno vezu děti do školy a pak jedu do práce.
In the morning I drive the kids to school and then go to work. (vézt → vezu)
Čteš tu knížku, co jsem ti půjčil?
Are you reading that book I lent you? (číst → čteš)
Why this class matters so much
It would be tempting to treat class I as a small box of awkward exceptions and move on. You can't, because the verbs in it are everywhere: brát (take), číst (read), vést (lead), nést (carry), vézt (transport), jít (go, present jdu), moci (can, present můžu) and many more belong here. These are not rare words — they are the bones of everyday speech. Master a handful of their present tenses early and you remove a huge amount of friction later.
Bereš si cukr do čaje, nebo ne?
Do you take sugar in your tea, or not? (brát → bereš)
Nesu ti dárek, ale neukážu ti ho, dokud nebudou tvoje narozeniny.
I'm bringing you a present, but I won't show it to you until it's your birthday.
Don't read the class off the infinitive ending
A final warning that ties back to the -á- class. The infinitive ending tells you almost nothing about which present class a verb belongs to. dělat and brát both end in -at, yet dělat is class V (dělám) and brát is class I (beru). The ending -st is no more reliable: číst is class I (čtu), but plenty of verbs in other classes share endings too. The infinitive is a poor predictor; the 1sg is the truth.
Common Mistakes
❌ Brám si kávu.
Incorrect — brát is class I, not the -á- class; there is no form 'brám'.
✅ Beru si kávu.
I'm having a coffee. (brát → beru)
❌ Oni nesají těžké tašky.
Incorrect — class I uses -ou in the 3pl, not the -ají of the -á- class.
✅ Nesou těžké tašky.
They're carrying heavy bags.
❌ Čtám si před spaním.
Incorrect — číst is class I with the stem čt-; the form is čtu, not 'čtám'.
✅ Čtu si před spaním.
I read before going to sleep.
❌ Já beréš ten poslední kus.
Incorrect — -eš is the 2sg ending; the 1sg of brát is beru.
✅ Beru ten poslední kus, jestli ti to nevadí.
I'm taking the last piece, if you don't mind.
Key Takeaways
- Class I (the -e- class) takes the endings -u, -eš, -e, -eme, -ete, -ou — fingerprinted by -u (1sg) and -ou (3pl).
- Its present stem is unpredictable from the infinitive: nést → nes-, brát → ber-, prát → per-, hnát → žen-, číst → čt-.
- Learn each verb's 1sg by heart; it reveals the whole present tense.
- Soft-stem members (psát, mazat) add a (literary) 1sg -i / 3pl -í (píši, píší); the nést/brát type does not.
- The class holds many core verbs (brát, číst, vést, nést, vézt), so it is worth the effort early.
Now practice Czech
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Czech→Related Topics
- Class V: -á- Verbs (dělat)A1 — The largest and most regular present class, ending in -á-.
- Class II: -ne- Verbs (tisknout, minout)A2 — The -ne- conjugation, built mostly from -nout infinitives — predictable in the present, but full of perfectives whose 'present' actually means the future.
- Consonant Alternations in the PresentA2 — Why the present stem of verbs like psát, mazat and péct doesn't match the infinitive — the palatalization that turns s into š, z into ž and k into č.
- 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.
- brát / vzít — to takeA1 — Full conjugation of the suppletive aspect pair brát (imperfective) and vzít (perfective) — one meaning built from two unrelated roots.