Pěstujeme zeleninu.

the vegetable

Breakdown of Pěstujeme zeleninu.

• pěstovat: to grow; to cultivate

Questions & Answers about Pěstujeme zeleninu.

What does pěstujeme mean exactly, and what is its base form?

Pěstujeme is the 1st person plural present tense form of the verb pěstovat.

So:

• pěstovat = to grow, cultivate, raise
• pěstujeme = we grow / we are growing / we cultivate

In this sentence, it means we grow.

Why does pěstujeme end in -eme?

The ending -eme shows that the verb agrees with we.

For pěstovat, the present-tense forms are:

• pěstuji / pěstuju = I grow
• pěstuješ = you grow
• pěstuje = he/she/it grows
• pěstujeme = we grow
• pěstujete = you grow
• pěstují / pěstujou = they grow

So -eme here is the ending for we.

Why is there no word for we in the sentence?

In Czech, subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.

So:

• Pěstujeme zeleninu. = We grow vegetables.
• My pěstujeme zeleninu. also means We grow vegetables, but my is usually added only for emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• My pěstujeme zeleninu, oni pěstují ovoce. = We grow vegetables, they grow fruit.