Czech Present Tense II: mluvím, bydlím, pracuju
Present Tense I gave you mít and the -ám family. This lesson delivers the other two melodies — and with them, most of the verbs you'll use this year.
The -ím Family
mluvit (to speak), bydlet (to live), rozumět (to understand) — different infinitives, one tune:
Bydlím v Praze a rozumím česky.
I live in Prague and I understand Czech.
Note: bydlím, rozumím — same -ím endings as mluvím.
Languages Take -y
Speaking a language uses the adverb form: mluvím česky, anglicky, německy. Ask: Mluvíš anglicky? (friend) / Mluvíte anglicky? (polite — your survival phrase, now transparent).
Mluvím anglicky a trochu česky.
I speak English and a little Czech.
Note: trochu — a little: the honest learner's adverb.
The -uju Family
Verbs ending in -ovat swap it for -uj-: pracovat → pracuju, děkovat → děkuju, kupovat → kupuju (to buy).
Learning with se
«Učím se česky» — I'm learning Czech. The little se belongs to the verb and loves second position: Učím se. Taky se učím česky. You'll meet this word-order rule again and again — Czech's little words all queue in slot two.
Common Mistakes
- mluvit like dělat. mluvím, not mluvám — the -ím family has its own tune.
- Keeping -ovat. pracovat conjugates through -uj-: pracuju, never pracovám.
- se at the front. Se never starts a sentence: Učím se česky, or Taky se učím — slot two.
What You Can Do Now
You can say what you speak, where you live, what you do for work and what you're learning — the whole verb map of everyday life, in three melodies.