Hi there, Does anyone know how to use/form the imperative in Czech or know a good link which explains it? Our teacher covered it a little while ago but I didn't understand and we've moved on now. Thanks, Mark
There is no simple answer. Nearly every verbal class has its way to form the imperative. For example: 4th class: pros-i-ti (thematic vowel i) sg. 2. pros, 3. pros (prosiž); pl. 1. prosme, 2. proste 5th class: děl-a-ti (thematic vowel a) sg. 2. dělej, 3. dělej; pl. 1. dělejme, 2. dělejte Another tricky thing: negative commands usually use imperfective verbs. Sedni si! - Nesedej si! Lehni si! - Nelehej si! Vstaň! - Nevstávej!
There is more ways to express orders in Czech, I suppose you are interested in the most basic and most common one – in the imperative mood of verbs. The imperative is formed from the non-past verbal stem. There are three imperative forms for second person singular, first person plural and second person plural respectively. Second person singular uses either null ending or “-i/-ej” ending, first person plural uses the ending “-me/-ěme/-ejme” and the second person plural uses “-te/-ěte/-ejte”. The particular use of endings depends on the verbal classes. You could either learn the verbal class tables, or use this algorithm (take it with reserve, I made it off-hand): Take the present/future 3rd person plural form and remove the ending. 1) For the verbal models “dělat” (class V) and “sázet” (class IV) use the endings “-ej/-ejme/-ejte”: (ty) dělej (my) dělejme (vy) dělejte 2) For other verbs: a) If the resulting form ends in one consonant use endings “null ending/-me/-te”: (ty) nes (my) nesme (vy) neste b) If the resulting form ends in cluster of more non-syllabic consonants use endings “-i/-ěme/-ěte”: (ty) spi (my) spěme (vy) spětě Sound alternations: For 2a): The stem vowel is always shortened. This applies even for diphthong: ou → u. The final “h/k/d/t/n” is replaced with “z/c/ď/ť/ň” respectively. For 2b: The verb undergoes the standard “ě” alternation (possibly softening of preceding consonant or “ě→e” alternation). Note: Model “sázet” could be classified under both 1) and 2a).
Thank you, both things to mull over - those tables on Wiki may be useful too. It is incredibly complex.