The verb být (to be)

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The verb být (to be): present tense conjugation jsem/jsi/je/jsme/jste/jsou and negation with ne-

Can conjugate být in all present tense forms, use it for identification, origin, and location, and negate it correctly

Examples

Jsem student z Prahy. — I am a student from Prague.
Oni nejsou doma. — They are not at home.
To není pravda. — That is not true.

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The verb být (to be)

The verb být (to be): present tense conjugation jsem/jsi/je/jsme/jste/jsou and negation with ne-

Learning Goal

Can conjugate být in all present tense forms, use it for identification, origin, and location, and negate it correctly

Exam Skills:ListeningWritingSpeaking

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

Jsem student z Prahy.

I am a student from Prague.

Oni nejsou doma.

They are not at home.

To není pravda.

That is not true.

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

Být is "to be", and like its English cousin it is irregular: six forms you simply learn. The good news is that they look alike, and that the negative is a single word.

Person	Positive	Negative
já	jsem - I am	nejsem
ty	jsi - you are	nejsi
on / ona / ono	je - he, she, it is	není
my	jsme - we are	nejsme
vy	jste - you are	nejste
oni / ony / ona	jsou - they are	nejsou

The one surprise is the third person: "isn't" is není, never *neje. In everyday speech the j at the start of jsem, jsi, jsme, jste, jsou is usually not heard: jsem sounds like "sem".

What it does

The same jobs as in English: who you are (Jsem Tom.), where from (Jsem z Manchesteru. Jana je z Ostravy.), what something is like (Praha je krásná.) and where (Jsme doma. Babička je na chalupě.). Notice what is missing: there is no "a" or "the". Jsem student is "I am a student"; a woman says Jsem studentka.

Where English "be" does not translate

Several English "I am..." sentences are built differently in Czech, and translating them word for word is the classic beginner slip:

hungry, thirsty: Mám hlad. Mám žízeň. - "I have hunger"
cold, hot: Je mi zima. Je mi teplo. - "it is cold to me"; *Jsem studený would describe your skin to the touch
age: Je mi dvacet let. - "it is twenty years to me", never *Jsem dvacet

No reshuffling for questions

English turns "you are" into "are you?". Czech keeps the order and lets the voice rise: Jsi doma? - "Are you at home?" Jste z Anglie? - "Are you from England?"

A word that likes second place

Jsem, jsi, jsme, jste are light, unstressed words. They can open a short sentence (Jsem doma.), but as soon as something else comes first, they slot in straight after it: Dneska jsem doma. Kde jsi? In the past tense this becomes a hard rule: Včera jsem byl v Brně, never *Včera byl jsem v Brně, however natural the English order "yesterday I was" feels.

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

Practice Exercises

Learners forget the irregular negation není (not *neje), and place jsem/jsi at the start of sentences instead of second position. 🇬🇧 English speakers: English 'am/is/are' have a similar irregularity but negation uses a separate word (not). Czech ne- prefix is fused: nejsem, není. The clitic positioning rule is entirely new.

Common Error Patterns

Wrong form of být for the subject (e.g., *já je instead of já jsem)

Memorize the six forms: jsem, jsi, je, jsme, jste, jsou. These are fully irregular and must be learned by heart.

Incorrect negation of být, especially *neje instead of není

All forms take ne- prefix (nejsem, nejsi, nejsme, nejste, nejsou) EXCEPT 3rd person singular: není (not *neje)

Jsem student z Prahy.

I am a student from Prague.

Jsem (I am) is used for identification. Czech omits articles (no 'a/an'), Russian omits the verb entirely.

Oni nejsou doma.

They are not at home.

Negation fuses ne- with the verb: jsou → nejsou. Unlike German/English, negation is a prefix, not a separate word.

To není pravda.

That is not true.

3rd person negative is není (irregular — not *neje). This is the most common mistake with být negation.

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Frequently asked questions

When do you use The verb být (to be)?: Být is "to be", and like its English cousin it is irregular: six forms you simply learn. The good news is that they look alike, and that the negative is a single word.
How do you form The verb být (to be)?: The one surprise is the third person: "isn't" is není , never *neje . In everyday speech the j at the start of jsem, jsi, jsme, jste, jsou is usually not heard: jsem sounds like "sem". The same jobs as in English: who you are ( Jsem Tom. ), where from ( Jsem z Manchesteru. Jana je z Ostravy. ), what something is like ( Praha je krásná. ) and where ( Jsme doma. Babička je na chalupě. ). Notice what is missing: there is no "a" or "the". Jsem student is "I am a student"; a woman says Jsem studentka . Several English "I am..." sentences are built differently in Czech, and translating them word for word is the classic beginner slip: English turns "you are" into "are you?".
What are common mistakes with The verb být (to be)?: Learners forget the irregular negation není (not *neje), and place jsem/jsi at the start of sentences instead of second position. 🇬🇧 English speakers: English 'am/is/are' have a similar irregularity but negation uses a separate word (not). Czech ne- prefix is fused: nejsem, není. The clitic positioning rule is entirely new.

Person

Positive

Negative

já

jsem - I am

nejsem

jsi - you are

nejsi

on / ona / ono

je - he, she, it is

není

jsme - we are

nejsme

jste - you are

nejste

oni / ony / ona

jsou - they are

nejsou

Frequently asked questions

When do you use The verb být (to be)?

Být is "to be", and like its English cousin it is irregular: six forms you simply learn. The good news is that they look alike, and that the negative is a single word.

How do you form The verb být (to be)?

The one surprise is the third person: "isn't" is není , never *neje . In everyday speech the j at the start of jsem, jsi, jsme, jste, jsou is usually not heard: jsem sounds like "sem". The same jobs as in English: who you are ( Jsem Tom. ), where from ( Jsem z Manchesteru. Jana je z Ostravy. ), what something is like ( Praha je krásná. ) and where ( Jsme doma. Babička je na chalupě. ). Notice what is missing: there is no "a" or "the". Jsem student is "I am a student"; a woman says Jsem studentka . Several English "I am..." sentences are built differently in Czech, and translating them word for word is the classic beginner slip: English turns "you are" into "are you?".

What are common mistakes with The verb být (to be)?

Learners forget the irregular negation není (not *neje), and place jsem/jsi at the start of sentences instead of second position. 🇬🇧 English speakers: English 'am/is/are' have a similar irregularity but negation uses a separate word (not). Czech ne- prefix is fused: nejsem, není. The clitic positioning rule is entirely new.