Correct word order for the past tense

Foreigners often make mistakes on this topic. The auxiliary verb “být” and the pronoun “se” tend to be in the wrong position.

Auxiliary verb “být”

• Rule: the auxiliary verb to be is always in the 2nd position in the sentence.
• We use the auxiliary verb to be with I, you, we and you.

Examples of sentences

• Psal jsem dopis. 1 – 2 – 3
• Já jsem psal dopis. 1 – 2 – 3 – 4
• Včera jsem psal dopis. 1 – 2 – 3 – 4
• Spal jsem, tak jsem nepsal dopis. – a compound sentence of two sentences separated by a comma: 1 – 2, 1 – 2 – 3 – 4

Note that for compound sentences “a” and “ale” do not count in the word order of the sentence!

• Seděl jsem a psal jsem dopis. 1 – 2 a 1 – 2 – 3
• Ležel jsem, ale psal jsem dopis. 1 – 2, ale 1 – 2 – 3

Reflexive verbs

• Rule: first is the auxiliary být (jsem, jsme, jste) and then the pronoun se / si.

Examples of sentences

• Četl jsem si knihu. 1 – 2 – 3 – 4
• Včera jsem si četl knihu. 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
• Proč jste se ptal? 1 – 2 – 3 – 4

See if you can do it in the following quiz!