být (budoucí čas)

Future of Být

Level 3

The verb být (to be) has a unique future tense: budu, budeš, bude, budeme, budete, budou. It serves two main purposes: acting as the main verb 'will be', and acting as a helper verb to create the future tense of ongoing actions.

How It Works

1. Standalone Verb: Use it to say where someone will be or what state they will be in.
Example: Zítra budu doma. (I will be at home tomorrow.)

2. Auxiliary (Helper) Verb: Use it to form the imperfective analytical future. It attaches to the infinitive of an imperfective verb.
Example: Co budeš dělat? (What will you be doing?)

3. Word Order with Clitics: Unlike the past tense auxiliary jsem, the future auxiliary budu is not a clitic. It carries its own stress and can comfortably start a sentence. However, any actual clitics in the sentence, including reflexive pronouns (se, si) and short-form object pronouns (like mi, ti, ho, mu), must still sit in the second position of the clause. If the sentence starts with the budu form, the clitic goes immediately after it.
Examples: Budeme se učit. (We will study.) / Budu mu volat. (I will call him.)

4. Crucial Distinction: English uses 'will' for everything. Czech splits the future tense based on aspectual verb pairs. The budu pattern is used for imperfective verbs (with the exception of determinate motion verbs). Perfective verbs (completed actions) form their future tense without budu, using their present-tense conjugation instead (e.g., napíšu - I will write).

Examples (5)

  1. Zítra budu celý den doma.

    Tomorrow I will be at home all day.

    Word by Word: Tomorrow I-will-be whole day at-home.

    Used as a standalone verb indicating a future state or location.

  2. Co budeš dělat o víkendu?

    What will you be doing on the weekend?

    Word by Word: What you-will do on weekend?

    Used as an auxiliary verb with the imperfective infinitive 'dělat'.

  3. Příští rok nebudu studovat v Praze.

    Next year I will not be studying in Prague.

    Word by Word: Next year I-will-not study in Prague.

    The negative prefix 'ne-' attaches directly to the auxiliary verb.

  4. Budeme se učit na zkoušku.

    We will study for the exam.

    Word by Word: We-will ourselves study for exam.

    Notice how the reflexive clitic 'se' sits in the second position, directly after 'budeme'.

  5. Děti budou spát u babičky.

    The children will sleep at grandma's.

    Word by Word: Children will sleep at grandma.

    The 3rd person plural form 'budou' paired with an imperfective infinitive.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'budu' with a perfective verb.

    Zítra to budu udělat.
    Zítra to udělám.

    The word 'budu' can only pair with imperfective verbs. Perfective verbs (like 'udělat') form their future tense using their present-tense conjugation. Never put 'budu' in front of a perfective infinitive.

  • Adding an extra 'být' to translate 'will be doing'.

    Budu být pracovat.
    Budu pracovat.

    Because 'budu' already means 'will be', adding the infinitive 'být' is redundant and ungrammatical. Just use 'budu' + the main verb's infinitive.

  • Using 'budu' as a universal translation for 'will' with motion verbs.

    Zítra budu jít do kina.
    Zítra půjdu do kina.

    Determinate motion verbs like 'jít' or 'jet' have their own special future forms (like 'půjdu' or 'pojedu'). They do not use 'budu'.

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být (budoucí čas)Level 3Future of Být

Learn This First

To learn the future tense of 'být', learners must first be familiar with the verb's present tense forms and the system of personal pronouns to ensure correct subject-verb agreement. Additionally, understanding how to negate verbs in Czech is necessary to form negative future statements.

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