Jak se máte / Jak se máš

How Are You Question

Level 1

The question uses mít with se: Jak se máš? means How are you? Learn mít se as a phrase meaning to be doing or faring.

How It Works

1. Asking How Someone Is Doing
Jak se máš? and Jak se máte? ask about someone’s well-being. They often follow a greeting such as Ahoj or Dobrý den. Allow the other person time to answer. How much they share depends on the situation and your relationship.

2. Choosing the Verb Form

  • Jak se máš? addresses one person with ty.
  • Jak se máte? addresses one person politely with vy, or two or more people, including friends.

Choose ty or vy according to your established form of address and the setting; age alone does not determine the form. Subject pronouns are usually omitted because the verb ending shows the person.

3. The Phrase Mít Se
Jak means how. Máš and máte are forms of mít. The word se belongs to the phrase mít se; it does not change for different persons. Do not translate the expression as literal possession of yourself.

4. Answering
A full answer is Mám se dobře (I am doing well). Short answers such as Dobře (Well), Děkuju, dobře (Thank you, well), Jde to (So-so) and Nic moc (Not great) are also possible. You can give a positive or negative answer. Mám se špatně says that things are going badly; it does not name a particular cause or require a serious illness.

With an explicit subject, use Já se mám dobře. The unstressed se normally follows the first stressed word or phrase, not necessarily the first written word.

5. Asking Back and Other Questions
Ask A ty? (And you? — singular ty) or A vy? (And you? — polite singular or plural). Alternatives include Jak to jde? (How is it going?) and Jak se daří? (How are things going?).

6. General Situation and How You Feel
Mám se dobře describes how you are doing generally. Je mi dobře focuses on feeling well or comfortable. These meanings can overlap in a conversation; they are not mutually exclusive descriptions of your life and health. The direct form Jsem dobře is not the ordinary Czech answer for I am doing well.

Examples (4)

  1. Ahoj, jak se máš?

    Hi, how are you?

    Word by Word: Hi, how yourself you-have?

    Informal singular. Used with a friend or family member.

  2. Dobrý den, paní Malá, jak se máte?

    Hello, Mrs. Malá, how are you?

    Word by Word: Good day, Mrs. Malá, how yourself you-have?

    Polite singular address with máte. The form matches addressing paní Malá with vy.

  3. Kluci, jak se máte?

    Boys, how are you doing?

    Word by Word: Boys, how yourself you-have?

    Plural. 'Máte' is always used when addressing two or more people, even if they are friends.

  4. Děkuju, mám se dobře. A vy?

    Thank you, I am doing well. And you?

    Word by Word: I-thank, I-have myself well. And you?

    A polite reply with conversational děkuju. A vy? asks back using polite singular or plural address.

Common Mistakes

  • Dropping the reflexive pronoun 'se'.

    Jak máš?
    Jak se máš?

    Keep se in the well-being question Jak se máš? Without it, Jak máš? does not express the intended question by itself.

  • Translating 'How are you?' literally using the verb 'to be' (být).

    Jak jsi?
    Jak se máš?

    For this ordinary How are you? question, use mít se: Jak se máš? The word-for-word form Jak jsi? does not express this question by itself.

  • Answering with a literal translation of 'I am well'.

    Jsem dobře.
    Mám se dobře.

    For I am doing well, say Mám se dobře or simply Dobře. Je mi dobře is another natural construction, emphasizing how you feel. Jsem dobře is not the usual well-being response.

How It Connects

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Jak se máte / Jak se mášLevel 1How Are You Question

Learn This First

To understand 'Jak se máte' and 'Jak se máš', learners need to be familiar with Czech orthography (specifically diacritics for long vowels and palatalization) and the basic concept of present tense verb conjugation, as these phrases rely on the second-person singular and plural forms of the verb 'mít'.

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Words in This Pattern

mítjak