přijet / odjet

Perfective Arrival and Departure by Vehicle

Level 3

The verbs přijet (to arrive) and odjet (to depart/leave) are used specifically when the motion involves a vehicle. They are perfective verbs, meaning they describe a single, completed action.

How It Works

Conjugation & Past Tense:
They conjugate exactly like the irregular base verb jet: přijedu, přijedeš, přijede, přijedeme, přijedete, přijedou. The past tense is formed by dropping the -t from the infinitive and adding standard past-tense endings: přijel / přijela / přijelo / přijeli / přijely (arrived) and odjel / odjela / odjelo / odjeli / odjely (departed).

Imperative Forms:
The imperative forms are irregular, inheriting the stem from the base verb jet. To tell someone to arrive or leave by vehicle, use přijeď / přijeďte (arrive!) and odjeď / odjeďte (leave/depart!), as well as the 1st-person plural forms přijeďme (let's arrive!) and odjeďme (let's leave!).

Expressing the Future:
A crucial rule for perfective verbs is that they never use the auxiliary verb budu. To say "I will arrive," you simply use the present-conjugated form: přijedu. Using budu přijet is grammatically incorrect. However, to express an ongoing process or repeated action in the future (e.g., "I will be arriving" or "I will be leaving"), you must use the imperfective future forms: budu přijíždět and budu odjíždět.

Foot vs. Ground Vehicle:
Czech strictly distinguishes between arriving and departing on foot (přijít / odejít) and arriving and departing by vehicle (přijet / odjet). This applies specifically to ground or wheeled transport (trains, buses, cars, bikes). For flying, you would use přiletět / odletět instead, and for water transport, use připlout / odplout.

Prepositions of Destination and Departure:
To say where you are arriving or leaving from, use specific prepositions that generally work in pairs. If you arrive do (into/to), you depart z/ze (out of/from). For travel destinations, z/ze is also commonly used for departures even when na + accusative (onto/to) is used for arrivals (e.g., na nádraží -> z nádraží). If you arrive k/ke (to/toward a person), you depart od (away from).

Aspect Pairs:
To describe ongoing arrivals, habits, or schedules (e.g., "The train is arriving now" or "He leaves every Friday"), you need the imperfective equivalents. The imperfective forms are přijíždět and odjíždět (not přijezdit). It is crucial to contrast the perfective future (přijedu - I will arrive) with the imperfective present (právě přijíždím - I am arriving right now).

Examples (5)

  1. Vlak z Prahy právě přijel.

    The train from Prague has just arrived.

    Word by Word: Train from Prague just arrived.

    Used in the past tense to describe a completed arrival by a vehicle.

  2. Autobus už odjel, musíme počkat na další.

    The bus has already left, we have to wait for the next one.

    Word by Word: Bus already left, we-must wait for next.

    Describes a completed departure by a vehicle.

  3. Moji rodiče přijedou zítra.

    My parents will arrive tomorrow.

    Word by Word: My parents will-arrive tomorrow.

    The present tense form 'přijedou' inherently means the future because the verb is perfective.

  4. V kolik hodin odjedete?

    What time will you leave?

    Word by Word: At how-many hours will-you-leave?

    Asking about a future departure time using the perfective present tense.

  5. Kdy přijedeš domů?

    When will you arrive home?

    Word by Word: When will-you-arrive home?

    Informal singular question about a future arrival by vehicle.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'budu' to form the future tense of perfective verbs.

    Zítra budu přijet v pět hodin.
    Zítra přijedu v pět hodin.

    Because přijet is a perfective verb, its present tense conjugation (přijedu) already expresses the future. You must never combine a perfective infinitive with the auxiliary verb budu.

  • Confusing foot motion with vehicle motion.

    Vlak už odešel.
    Vlak už odjel.

    Odejít means to leave on foot. For vehicles like trains, buses, or cars, you must use odjet.

How It Connects

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přijet / odjetLevel 3Perfective Arrival and Departure by Vehicle

Learn This First

To learn 'přijet' and 'odjet', learners must first understand the base verb of motion 'jet' (to go by vehicle). Because these are perfective verbs, learners need to be familiar with how perfective aspect affects tense (specifically that the present form indicates future action) and how to express the means of transport using the instrumental case.

Words in This Pattern

přijetodjet