přijít / odejít

Perfective Arrival and Departure on Foot

Level 3

The verbs přijít (to arrive / come) and odejít (to leave / depart) describe arriving and leaving under your own power rather than by vehicle: for travel by car, train or bus Czech uses přijet / odjet. They are perfective verbs, so each describes a single completed action. Both verbs also carry common meanings that involve no walking at all, such as přijít o (to lose something).

How It Works

These verbs are formed by attaching directional prefixes to the base verb jít (to go on foot):

1. Morphology and Conjugation

  • Přijít (při- = toward): Present stem (which expresses future meaning) is přijd- (přijdu, přijdeš, přijde...).
  • Odejít (od- = away): An -e- is inserted to break up the consonants. Present stem (which expresses future meaning) is odejd- (odejdu, odejdeš, odejde...).

2. The Irregular Past Tense
The past tense uses the suppletive root -šel. Crucially, the masculine singular root (-šel) retains an -e- that drops out in all other forms:

  • Masculine: přišel / odešel
  • Feminine: přišla / odešla
  • Neuter: přišlo / odešlo
  • Plural: přišli / odešli (masculine animate), přišly / odešly (feminine and masculine inanimate), přišla / odešla (neuter, identical to feminine singular)

3. Imperative Forms
The command forms for these verbs are highly irregular and very common: přijď / přijďte (come!) and odejdi / odejděte (leave!).

4. The "Motion Verb" Myth
While jít is a complex verb of motion, adding a prefix dissolves this complexity. Přijít and odejít behave like completely standard perfective verbs. To say "I am arriving right now," you must use their imperfective counterparts (přicházet / odcházet), which conjugate completely regularly (e.g., přicházím, přicházíš...).

5. Prepositions
When arriving at a place, use do + genitive or na + accusative. When arriving at a person's location (like a doctor or a friend), you must use k + dative (e.g., přijít k doktorovi). Conversely, when leaving a place, use z / ze + genitive. When leaving a person, use od + genitive (e.g., odejít od doktora).

6. Common Idioms
The verb přijít is also used in several high-frequency idioms that do not involve physical motion. Two of the most important are přijít na + accusative (to figure something out or come up with an idea, e.g., Přišel jsem na to! - I figured it out!) and přijít o + accusative (to lose something, e.g., Přišel o práci. - He lost his job.).

7. On Foot vs. By Vehicle
When the sentence is about travelling somewhere, přijít and odejít describe going on foot or under your own power. If you are travelling by car, train, or any other vehicle, use přijet / odjet instead. This contrast governs journeys; it does not restrict the idiomatic and abstract uses in sections 6 and 8, where no walking is implied.

8. Abstract Arrivals
Although přijít implies arriving on foot for people, it is also the standard verb for abstract things arriving, where the "on foot" rule doesn't apply. For example, you will use it for messages (Přišel mi e-mail. - I got an email.) or seasons and time (Jaro přišlo. - Spring has arrived.).

9. Other Prefixes
The exact same conjugation pattern (present -jd-, past -šel, imperative -jď / -jdi) applies to all other directional prefixes attached to jít. Once you become comfortable with přijít and odejít, you also know how to conjugate verbs like vejít (to enter), vyjít (to exit), přejít (to cross), and dojít (to reach / to run out of).

Examples (5)

  1. Přijdu v osm a v deset zase odejdu.

    I'll arrive at eight and leave again at ten.

    Word by Word: I-will-arrive at eight and at ten again I-will-leave.

    Demonstrates the future meaning of the present-tense conjugation.

  2. Kateřina přišla pěšky.

    Kateřina came on foot.

    Word by Word: Kateřina arrived on-foot.

    Shows the feminine past tense form (přišla, without the 'e' found in the masculine přišel).

  3. Bude lepší, když odejdeš.

    It will be better if you leave.

    Word by Word: It-will-be better, if you-leave.

    Uses the present/future form 'odejdeš' in a conditional clause.

  4. Proč jsi odešel tak brzy?

    Why did you leave so early?

    Word by Word: Why are-you left so early?

    Shows the masculine singular past tense form, which retains the 'e' (odešel).

  5. Přišli jsme k doktorovi včas.

    We arrived at the doctor's on time.

    Word by Word: Arrived we-are to doctor on-time.

    Demonstrates the correct preposition (k + dative) when arriving at a person's location.

Common Mistakes

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

    Zítra budu přijít.
    Zítra přijdu.

    Because 'přijít' is a perfective verb, its present-tense form ('přijdu') already means 'I will arrive'. You must never combine the auxiliary verb 'budu' with a perfective infinitive.

  • Using 'do' (into) when arriving at a person's location.

    Přišel jsem do doktora.
    Přišel jsem k doktorovi.

    In Czech, you cannot go 'into' a person. When arriving at a person's location (a doctor, a friend, a mechanic), you must use the preposition 'k' (toward) with the dative case.

  • Using 'přijít' or 'odejít' for vehicles.

    Vlak už odešel.
    Vlak už odjel.

    English uses 'arrive' and 'leave' for both people and vehicles. When Czech describes a journey it distinguishes the means: 'přijet / odjet' for vehicles (trains, cars, buses) and 'přijít / odejít' for going on foot.

How It Connects

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přijít / odejítLevel 3Perfective Arrival and Departure on Foot

Learn This First

To understand 'přijít' and 'odejít', a learner must first be familiar with the basic motion verb 'jít' (to go on foot). Since these are perfective verbs, the learner needs to understand how perfective aspect functions in the past tense and how the present forms of perfective verbs express the future.

Words in This Pattern

přijítodejít