jesť

Present Tense of Jesť

Level 1

Learn jesť as a set: jem, ješ, je, jeme, jete, jedia. The they form jedia is the odd one out.

How It Works

  • ja jem, ty ješ, on, ona, ono je
  • my jeme, vy jete, oni, ony jedia

The form je means both he eats and he is. Peter je doma means Peter is at home. Peter je rýchlo means Peter eats fast. The rest of the sentence makes it clear.

The food is a direct object, so it takes the accusative: Jem polievku. (I'm eating soup.) Ješ mäso? (Do you eat meat?)

The negative is one word: nejem, neješ, neje, nejeme, nejete, nejedia.

Verbs made from jesť use the same forms, like zjesť (to eat up): zjem, zjedia. The past tense also uses a -d- stem: jedol (he ate).

For meals, Slovak also has special verbs: raňajkovať (to have breakfast), obedovať (to have lunch) and večerať (to have dinner).

Examples (6)

  1. Čo ješ?

    What are you eating?

  2. Jem jablko.

    I'm eating an apple.

  3. Deti jedia polievku.

    The children are eating soup.

    The they form is jedia.

  4. Na raňajky jeme chlieb s maslom.

    For breakfast we eat bread and butter.

  5. Nejem mäso.

    I don't eat meat.

    The negative is one word.

  6. Môj brat je veľmi rýchlo.

    My brother eats very fast.

    Here je means eats, not is.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Czech form for I eat.

    Ja jím zeleninu.
    Ja jem zeleninu.

    In Slovak, I eat is jem.

  • Making up a regular they form.

    Deti jedú obed.
    Deti jedia obed.

    Jedú is not a form of jesť. They eat is jedia.

  • Leaving the verb in the infinitive.

    Ja jesť chlieb.
    Ja jem chlieb.

    The verb must change to match the person: ja jem.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

jesťLevel 1Present Tense of Jesť

Learn This First

Before Present Tense of jesť, learn Present Verbs in -em and -iem. jesť is irregular, but jem and ješ follow the -em shape.

Words in This Pattern

jesť