úastnit

Úastnit is a nonstandard orthographic variant of a Czech and Slovak verb meaning to participate or take part in something. In standard Czech the verb is účastnit se (to take part in) and in Slovak the common form is zúčastniť sa. The related noun forms are účast (Czech) and účasť (Slovak), both referring to participation or attendance.

Etymology and form: The verb derives from the noun čásť/účast, meaning participation, with a suffix that forms a verboid meaning “to cause oneself to participate” or “to participate.” The spelling úastnit, lacking the c/č and sometimes diacritic consistency, is generally considered incorrect in formal orthography. When teaching or editing, standard spellings should be used: účastnit se (Czech) or zúčastniť sa (Slovak).

Usage and grammar: In Czech, účastnit se is a separable verb that takes reflexive se and can be conjugated like other participatory verbs (účastním se, účastnil se, bude účastnit se). In Slovak, zúčastniť sa behaves similarly (zúčastním sa, zúčastnil/a sa, bude zúčastniť sa). The term is used to describe joining an event, activity, or process as a participant. In both languages, alternative expressions such as participovat (to participate, borrowed from Latin/English) may be used in more formal or specialized contexts.

Examples: In Czech, “Rád bych se zúčastnil konference.” or “Na akci se zúčastnilo několik set lidí.” In Slovak, “Chcel by som sa zúčastniť konferencie.” or “Na konferencii sa zúčastnilo veľa ľudí.” See also: účast, zúčastnit se, účastnit.