Dodávat

Dodávat is a Czech verb meaning to supply or to deliver goods or services, typically on a regular or ongoing basis. It is commonly used in business, logistics, procurement, and public administration to describe the provision of material, resources, or information over time. The term emphasizes an ongoing process rather than a single, finished delivery, which distinguishes it from its perfective counterpart dodat.

In usage, dodávat often appears with objects such as zboží (goods), suroviny (raw materials), služby (services), or informace (information). Typical contexts include suppliers delivering items to customers, manufacturers providing components to factories, or organizations distributing resources to regions or departments. For example: Firma dodává zboží do Evropy; Společnost dodává materiál pravidelně každý týden.

Morphology and conjugation notes: dodávat is imperfective, so its present tense describes ongoing action. The present forms are: já dodávám, ty dodáváš, on dodává, my dodáváme, vy dodáváte, oni dodávají. Past tense expresses ongoing or habitual action in the past: dodával jsem/dodávala jsem, dodávalo, dodávali. Future is formed either with budu dodávat / bude dodávat (imperfective future) or with dodám / dodáš / dodá / dodáme / dodáte / dodají (perfective future).

Related terms include dodávka (delivery, supply), dodavatel (supplier), and dodavatelský (supplier-related). The word is derived from do- plus dávat (to give), conveying the sense of giving goods or resources into another party’s hands on an ongoing basis.