Líbí

Líbí is the present tense form of the Czech verb líbit se, which means to be pleasing or, in common usage, to like. It is used to express that something pleases someone or has aesthetic or general approval. The construction typically involves a dative pronoun to indicate the person who likes the thing, and the thing itself appears in the nominative or as a demonstrative such as to.

A common construction is "To se mi líbí," meaning "I like that" or "That pleases me." Here "to" is the thing being liked, "se" is a reflexive particle, and "mi" is the dative pronoun for “me.” The same pattern is used with other persons: "Líbí se ti" (you like it), "Líbí se mu" (he likes it), "Líbí se nám" (we like it), and so on. The phrase can be negated with "nelíbí se," as in "Nelíbí se mi to" (I don’t like that).

The verb líbit se is typically used for things, actions, ideas, or appearances rather than for people in a romantic sense. If the speaker wants to express personal liking or affection toward a person, Czech often uses mít rád or mít ráda rather than líbit se.

Etymology and cognates: líbit se is a common Slavic verb meaning “to please,” with cognates in other Slavic languages such as Polish lubić or Russian lyubit (lyubit’), reflecting a shared root related to preference or pleasing. In Czech, líbit se is an intransitive or reflexive construction that governs a dative subject rather than a direct object.

See also: líbit, mít rád, liking and approval constructions in Czech.