Postrádat

Postrádat is a Czech verb meaning to miss someone or something, or to lack, be without. It is transitive and typically takes a direct object in the accusative case. The sense can be emotional, as in missing a person, or temporal or material, as in lacking time, money, or information.

Usage and nuances: Postrádat is used for both personal feelings and concrete absence. For example: "Postrádám tě." (I miss you.) "Postrádám čas." (I lack time.) It often describes an unwanted absence or shortage rather than the act of losing something physically.

Conjugation and forms: In the present tense the forms are: já postrádám, ty postrádáš, on/ona/ono postrádá, my postrádáme, vy postrádáte, oni postrádají. The past tense is formed with the auxiliary být and the appropriate gender/number of the participle: já jsem postrádal (m), já jsem postrádala (f), oni byli postrádali, etc. The future (imperfective) is analytic: budu postrádat, budeš postrádat, bude postrádat, budeme postrádat, budete postrádat, budou postrádat. The present participle is postrádající; the past participle is postrádaný (m), postrádaná (f), postrádané (neuter).

Etymology and related terms: The verb is typically described as a prefixed form related to strádat, with po- acting as a prefix that gives a sense of completion or present relevance. Related verbs include chybět and scházet, which also express absence or lack.

See also: chybět, scházet, absence, postrádání.