Prodával

Prodával is a past tense verb form used in Czech and, with a closely related spelling in Slovak, to indicate the act of selling in a past, imperfective sense. In both languages it corresponds to the idea of selling as an ongoing or repeated activity, rather than a single completed act.

In Czech, prodával is the masculine singular past imperfective form of the verb prodávat (to sell). The cognate forms for other genders and numbers include prodávala (feminine singular), prodávali (masculine plural), and prodávaly (feminine plural). In Slovak, the equivalent forms derive from predávať (to sell) and include predával, predávala, predávali, predávaly, with the same general imperfective past meaning. The forms reflect gender and number, as is typical for Slavic past tense-compatible verbs.

Usage and nuance: prodával denotes actions that occurred in the past with an emphasis on habitual, repetitive, or ongoing selling, rather than a single, completed transaction. If a speaker intends a punctual completed sale, the perfective counterpart (prodat in Czech, predat in Slovak) is typically used in its past tense form (e.g., prodal / predal). The imperfective form can appear in narrative, description, or reported speech to convey a continued activity.

Etymology and related forms: prodával is derived from the prefix pro- combined with the verb dávat, forming an imperfective sense of selling. The Slovak equivalent predávať shares the same semantic core. Related verbs include prodat/prodal (Czech) and predat/predal (Slovak), which express completed past actions.

See also: prodávat, predávať, prodat, predat.