Schovat

Schovat is a Czech verb meaning to hide or conceal something, or to stash away. It can refer to placing an object out of sight or to hide oneself. The verb is typically used in a transitive sense (to hide something) or in reflexive form (to hide oneself).

Grammatical notes: schovat is a perfective verb, indicating a completed action. Its imperfective counterpart is schovávat (and the iterative form schovávat si in some contexts). Because schovat is perfective, present-tense forms express future meaning: e.g., schovám peníze, schováš peníze, schová; schováme peníze, schováte peníze, schovají peníze. Imperatives include schovej (singular) and schovejte (plural). Past tense forms are schoval (masculine), schovala (feminine), schovalo (neuter), and schovali (they).

Common usages:

- Transitive: schovat knihu do skříně (to hide a book in a cabinet), schovat peníze do sejfu (to stash money in a safe).

- Reflexive: schovat se za strom (to hide behind a tree), schoval jsem se ve stínu (I hid myself in the shade).

- Idiomatic: schovat se za lživé alibi (to hide behind a false alibi), schovat se před někým (to hide from someone).

Related terms: schování (the act of hiding), schovaný (hidden), skrytí (concealment). Etymology traces to Proto-Slavic with a prefix introduced to a root common to several Slavic languages; cognates appear in Polish as schować and in other languages with similar forms.

See also: schování, skrytí, hiding in linguistic contexts.