býli

Býli is a historical and dialectal past tense form of the verb to be in Czech and Slovak, used chiefly in older texts or regional speech. In contemporary standard language, the past plural of to be is byli in Czech and boli in Slovak. Býli appears in historical writings as part of older verb conjugation patterns and is sometimes encountered in literary works that imitate archaic language.

Etymology and form: býli derives from the same Proto-Slavic verb root as být/býti (to be). The spelling with the acute y (ý) reflects historical orthographic conventions that have since changed in standard usage. The form is typically limited to certain periods, genres, or dialectal varieties rather than everyday speech today.

Usage and context: Today, býli is mainly of interest to linguists, philologists, and readers studying historical texts. It can appear in old chronicles, religious writings, and poetry that aim to reproduce earlier stages of Czech or Slovak. In modern Czech and Slovak, it is generally replaced by byli and boli, respectively. When presenting historical language in modern works, editors may retain býli to preserve historical authenticity but usually provide the modern form for clarity.

Relation to related forms: Býli should not be confused with adjectives or nouns that resemble the word, such as bývalý in Czech (former) or bývalý in Slovak (formerly), which are distinct grammatical categories. Býli is specifically a verb form, not a descriptor.

See also: být, bývať, bývanie, bývalý.