chápou

Chápou is the third-person plural present tense form of the Czech verb chápat, meaning “to understand.” It is used when the subject is a group of people. For example: Oni chápou, co se stalo.

Chápat is an imperfective verb, and its present tense conveys ongoing or general understanding rather than a completed act. The full present-tense paradigm is: já chápu, ty chápeš, on/ona/ono chápe, my chápeme, vy chápete, oni chápou. The negative form is nechapou written as nechápo? No, negation uses ne-: oni nechápou.

In usage, chápou frequently appears with a direct object or a clause: Oni chápou význam té věty. It is often contrasted with the perfective verb pochopit, which expresses a momentary, complete understanding. For example: Chápu, co říkáš, but Ipochopili to rychle means they understood it completely at once. Thus chápat emphasizes ongoing grasp, while pochopit emphasizes the moment of realization.

Related forms include chápání (the act or process of understanding), and the adjective chápavý (understanding, quick to grasp) versus nechtápavý (less quick to understand). The term chápou itself is a common, neutral form used in everyday speech and writing to indicate that a group of people understands something.