dostávají

Dostávají is the third-person plural present tense form of the Czech imperfective verb dostávat, meaning to receive or to be given. The form indicates an ongoing, repeated, or habitual action, as opposed to the perfective form dostanou (they will receive) or to past forms like dostali (they received). Dostávat belongs to the class of Czech imperfective verbs that describe processes rather than single events. In typical sentences the object in the accusative denotes what is being received, for example: dostávají dopisy (they receive letters), dostávají mzdu (they receive wages), dostávají granty (they receive grants).

The negative form is nedostávají. Related forms include dostávám, dostáváš, dostává, dostáváme, dostáváte, and dostávají; the corresponding perfective forms are dostat (infinitive) and dostanu, dostaneš, dostane, dostaneme, dostanete, dostanou, which describe completed one-time receptions. Dostávají is therefore used for regular or current receipts rather than a single, completed event.

Etymology traces dostávají to the imperfective verb dostávat, with the perfective counterpart being dostat. In usage, dostávají frequently appears in everyday speech, journalism, and administrative language when describing ongoing payments, correspondence, benefits, or other things that are received over time. Example contexts include salaries, scholarships, subsidies, letters, and benefits received by people or organizations.