hrají

Hrají is a Czech verb form meaning "they play" and functions as the third-person plural present tense of the verb hrát, which means to play in the sense of performing music, participating in games or sports, or acting. The verb hrát is imperfective, indicating an ongoing, repeated, or habitual action.

In standard Czech, the present tense forms of hrát are: já hraju, ty hraješ, on/ona hraje, my hrajeme, vy hrajete, oni hrají. In everyday speech, a common colloquial variant for the third person plural is hrajou, which uses the same pronunciation but a different orthographic ending.

The form hrají is used for ongoing or repeated playing actions, such as playing an instrument, a sport, or a game. For example: Ti hrají na klavír. Oni hrají fotbal o víkendech. The related perfective verb zahrát denotes a single, complete act of playing and its third-person plural present form is zahrají, often used to express future meaning: Zahrají to zítra.

Hrají can also appear in phrases describing roles or performances in culture and entertainment, such as actors or musicians performing a piece or role. The noun hra accompanies the verb to refer to the act of playing or a game, for example, hra jako zábava or hudební hra.

Overall, hrají is a standard grammatical form used to describe continued or habitual playing by multiple subjects, with colloquial variant hrajou common in spoken Czech.