týkat

Týkat is a Czech verb with two main uses. In modern usage it most often means to concern or pertain to something, especially when used with the reflexive pronoun se. For example, in the common construction co se týká or co se týká té záležitosti, the phrase means “as far as … is concerned” or “about ….” A typical sentence is: Co se týká bezpečnosti, musíme jednat. Another frequent form is to se nás netýká, meaning “that does not concern us” or “that does not affect us.”

The second, older sense of the verb is to touch physically; however, in contemporary Czech this physical sense is usually expressed with dotýkat se or dotknout se rather than týkat. In literary or historical contexts, týkat can appear with the literal meaning, but it is far less common in everyday speech.

Morphology and usage notes: týkat is imperfective and used for general or ongoing relevance. When expressing that something applies to someone, the thing being referred to is placed after the phrase týká se or is stated in a dependent clause introduced by co se týká. The phrase téma se týká knih, for example, means “the topic concerns books.”

Related topics: in everyday speech there is a related verb tykat (without the háček) that means to address someone informally using the informal form of address; it is a separate verb with a distinct meaning and nuance.

In summary, týkat is primarily used to indicate relevance or applicability of a subject to a person or matter, with the reflexive se forming the common constructions found in everyday Czech.