vraceli

Vraceli is a grammatical form found in Czech, representing the past tense of the verb vracet, meaning to return or to give back. It is used with third-person plural subjects, often conveying an imperfective aspect such as “they were returning” or, in a broader narrative sense, “they returned.” The exact nuance depends on context and the surrounding tense.

In practical usage, vraceli appears in sentences describing actions by more than one subject. For example, Oni vraceli knihy do knihovny translates roughly as “They were returning the books to the library” or “They returned the books to the library,” depending on aspect and context. The form reflects gender-number agreement typical of Czech past-tense conjugation.

The corresponding past-tense form in related Slavic languages varies. In Slovak, the standard masculine plural past form of the same verb is vracali rather than vraceli, so vraceli is characteristic of Czech conjugation rather than Slovak. This highlights how similar roots can diverge in their inflection across languages.

Vraceli is not a common noun or toponym in standard references. It is a verb form used within Czech grammar and does not designate a specific place, entity, or organization. It may appear in linguistic descriptions as an example of past-tense concord with a plural subject in Czech.