buď

• IPA^(key): [ˈbuc]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uc

The conjunction comes from the imperative buď, which formed from budu (“I will be”),^[1] from Proto-Slavic *bǫdǫ (“I will become, I will be”), which was a future tense of *byti (“to be”).^[2]

buď

1. either

• Used in the pair buď-nebo ("either-or").
• Never used in questions, for example:

  Pojedu buď vlakem nebo autobusem. ― I'll go either by train or by bus.

  Pojedu vlakem nebo autobusem. ― I'll go by train or by bus.

  Pojedou vlakem nebo autobusem? ― Will they go by train or by bus?

buď

1. second-person singular imperative of být

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

buď

1. second-person singular imperative of budit

• “buď”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “buď”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “buď”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

• IPA^(key): [buc]

The conjunction developed from the imperative form buď, from the earlier *budi, inherited from Proto-Slavic *bǫdi (“be!”),^[1] which was the imperative form of *bǫdǫ (the future form of *byti (“to be”)), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to be, to grow”).^[2]

buď

1. Introduces the first of two (or occasionally more or all) options or possibilities, the second (or last) of which is introduced by alebo (“or”) or buď as well: either
   • 1900, Jozef Gregor Tajovský, Do konca:

     Buď už bol okolo sena, alebo zvyšné kosy skúmal.

     He was either already around the hay, or was examining the remaining scythes.

buď

1. second-person singular imperative of byť

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

buď

1. second-person singular imperative of budiť

• “buď”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025