Skills

Czech Skills by StrengthCrownsNameOriginal Order

••• 05 Body191 @ 100% 0
bolela · bolí · hlava · hlavu · hlavy · kost · kosti · krev · krk · krku · krky · kůže · nemocná · nemocné · nemocný · nohou · nohy · nos · obličej · obličeje · obličeji · oko · oči · prst · prsty · prstů · přišel · přišly · rty · ruce · rukou · ruku · tvář · tváře · tváři · tělo · ucho · uši · vlasy · zdravá · zdravé · zdraví · zdravý · zub · zuby · zubů · ústa · ústech
48 words

••• 5 Numbers 3183 @ 100% 0

devadesát · devět set · dvě stě · eur · korun · osm set · osmdesát · padesát · padesáti · pět set · sedm set · sedmdesát · sto · tisíc · tři sta · třicet · třiceti · čtyři sta · čtyřicet · čtyřiceti · šedesát · šedesáti · šest set
23 words

Numbers 3

Recall that Czech cardinal numerals from one to four behave as if they were adjectives. The counted object appears in the case appropriate for the context, and the numeral matches that case. If the phrase appears as a subject, it gets a plural verb in gender agreement with the noun being counted: Byla tam dvě jablka., and Byly čtyři hodiny.

Also recall that Czech cardinal numerals from five to twenty-nine behave as if they were adverbs of quantity (málo). The counted object appears in the plural case appropriate for the whole phrase, except if the phrase is in the nominative or accusative, the counted object is in the plural genitive. If the phrase appears as a subject, it gets a singular verb in neuter gender agreement no matter the gender of the noun being counted: Bylo tam dvacet jedna koček.

Cardinal numerals 30 to 99

Multiples of ten from 30 to 90 resemble twenty in construction and behavior. These numerals are ungendered, in the three cases we know go with the genitive of whatever is being counted, decline in a limited way, and are singular neuter in terms of verb agreement. Bylo tam padesát lidí.

English	Nom., Acc.	Gen.
twenty	dvacet	dvaceti
thirty	třicet	třiceti
forty	čtyřicet	čtyřiceti
fifty	padesát	padesáti
sixty	šedesát	šedesáti
seventy	sedmdesát	sedmdesáti
eighty	osmdesát	osmdesáti
ninety	devadesát	devadesáti

Note the unexpected forms padesát(i), šedesát(i), and devadesát(i).

Just like we did with 21 through 29, we form the compounds from 31 to 99 by following the appropriate multiple of ten with the appropriate numeral for one to nine, separated by a space. No matter what the gender of the counted entity, we use the feminine jedna and the masculine dva in these compounds.

To decline the compound numeral along with the counted entity, we:

use the appropriate form of the multiple of ten (i.e., the form ending in -t if the whole phrase is in Nom. or Acc. and one ending in -ti otherwise),
decline the 1-9 piece of the compound as appropriate for the case of the whole phrase (except we keep jedna fixed), and
either keep the counted entity in the genitive (Nom. or Acc. of the whole phrase) or match it to the case of the whole phrase (otherwise).

Examples:

Hledáme ženy od dvaceti do třiceti let. (We are looking for women from twenty to thirty.)[Gen.]
Ptáme se čtyřiceti dvou matek. (We are asking forty-two mothers.)[Gen.]
Počítá těch čtyřicet dva jablek (He is counting those forty-two apples.)[Acc.]
Trvá to od padesáti do šedesáti pěti minut. (It lasts from fifty to sixty-five minutes.)[Gen.]
Čeká na sedmdesát dva dívek. (He is waiting for seventy-two girls.)[Acc.]
Peru pro sedmdesát jedna chlapců. (I do laundry for seventy-one boys.)[Acc.]
Měli jen osmdesát devět židlí pro devadesát lidí. (They had only eighty-nine chairs for ninety people.)[Acc.]

Cardinal numerals 100+

Multiples of one hundred are shown in the table below. No declination is shown because we will be using the simplified declination standard wherein only the tens and the units (if present) decline, and the higher orders remain fixed. These numerals go with the genitive of whatever is being counted if the phrase is in the nominative or accusative and match the case of the phrase otherwise; do not decline themselves; and are singular neuter in terms of verb agreement. Bylo tam pět set lidí.

English	Czech
one hundred	sto
two hundred	dvě stě
three hundred	tři sta
four hundred	čtyři sta
five hundred	pět set
six hundred	šest set
seven hundred	sedm set
eight hundred	osm set
nine hundred	devět set

We will form the compounds with hundreds as follows. Append the numeral for 1 through 99 after the appropriate multiple of 100 from the table above. "One hundred and ninety-nine" will be sto devadesát devět and "nine hundred and twelve" will be devět set dvanáct. The optional English "and" after the hundreds does not have a Czech counterpart.

To decline these compounds, we:

keep the hundreds piece fixed,
use the appropriate form of the multiple of ten (i.e., the form ending in -t if the whole phrase is in Nom. or Acc. or one ending in -ti otherwise),
decline the 1-9 piece of the compound as appropriate for the case of the whole phrase, except we keep jedna fixed no matter what, and
either keep the counted entity in the genitive (Nom. or Acc. of the whole phrase) or match it to the case of the whole phrase (otherwise).

In this course we will not decline expressions with numerals from one thousand up, instead keeping them in Nom. or Acc. "One thousand" is tisíc (declines as stroj). The word just goes before the hundreds, separated by a space: Koupil tisíc sedm set krav.

••• 5 Places182 @ 100% 0

domech · domě · hotelech · hotelu · jejím · kanceláři · kterém · letišti · letištích · letiště · mém · městech · městě · na · našem · nocích · novém · nádraží · nádražích · obchod · obchodech · obchodě · pokoj · pokoje · pokoji · pokojů · posteli · postelích · restaurace · restauraci · restauracích · stole · stromech · talíři · talířích · tamtom · televizi · tom · tomto · ulici · ulicích · v · ve · zahrada · zahradách · zahradě · zvláštním · škole · školy · školách
50 words

Locative

Let’s meet a new case: the locative! As its name suggests, it’s primarily used to express location – where something is. It’s the only case that always requires a preposition. In this skill, we will learn to use the prepositions “v” and “na”, this time with the locative. Both “v” and “na” can correspond to the English “in”, “on” or “at”, depending on the specific location. The preposition “v” also has a vocalized form “ve” – please refer to the Tips for the Numbers 2 skill to learn when to use which. We will look at more locative prepositions later.

We have already seen the preposition “na” with the accusative case as part of some verb constructions, such as “čekat na něco” (to wait for something), and “v” with the accusative to refer to the time when something happens, such as “ve dvě hodiny” (at two o’clock).

How to form the locative

First, let’s look at pronouns and how they change in the locative. It’s relatively easy because in the singular, the masculine (animate as well as inanimate) and neuter forms are the same, and the plural forms are identical for all three genders!

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc., masc. and neuter	Sg. Loc., fem.	Pl. Loc.
ten/ta/to	tom	té	těch
můj/má (moje)/mé (moje)	mém	mé (mojí)	mých
její	jejím	její	jejích
náš/naše	našem	naší	našich

To decline “this” and “that”, we simply add “-to” and “tam-“, respectively. For example: “tento svetr” (this sweater) -> “v tomto svetru” (in this sweater), or “tamta bota” (that shoe) -> “v tamté botě”.

As we have already seen, the forms of “tvůj” and “svůj” (tvoje, tvá, své, etc.) are declined just like “můj”, and those of “váš” like “náš”. And the good news about the possessive pronouns “jeho” and “jejich” continues: they don’t change at all, in any case.

Now for the locative forms of adjectives:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc., masc. and neuter	Sg. Loc., fem.	Pl. Loc.
hard – mladý	mladém	mladé	mladých
soft – zvláštní	zvláštním	zvláštní	zvláštních

And here are the locative forms for the noun declension patterns included in this skill:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc.	Pl. Loc.
dům	domě	domech
hotel	hotelu	hotelech
talíř	talíři	talířích
škola	škole	školách
ulice	ulici	ulicích
postel	posteli	postelích
město	městě	městech
letiště	letišti	letištích
náměstí	náměstí	náměstích

We will see later that some declension patterns (especially hrad and město) have two forms in the locative singular, dependent on the specific noun and even context. Let's keep it simple for now.

Speaking of nouns, this skill introduces a few new ones: hotel, kancelář (office), letiště (airport), nádraží (station, train station), obchod (shop, store), restaurace (restaurant), škola (school), and zahrada (garden).

Finally, we should learn the locative forms of cardinal numbers:

Nominative	Locative
jeden/jedno (masc./neut.)	jednom
jedna (fem.)	jedné
dva/dvě	dvou
tři	třech
čtyři	čtyřech
pět	pěti

Compare “one” to the demostrative “ten/ta/to”: They decline exactly the same. For numbers five and higher, the locative is the same as the genitive form, which you can see in the Tips for the Numbers 2 skill.

Examples

Let’s combine the newly gained knowledge to make some examples with words that we already know:

má velká rodina (my big family) -> v mé velké rodině (in my big family)
jeho bílé ponožky (his white socks) -> v jeho bílých ponožkách (in his white socks)
její červené víno (her red wine) -> v jejím červeném víně (in her red wine)
naše čtyři modrá auta (our four blue cars) -> v našich čtyřech modrých autech (in our four blue cars)
ten nový časopis (that new magazine) -> v tom novém časopisu/časopise (in that new magazine), plural: v těch nových časopisech (in those new magazines)
tato zvláštní stará židle (this strange old chair) -> na této zvláštní staré židli (on this strange old chair), plural: na těchto zvláštních starých židlích (on these strange old chairs)

••• 05 Days/Week181 @ 100% 0
dnes · dní · neděle · neděli · pondělí · pátek · pátku · sobota · sobotu · soboty · středa · středu · týden · týdne · úterý · čtvrtek · čtvrtka
17 words
••• 05 Masculine21 @ 100% 0
další · dům · františek · hrad · jiný · kluk · malý · matěj · mladý · muž · nový · poslední · starý · stroj · strom · ten · velký · zvláštní · člověk · špatný
20 words
Descriptions: Masculine

In this skill we learn a few words to describe people and things and get to see the grammatical gender in action.

Every noun in Czech has a gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Knowing the gender is important for choosing the form of the noun and even other words in the sentence. For inanimate nouns, there is little relation between their gender and their nature. For example "čaj" (tea) is masculine, "káva" (coffee) is feminine, and "mléko" (milk) is neuter. For nouns that refer to people, the grammatical gender and biological sex usually do coincide.

It may be possible to guess the gender of the noun from its ending:
- Nouns ending in a consonant are mostly masculine. Early examples include "kluk" (boy), "muž" (man), "chléb" (bread), "čaj" (tea), and the proper names "František", "Jakub", and "Matěj".
- Nouns ending in -a or -e are mostly feminine. Early examples include "holka" (girl), "žena" (woman, wife), "restaurace" (restaurant), "lžíce" (spoon), and the proper names "Jitka", "Kateřina", and "Žofie".
- Nouns ending in -o are almost always neuter. Early examples include město (city), "auto" (car), "jablko" (apple), and "maso" (meat).
- Nouns that end in -ě or -í are also often neuter. Early examples include "dítě" (child), "letiště" (airport), and "náměstí" (square, plaza).
Unfortunately, many nouns do not conform. Let's list a few taken from our early skills:
- Some nouns that end in a consonant are feminine, e.g., "věc" (thing), "sůl" (salt), "mrkev" (carrot), "myš" (mouse), and "postel" (bed).
- Some nouns that end in -a are masculine, e.g., "táta" (dad) and "turista" (tourist).
- Some nouns that end in -e are neuter, e.g., "zvíře" (animal) and "vejce" (egg).
Adjectives

We encountered our very first Czech adjective in the previous skill as part of the "dobrý den" greeting. This adjective and others like it have endings that depend on the gender of the noun they modify:
- -ý in masculine, e.g., "dobrý čaj" (good tea)
- -á in feminine, e.g., "dobrá káva" (good coffee)
- -é in neuter, e.g., "dobré mléko" (good milk)
The adjectives we will be using in this skill (listed in their masculine forms) are:
- "dobrý" (good)
- "malý" (little, small)
- "mladý" (young)
- "nový" (new)
- "starý" (old)
- "velký" (big, large)
Demonstratives

Czech doesn't have articles, so "mladý muž" could be "young man", "a young man", or "the young man", depending on context. Czech has a variety of ways of making clear which is meant when the distinction is important, including the word order. Here we only examine the demonstrative adjective (technically pronoun, but used before its noun like an adjective) that is sometimes used in place of the definite article. This demonstrative has the following forms:
- "ten" in masculine, e.g., "ten muž" (the/that man)
- "ta" in feminine, e.g., "ta žena" (the/that woman)
- "to" in neuter, e.g., "to dítě" (the/that child)
Demonstrative adjectives and regular adjectives can usually be combined, in that order: "ten starý muž" (the/that old man).

Pronunciation notes

The comments below build on the tips provided with the first two skills. Please review them as needed.

Several new consonants matter in this skill:
- ch is considered a single letter in Czech and is found after "h" in dictionaries. It is the unvoiced counterpart to h. The sound no longer exists in most dialects of English. Scots has retained it, for example in "Loch Ness".
- dž is not a single letter, but this cluster is pronounced like the "j" in "juice". It is the voiced counterpart to č.
- f is as in English (and an unvoiced counterpart to v).
- š is like the "sh" in "sheep" (and an unvoiced counterpart to ž).
- v is as in English. It is voiced.
- ž is like the sound that the "s" makes in "pleasure". It is voiced.
The "ti" in "František" gives us an example of another pronunciation interference between letters:
- In domestic Czech words, when followed by an i or í, d is pronounced like ď, t like ť, and n like ň.
This skill also includes two more examples of the final consonant devoicing, when a voiced consonant at the end of a word is pronounced as if it were devoiced (unless followed in the stream of speech by another voiced consonant):
- The "b" at the end of "chléb" gets pronounced as its devoiced mate "p", making the word sound like "chlép".
- The "ž" at the end of "muž" gets pronounced as its devoiced mate "š", making the word sound like "muš" (moosh).

••• 5 Adjectives143 @ 100% 0

bohatou · bohatého · bohatý · bývalá · bývalého · bývalý · chudá · chudí · chudý · chudých · chytrá · chytré · chytří · důležitá · důležité · důležití · hloupá · hloupý · hluboká · hluboké · hluboký · hlubokým · horká · horké · horkých · krásná · krásné · krásní · krásný · krásných · lehká · lehké · lehký · levou · levá · levé · možné · možný · mrtvou · mrtvý · mrtvých · nešťastné · nešťastní · nešťastný · ošklivou · ošklivá · oškliví · pomalé · pomalí · pravá · pravé · pravý · rychlá · rychlé · rychlého · silnou · silné · silný · slabou · slabé · slabý · starou · starých · stejnou · stejné · studenou · studená · studený · studených · světlá · světlé · světlý · teplé · teplého · teplý · tmavá · tmavé · těžcí · těžké · užitečné · užitečný · vlastní · vlastních · vlastního · zajímavé · zajímavý · zajímavých · známá · známé · známý · známých · úspěšnou · úspěšná · úspěšné · úspěšní · úspěšný · úzká · úzké · čistou · čistá · čisté · čistý · širokou · široká · široké · šťastné · šťastný · živou · živý
109 words

Adjectives in Czech

Recall that Czech has two types of adjectives, hard and soft. These names relate to the vowels in their masculine nominative singular (dictionary entry form) endings. Hard adjectives end in -ý, for example dobrý (good), hezký (pretty), malý (small), and nový (new). Note that Czechs call this vowel tvrdé "ý" (hard "ý"), predictably contrasting it with měkké "í" (soft "í").

Soft adjectives in their dictionary entry form end in -í, for example cizí (foreign, strange), poslední (last, final), vlastní (own), and zvláštní (strange, weird odd).

Forms of hard adjectives

As we have already seen, Czech adjectives change their endings to match (agree with) the gender, number, and case of the nouns they refer to.

Hard adjective endings vary extensively. Let's demonstrate the endings that we should already know on the example of dobrý:

Forms of dobrý

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	dobrý	dobrý	dobrá	dobré
Acc. sg.	dobrého	dobrý	dobrou	dobré
Gen. sg.	dobrého	dobrého	dobré	dobrého

Nom. pl.	dobří	dobré	dobré	dobrá
Acc. pl.	dobré	dobré	dobré	dobrá
Gen. pl.	dobrých	dobrých	dobrých	dobrých

Notes:

Some of the endings are the same for different cases/genders etc. Remember, the gender, number, and case of the noun and the associated adjective have to agree, and the appropriate endings have to be used.
Hard plural masculine animate adjectives sometimes undergo a consonant shift in the root just like the nouns do. See the Nom. pl. form of dobrý, and re-read the T&N for the Plural skill.
Vocative endings are identical to nominative endings. (We do not teach the vocative much.)
There is only one ending for all genders in Gen. pl.

Forms of soft adjectives

Soft adjective endings vary with case in both singular and plural, but they change with gender in singular only.

Forms of zvláštní

Case/num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Acc. sg.	zvláštního	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Gen. sg.	zvláštního	zvláštního	zvláštní	zvláštního

Nom. pl.	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Acc. pl.	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Gen. pl.	zvláštních	zvláštních	zvláštních	zvláštních

Notes:

The nominative ending is the same for all genders and numbers. (The vocative ending is identical to the nominative ending.)
The plural endings do not depend on gender.
The singular feminine ending stays the same for all cases.

Position of adjectives

Czech adjectives are typically placed before the nouns they refer to, much like in English. For example:

Byl to zvláštní den. (It was a strange day.)
Má mladou ženu. (He has a young wife.
Čekají další dítě. (They are expecting another child.)
Je to jiné slovo. (That's another word.)
Nesnáším velká města. (I can't stand big cities.)

In specific contexts, adjectives are placed after their nouns. The post-noun position is mandatory in certain technical terminologies, such as in chemistry (kyselina sírová, or sulfuric acid) or biology (vlk obecný, or Canis lupus, gray wolf).

Confusing adjectives

Our users sometimes struggle with partly synonymous or otherwise challenging Czech adjectives.

Další vs jiný

The confusion here may be that both další and jiný are often translated as "another", but that is largely because that English word has multiple meanings.

In "That's another word.", we are more likely to mean "different" word than "one more" word, in which case jiné slovo rather than další slovo would be used in Czech. On the other hand, in "They are expecting another child.", the expected child is probably not "different" so much as "additional", and we would have další dítě, not jiné dítě.

••• 5 Numbers 2172 @ 100% 0

dalších · deset · deseti · devatenáct · devatenácti · devíti · devět · dnů · do · dvaceti · dvanáct · dvanácti · hodin · holek · jedenáct · jedenácti · kolika · let · minut · mužů · měst · od · osm · osmi · osmnáct · osmnácti · patnáct · patnácti · posledních · pět · pěti · roků · sedm · sedmi · sedmnáct · sedmnácti · stromů · třináct · třinácti · v · ve · zvláštních · zvířat · zvířatech · čtrnáct · čtrnácti · čísel · čísla · číslo · šest · šestnáct · šestnácti
52 words

Numbers 2

Recall that Czech cardinal numerals from one to four behave as if they were adjectives. The counted object appears in the case appropriate for the context, and the numeral matches that case. If the phrase appears as a subject, it gets a plural verb in agreement with the noun being counted: Jsou tam ty dva naše žluté stromy., and Jsou čtyři hodiny.

Cardinal numerals 5-20

Things change when we get to five. The numerals start to behave as if they were adverbs of quantity, similar to málo (little, few), dost (enough), and hodně (a lot, many). Recall that these go with the genitive of whatever is being quantified: Těch našich červených hrušek máme/je/bylo málo/pět. The verb agreement is singular and neuter.

These higher cardinals 5-20 are not gendered and decline in a limited way:

English	Nom., Acc.	Gen.
five	pět	pěti
six	šest	šesti
seven	sedm	sedmi
eight	osm	osmi
nine	devět	devíti
ten	deset	deseti
eleven	jedenáct	jedenácti
twelve	dvanáct	dvanácti
thirteen	třináct	třinácti
fourteen	čtrnáct	čtrnácti
fifteen	patnáct	patnácti
sixteen	šestnáct	šestnácti
seventeen	sedmnáct	sedmnácti
eighteen	osmnáct	osmnácti
nineteen	devatenáct	devatenácti
twenty	dvacet	dvaceti

Note the unexpected forms devíti, čtrnáct(i), patnáct(i), and devatenáct(i).

Examples:

Začíná v pět hodin. (It starts at five o'clock.)
Je devět hodin. (It is nine o'clock.)
Co jsi dělala v osm hodin? (What were you doing at eight o'clock?)
Ve dvanáct hodin? (At twelve o'clock?)
Čeká od deseti nebo jedenácti hodin. (She has been waiting since ten or eleven o'clock.)
Četl ty dopisy od dvanácti do čtyř. (He was reading the letters from twelve to four.)

Note the new prepositions.

V and ve are used with the accusative in time expressions involving the hour (or day of week) and get translated depending on context as "at" or "on". The (over)simplified rules for choosing v vs ve are:

Always use v before a vowel: v osm hodin.
Always use ve before "v" or "f". (No example yet.)
Use v before a single consonant other than "v" and "f"": v deset hodin, v půl jedné, v šest.
Use v before a two-consonant sequence ending "l", "r", or "ř", except use ve if the first consonant is "t", "d", "s", or "z": ve tři čtvrtě na pět.
Use ve before a two-consonant sequence ending in a consonant other than "l", "r", or "ř": ve dvě hodiny, ve čtyři hodiny.
Use ve before a three-consonant or longer consonant sequence with other than "l", "r", or "ř" in second position: ve čtvrt na osm, ve čtrnáct hodin.
When in doubt, try using whichever is easier to pronounce. Eventually you should be able to choose by "feel".

Od is always used with the genitive, and usually means "from", or sometimes "since" or "of". (Its vocalized variety ode is mandatory with mě and mne and only shows up later in the course.)

Do is always used with the genitive, and in time expressions usually means "until", sometimes "by".

Note the declination of the numerals five and higher for the three cases we know so far. The numeral is the same in Nom. and Acc., and changes to a different form that is common to all the other cases (of which we only know Gen. for now). The counted entity (a noun incl. its demo, possessive, and adjective) remains in the genitive, although we will need to revisit the reasons for this below. Also re-read the first paragraph to compare this behavior with that of the numerals below five.

Cardinal numerals 21-29

One way to form these is to follow dvacet with the appropriate numeral for one to nine, separated by a space. No matter what the gender of the counted entity, the feminine jedna and the masculine dva are used in these compounds. This is not the only method, but let's keep it simple. To decline the 21-29 numeral along with the counted entity, divide and conquer. Use dvacet (if the whole phrase is in Nom. or Acc.) or dvaceti (otherwise), decline the 1-9 piece of the compound as appropriate for the case of the whole phrase (except keep jedna fixed), and either keep the counted entity in the genitive (Nom. or Acc. of the whole phrase) or match it to the case of the whole phrase (otherwise). [This is how the counted entity above four always stays in the genitive if we only deal with the three cases we do.]

A few examples:

Bylo tady těch dvacet jedna mužů. (Those twenty-one men were here.)[Nom.]
Potřebujeme sukně pro dvacet dva holek. (We need skirts for twenty-two girls.)[Acc.]
Zná jména dvaceti čtyř měst? (Does he know the names of twenty-four citíes?)[Gen.]
Jedno z těch dvaceti osmi zvířat je osel. (One of those twenty-eight animals is a donkey.)[Gen.]
Který z tamhletěch dvaceti jedna mužů je jejich bratranec? (Which of those twenty-one men is their cousin?)[Gen.]

••• 05 Present 2171 @ 100% 0
běží · běžím · běžíte · běžíš · chodí · chodíš · cítí · cítím · cítíte · cítíš · domu · drží · držíš · hradu · hraje · hrajete · hrajou · hraju · jako · leží · neběží · nechodí · necítí · nedržím · nepere · nepovažuje · nepovažuju · nepracuje · netěším · perou · peru · považuje · považuješ · považují · pracuješ · pracuju · pracují · roste · rostou · sedí · sedíte · sedíš · stejně · stojí · stojíme · stojíš · stromu · stěžuje · stěžuješ · stěžují · trvá · těší · těším · těšíš · u · učí · učím · učíme · vypadají · vypadá · vypadám · vypadáme · vypadáte · vypadáš · za · zbývají · zbývá · žije · žijí
69 words

••• 5 Past 1162 @ 100% 0

brala · brali · bydlela · bydleli · byl · byla · bylas · byli · bylo · byls · byly · celou · celý · chtěl · chtěli · dopis · dopisy · díval · dívala · dívaly · dělal · dělala · dělaly · hledal · hledala · hledali · hledalo · jedl · jedla · jedlo · jel · jela · jeli · jsem · jsi · jsme · jste · koupil · koupila · koupili · mluvila · měl · měla · měli · měly · napsal · napsalo · nebydlel · nebyl · nebyla · nebylas · nebyli · nebylo · nebyls · nebyly · nechtěla · nedívala · nehledal · nejel · nekoupili · nemluvil · neměl · neměla · neměli · neměly · nenapsala · nepili · nepotřeboval · nepřečetly · nesnažil · nespal · neviděla · nevypila · nevážila · neznal · nešel · pil · pila · pili · potřebovala · potřebovali · psal · psala · psali · přečetl · přečetla · ses · sis · snažil · snažila · snažili · snědl · snědla · spala · spali · tehdy · viděl · viděla · viděli · vypil · vypila · vypili · vážil · vážila · včera · všechno · znala · znali · četl · četla · šel · šla · šli · šly
114 words

Past tense:

Czech only has one past tense. It relies on verb endings that depend on the number and gender of the subject. The simplest is the singular masculine form, obtained for most verbs by replacing the –t of the infinitive with an –l. The endings for both numbers and all genders are shown below, using hledat (to look for) as an example verb:

Number/Gender	Past ending	Example
Sg. M (on)	-l	hledal
Sg. F (ona)	-la	hledala
Sg. N (ono)	-lo	hledalo
Pl. M-a (oni)	-li	hledali
Pl. F/M-i (ony)	-ly	hledaly
Pl. N (ona)	-la	hledala

In the 1st and 2nd person, we must add the form of the auxiliary verb být appropriate for the number/person:

Person	Auxiliary
Sg. 1st (já)	jsem
Sg. Familiar 2nd (ty)	jsi (-s)
Pl. 1st (my)	jsme
Pl./Formal 2nd (vy)	jste

Notes:

The –s auxiliary is a form that attaches to the end of a word in the first position, often a verb, pronoun, or question word.
The Czech formal 2nd person address is inconsistent in the past tense. We use the plural auxiliary with one of the singular gendered l-forms.

Examples:

Františku, kde jste hledal Kateřinu? (František, where did you look for Kateřina?) [Formal address of a male. Don’t use “hledali” to refer to him alone.]
Kdes to hledala? (Where were you looking for it?) [Familiar address of a female.]
Žofie a Matěj hledali své dítě. (Žofie and Matěj were looking for their child.) [We used the M-a form because at least one member of the group is masculine animate.]
Hledala jsem ho tady. (I looked for him/it here.) [Female speaker. The past-tense auxiliary is an obligatory enclitic with the highest priority for the second position of everything we have seen so far.]

Verbs from this skill that work as advertised:

Infinitive	l-form	English
bydlet	bydlel	live, reside
dělat	dělal	do, make, work
dívat	díval	look, watch
hledat	hledal	look for
jet	jel	go, drive, ride
mluvit	mluvil	talk, speak
potřebovat	potřeboval	need
snažit se	snažil se	try
vážit si	vážil si	respect
vidět	viděl	see

The reflexive particles in snažit se and vážit si deserve a few words:

The singular familiar auxilary -s that latches onto host words obligatorily merges with the verb particles, forming the reflexive auxiliaries ses and sis. Alternatively, we can use the full jsi immediately followed by the verb particle. The course accepts this alternative, even if its official status remains “not yet codified”.
The past tense auxiliary is a higher priority enclitic than even the reflexive verb particles.

Examples:

Matěje sis nevážila. (You did not respect Matěj.) [The “ne” of negation is prefixed to the past form.]
Snažili jsme se ho jíst. (We were trying to eat it/him.) [“We“ includes at least one masculine member. Note the ordering of the enclitics competing for the second slot.]

Verbs from this skill that deviate from the regular pattern:

Infinitive	Past l-form	English	Comments
brát si	bral	marry	shortening
být	byl	be	shortening
číst	četl	read	irregular
chtít	chtěl	want	shortening/change
jíst	jedl	eat	irregular
jít	šel	go, walk	irregular
mít	měl	have	shortening/change
pít	pil	drink	shortening
psát	psal	write	shortening
spát	spal	sleep	shortening
znát	znal	know	shortening

Note the extra “e” in the singular masculine past form of jít:

On tam nešel, ale šla tam jeho sestra. (He did not go there, but his sister did.)

Aspect: Preview

Two aspects exist for most Czech verbs in the past tense:

imperfective aspect views the event being described as an ongoing or repetitive activity without referencing its completion, while
perfective aspect concerns a completed event.

It helps to think of the aspects as two separate but related verbs. Perfective verbs may be formed from imperfective ones by adding a prefix. We show this for four imperfective verbs we already know. Imperfective verbs may be formed from perfective ones by infixation, like kupovat from koupit (to buy; recall the present form kupuje):

Imperfective	Perfective	English
číst, četl	přečíst, přečetl	read
jíst, jedl	sníst, snědl	eat
kupovat, kupoval	koupit, koupil	buy
pít, pil	vypít, vypil	drink
psát, psal	napsat, napsal	write

Ten dopis jsem psal celý den. (I was writing that letter all day long.) [Activity focus.]
Napsal jsi už ten dopis? (Have you written the letter yet?) [Completion focus.]
Stalo se to, když kupoval mléko. (It happened while he was buying milk.) [Ongoing activity in the background.]
Koupils to mléko? (Did you buy that milk?) [Oops. Failure to complete?]

••• 05 Household161 @ 100% 0
byt · drahá · drahé · drahý · dveře · dveří · kolik · koupelen · koupelna · koupelnu · koupelny · kuchyni · kuchyně · lednička · ledničku · ledničky · levnou · levné · levný · levných · ložnic · ložnice · ložnici · lžic · lžíce · lžíci · místnost · místnosti · místností · mýdla · mýdlo · nože · nožů · nůž · obývák · obýváku · obýváky · oken · okna · okno · otevřená · otevřené · plná · plný · pohovka · pohovku · pohovky · postel · postele · pračka · pračku · pračky · prázdná · prázdné · prázdný · sklenic · sklenice · stolu · stoly · stolů · stůl · sušiček · sušičku · sušičky · talíř · talíře · televize · televizi · televizí · vidliček · vidlička · vidličky · zavřená · zavřené · záchod · záchodě · špinavá · špinavé · špinavého · špinavý · šálek · šálku · šálky · šálků · židle · židlí
86 words
Household

This skill introduces basic vocabulary useful for talking about common household items. There is no tricky grammar here. One word being introduced here deserves a special mention: postel (bed).

The noteworthy thing about "postel" is that it is a feminine noun, clearly ending in a consonant, and less obviously a useful model noun for the noun declension paradigm poorly represented in the course up to this point. The "official" model noun for this paradigm is "píseň" (song), which does not work well for practically useful sentences. And we have already encountered "žízeň" (thirst), which is likewise limited in its practical range. Let's use this opportunity to show the "postel" declension in the context of our other feminine model nouns in the three cases we have met so far:

Case/Num. žena ulice postel věc

Nom. sg. -a -e - -

Acc. sg. -u -i - -

Gen. sg. -y -e -e -i

Nom. pl. -y -e -e -i

Acc. pl. -y -e -e -i

Gen. pl. - - -í -í

So let's welcome "postel" into the fold and start following its declensions.

••• 5 Infinitive151 @ 100% 0

brát · bydlet · bát · být · chápat · dívat · dělat · hledat · jet · jíst · jít · milovat · mluvit · myslet · mít · nebát · nedívat · nedělat · nemilovat · nemluvit · nenávidět · nespat · nestárnout · nevidět · neznat · neříkat · nést · pamatovat · psát · pít · respektovat · slyšet · snaží · snažím · snažíme · spát · starat · stárnout · vidět · vážit · vést · vědět · zajímat · znát · čeho · čekat · číst · říkat
48 words

The infinitives of Czech verbs correspond to the English verbs preceded by "to" by meaning and use. They also are the forms listed in dictionaries. Almost all verb infinitives in contemporary Czech end in -t. The archaic version of that ending, -ti, looks and sounds so goofy today that the course neither teaches nor accepts it.

However, we can almost never just attach this -t to one of the present-tense forms to produce the infinitive. We also need to deal with the vowel and consonant changes that often occur on the way between the present tense forms and the infinitive. The five verb classes should help us again, although not for very short verbs. Let's deal with those short verbs and a few irregular verbs first:

Short and irregular infinitives

Sg. 3rd person	Infinitive	English
bere	brát	take
bojí	bát	be afraid
čte	číst	read
chce	chtít	want
jde	jít	go, walk
je	být	be
jede	jet	go, ride
jí	jíst	eat
má	mít	have
nese	nést	carry
pije	pít	drink
píše	psát	write
spí	spát	sleep
vede	vést	lead
ví	vědět	know
zná	znát	know
žije	žít	live

Longer infinitives by verb class

Class	3rd pers.	Infinitive	English
1	chápe	chápat	understand
2	stárne	stárnout	age
3	miluje	milovat	love
3	pamatuje	pamatovat	remember
3	respektuje	respektovat	respect
4	bydlí	bydlet	live
4	myslí	myslet	think
4	nenávidí	nenávidět	hate
4	slyší	slyšet	hear
4	váží si	vážit si	respect
4	vidí	vidět	see
5	čeká	čekat	wait
5	dělá	dělat	do
5	dívá se	dívat se	look
5	hledá	hledat	look for
5	říká	říkat	say
5	stará se	starat se	take care
5	zajímá	zajímat	interest

Notes:

Class 1 is quite full of the unpredictable short verbs. For the one longer verb shown we only need to replace -e with -at.
In Class 2 we replace -ne with -nout (until we learn verbs that do something else).
In Class 3 we replace -(u)je with -(ov)at. (The verbs without the u before -je will just have -at.)
In Class 4 we replace -í with -et/ět or -it.
In Class 5 we replace -á with -at.

Application of infinitives

Let's review a few ways of using the infinitive in Czech sentences. Pay attention to the se and si verb particles that the main verb and/or the infinitive verb may need. Recall that these particles must be placed in the second position in their clause.

Need to ...

Potřebuju vědět, že mě miluješ. (I need to know that you love me.)
Jejich jména si pamatovat nepotřebujeme. (We do not need to remember their names.) [The particle si went after the first unit of meaning, "jejich jména".]

Want to ...

Chci si tě pamatovat. (I want to remember you.) [The particle si and the clitic pronoun tě went after the first unit of meaning, "chci", although they are both associated with the "pamatovat" at the end.]
Proč chceš vědět, jak se jmenuje? (Why do you want to know what her name is?) [The se went second in its clause.]
Už ty lidi nenávidět nechci. (I no longer want to hate those people.)

Be beginning to ...

Ano, začínáš mě chápat. (Yes, you are beginning to understand me.)
Začíná si ho vážit? (Is she starting to respect him?) [Here the particle si went right after the first unit of meaning, "začíná", and even bumped the clitic "ho" to the right.]

Be afraid to ...

In these examples the se comes from the bojí/bojíš:

Bojí se tam jít. (They are/He is afraid to go there.)
Proč se bojíš mluvit? (Why are you afraid to talk?)

Try to ...

In these examples the new verb snaží/snažím/snažíme comes with se. Notice what happens when the infinitive brings its own se or si.

Snažíme se tu ženu chápat. (We are trying to understand that woman.)
Snažím se na ni nedívat. (I am trying not to look at her.) [We avoided the duplication of se. We could also say Snažím se nedívat (se) na ni., with or without duplication. Duplication may be necessary to avoid ambiguity. The weird "se se" particle sequence does need to be avoided in all cases.]
Snaží se vážit si ho. (She is trying to respect him.) [This is an advanced topic for later. We could also say Snaží si ho vážit. or perhaps Snaží se si ho vážit., but not Snaží (si) se ho vážit.]

Other uses

Nevím, co si myslet. (I don't know what to think.)
Proč nemá co jíst ani pít? (Why does he have nothing to eat or drink?)
Nestačí to jen říkat. (It is not enough just to say it.)

••• 5 Conjunctions 1113 @ 100% 0

anebo · ani · buď · i · i když · jestli · kdežto · když · pokud · proto · protože · přesto · přestože · zatímco · že
15 words

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that connect other words, expressions, and clauses together.

Czech	English
a	and
i	as well as, and also, even
nebo/anebo	or
buď…nebo/anebo	either…or
ani	not even, …neither
ani…ani	neither…nor
ale	but
že	that
když	when
pokud	if, as long as
jestli	if, whether
proto	therefore, that’s why, so
protože	because
přesto	yet, anyway, despite this
přestože	although, even though
i když	although, even though
kdežto	while, whereas
zatímco	while, whereas, at the same time as

The tiny, yet mighty “i”

You’ve already met a – the simple, unassuming “and”: muži a ženy (men and women). The slender conjunction i is like “and” on steroids. When used alone before a word, it means “also” or “even”. When used between two words, it translates to “as well as” or “and also”. For extra emphasis, we can even place it in front of each word in a list. Examples:

Mám i psa. – I even have a dog. I also have a dog (not just a cat).
I já mám psa. – Even I have a dog. I have a dog, too (like you).
Máme psa i kočku. – We have a dog as well as a cat.
Mají i psa, i kočku. – They have both a dog and a cat.

In negative statements, i becomes ani. It’s the equivalent of “not even” or “not… either”. We can also use ani between words to express “neither… nor”. And again, just like with i, using it twice (ani…ani) adds extra emphasis. Examples:

Nemám ani hlad. or: Ani nemám hlad. – I’m not even hungry.
Ani já nemám hlad. – I’m not hungry either (like you).
Nepije pivo ani víno. – He drinks neither beer nor wine.

"Nebo" nebo "anebo"?

You’ve learned that nebo means “or”. Anebo is just a more emphatic version of that. When we want to say “either… or”, we use buď… anebo. It’s also possible to use nebo here, but the stronger anebo is more common in this construction.

Chceš kávu nebo vodu? – Do you want coffee or water? (Or perhaps both?)
Jedno pivo, anebo dvě? – One beer or two? (More exclusive than nebo)
Chci koupit buď psa, anebo kočku. – I want to buy either a cat or a dog.

Note that there are no strict boundaries between these expressions.

The mandatory "že"

In English, we can easily omit the conjunction “that” from sentences, but its Czech counterpart – že – can’t be left out.

Vím, že mě miluješ. – I know (that) you love me.
Říkáš, že nemáš čas? – Are you saying (that) you don’t have time?
Jsme rádi, že vás vidíme. – We are glad to see you. (lit. “…that we see you”)

If and when…

The conjunction “when” typically corresponds to když – (similar to the question word kdy?). To express “if” in Czech, we can use (among others) jestli, pokud, and sometimes even když. Both jestli and pokud are interchangeable, unless you can replace “if” with “whether” – in that case use only jestli. On the other hand, if it’s possible to replace “if” with “when” or “as long as”, use pokud.

Miluju tě, když spíš. – I love you when you’re asleep.
Pokud mám žízeň, piju pivo. – If/when I’m thristy, I drink beer.
Můžeme už jít domů, pokud/jestli chceš. – We can go home already if you want.
Nevím, jestli je František doma. – I don’t know if/whether František is at home.

While and whereas…

Zatímco can safely be used for both “while” and “whereas” conjunctions. Kdežto is more specific – it points more emphatically to the difference or opposite nature of two statements, but in cases where the English “while” is used to mean “at the same time as”, we can only use zatímco, not kdežto.

Já jsem tady, kdežto/zatímco ty jsi tam. – I am over here while/whereas you are over there.
Víno piju rád, kdežto/zatímco pivo nesnáším. – I like drinking wine, whereas I can’t stand beer.
Žofie spí, zatímco Matěj vaří. – Žofie is sleeping while (at the same time as) Matěj is cooking.

Word order

As explained in some of the previous tips, there are a number of short words called clitics, which usually want to be in the "second position". That’s why we have to say, for example, Miluju tě., but Já tě miluju. – the clitic tě sticks to the second position.

Most conjunctions start their clause and take up the first position in it, so the clitics will want to follow them directly:

Jsem rád, že tě miluju. – I’m glad that I love you.
Ptáš se mě, jestli tě miluju? – Are you asking me whether I love you?

The exception is the conjunctions a, i, and ale, which do not count as the "first position" in the clause they introduce, and we get:

Znám tě a miluju tě. – I know you and I love you.
Ještě tě dobře neznám, ale miluju tě. – I don’t know you well yet, but I love you.
I on tě miluje. – He also loves you.

Learn more about clitics and word order here.

••• 5 Numbers 1141 @ 100% 0

automobily · druhou · druhé · druhého · druhý · dva · dvou · dvě · hodina · hodinu · hodiny · jeden · jedna · jedno · jednoho · jednu · jedné · jedné · nestačí · první · prvních · půl · rok · roky · stačí · třech · třetí · třetí · třetího · tři · tři čtvrtě · tří · z · čtvrt · čtvrtá · čtvrté · čtvrté · čtvrtého · čtyř · čtyřech · čtyři
41 words

Numbers 1

This skill is our first introduction to Czech numerals.

Cardinal numerals one to four

These behave as if they were adjectives. They normally precede nouns and real adjectives. They decline (change in form depending on case). The first two cardinals (for “one” and “two”) are gendered.

One: Jeden

Knowing the forms of the demonstrative ten is enough to figure out those of jeden (“one”). Compare

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	ten	ten	ta	to
Acc. sg.	toho	ten	tu	to
Gen. sg.	toho	toho	té	toho

with

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	jeden	jeden	jedna	jedno
Acc.	jednoho	jeden	jednu	jedno
Gen.	jednoho	jednoho	jedné	jednoho

These forms of jeden are followed by singular adjectives and nouns when the association is direct, just like in English: "one sister" will be jedna sestra. On the other hand, "one of my sisters" will be jedna z mých sester.

A few examples:

Mám jednoho bratra. (I have one brother.)
Slyšíme jeden z jejich strojů. (We can hear one of their machines.)
Potřebujou jedno velké prase. (They need one large pig.)

Two: Dva

The declension of dva (and the closely related oba, "both") contains some of the remnants of the dual that Czech used to have in addition to its singular and plural, so it is something of an oddball.

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	dva	dva	dvě	dvě
Acc.	dva	dva	dvě	dvě
Gen.	dvou	dvou	dvou	dvou

A few examples:

Jsme dva. (There are two of us.)
Jsou tam dva žluté stromy. (There are two yellow trees there.)
Kde je matka těch dvou dětí. (Where is the mother of those two children?)
Která z těchto dvou žen je jeho dcera? (Which of these two women is his daughter?)

Note the order: demonstrative, numeral, adjective(s), noun--much like in English: Hledáme matku těch dvou malých děvčat. (We are looking for the mother of those two little girls.)

Three, Four: Tři, Čtyři

Neither tři (three) nor čtyři (four) depends on gender:

Case	Three	Four
Nom.	tři	čtyři
Acc.	tři	čtyři
Gen.	tří, třech	čtyř, čtyřech

The genitive forms ending in -ech are informal, although they have been officially recognized as standard forms.

A few examples:

Mám tři psy a tři kočky. (I have three dogs and three cats.)
Jsem matka tří dětí. (I am a mother of three children.)
Jsem otec třech dětí. (I am a father of three children.)
Která z těchto čtyřech dívek je jeho sestřenice? (Which of these four girls is his cousin?)

Ordinal numerals first to fourth

English	Czech
first	první
second	druhý
third	třetí
fourth	čtvrtý

The first four ordinals look and behave like regular adjectives. První (first) and třetí (third) work like soft adjectives, while druhý (second) and čtvrtý* (fourth) decline like hard adjectives. Note that, while in English the definite article or a possessive adjective often precedes the ordinal numeral, in Czech the ordinals can and often do go without such determiners.

A few examples:

Jsi moje první láska. (You are my first love.)
Kupujeme svého druhého koně. (We are buying our second horse.)
Jím už třetí hrušku. (I am already eating my third pear.)
Čekají čtvrté dítě. (They are expecting their fourth child.)

Telling the time

The skill also uses the cardinal and ordinal numerals to show common Czech expressions for telling the time. The new word hodina declines like žena and means "hour" or "o'clock". For example, with the cardinals we get:

Je jedna hodina. (It is one o'clock.)
Jsou dvě/tři/čtyři hodiny. (It is two/three/four o'clock.)

Still more expressions with the cardinals are formed using čtvrt (a quarter) and tři čtvrtě (three quarters). We will follow these with na and an accusative feminine cardinal. We will use půl (half) with a genitive feminine ordinal (druhé and higher) or cardinal (jedné only), no preposition. View these as the fractions of the hour elapsed towards the hour specified. Let's put this all in a table:

Digital	English	Czech
12:15	quarter past twelve	čtvrt na jednu
12:30	half past twelve	půl jedné
12:45	a quarter to one	tři čtvrtě na jednu
1:15	quarter past one	čtvrt na dvě
1:30	half past one	půl druhé
1:45	a quarter to two	tři čtvrtě na dvě

The čtvrt na, půl, and tři čtvrtě na expressions are all treated as singular in the time-telling sentences.

A few examples:

Je čtvrt na jednu. (It is quarter past twelve.)
Už je čtvrt na dvě? (Is it quarter past one yet?)
Je půl jedné odpoledne. (It is half past twelve in the afternoon.)
Je tři čtvrtě na jednu. (It is a quarter to/of one.)

••• 5 Adverbs133 @ 100% 0

asi · cukru · dobře · doma · domů · dost · hodně · jen · ještě · jinam · jinde · mléka · možná · málo · nejdřív · nikam · nikde · nikdy · někam · někde · někdy · opravdu · pomalu · potom · pryč · příliš · rychle · sem · stále · tak · také · tam · téměř · určitě · už · velmi · vína · všude · vůbec · vždy · zase · zřídka · úplně · čaje · často · špatně
46 words

Adverbs

Adverbs modify other parts of the sentence, usually verbs, but also adjectives, nouns, or even other adverbs. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering questions such as how?, when?, where?, or even how much? and how many?.

Good news! Adverbs don't change their endings based on gender, number, person, etc. – they keep their form no matter what. The only exception is gradation, i.e. quantifiable adverbs also have “more” and “most” forms, but we won’t deal with that until much later.

Adverbs of time/frequency

These adverbs tell us when or how often something happens. In Czech, these questions are “kdy?” and “jak často?“ respectively.

Czech	English
vždy	always, every time
stále	always, all the time
často	often, frequently
někdy	sometimes, sometime
zřídka	seldom, rarely
nikdy	never

Adverbs of place

Most Czech spatial adverbs make a distinction between position and direction. When asking about position, we use the question word “kde?” – where (at)?, whereas the direction question word is “kam?” – where (to)?. For example:

Kde jsi? – Where are you?
Jsem doma. – I’m (at) home.
Kam jdeš? – Where are you going?
Jdu domů. – I’m going home.

Kde?	Kam?	English
tam	tam	there
tady	sem	here
někde	někam	somewhere
všude	všude	everywhere
jinde	jinam	elsewhere, somewhere else
nikde	nikam	nowhere
pryč	pryč	away
doma	domů	at home (place) / home (direction)

Adverbs of quantity and degree

We can use the question word “kolik?” – how much/many? to ask for adverbs of quantity. Adverbs of degree (e.g. almost) do not have a simple question word.

When an adverb of quantity modifies a noun, the noun must be in the genitive case. Study the following examples:

Pivo, hodně piva, málo piva . – Beer, a lot of beer, little beer.
Voda, příliš vody, dost vody. – Water, too much water, enough water.
Chlapci, hodně chlapců, málo chlapců. – Boys, many boys, few boys.

Czech	English
hodně	many, much, a lot of
málo	few, little, not enough
dost	enough, quite
příliš	too, too much
velmi	very
úplně	entirely, totally, completely
téměř	almost
vůbec	at all, actually

The adverb “vůbec“ is a little tricky. In negative statements, where it’s used the most, it means “(not) at all”, while in positive sentences its meaning varies between “actually”, “in fact”, “really”, or “exactly”.

Adverbs derived from adjectives

This is the most productive group of adverbs. We can theoretically create an adverb out of any adjective. In English we usually do this by adding the “-ly” suffix (e.g. nice -> nicely). In Czech we usually replace the adjective “-ý/-í“ ending with “-e” or “-ě“, while applying a regular sound change (for example, “-rý” becomes “-ře“). Some adverbs, however, use a different ending. Some of the previously mentioned adverbs belong to this category, too, for instance “málo“, as it is derived from the adjective “malý” – “small”.

Czech adjective	English adjective	Czech adverb	English adverb
dobrý	good	dobře	well, correctly
špatný	bad, wrong	špatně	badly, poorly, wrong(-ly)
rychlý	fast	rychle	fast, quickly
pomalý	slow	pomalu	slowly
určitý	definite	určitě	definitely, surely

A large number of Czech adjectives end in “-ný” or “-ní”. All these change to “-ně” when they become adverbs. For example (don't worry if you don't know some of these yet):

pěkný -> pěkně (nice -> nicely)
smutný -> smutně (sad -> sadly)
zvláštní -> zvláštně (strange -> strangely)

Other adverbs

And finally, an assortment of adverbs that don’t readily fit into any category.

Czech	English
tak	so
jen	only
už	already, anymore, yet
ještě	still, (not) yet
asi	probably, perhaps
možná	maybe, possibly
opravdu	really, truly
také	also, as well
potom	then, later
zase	again
nejdřív	(at) first, initially

The adverbs “už” and “ještě” may prove a little difficult to handle as they don’t have exact English equivalents. They correspond better to the Spanish "ya" and "todavía" or German “schon” and “noch”, respectively. Chances are your third languages could prove more helpful for mastering this in Czech than English will. Study the following examples:

Už jsem doma. (positive statement) – I’m already at home.
Už jsi doma? (question) – Are you (at) home yet? (“already” would also work here).
Už to nechci. (negative statement) – I don’t want it anymore.
Ještě jsem tady. (positive statement) – I’m still here. (I haven’t left yet.)
Ještě jsi doma? (question) – Are you still (at) home?
Ještě to nemám. (negative statement) – I don’t have it yet.

••• 5 Clothing131 @ 100% 0

bota · boty · bund · bunda · bundu · kabát · kabáty · kabátů · kalhot · kalhoty · klobouk · klobouku · klobouky · košile · nenosí · nenosíme · nenosíte · nosí · nosíš · oblek · obleky · oblečení · ponožek · ponožky · sukni · sukně · svetr · svetry · svetrů · trika · triko · šaty · šperk · šperky
34 words

Clothing

New nouns

The skill is designed mostly to extend the course vocabulary with a number of nouns. Most of the new nouns are regular in that they decline as paradigm nouns we have already dealt with. Refer to the Family 1 skill Tips & Notes for a summary.

Czech	Gender	Declination	English
bota	F	žena	shoe
bunda	F	žena	jacket
kabát	M in.	hrad	coat
klobouk	M in.	hrad	hat
košile	F	ulice	shirt
oblečení	N	náměstí	clothes
oblek	M in.	hrad	suit
ponožka	F	žena	sock
sukně	F	ovce	skirt
svetr	M in.	hrad	sweater
šperk	M in.	hrad	jewel, gem
triko	N	město	tee shirt

Plural-only nouns

In this skill we encounter two nouns that always take on the plural form, even when they are referring to a single item of clothing: kalhoty (pants, trousers) and šaty (dress, dresses). Only from context can we figure out whether a single dress (pair of pants) or multiple dresses (pairs of pants) are being referred to.

Unlike the fashion industry English term “pant”, the Czech “kalhota” is very rare and refers to a “pant leg”. It is still useful to be aware of this singular “kalhota” to help us remember the declination according to the plural portion of the žena pattern.

Likewise, the Czech “šat” is very rare nowadays and refers to “clothing” in general rather than to “a dress”. It can serve as a reminder to use the plural hrad declination for šaty.

Oblečení

The word oblečení corresponds to the English “clothing” or “clothes”. Like “clothing”, it usually occurs in the singular and carries a mass meaning despite the singular form and agreement.

Nosí

This skill also introduces a new verb that corresponds to “wear”, which in the third person singular form is nosí (a regular 4th class verb). Among other things, it is used to describe habitual wearing or not wearing of clothing items, not the present situation of wearing something. For example

Kateřina nosí moji košili. (Kateřina wears my shirt.)

does not mean “Kateřina is wearing my shirt.” in the sense of “Kateřina has my shirt on.” We will need to wait for more grammar before we can talk about what someone is currently (not) wearing.

The new verb is related to the previously introduced nese, which describes the non-habitual, single-event, goal-oriented action of carrying something somewhere:

Kam neseš ty klobouky? (Where are you carrying/taking those hats?)

These two verbs form a motion verb pair, one definite and single-event focused, the other indefinite and dealing with habitual or repetitive activity. One of the other meanings of nosí is a habitual, repetitive activity of carrying something.

We will return to motion verbs later in the course.

••• 5 Family 1123 @ 100% 0

babiček · babička · babičku · babičky · bere · bereme · berou · beru · bez · beze · bojí · bojím · bojíte · bratr · bratrance · bratranci · bratranců · bratranec · bratrů · chlapců · dcer · dcera · dceru · dcery · dědečci · dědeček · dědečka · dědečky · dědečků · dětí · jejích · jich · jí · kateřiny · malých · matek · matka · matku · matky · mladou · mladého · mnoho · mojí · mých · našich · naší · nebojím · nebojíme · neptáme · nich · ní · otce · otcové · otců · otec · ptají · ptá · ptám · ptáte · přátel · přátele · přátelé · rodin · rodina · rodinu · rodiny · rodičů · sester · sestra · sestru · sestry · sestřenic · sestřenice · sestřenici · si · strýc · strýce · strýci · strýcové · strýců · svojí · svých · syn · syna · synové · syny · synů · tet · teta · tetu · tety · tvojí · tvých · té · těch · vašich · vaší · vdanou · vdaná · vdané · váží · vážím · vážíme · vážíš · ženatého · ženatý
106 words

Family 1: Genitive

This skill introduces a very important Czech case, the genitive. It is used for objects of some verbs and with a few prepositions and occurs in constructions with nouns/noun phrases (often to show ownership), adverbs of quantity (like mnoho), and most numbers. Think of this as the equivalent of the English expressions with "of", such as "the color of your eyes" and "a lot of water". We are going to need to add lots of genitive forms:

Demonstrative adjective forms

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	ten	ten	ta	to
Acc. sg.	toho	ten	tu	to
Gen. sg.	toho	toho	té	toho
Nom. pl.	ti	ty	ty	ta
Acc. pl.	ty	ty	ty	ta
Gen. pl.	těch	těch	těch	těch

Hard adjective endings

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	-ý	-ý	-á	-é
Acc. sg.	-ého	-ý	-ou	-é
Gen. sg.	-ého	-ého	-é	-ého
Nom. pl.	-í	-é	-é	-á
Acc. pl.	-é	-é	-é	-á
Gen. pl.	-ých	-ých	-ých	-ých

Soft adjective endings

Also use these with the possessive její (her/hers).

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Acc. sg.	-ího	-í	-í	-í
Gen. sg.	-ího	-ího	-í	-ího
Nom. pl.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Acc. pl.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Gen. pl.	-ích	-ích	-ích	-ích

Masculine noun endings

Case/Num.	kluk	muž	hrad	stroj
Nom. sg.	-	-	-	-
Acc. sg.	-a	-e	-	-
Gen. sg.	-a	-e	-u	-e
Nom. pl.	-i	-i	-y	-e
Acc. pl.	-y	-e	-y	-e
Gen. pl.	-ů	-ů	-ů	-ů

Feminine noun endings

Case/Num.	žena	ulice	ovce
Nom. sg.	-a	-e	-e
Acc. sg.	-u	-i	-i
Gen. sg.	-y	-e	-e
Nom. pl.	-y	-e	-e
Acc. pl.	-y	-e	-e
Gen. pl.	-	-	-í

Note the insertion of "e" in the Gen. Pl. of the žena paradigm for words that would end in a consonant followed by "k" or "r" ("babiček", "matek", "sester").

Neuter noun endings

Case/Num.	město	kuře	náměstí
Nom. sg.	-o	-e	-í
Acc. sg.	-o	-e	-í
Gen. sg.	-a	-ete	-í
Nom. pl.	-a	-ata	-í
Acc. pl.	-a	-ata	-í
Gen. pl.	-	-at	-í

Personal pronouns

Nom.	Acc. w/o prep.	Acc. after prep.	Gen. w/o prep.	Gen. after prep.
já	mě, mne	mě, mne	mě, mne	mě, mne
ty	tě, tebe	tebe	tě, tebe	tebe
on (an.)	ho, jeho, jej	něho, něj	ho, jeho, jej	něho, něj
on (in.)	ho, jej	něj	ho, jeho, jej	něho, něj
ona (sg.)	ji	ni	jí	ní
ono	ho, je, jej	ně, něj	ho, jeho, jej	něho, něj
my	nás	nás	nás	nás
vy	vás	vás	vás	vás
oni, ony, ona (pl.)	je	ně	jich	nich

The forms in italics can only appear in the second position; their two-syllable alternatives in that position are emphatic.

Possessive pronouns

Recall that jeho (his/its) and jejich (their/theirs) do not change in any case, and that její (her/hers) declines like a soft adjective. The other, more challenging possessive pronouns are summarized below:

Possessive pronouns můj, tvůj, and svůj

Gender	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	můj	můj	moje, má	moje, mé
Acc. sg.	mého	můj	moji, mou	moje, mé
Gen. sg.	mého	mého	mojí, mé	mého
Nom. pl.	moji, mí	moje, mé	moje, mé	moje, má
Acc. pl.	moje, mé	moje, mé	moje, mé	moje, má
Gen. pl.	mých	mých	mých	mých

Possessive pronouns náš and váš

Gender	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	náš	náš	naše	naše
Acc. sg.	našeho	náš	naši	naše
Gen. sg.	našeho	našeho	naší	našeho
Nom. pl.	naši	naše	naše	naše
Acc. pl.	naše	naše	naše	naše
Gen. pl.	našich	našich	našich	našich

New verbs

Some verbs take genitive objects:

Person	be afraid of	ask	respect
já	se bojím	se ptám	si vážím
ty	se bojíš	se ptáš	si vážíš
on/ona/ono	se bojí	se ptá	si váží
my	se bojíme	se ptáme	si vážíme
vy	se bojíte	se ptáte	si vážíte
oni/ony/ona	se bojí	se ptají	si váží
infinitive	bát se	ptát se	vážit si

The "infinitive" form is only shown to help you find the verb in dictionaries.

The word si is another verb particle. Similar to se, it occurs in the second position and bumps words like tě and ho to the right:

Vážíme si tě. (We respect you.)
Beru si ho. (I'm marrying him.) [Accusative object, forms like žere.]
Bereme se. (We are getting married.) [Always plural.]

Prepositions bez and beze

These mean "without". The version beze is used almost exclusively with mě and mne. Beze mě is "without me" and bez jejího auta is "without her car".

Mnoho

This adverb corresponds to "many" or "a lot of". Note the singular verb:

Je tam mnoho dětí.

••• 5 Present 1122 @ 100% 0

bydlejí · bydlí · bydlíte · dělá · dělám · děláš · existuje · existuješ · jde · jdeme · jdete · jdeš · jdou · jede · jedeme · jedeš · jmenuje · jmenujete · jmenuješ · jmenuji · jmenují · kam · končí · končím · kupuje · kupujeme · kupujete · kupuji · miluje · miluju · mluví · mluvím · mluvíš · nebydlí · nedělám · neexistuje · neexistujeme · nejede · nejedu · nekupuji · nemiluješ · nenávidí · nenávidím · nenávidíš · nepláčou · neposlouchá · neposloucháš · nepočítáte · neprodáváme · nepíše · nerespektuju · nese · nesete · neseš · nespíš · nestárne · nestárnete · nesu · nevyrábí · nevědí · nečteme · neříká · obsahuje · obsahujou · obsahují · odkud · pamatuješ · pamatuji · pamatuju · pláčeme · pláčeš · pláčou · poslouchá · poslouchám · posloucháme · posloucháte · počítají · počítá · počítáme · prodává · prodáváš · píšeme · píšu · respektuješ · respektuji · spí · stárneš · vede · vedeme · vedou · vyrábí · vyrábíme · vyrábíte · vyrábějí · ví · vím · začínají · začíná · začínáme · znamenají · znamená · čteš · čtu · říká · říkáte · říkáš
106 words

Present 1: Introduction to present tense

Verb classes for present tense

In this skill we start organizing the present-tense forms of Czech verbs. There are five classes of verbs based on their singular 3rd person ending. They should make the rest of the verb conjugations in the present tense predictable:

Class	1	2	3	4	5
Stem-	nes-	stár-	kupu-	sp-	děl-
-end	-e	-ne	-je	-í	-á
já	u	nu	ju, ji	ím	ám
ty	eš	neš	ješ	íš	áš
on/a/o	e	ne	je	í	á
my	eme	neme	jeme	íme	áme
vy	ete	nete	jete	íte	áte
oni/y/a	ou	nou	jou, jí	í	ají

Native Czech speakers sometimes use the mnemonic “žene je bída” (poverty compels them) to remember the five verb classes, but most of them conjugate their verbs by heart.

Note the dual endings in the 3rd class for the 1st person singular and the 3rd person plural. We have kupuju vs kupuji and kupujou vs kupují. The forms listed first are more informal than those listed second. Similarly behaving verbs include (going by the 3rd person singular) existuje, jmenuje se, miluje, obsahuje, pamatuje, and respektuje. (If we ignored the more formal endings in the 3rd class and just worked with the informal ones, we could actually collapse the first three classes into one.)

Czech has only one present tense, which may correspond to present simple, present continuous, present perfect continuous, and present perfect in English. A few examples:

To nečteme. (We do not read that.)
Jakou knihu čteš? (What book are you reading?)
Dělám čaj. (I am making tea.)
Proč to děláš? (Why do you do it?)

Motion verbs: jde, jede, nese, vede

This is our first encounter with a few members of a tricky verb group, the verbs of motion. The core meanings are as follows:

3rd pers. sg.	infinitive	English
jde	jít	go (by foot), walk, come
jede	jet	go (by vehicle/animal), ride, drive, come
nese	nést	carry, bring from, take to
vede	vést	lead, bring from, take to

The "infinitives" are only shown to help you find the verbs in dictionaries. These Czech verbs contain information on the means of the movement but not on its direction. The opposite applies to many of the English verbs used in translations.

While for many verbs in this skill the Czech present tense can easily correspond to both simple and continuous present tense in English, the motion verbs are less forgiving. In their core movement meaning, they are restricted to single, one-directional actions as opposed to repeated, habitual, multi-directional movement activities. This makes the English simple present ill-suited for translating them. Until we get introduced to the habitual motion counterparts of these Czech verbs, let's stick to the present continuous translations when movement is being described. For example, in

Kam jdou? (Where are they going?)
Odkud jedeš? (Where are you coming from?)
Odkud nesete ty věci? (Where are you bringing those things from?)
Kam nesete ty věci? (Where are you taking those things to?)
Vedu děti do školy. (I am taking the kids to school.)

the use of the simple present in English would imply scenarios inconsistent with the nature of the Czech verbs.

Note how Czech distinguished whether the "things" were being brought from somewhere or taken to somewhere despite not changing the verb itself.

Other verbs

This is the list of the other (non-motion) verbs introduced in this skill:

3rd pers. sg.	infinitive	English
bydlí	bydlet	live, reside
čte	číst	read
dělá	dělat	do, make, work
existuje	existovat	exist
jmenuje se	jmenovat se	be called, one’s name is
kupuje	kupovat	buy
končí	končit	end
miluje	milovat	love
mluví	mluvit	speak
nenávidí	nenávidět	hate
obsahuje	obsahovat	contain
pamatuje si	pamatovat si	remember
píše	psát	write
pláče	plakat	cry, weep
počítá	počítat	count
poslouchá	poslouchat	listen
prodává	prodávat	sell
respektuje	respektovat	respect
říká	říkat	say, tell
spí	spát	sleep
stárne	stárnout	age
ví	vědět	know
vyrábí	vyrábět	make, produce
začíná	začínat	begin, start
znamená	znamenat	mean

••• 5 Colors121 @ 100% 0

barva · barvu · barvy · bílou · bílá · bílé · bílí · bílý · fialová · fialové · fialový · hnědou · hnědá · hnědého · hnědí · hnědý · modrou · modrá · modré · modrý · oblíbená · oblíbený · oranžová · oranžové · oranžových · růžovou · růžová · růžové · růžový · světle · tmavě · zelenou · zelená · zelený · černobílá · černobílé · černobílý · černou · černá · černé · černí · černý · černých · červenou · červená · červený · šedá · šedí · šedý · žlutou · žlutá · žlutý
52 words

Colors

This is a relaxing skill to introduce a handful of Czech adjectives to describe colors. All of these adjectives follow the hard adjective paradigm. The following table summarizes their masculine nominative forms.

English	Czech
white	bílý
black-and-white	černobílý
black	černý
red	červený
purple	fialový
brown	hnědý
blue	modrý
orange	oranžový
pink	růžový
gray	šedý
green	zelený
yellow	žlutý

The skill also introduces the hard adjective oblíbený (favorite), the feminine noun barva (color) that declines like the žena paradigm, and two adverbs, světle (light) and tmavě (dark), so we can talk about the colors using sentences like Moje oblíbená barva je zelená, ale auto chci světle modré. (My favorite color is green, but I want a light blue car.).

You may notice sentences of the type

Jejich dům má žlutou barvu.

This is a fairly common way of saying "Their house is yellow." in Czech, and you may notice that Czech speakers of English like to use it even in English, "Their house has yellow color."

••• 5 Personal Pronouns82 @ 100% 0

chápe · chápete · chápou · chápu · ho · je · jeho · jej · ji · mne · mě · nechápe · nechápeš · nechápou · nechápu · nepotřebuje · nepotřebujeme · nepotřebuji · nepotřebuju · nepotřebují · ni · nás · ně · něho · něj · tebe · tě · vás
28 words

Personal pronouns

An earlier skill introduced the nominative forms of the Czech personal pronouns. We have been using them as subjects of sentences, although in that function they are often omitted. If we are to use the personal pronouns in the verb object position, we have to learn their forms in other cases. In this skill, we are tackling the accusative.

The nominative and accusative forms of the personal pronouns are listed in the following table:

Nom.	Acc. w/o prep.	Acc. after prep.
já	mě, mne	mě, mne
ty	tě, tebe	tebe
on (animate)	ho, jeho, jej	něho, něj
on (inanimate)	ho, jej	něj
ona (sing.)	ji	ni
ono	ho, je, jej	ně, něj
my	nás	nás
vy	vás	vás
oni, ony, ona (pl.)	je	ně

Several things to keep in mind:

The accusative forms of some of the pronouns differ depending on whether or not a preposition precedes them.
Some of the forms can only appear in the second position in the clause (like the verb particle se). These "clitics" are the forms listed in italics. Using these outside of the second position is an error, except when a higher priority second-place item, such as the verb particle, pushes the pronoun to the right. Using the two-syllable alternatives to the clitics in the second position tends to be emphatic, sometimes to the point of clashing with the ordering in the rest of the sentence, and thus also an error.
Several forms are in parallel use for some of the pronouns. In general, the forms given first are more common.
Several forms (e.g., ho, je/ně, and jej/něj) appear in more than one row of the table. Their meaning depends on context.
The pronoun to in the meaning of "it" is used much more frequently than ono in the same meaning in all cases. The accusative of to is also to.

A few examples:

Máš mě rád? (Do you like me?)
Stará se o mě. (She is taking care of me.)
Nesnáším tě. (I can't stand you.)
Ta polévka je pro tebe. (That soup is for you.)
Vidíte ho? (Can you see him/it?)
Jeho nevidím. (I can't see him.)
My jej potřebujeme. (We need him/it.)
Čekají na něho. (They are waiting for him.)
Kde na něj čekají? (Where are they waiting for him/it?)
Potřebujou ji? (Do they need her?)
Myslím na ni. (I am thinking about her.)
Ženy ho chápou. (Women understand it/him.)
Ženy je chápou. (Women understand it/them.)
Ženy jej chápou. (Women understand it/him.)
Díváme se na ně. (We are looking at it/them.)
Dívám se na něj. (I am looking at it/him.)
Kateřina je nesnáší. (Kateřina can't stand them/it.)

The emphasized it in the English translations above is intended to draw attention to the forms of the Czech ono that many native speakers appear to have lost their ability to use actively, to the point of repeatedly arguing in our forums that those English translations cannot be correct. They most definitely can. Consider the following conversation fragment:

A: Její auto je velmi špinavé. (Her car is very dirty.)
B: Opravdu? Kde ho vidíš? (Really? Where do you see it?)

The allegedly only correct translation of "ho" as "him", i.e., "Where do you see him." would make zero sense here. Also note that "auto" happens to be neuter even in Czech, so our example did not contain any gender shifts to confuse us, as would happen with nouns like "kniha" (book).

••• 05 Questions 2111 @ 100% 0
jací · jakou · jaké · jakého · jaký · kdy · kniha · knihu · knihy · koho · kterou · které · kterého · který · kteří · časopis · časopisy
17 words
Questions with the accusative case

Yes-no questions

Yes-no questions (i.e., those that can be answered with yes or no) are formed with the accusative just as they are with the nominative.

For example, Díváš se na Žofii? means "Are you looking at Žofie?".

Question-word questions

When we are asking about the verb object in the accusative, the question words that look like adjectives (jaký, který, and čí) have to be put in their accusative forms. These will follow the hard (jaký, který) or soft (čí) adjective paradigms:

Hard adjective endings (summary)

Case M an. M in. F N

Nom. sg. -ý -ý -á -é

Acc. sg. -ého -ý -ou -é

Nom. pl. -í -é -é -á

Acc. pl. -é -é -é -á

Soft adjective endings (summary)

Case M an. M in. F N

Nom. sg. -í -í -í -í

Acc. sg. -ího -í -í -í

Nom. pl. -í -í -í -í

Acc. pl. -í -í -í -í

The Czech question words are typically used to start the questions even in the accusative (and other applicable cases), except that if any preposition is associated with the question word, the preposition must come first. For example, "Which girl are you looking at?" is Na kterou holku se díváš?

The accusative of kdo (who) is koho. Co (what) remains unchanged between the nominative and the accusative.

A few more examples:
- Co chceš? (What do you want?)
- Na koho se dívá ta dívka? (Who's that girl looking at?)
- O čího koně se staráte? (Whose horse are you looking after?)
- Pro kterého psa potřebují to žrádlo? (Which dog do they need the food for?)
- Jaká jablka chce? (What kind of apples does she want?)
Additionally, this skill introduces the question word for "when", which is kdy. This word is not necessarily related to the accusative case.
- Kdy to potřebuješ? (When do you need it?)

••• 5 Thou72 @ 100% 0

františku · kateřino · matěji · přítel · přítelkyně
5 words

Addressing people: Vocative

We now learn how to address people, which is our opportunity to explore the vocative case.

Vocative

Recall that when Jakub's name appears as the subject of a verb, it is in the nominative case:

Jakub pije mléko. (Jakub drinks milk.).

When he appears as the object of a verb, his name is often in the accusative case:

Jakuba nevidím. (I cannot see Jakub.).

If you have yet to take the Prepos. A skill, just replace "Jakub" with "medvěd" and consider how the endings mirror what happened in the Animals skill.

If we want to call Jakub by name, we will need to use his name in the vocative case:

Jakube, proč nepiješ vodu? (Jakub, why don't you drink water?)

Yes, the ending changes again. We will only learn the vocative forms for the first names, last names, and the titles we have in the course:

Nom.	Acc.	Voc.
František	Františka	Františku
Jakub	Jakuba	Jakube
Jitka	Jitku	Jitko
Kateřina	Kateřinu	Kateřino
Matěj	Matěje	Matěji
Žofie	Žofii	Žofie
pan	pana	pane
Dvořák	Dvořáka	Dvořáku
Novotný	Novotného	Novotný
paní	paní	paní
Dvořáková	Dvořákovou	Dvořáková
Novotná	Novotnou	Novotná

Formal vs informal address (again)

Recall that the ty forms of verbs and pronouns are used for addressing single individuals with whom we are "on a first name basis" or who are much younger than we are. The vy forms are used when addressing single individuals in more formal contexts and when addressing groups rather than individuals.

In Czech, the level of informality when using the "ty" address goes beyond just using the first name. Intermediate situations in which the "vy" forms are used along with the first name are possible. This is how most moderators on Czech (and other Slavic) forums at Duolingo approach their interaction with the users. In Czech, both "ty" and "vy" forms can occur with the first name address.

In terms of grammar, the "vy" address of single individuals presents something of an inconsistent blend. Verbs (in the only tense we know for now, the present) and personal pronouns take on the plural forms, but adjectives remain singular. For example,

Kateřino, (vy) jste mladá žena. (Kateřina, you are a young woman.)

uses the plural "(vy) jste" but singular "mladá".

More greetings

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divadla · divadlo · dívají · dívá · dívám · díváme · díváte · díváš · františka · jídla · jídlo · kateřinu · matěje · muže · myslí · myslím · myslíme · na · nedívá · nedívám · nedíváme · nemyslí · nemyslím · nestarají · nestarám · nestaráme · nestaráš · nezajímá · nezajímám · nečeká · nečekám · nečekáme · o · poslední · posledního · pro · se · stará · starám · staráme · zajímá · zajímám · zajímáš · čekají · čeká · čekám · čekáme · čekáte · čekáš · ženu · žofii
51 words

Prepositions for the accusative case

This skill introduces the accusative forms of the first and last names we have in the course:

Nom.	Acc.
František	Františka
Jakub	Jakuba
Jitka	Jitku
Kateřina	Kateřinu
Matěj	Matěje
Žofie	Žofii

Nom.	Acc.
pan Dvořák	pana Dvořáka
pan Novotný	pana Novotného
paní Dvořáková	paní Dvořákovou
paní Novotná	paní Novotnou

Accusatives of a few regular nouns are also introduced:

Nom.	Acc.
divadlo	divadlo
jídlo	jídlo
muž	muže
žena	ženu

Like in English, Czech prepositions often work with and affect the meaning of verbs. In contrast to English prepositions, the Czech ones always come before the noun (or noun phrase) they apply to. The challenge in learning prepositions, including in Czech, is that they often defy expectations based on one's native language: A preposition different from what is expected is used, one is used when one was not expected, or one is not used when one is expected.

Accusative is one of the most common cases used with Czech prepositions. Two prepositions for the accusative are introduced in this skill: "na" and "o". We already encountered "pro". Other prepositions can be used with the accusative, but we are not quite ready for them at this stage.

Na

When used with the accusative, "na" often brings a sense of the direction to the action described by the verb toward the object. Three example verbs are introduced to demonstrate the accusative use of "na":

Person	wait for	look at	think about
já	čekám	se dívám	myslím
ty	čekáš	se díváš	myslíš
on/ona/ono	čeká	se dívá	myslí
my	čekáme	se díváme	myslíme
vy	čekáte	se díváte	myslíte
oni/ony/ona	čekají	se dívají	myslí, myslejí
infinitive	čekat	dívat se	myslet

The "infinitive" forms are only shown to help you find the verbs in dictionaries.

The three English verbs each come with a different preposition. "Čekám na Kateřinu." is "I am waiting for Kateřina.", while "Dívám se na Kateřinu." is "I am looking at Kateřina."

The verb particle "se" in that last example is another encounter in this course with this challenging word. (Recall we saw it in sentences like "Jak se jmenuje?")

We cannot omit it "se" with this particular verb. "Dívám na Kateřinu." is an improperly constructed sentence, even if it can be understood readily. The main challenge for foreign learners is that the "se" wants to be in second place, after the first unit of meaning in the sentence, whether the first unit is expressed in one word or through a complex clause.

See the following additional examples of placing "se":

Ona se dívá na Matěje. (She is looking at Matěj.)
Ta nová holka se dívá na Matěje. (The new girl is looking at Matěj.)
Kdo se dívá na Matěje? (Who is looking at Matěj?)
Na Matěje se díváme my. (We are looking at Matěj.)
Proč se nedíváte na Františka? (Why aren't you looking at František?)

A minor added wrinkle is that the conjunctions "a" (and) and "ale" (but) as well as independent utterances pre-pended (usually) with a comma do not count as a unit of meaning when "se" is looking for its second place. So we would need to say

Ale on se dívá na Žofii. (But he is looking at Žofie.)
Ano, a ona se dívá na Kateřinu. (Yes, and she is looking at Kateřina.)

"Na" is also used with one other case, to be covered later in the course.

O

When used with the accusative, "o" is somewhat similar to "na" in that it links the object to the verb through a meaning related to direction or target of the verb's action. Many different ways of translating this preposition exist and need to be learnt case by case.

Two verbs are introduced to demonstrate the accusative use of "o":

Person	care about	be interested in
já	se starám	se zajímám
ty	se staráš	se zajímáš
on/ona/ono	se stará	se zajímá
my	se staráme	se zajímáme
vy	se staráte	se zajímáte
oni/ony/ona	se starají	se zajímají
infinitive	starat se	zajímat se

The "infinitive" forms are only shown to help you find the verbs in dictionaries.

Both of these verbs come with the particle se discussed above.

"O" is also used with one other case to be covered later in the course.

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hledají · hledá · hledám · hledáme · hledáte · hledáš · honí · honíš · husa · husu · husy · kachna · kachnu · kachny · koně · koz · koza · kozu · kozy · kočka · kočku · kočky · kráva · krávu · krávy · kůň · liška · lišku · lišky · malou · malého · medvěd · medvěda · medvědy · moucha · mouchu · mouchy · myš · myši · nehledají · nehledá · nehledám · nehledáme · nehledáte · nevidí · nevidím · nevidíš · osel · osla · osli · osly · oslů · ovce · ovci · pavouci · pavouk · pavouka · pavouky · pes · prasata · prase · psa · psi · psy · ptáci · pták · ptáka · ptáky · ryba · rybu · ryby · slepice · slepici · toho · tu · ty · velkou · velká · velké · velkého · velký · vidí · vidím · vidíme · vidíte · vidíš · vlci · vlk · vlka · vlky · žere · žerou · žrádlo
93 words

Animals: Accusative

Above this row of the tree, we were dealing almost exclusively with the verb "be" and with nouns and adjectives in the nominative case. That would only take us so far. Maybe we could talk about what or who something or someone is, what something or someone is like, or (to some extent) where something or someone is. But if we are ever going to move from states to actions, we will need more verbs and more cases.

Simply put, the case is a grammar category that provides information on the function of the word (usually a noun, adjective, pronoun, or numeral) relative to the other words around it. In English, much of this information comes from the position of the word. Czech is one of the languages with a fairly free word order, and other clues are needed.

The nominative case is used to "name" the subject of a verb, i.e., the "doer" of whatever action is being described. When we say František je vysoký. (František is tall), "František" is in the nominative case. (So is "vysoký".) If František eats something instead of just being tall, he will still be in the nominative, but what he eats will be in a different case.

The accusative case is mostly used to mark the object of a verb, i.e., the target of the action, and often without preposition. Whatever František is eating normally ends up in the accusative.

To tell the accusative from the nominative, we need to pay attention to the endings, just like we did when making the plural.

Demonstrative adjective forms

Singular

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	ten	ten	ta	to
Acc.	toho	ten	tu	to

Plural

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	ti	ty	ty	ta
Acc.	ty	ty	ty	ta

Hard adjective endings

Singular

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	-ý	-ý	-á	-é
Acc.	-ého	-ý	-ou	-é

Plural

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	-í	-é	-é	-á
Acc.	-é	-é	-é	-á

Soft adjective endings

Singular

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Acc.	-ího	-í	-í	-í

Plural

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Acc.	-í	-í	-í	-í

Masculine animate nouns

Kluk pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
kluk	kluka	kluci	kluky
medvěd	medvěda	medvědi	medvědy
osel	osla	osli	osly
pavouk	pavouka	pavouci	pavouky
pes	psa	psi	psy
pták	ptáka	ptáci	ptáky
vlk	vlka	vlci	vlky

Muž pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
muž	muže	muži	muže
kůň	koně	koně	koně

Masculine inanimate nouns

No new masculine inanimate nouns appear in this skill.

Feminine nouns

Žena pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
žena	ženu	ženy	ženy
husa	husu	husy	husy
kachna	kachnu	kachny	kachny
kočka	kočku	kočky	kočky
koza	kozu	kozy	kozy
kráva	krávu	krávy	krávy
liška	lišku	lišky	lišky
moucha	mouchu	mouchy	mouchy
ryba	rybu	ryby	ryby

Ulice pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
ulice	ulici	ulice	ulice
ovce	ovci	ovce	ovce
slepice	slepici	slepice	slepice

Věc pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
věc	věc	věci	věci
myš	myš	myši	myši

Neuter nouns

Město pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
město	město	města	města
žrádlo	žrádlo	žrádla	žrádla

Zvíře pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
zvíře	zvíře	zvířata	zvířata
prase	prase	prasata	prasata

A few extra verbs

As you can imagine, the Czech verb endings will also supply lots of information. For now, let's not try to organize them into classes of patterns; there will be plenty of that later. Instead, here is a table of the present tense forms for the four new verbs that appear in this skill. The subject of the verb (even if it is an omitted subject pronoun) determines the verb ending by its number (singular vs plural) and person (first, second, or third). That's it. The present tense is not impacted by the gender of its subject in Czech.

Person	look for	chase	see	eat*
já	hledám	honím	vidím	žeru
ty	hledáš	honíš	vidíš	žereš
on/a/o	hledá	honí	vidí	žere
my	hledáme	honíme	vidíme	žereme
vy	hledáte	honíte	vidíte	žerete
oni/y/a	hledají	honí	vidí	žerou
infinitive	hledat	honit	vidět	žrát

*Please note that the Czech verb shown for English "eat" is only applicable in standard Czech if the eater is an animal. Using it to describe the consumption of food by humans is rather coarse.

The "infinitive" forms are only shown to help you find the verbs in dictionaries.

••• 5 Food91 @ 100% 0

chce · chceme · chcete · chceš · chci · chleba · chléb · chtějí · cukr · hlad · hruška · hrušku · hrušky · jablek · jablka · jablko · jedí · jí · jím · jíme · jíte · jíš · kuřata · kuře · káva · kávu · mají · maso · mléko · má · mám · máme · máte · máš · nejedí · nejí · nejím · nejíme · nejíte · nejíš · nemají · nemá · nemám · nemáme · nemáte · nemáš · nepije · nepijeme · nepijete · nepiješ · nepijou · nepiju · nepijí · nesnáší · nesnáším · nesnášíme · pije · pijeme · pijete · piješ · piji · pijou · piju · pijí · pivo · polévka · polévku · potřebuje · potřebujeme · potřebujete · potřebuješ · potřebuji · potřebujou · potřebuju · potřebují · raději · rád · ráda · ráda · rádi · rádo · rády · sýr · sůl · tu · vajíček · vajíčka · vajíčko · velkou · voda · vodu · čaj · žízeň
93 words

Food: Accusative

Please read the introductory paragraphs on cases and the summary of the adjective endings in the nominative and the accusative in the neighboring Animals skill. We needed to conserve room here.

Masculine animate nouns

No new masculine animate nouns appear in this skill.

Masculine inanimate nouns

Hrad paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
hrad	hrad	hrady	hrady
banán	banán	banány	banány
cukr	cukr	cukry	cukry
hlad	hlad	-	-
chléb	chléb	chleby	chleby
meloun	meloun	melouny	melouny
sýr	sýr	sýry	sýry

Stroj paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
stroj	stroj	stroje	stroje
čaj	čaj	čaje	čaje

Feminine nouns

Žena paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
žena	ženu	ženy	ženy
hruška	hrušku	hrušky	hrušky
káva	kávu	kávy	kávy
polévka	polévku	polévky	polévky
voda	vodu	vody	vody

Ulice paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
ulice	ulici	ulice	ulice

No new nouns following this pattern appear in this skill.

Píseň paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
píseň	píseň	písně	písně
žízeň	žízeň	žízně	žízně

The noun "žízeň" that appears in this skill in the singular accusative form does not follow the previously introduced feminine paradigms. The official declension paradigm word for "žízeň" is "píseň" (song). It will show up much later in the course, but let's include the table to start building awareness of this complication.

Věc paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
věc	věc	věci	věci
sůl	sůl	soli	soli

Neuter nouns

Město paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
město	město	města	města
jablko	jablko	jablka	jablka
maso	maso	masa	masa
mléko	mléko	mléka	mléka
pivo	pivo	piva	piva
vajíčko	vajíčko	vajíčka	vajíčka

Kuře paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
kuře	kuře	kuřata	kuřata

"Kuře" (chicken) is the official declension paradigm word for "prase", "rajče", and "zvíře".

Náměstí pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
náměstí	náměstí	náměstí	náměstí

No new nouns following this pattern appear in this skill.

A few extra verbs

As you can imagine, the Czech verb endings will also supply lots of information. For now, let's not try to organize them into systematic classes of patterns. Instead, here is a table of the present tense forms for the five new verbs that appear in this skill. The subject of the verb (even if it is an omitted subject pronoun) determines the verb ending by its number (singular vs plural) and person (first, second, or third). That's it. The present tense is not impacted by the gender of its subject in Czech.

Person	eat	have	drink	need	stand	want
já	jím	mám	piju, piji	potřebuju, potřebuji	snáším	chci
ty	jíš	máš	piješ	potřebuješ	snášíš	chceš
on, ona, ono	jí	má	pije	potřebuje	snáší	chce
my	jíme	máme	pijeme	potřebujeme	snášíme	chceme
vy	jíte	máte	pijete	potřebujete	snášíte	chcete
oni, ony, ona	`jedí`	mají	pijou, pijí	potřebujou, potřebují	snášejí, snáší	chtějí
infinitive	jíst	mít	pít	potřebovat	snášet	chtít

The "infinitive" forms are only shown to help you find the verbs in dictionaries.

The Czech verb shown for "eat" is mostly used to describe the consumption of food by humans or for humanized animals, such as pets. Its only standard form in the 3rd person plural "jedí" is a source of trouble for those Czechs who incorrectly think that it should be “jí“. One day the standard may change, but we are not there yet.

Note the dual 1st person singular endings -ju /-ji and 3rd person plural endings -jou /-jí. The first member in each pair is more informal and the second is bookish or even stuffy. The dual 3rd person plural endings -ejí /-í are typically comparable in terms of formality.

As noted previously, almost all verbs in Czech form negatives by being prefixed with ne-. For example, we can say "Kateřina nepije" (Kateřina doesn’t drink). The 3rd person singular form není will remain the only exception we deal with for a while.

The verb shown in the "stand" column would be close to "tolerate" when used without negation. But it is almost always used as a negated verb best translated as "cannot stand":

Nesnáším hrušky. (I can't stand pears.)

Pro: Our first preposition

"Pro" quite closely resembles the English preposition "for" in the core meaning related to the notion of purpose or reason. For example, "Ten chléb je pro kuřata." is "That bread is for the chickens."

••• 5 Plural52 @ 100% 0

chlapci · další · dlouhá · dlouhé · dny · dobrá · dobré · dobrého · dobří · domy · dívek · dívky · děvčat · děvčata · hezcí · hezkou · hezká · hezkého · hoši · hrady · jiná · jiné · jiní · jména · krátká · krátké · krátký · lidé · mašiny · mladé · mladí · města · noci · nové · noví · ona · osoby · poslední · slov · slova · stroje · stromy · ta · tady · teď · ti · ty · ulice · velicí · veliká · veliké · velká · velkých · vysocí · vysoká · vysoké · věci · větu · věty · zvláštní
60 words

Plural

In this skill we build on our knowledge of forming the plural forms of nouns and adjectives to describe people and things.

Nouns

Recall our initial observations for nouns:

Animate masculine nouns ending in a consonant in the singular often append -i to form the plural, e.g., we get "muži" and "kluci". Note the written consonant shift from "k" to "c" before the -i ending.
Inanimate masculine nouns usually append -y or -e to form the plural, e.g., we get "stromy" and "pomeranče".
Feminine nouns ending in -a in the singular form the plural by replacing the -a with -y, e.g., "ženy" and "hrušky".
Feminine nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular stay that way in the plural, e.g., "restaurace" (restaurant/restaurants).
Neuter nouns ending in -o in the singular form the plural by replacing the -o with -a, e.g., "jablka".
Some neuter nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular form the plural by replacing the -e/ě with -ata, e.g., "zvířata"; others do not change, like "vejce" (egg/eggs).
The plural of the neuter "dítě" (child) is the feminine "děti”.

We introduce the following plurals:

Czech	English
had > hadi	snake(s)
pták > ptáci	bird(s)
táta > tátové	dad(s)
turista > turisti	tourist(s)
učitel > učitelé	teacher(s)
autobus > autobusy	bus(es)
hotel > hotely	hotel(s)
stroj > stroje	machine(s)
loď > lodě	ship(s)
mr`kev` > mr`kv`e	carrot(s)
postel > postele	bed(s)
věc > věci	thing(s)
auto > auta	car(s)
nádraží	train station(s)
rajče > rajčata	tomato(es)
sedadlo > sedadla	seat(s)

Let’s now expand our plural noun formation guidance:

Animate masculine nouns ending in -tel in the singular append -é to form the plural, e.g., we get "učitelé". (Feminine or inanimate masculine nouns ending in -tel do not follow this rule, so we have "postele" and "hotely".)
Animate masculine nouns ending in -a in the singular often append -ové to form the plural, e.g., we get "tátové". But nouns ending in -ista usually replace the -a with -i (in informal, colloquial settings) or -é (in writing or formal speech), so we get "turisti" or "turisté".
Inanimate masculine nouns append -y or -e to form the plural. The choice depends on the consonant the singular noun ends in. We get "autobusy", "hotely", and "stromy", but "pomeranče" and "stroje". Let’s start keeping track of what consonants go with the -e; we have "č" and "j" for now; a pattern will emerge.
Feminine nouns ending in a consonant in the singular append -e or -i to form the plural. We get "mrkve", "postele", "lodě", and "věci". Note the deletion of the inside "e" on the way from "mrkev" to "mrkve", which does not impact "postele".
Neuter nouns ending in -í in the singular remain the same in the plural, e.g., "nádraží".

Consonant shifts

Recall the written consonant shift from "k" to "c" before the -i/í endings: That is how we went from "velký kluk" to "velcí kluci". We now repeat the same shift in getting from "pták" to "ptáci". But we also encounter new written shifts from "h" to "z" and from "r" to "ř". That’s how we go from

"dlouhý had" to "dlouzí hadi"
"dobrý/chytrý učitel" to " dobří/chytří učitelé"

Pronunciation

Keep in mind that while the -i/í endings do not change the spelling of any "d", "t", or "n" they follow, the pronunciation will change as if they were spelled "ď", "ť", or "ň". Pay attention to the sound of the following adjectives: mladí, čistí, špatní. The consonants just before the -í sound very different from how they do in mladý, čistý, špatný.

••• 05 Questions 161 @ 100% 0
automobil · chlapec · co · dívka · hoch · jak · jaká · jaké · jaký · jméno · kde · kdo · která · které · který · manžel · manželka · manželé · mašina · nebo · osoba · proč · veliká · veliké · veliký · vysoká · vysoké · vysoký · čí
29 words
Questions 1

In this skill, we focus on asking questions about people, animals, and objects, both those that can be answered just yes/no, and those requesting more information using question words like the English "which".

Yes-no questions

English usually uses word order (in addition to rising terminal intonation when speaking) to distinguish yes-no questions from statements. Czech often doesn't do this, instead relying on intonation in spoken Czech and leaving the question mark at the end of the sentence as the only written hint.

For example, "Jsi kluk?" looks just like "Jsi kluk.", while the usual English word order in the question "Are you a boy?" clearly differs from that in the statement "You are a boy."

In "Je František vysoký?", we see that the usual Czech word order for yes-no questions does involve a sort of inversion: The verb goes first. It just was not obvious in "Jsi kluk?" because of the dropped subject pronoun (ty).

Personal pronouns normally are dropped in yes-no questions, and including them gives some meaning nuance:
- Jsi nový student? (Are you a new student?)
is the neutral way of asking,
- Jsi nový student ty? (Are you a new student?)
emphasizes that now your situation is of interest (perhaps we have just mentioned some other new student),
- Ty jsi nový student? (You are a new student?)
may express surprise similar to the English statement question, and
- Jsi ty nový student?
(which matches the neutral English question word for word) is a strangely affected and marginal word order in Czech. There are other, more acceptable order permutations in Czech, but let’s move on.

Question-word questions

The English question words (a.k.a. the wh-words) have their counterparts in Czech, e.g., "kdo" (who), "co" (what, as in what thing), "kde" (where), "jak" (how), "proč" (why), "jaký" (what, as in what kind of), "který" (which), and "čí" (whose).

These words typically start their questions in Czech, much like in English, and the overall word order is also similar:
- Kdo je ta zvláštní holka? (Who's that strange girl?)
- Kdo jsou ti kluci? (Who are those boys?)
- Co je to? (What is it/that?)
- Kde jsem? (Where am I?)
- Jak starý jsi? (How old are you? [asked of a male])
- Proč je to malé? (Why is it small?)
- Jaký muž je Matěj? (What kind of man is Matěj?)
- Jaká je Kateřina? (What is Kateřina like?)
- Jaké je to město? (What is that city like?)
- Která holka je Jitka? (Which girl is Jitka?)
- Čí pes to je? (Whose dog is it?)
You may have noticed that some of the question words change form:
- "Jaký" and "který" behave like regular adjectives and change endings depending on gender and number, so we may get "jaká", "jaké", "která", "které". Similar to the consonant shifted "velcí" and "staří", the animate masculine forms are "jací" and "kteří".
- None of the remaining question words change their endings for now.
New words of note

This skill introduces three adjectives that do not change their endings with gender: "další" (another/the next), "poslední" (last), and "zvláštní" (strange, odd). Because of their ending, these belong in the class called the soft adjectives. (Yes, the regular ones like "velký" are hard adjectives.) The interrogative "čí" also behaves like a soft adjective.

This skill introduces a new masculine animate noun "manžel" (husband). It has an odd plural, "manželé", which is also grammatically masculine animate and may mean "husbands" or "husband and wife".

Pronunciation notes
- The new adjective "hezký" (pretty/handsome for people and nice for objects) and the new noun "otázka" (question) contain the same voiced/devoiced consonant cluster. The final consonant in the cluster ("k") is devoiced, and because the final consonant rules, the preceding "z" gets devoiced into an "s", and the words end up sounding like "heský" and "otáska".
- The cluster in "kdo" (who) ends in a voiced final consonant, so the outcome is the opposite, voicing the "k" into a "g" and resulting in "gdo" as the pronunciation. (We saw this with "kde" in the intro skill.)

••• 5 To Be Or Not To Be, Plural41 @ 100% 0

To be, Plural

In this skill we continue describing people and things, but this time in groups. We need to learn the plurals of "je"/"není" and a few more pronouns:

Czech	English
(My) jsme	We are
(Vy) jste	You are (plural/formal singular)
(Oni/Ony/To) jsou	They are
(My) nejsme	We are not
(Vy) nejste	You are not (plural/formal singular)
(Oni/Ony/To) nejsou	They are not

The "vy" forms of the pronoun and the verb both formal singular and plural, meaning they are used to address single individuals whom we should show respect as well as groups of individuals.

Two of the plural third-person pronouns are normally used to refer to animate subjects only, "oni" to masculine animates like "muži" and "kluci" and "ony" to feminine animates like "ženy" and "holky". This contrasts with English, where "they" can easily refer to frosted flakes for your breakfast. What happens with inanimate or neuter subjects? We usually rely on our favorite Czech word, "to", as shown below.

We will also need some plural nouns and adjectives, along with the matching forms of the demonstrative.

Nouns

We learn a few plural nouns:

Czech	English
muž > muži	man > men
kluk > kluci	boy(s)
strom > stromy	tree(s)
pomeranč > pomeranče	orange(s)
žena > ženy	woman > women
holka > holky	girl(s)
hruška > hrušky	pear(s)
restaurace	restaurant(s)
dítě > děti	child(ren)
zvíře > zvířata	animal(s)
jablko > jablka	apple(s)
vejce	egg(s)

This sampling previews some of the plural noun formation possibilities in Czech. A few initial observations:

Animate masculine nouns ending in a consonant in the singular often append -i to form the plural, e.g., we get "muži" and "kluci". Note the written consonant shift from "k" to "c" before the -i ending.
Inanimate masculine nouns usually append -y or -e to form the plural, e.g., we get "stromy" and "pomeranče".
Feminine nouns ending in -a in the singular replace the -a with -y, e.g., "ženy" and "hrušky".
Feminine nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular stay that way in the plural, e.g., "restaurace" (restaurant/restaurants).
Neuter nouns ending in -o in the singular replace the -o with an -a, e.g., "jablka".
Some neuter nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular replace the -e/ě with -ata, e.g., "zvířata"; others do not change, like "vejce" (egg/eggs).
The plural of the neuter "dítě" (child) shows that things are not always what they seem in Czech. Instead of the expected (but non-existent) neuter "díťata", we have the feminine plural "děti”.

Adjectives

In the plural, adjectives differ in endings between the genders predictably:

-í in animate masculine, e.g., "mladí muži" (young men)
-é in inanimate masculine, e.g., "velké stromy/pomeranče" (big trees/oranges)
-é in feminine, e.g., "mladé ženy" (young women)
-á in neuter, e.g., "malá zvířata" (small animals)

The consonant shift from "k" to "c" also impacts the animate masculine adjective before the -í ending. Thus we get "velcí kluci" (big boys).

Demonstratives

The Czech demonstrative that is sometimes used where the definite article could go in English has the following plural forms:

"ti" in animate masculine, e.g., "ti muži" (the/those men)
"ty" in inanimate masculine, e.g., "ty pomeranče" (the/those oranges)
"ty" in feminine, e.g., "ty ženy" (the/those women)
"ta" in neuter, e.g., "ta zvířata" (the/those animals)

We are starting to see that we need to deal with four Czech genders, not just the usual three.

Pronoun "to" (again?)

Remember the non-neuter uses of "to", like "To je velká hruška.", and our "the" test? The same thing happens in the plural:

To ne/jsou velké hrušky. (Those/These are/not large pears.) ["The" does not work, so "to" stays unchanged regardless of the gender and number of the noun.]
Ty hrušky ne/jsou velké. (The/Those pears are/not large.) ["The" is possible, so "to" must agree with the gender and number of the noun.]

Keep in mind

Because the singular neuter "dítě" switches to the feminine "děti" in the plural, the correct forms get some getting used to:

Kde je to malé dítě?
Kde jsou ty malé děti? [Kde jsou ta malá díťata? would be cute but wrong.]

The pronunciation of "děti" may be as challenging as that of "dítě". We had our first example of the "dě" sequence (pronounced as "ďe", where "ď" is roughly a "d"+"y" sequence merged into one sound half-way from "d" to "g") in "děkuju", and "ti" sounds like it does in "František" (where the "t" makes a "ť" sound, roughly a "t"+"y" sequence merged into one sound half-way from "t" to "k").

••• 5 To Be Or Not To Be, Singular31 @ 100% 0

To be: Singular

In this skill we keep on describing objects and living beings, including animals. We learn the missing pieces to complete this table:

Czech	English
(Já) jsem	I am
(Ty) jsi	You are (informal singular)
(On/Ona/To) je	He/She/It is
(Já) nejsem	I am not
(Ty) nejsi	You are not (informal singular)
(On/Ona/To) není	He/She/It is not

Czech verbs are usually negated by adding ne- to the front. The irregular "není" is a rare exception.

The "ty" forms of the pronoun and the verb are informal singular, meaning they are used to address single individuals with whom we are on a first name basis or who are much younger than us.

Czech subject pronouns are normally optional, so the table shows them in parentheses. Two of these pronouns normally refer to animate subjects, "on" to masculine animates like "muž" and "ona" to feminine animates like "žena". For inanimates/neuters, we can skip the pronoun or use "to". We have seen enough "to" to need a review.

Pronoun "to"

Demonstrative "to": "To dítě je malé."

Here "to" functions as something between the definite article and the demonstrative adjective "that" for singular neuter nouns. For example, + To dítě je malé. (The/That child is small).

Both "the" and "that" are usually recognized in translations. The course currently does not allow translations with "this" where "the" can be used in English. Czech has another word for "this" when attached to a noun.

The demonstrative that can be translated as "the" must agree with the gender of the noun it is attached to just like it did in "To dítě je malé.":

Ten kluk je malý. (The/That boy is small.)
Ta holka je Kateřina. (The/That girl is Kateřina.)

Introduction "to": "To je Matěj"

The "to" in introductions like

To je Kateřina/Matěj. (That/This is Kateřina/Matěj.)

does not change to agree with the noun gender.

Here "to" is usually the first word and is mostly translated as "that" or "this" (never "the"). These introductions are not limited to introducing people by name and can be negative. Either "that" or "this" is usually shown in the best translation, but subject pronouns (he, she, it) are usually also recognized:

To je/není malá hruška. (That/This/It is/not a small pear.)

Make sure you notice the pattern: When "the" makes sense in English, "to" must agree with the noun gender in Czech (and cannot be translated as "this"). When "the" does not make sense, "to" is unchanging across noun genders (and can be translated as "this"). "That" typically works in all translations of "ten", "ta", and "to" in the singular.

2nd place "to": "Je to malé zvíře."

We now add a slightly different "to". It is similar to the introduction/pointing kind, but rather than pointing, we are just referencing someone/something previously discussed or understood to be the conversation topic:

Je/Není to starý muž. (He is/not an old man.)
Je/Není to starý stroj. (It is/not an old machine.)
Je/Není to mladá žena. (She is/not a young woman.)
Je/Není to malé dítě. (He/She/It is/not a little child.)

This "to" prefers the second place in the sentence but remains its subject. Again, "the" does not work as a complete subject of the sentence, so our "the" gender agreement rule says that "to" does not change to agree with the noun gender. This "to" is best translated as a subject pronoun (he, she, it), although "this" and "that" are usually also recognized.

Noun-less "to": "To je velké."

Our "the" test says that because "the" does not work in English, "to" does not change to reflect the noun gender. Here we have no noun, just an unattached adjective looking for something to agree with, and it only finds the "to", which then reverts to its singular neuter role. As before, "to" can go first or second:

Je/Není to nové. (It is/not new.)
To je/není nové. (That/This is new.)

Yes/no questions

Written Czech yes/no questions often look just like statements ending in a question mark. Compare "Jsi holka? " with "Jsi holka." Spoken questions of this type differ from the corresponding statements in intonation, which should rise at the end for yes/no questions but fall for statements. (Our synthetic voice is bad at this.)

Pronunciation notes

"Dlouhý" presents the one two-vowel sequence frequently found in domestic words, "ou", pronounced by gliding from one vowel to the next.
"Had" is another example of the final consonant devoicing. The devoiced counterpart of "d" is "t", so "had" sounds like "hat" (the English "hut").
"Není" is an example of a domestic word with a "ní" sequence. The second n gets pronounced like ň, the sound we needed to pronounce "město" or "náměstí".
"Ovce" presents a mixed voiced/devoiced consonant cluster. (Remember "kde"?) The last consonant is devoiced, so the preceding "v" gets pronounded as its devoiced mate "f", and the word sounds like "ofce".

••• 05 Neuter23 @ 100% 0
Descriptions: Neuter

In this skill we learn a few more words to describe people and things and get to see the grammatical gender in action.

Please read the introductory gender notes in the neighboring Masculine skill. We need to save space here.

Adjectives

We encountered our very first Czech adjective in the initial skill as part of "dobrý den" (a polite greeting). This adjective and others like it have endings that depend on the gender as follows:
- -ý in masculine, e.g., "dobrý čaj" (good tea)
- -á in feminine, e.g., "dobrá káva" (good coffee)
- -é in neuter, e.g., "dobré mléko" (good milk)
The adjectives we will be using in this skill (listed in their neuter forms) are:
- "dobré" (good)
- "malé" (little, small)
- "mladé" (young)
- "nové" (new)
- "staré" (old)
- "velké" (big, large)
Demonstratives

Czech doesn't have articles, so "malé dítě" could be "small child", "a small child", or "the small child", depending on context. Czech has a variety of ways of making clear which is meant when the distinction is important, including the word order. Here we only examine the demonstrative adjective (technically pronoun, but used before its noun like an adjective) that is sometimes used in place of the definite article. This demonstrative has the following forms:
- "ten" in masculine, e.g., "ten muž" (the/that man)
- "ta" in feminine, e.g., "ta žena" (the/that woman)
- "to" in neuter, e.g., "to dítě" (the/that child)
Demonstrative adjectives and regular adjectives can usually be combined, in that order: "to malé dítě" (the/that small child).

Pronunciation notes

The comments below build on the tips provided with the first two skills. Please make sure to review them as needed.

Vowel sequences are not too common in Czech and usually show up in foreign-derived words. The example in "auto" shows that the Czech approach to vowel sequences in the same syllable is to simply glide from the first vowel to the next.

Several new consonants appear in this skill:
- c represents a sound that doesn't quite exist in English, but it is very close to the "ts" at the end of "cats". It is, however, closer to a single sound rather than a sequence of two.
- č is like the "ch" in "chicken".
- š is like the "sh" in "sheep" (and an unvoiced counterpart to ž).
- v is as in English. It is voiced.
- z is as in English. It is voiced.
- ž is like the sound that the "s" makes in "pleasure".
This skill also includes examples of the "mě" sequence in "město" and "náměstí". This is a good place to summarize the rules for pronouncing the Czech ě in general. The pronunciation effects of ě depend on what consonant it follows:
- When ě follows d, t, or n, the pronunciation changes the consonant to a d', t', or ň (resp.) followed by a plain e. Compare the sound of "dě" in "děkuju" with that of "de" in "dobrý den", and the sound of "tě" in "Matěj" with that of "te" in "Kateřina".
- When ě follows m, the pronunciation effect is as if we replaced the "mě" with "mně". In the end, we get something like a "mñe" sound.
- When ě follows any other consonant, we do not change the pronunciation of the consonant and just pronounce the ě like a consonantal "y" (the "y" in "yellow") followed by an e.
Finally, this skill also includes examples of "dí" and "tí" sequences. The rule for those is:
- In domestic Czech words, when followed by an i or í, d is pronounced like ď, t like ť, and n like ň (whose sounds we know from "děkuju", "Matěj", and "promiňte"). The vowel itself still sounds the same as y or ý.
••• 05 Feminine22 @ 100% 0
Gender: Feminine

Every noun in Czech has a gender, which can be "masculine", "feminine", or "neuter". Knowing the gender is important because it impacts the form of the noun and even other words in the sentence. For inanimate things, there is little relation between their gender and their nature. For example "čaj" (tea) is masculine, "káva" (coffee) is feminine, and "mléko" (milk) is neuter. For words that refer to people, the grammatical gender and biological sex usually do coincide.

It may be possible to guess the gender of the noun from its ending:
- Nouns ending in a consonant are mostly masculine. Other examples include "kluk" (boy), "muž" (man), "chléb" (bread), "dům" (house), "míč" (ball), and the proper names "František" and "Matěj".
- Nouns ending in -a or -e are mostly feminine. Early examples include "holka" (girl), "žena" (woman, wife), "restaurace" (restaurant), "lžíce" (spoon), and the proper names "Kateřina" and "Žofie".
- Nouns ending in -o are almost always neuter. Other examples include město (city), "auto" (car), "jablko" (apple), and "maso" (meat).
- Nouns that end in -ě or -í are also often neuter. Early examples include "dítě" (child), "letiště" (airport), and "náměstí" (square, plaza).
Unfortunately, many nouns do not conform. Let's list a few taken from our early skills:
- Some nouns that end in a consonant are feminine, e.g., "věc" (thing), "sůl" (salt), "mrkev" (carrot), "myš" (mouse), and "postel" (bed).
- Some nouns that end in -a are masculine, e.g., "táta" (dad) and "turista" (tourist).
- Some nouns that end in -e are neuter, e.g., "zvíře" (animal) and "vejce" (egg).
Adjectives

We encountered our very first Czech adjective in the initial skill as part of "dobrý den" (a polite greeting). This adjective and others like it have endings that depend on the gender as follows:
- -ý in masculine, e.g., "dobrý čaj" (good tea)
- -á in feminine, e.g., "dobrá káva" (good coffee)
- -é in neuter, e.g., "dobré mléko" (good milk)
The adjectives we will be using in this skill (listed in their feminine forms) are:
- "dobrá" (good)
- "malá" (little, small)
- "mladá" (young)
- "nová" (new)
- "stará" (old)
- "velká" (big, large)
Demonstratives

Czech doesn't have articles, so "mladá žena" could be "young woman", "a young woman", or "the young woman", depending on context. Czech has a variety of ways of making clear which is meant when the distinction is important, including the word order. Here we only examine the demonstrative adjective (technically pronoun, but used before its noun like an adjective) that is sometimes used in place of the definite article. This demonstrative has the following forms:
- "ten" in masculine, e.g., "ten muž" (the/that man)
- "ta" in feminine, e.g., "ta žena" (the/that woman)
- "to" in neuter, e.g., "to dítě" (the/that child)
Demonstrative adjectives and regular adjectives can usually be combined, in that order: "ta mladá žena" (the/that young woman).

Pronunciation notes

The comments below build on the tips provided with the first two skills. Please make sure to review them as needed.

You may notice what appears to be a new vowel:
- ů is just a different spelling of the long ú. They sound the same. The rule is to spell as ú at the beginning of the word or of the word root following a prefix, and as ů otherwise.
Our word is "sůl" (salt), where the vowel starts neither the word nor its root (being internal to the root, which makes up the entire word), so we use ů.

Several new consonants appear in this skill:
- c represents a sound that doesn't quite exist in English, but it is very close to the "ts" at the end of "cats". It is, however, closer to a single sound rather than a sequence of two.
- č is like the "ch" in "chicken".
- h is like the "h" in "hotel". It is voiced.
- l is as in English.
- v is as in English. It is voiced.
This skill includes an example of a voiced consonant, "v", appearing at the end of a word, "mrkev". Such consonants are typically pronounced as if they were devoiced. The devoiced counterpart of "v" is "f", and so "mrkev" ends up sounding like "mrkef", a word that does not really exist in Czech any other way.

We have already seen that what consonant shows up before ě impacts the way the combination is pronounced:
- When ě follows d, t, or n, the pronunciation changes the consonant to a d', t', or ň (resp.) followed by a plain e.
- When ě follows any other consonant (excepting m), the consonant the ě is pronounced like the "y" in "yellow".
And that's why "věc" sounds like "vyec".
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a · ahoj · ano · den · dobrou · dobré · dobrý · díky · děkuji · hezký · na shledanou · ne · noc · odpoledne · prosím · ráno · večer · víkend
18 words
Hello: Phrases & Introductions

In this skill we learn how to greet or introduce someone, say our name, say "yes", "no", "please", "excuse me", "thank you", and "I do not understand". After "Jitka" and "Jakub" from the first skill, we get introduced to two more people by name, "Kateřina" and "Matěj". Please do not translate personal names to English in this course.

Cultural item

The most common greeting in Czech polite enough to greet complete strangers with during daytime is "Dobrý den!". No single English greeting exactly matches it. The literal translation "Good day!" in most of the English speaking world is for leave-taking, unlike the Czech greeting. "Good morning!" and "Good afternoon!" are both too limited as to period of applicability. In this course we settled on showing "Dobrý den!" translated as "Hello!".

Grammar bits

We learn "já jsem" ("I am"). You can use it to introduce yourself:
- Já jsem Matěj. (I am Matěj.)
We also learn the ubiquitous word "to". You can use it along with "je" from the previous skill to introduce or point out someone else:
- To je Kateřina. (That/This/She is Kateřina.)
Time to get into more Czech sounds.

Vowels

This should mostly be a review:
- a is always like the "a" in "father", never like the "a" in "dad".
- e is as in "set".
- i is as in "sit".
- y is always a vowel, never a consonant, and sounds the same as i.
- o is as in "gopher" in American English, but without the light w sound which usually follows it, or as in the British pronunciation of "lot".
- u is as in "put".
Each vowel has a short and a long form, the long forms generally being written with the accent like the "á" in "máma". The main difference between a short vowel and a long vowel is the length of time spent pronouncing them, except that i and y also undergo a quality change, possibly variable by region:
- í and ý sound as the "ea" in "seat".
We do get a new vowel letter:
- ě always follows a consonant. It is pronounced just like e but changes the pronunciation of the consonant just before it. See the final note below.
Consonants

We meet a few more consonants in this skill.

Many consonants occur in pairs, voiced and unvoiced, like b and p, d and t, z and s, or ž and š. Some consonants are not paired up (like m and n), and some (like r) don't fit into either category too well.

Voiced
- b is as in English
- d is mostly as in English but pronounced with the tongue closer to the teeth.
- ď is a sound that does not exist in English. It sounds roughly like a d followed by the consonantal English "y", but merged into a single sound. Some of you may want to think about it as a sound between a d and a g.
- g is as in English (not used much in Czech by spelling, but very common as the voiced pronunciation of k).
- h is like the "h" in "hotel".
- z is as in English.
- ž is like the sound that the "s" makes in "pleasure".
Unvoiced
- c represents a sound that doesn't quite exist in English, but it is close to how the "ts" at the end of "cats" sounds. It is much closer to a single sound rather than a sequence of two.
- č is like the "ch" in "chicken".
- k and p are as in English, but a bit less explosive.
- s is as in English.
- t is as in English, but with the tongue closer to the teeth and less explosive.
- ť is the unvoiced mate of ď, and is similarly a sound which does not exist in English. It sounds roughly like a t followed by the consonantal English "y", but merged into one sound rather than a sequence of two. (Or try a sound between a t and a k.)
Other
- j is like the "y" in "yellow".
- l is as in English.
- m and n are as in English.
- ň is roughly like an n followed by the consonantal English "y", but it is one sound rather than a sequence of two. (Just think Spanish "mañana".)
- r is lightly rolled, as in Spanish or Italian, or tapped, as in Scots, but never growled.
- ř is a sound unique to Czech and is a sound the majority of foreigners and some natives find difficult to learn. It's roughly something between r and ž.
Combinations

As noted previously, each letter in Czech is usually pronounced independently of any letters which precede or follow it, with important exceptions individually noted in these tips.
- If a word begins "js", like "jsem", there can be little evidence of the j in its pronunciation.
- The letter ě is pronounced depending on what consonant it follows. When it follows d or t, the pronunciation changes the consonant to a d' or t' (resp.) followed by a plain e. Compare the sound of "dě" in "děkuju" with that of "de" in "dobrý den", and the sound of "tě" in "Matěj" with that of "te" in "Kateřina".
••• 14 Months192 @ 100% 0
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48 words

••• 5 Demonstratives102 @ 75% 25

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58 words

Demonstratives

This skill introduces a few Czech demonstratives. In Czech grammar books, they are actually called demonstrative pronouns. Whatever the name, they are used both as adjectives (along with nouns) and as pronouns (instead of nouns). We have already encountered one of them, the very common demonstrative ten. Let's review its forms across all four genders, both numbers, and all three cases introduces thus far:

Forms of ten

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	ten	ten	ta	to
Acc. sg.	toho	ten	tu	to
Gen. sg.	toho	toho	té	toho
Nom. pl.	ti	ty	ty	ta
Acc. pl.	ty	ty	ty	ta
Gen. pl.	těch	těch	těch	těch

Recall that ten may at times correspond to the English definite article. But let's not try simply sticking in a form of ten for every English "the", or we will be producing terribly unnatural sentences. Czech does not really have articles and often expresses (in)definiteness through nothing but word order.

Back to the demonstratives. When used as a demonstrative, ten corresponds to English "that" or "that one" (in pronomial use), adjusted to "those" or "those ones" as appropriate. Examples: ti malí kluci is "those little boys" and Ty nechci! means "I don't want those!".

In this skill, we deal with four more Czech demonstratives: two more for "that" (tamten and tamhleten) and two for "this" (tento and tenhle). All of them behave much like ten when it comes to forms but do not double as the definite article. To figure out the forms of tamten and tamhleten from those of ten, we just prepend tam- or tamhle- to the appropriate form of ten. For forms of tento and tenhle, we append -to or -hle to the form of ten.

Forms of tamten

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	tamten	tamten	tamta	tamto
Acc. sg.	tamtoho	tamten	tamtu	tamto
Gen. sg.	tamtoho	tamtoho	tamté	tamtoho
Nom. pl.	tamti	tamty	tamty	tamta
Acc. pl.	tamty	tamty	tamty	tamta
Gen. pl.	tamtěch	tamtěch	tamtěch	tamtěch

The forms of tamhleten follow the same pattern as those of tamten. Both of these demonstratives mean "that", except tamhleten has a shade of "that...over there" and requires that whatever is being referred to be visible to the speaker.

A few examples from the skill:

Znám tamtoho hocha a tamten dům. (I know that boy and that house.)
Tamto jméno neznáme. (We do not know that name.)
Počítá tamhlety osly. (He is counting those donkeys over there.)

Forms of tento

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	tento	tento	tato	toto
Acc. sg.	tohoto	tento	tuto	toto
Gen. sg.	tohoto	tohoto	této	tohoto
Nom. pl.	tito	tyto	tyto	tato
Acc. pl.	tyto	tyto	tyto	tato
Gen. pl.	těchto	těchto	těchto	těchto

The forms of tenhle follow the same pattern as those of tento. Both of these demonstratives mean "this", but tento is quite formal and tenhle informal. Both are standard Czech.

Forms of takový, takovýto, and takovýhle

All three of these words can mean "such". The two ending -to and -hle can also often mean "like this", while the variant without those endings often means "like that". All three translations are usually possible.

The declensions are easy to figure out: Just decline "takový" as a hard adjective, and append "to" or "hle" after the hard adjective ending as appropriate.

Some examples:

Takové auto potřebujeme i my! (Even we need a car like that!)
Proč chceš znát takováto slova? (Why do you want to know words like these/such words?)
Takovýchhle přátel mám málo. (I have few friends like these.)

••• 5 Possessive Pronouns83 @ 75% 25

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51 words

Possessive pronouns

The Czech possessive pronouns are rather more challenging than their English counterparts. Let’s start with the similarities and even one simplification: In Czech, there is no difference between the pronoun used for “This is my dog.” and “This dog is mine.” Much like in English, the grammatical person, number, and in the third-person singular also the gender of the possessor (whoever does the owning) will result in the distinction between the Czech versions of “my”, “your”, “his”, “her”, “its”, “our”, and “their”. As one might expect, the singular and plural (and formal/informal) versions of “your” exist in Czech.

However, the endings of these pronouns generally depend on the gender and number of the possessed entity and on the case in which the possessed entity occurs in the clause. Thus the pronoun in “My dog is big.” will differ from those in “My dogs are big.”, “My cat is small.”, and even “I see my dog.”

Possessive pronouns můj, tvůj, and svůj

These three pronouns always change their endings in lockstep. Learn one, and you will know all three. Replace the “m” in the following table entries with “tv” or “sv” to obtain the forms of tvůj and svůj. For example, mí would produce tví or sví. The meanings of these pronouns are as follows:

Můj corresponds to the English “my” or “mine”.
Tvůj corresponds to the English “your” or “yours” if the possessor is singular and referred to informally.
Svůj very loosely corresponds to the English “own” and indicates the possession by the subject of the clause. This is the pronoun we would use to translate “I love my dog.”

Summary of possessive pronouns můj, tvůj, and svůj

Gender	Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
M an.	můj	mého	moji, mí	moje, mé
M in.	můj	můj	moje, mé	moje, mé
F	moje, má	moji, mou	moje, mé	moje, mé
N	moje, mé	moje, mé	moje, má	moje, má

Several things to keep in mind:

The “gender” in the table is the grammatical gender of the thing being possessed. It does not matter what gender the possessor is.
Multiple (two) choices exist for several gender/number/case combinations. The forms given earlier are generally more common.
The form mého and (where two choices are provided) the forms given second share their endings with the hard adjective paradigm. For example, the feminine singular accusative mou predictably follows the ending of velkou. However, the masculine form “mý“ that could be expected from velký does not exist.
Many of the forms appear in multiple portions of the table.

It gets easier from here.

Possessive pronouns náš and váš

These two pronouns always change their endings the same way. Learn one, and you will know both. Replace the “n” in the following table entries with “v” to obtain the forms of váš. The meanings of these pronouns are as follows:

Náš corresponds to the English “our” or “ours”.
Váš corresponds to the English “your” or “yours” if the possessor is either singular and referred to formally or plural.

Summary of possessive pronouns náš and váš

Gender	Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
M an.	náš	našeho	naši	naše
M in.	náš	náš	naše	naše
F	naše	naši	naše	naše
N	naše	naše	naše	naše

Several things to keep in mind:

The “gender” in the table is the grammatical gender of the thing being possessed. It does not matter what gender the possessor is.
Many of the forms appear in multiple portions of the table.
The endings follow the non-adjectival entries in the previous table.

Possessive pronoun její

This pronoun means "her" or "hers".

Summary of the possessive pronoun její

Gender	Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
M an.	její	jejího	její	její
M in.	její	její	její	její
F	její	její	její	její
N	její	její	její	její

Things to note:

The “gender” in the table is the grammatical gender of the thing being possessed.
The endings follow the soft adjective paradigm.

Possessive pronouns jeho and jejich

The last two possessive pronouns are jeho (his or its) and jejich (their or theirs). Both are refreshingly easy to deal with because they do not change their form at all. Even better, this will remain so even as we learn the remaining Czech cases.

••• 50 Locations and Topics163 100
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89 words
More locative

In this skill we introduce more locative forms and several new prepositions.

Prepositions

The following prepositions take the locative case. Some of them also work with the accusative to convey different meanings.

Locative preposition Approximate Meaning

v/ve in, at

na on, sometimes at or in

o about

při by, during, at

po along, after

The locative "o" means roughly "about" (or "on") when referring to a topic of some thing or activity:
- Chci knihu o autech. (I want a book about cars.)
"Při" only comes with the locative, and its core meanings include "during" referring to timing and "by" referring to proximity in space:
- Při jídle nemluvíme. (We do not speak during meals.)
- Mají dům při cestě. (They have a house by the road.)
The locative "po" expresses taking place "after" something in time or following "along" something in space:
- Po jídle vždy spím. (I always sleep after meals.)
- Šli po pláži. (They walked along the beach.)
Now let’s take a look at some model nouns and how they change in the locative. We already encountered some of them in the Places skill.

Nouns

Masculine nouns:

Sg. Nom. Sg. Loc. Pl. Loc.

kluk klukovi klucích

muž muži mužích

hrad hradě, hradu hradech

stroj stroji strojích

Let’s take "dědeček" (grandpa). As an animate noun ending in a hard consonant (-k), it will decline as "kluk". In the locative we get "o dědečkovi" (about Grandpa); note that the last "-e-" is dropped just like in most other similar nouns, including "František". All proper names get the "hard" paradigm ending in the singular locative, so we have "o Matějovi" just like we do "o Františkovi".

Inanimate hard nouns, like "hrad" (castle), are trickier because they tend to have two locative forms, and sometimes only one is used. For example, "oběd" (lunch) -> "po obědě" (after lunch), but "hotel" -> "v hotelu" (in the hotel). This is best learned through exposure. The "-ě" ending ("-e" after "s") is a safer bet in our course, except for the mandatory "-u" in "hotelu".

Feminine nouns:

Sg. Nom. Sg. Loc. Pl. Loc.

žena ženě ženách

ulice ulici ulicích

postel posteli postelích

věc věci věcech

Feminine nouns that end in "-a" decline like "žena". The "-ě" ending softens the preceding consonant, so "matka" (mother) and "babička" (grandma) become "o matce" and "o babičce". Similarly, "kniha" (book) changes to "v knize". We have dealt with these shifts of "h", "ch", "k", and "r" (into "z", "š", "c", and "ř") in the Plural tips. The spelling does not change for "d" ,"t", "n", and "m", but the "-ě" ending impacts their pronunciation as discussed in the Hello tips. Nouns ending in "s" or "l" take "-e" instead of "-ě", so for "škola" (school) we get "ve škole".

Feminine nouns that end in a consonant follow two main declension models (postel and věc). Let's stick to postel for now: the word "pláž" (beach) becomes "po pláži" (along the beach) and "na plážích" (on the beaches), and "láhev" (bottle) changes to "v láhvi" (in the bottle) and "o láhvích" (about bottles)–note the disappearing "-e-".

Neuter nouns:

Sg. Nom. Sg. Loc. Pl. Loc.

město městě, městu městech

moře moři mořích

kuře kuřeti kuřatech

náměstí náměstí náměstích

Nouns ending in “-o” often have two locative forms (just like "hrad"). Both forms are often possible; we can say "v autě" as well as "v autu". We may say "po pivu" (after a beer), with "po pivě" also being correct, while there’s usually only one plural form, "po třech pivech". This skill does provide some exposure to the exceptions by only accepting "místě", "čísle", "jablku", "ránu", and "vajíčku" in the singular locative, and by revealing the existence of the plural locatives "jablkách" and "vajíčkách" (rather than the expected but incorrect forms with "-ech"). Note that the singular locative ending is "-e" rather than "-ě" after "l" and "s", so we have "v mase" and "po jídle".

The word "dítě" (child) is irregular because it changes gender to feminine when it becomes plural "děti". That’s why we have "o dítěti", which follows the "kuře" model, but "o dětech", which follows the other feminine model noun, "věc", with its "o věcech" plural locative.

Personal pronouns

Finally, let’s learn the locative forms of personal pronouns:

Nominative Locative

já mně

ty tobě

on něm

ona ní

ono něm

my nás

vy vás

oni/ony/ona nich

Examples:
- Mluvíte o mně? (Are you talking about me?)
- Co na něm vidíš? (What do you see in him?)
- Vy hrajete po nás. (You play after us.)
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21 words
Past habit

Until these Tips & Notes are added, please refer to James Naughton's Czech: An Essential Grammar, section 7.17, pp. 165-166.
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••• 50 Giving etc.292 100
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81 words

••• 0 Family 2222 100

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59 words

In this skill, we learn how to form the comparative and superlative of adjectives. The comparative is the more-form, such as "longer", "nicer", or "more interesting", whereas the superlative is the most-form, e.g. "longest", "nicest", or "most interesting".

Comparative

To create the comparative, we typically add the suffix "-ejší" or "-ější". A small number of adjectives use different suffixes – "-ší" or just "-í". All of these suffixes cause the softening (mutation) of the adjective's last consonant, except as noted. We have already encountered this consonant change before: "h" changes into "ž", "ch" into "š", "k" into "č", and "r" into "ř".

-ejší, -ější

This is the main comparative suffix, used with most adjectives. Whether we use the variant with "-e-" or "-ě-" depends on the last consonant of the adjective:

L, S, Z: -ejší
H, CH, K, R: -ejší, but the consonant softens -> Ž, Š, Č, Ř
D, T, N, M, B, P, V: -ější

Some examples:

rychlý (fast) -> rychlejší (faster)
levný (cheap) -> levnější (cheaper)
zvláštní (strange) -> zvláštnější (stranger)
zajímavý (interesting) -> zajímavější (more interesting)
důležitý (important) -> důležitější (more important)
chytrý (clever) -> chytřejší (cleverer / more clever)

-ší

A relatively small group of (quite common) adjectives use this shorter comparative suffix:

mladý (young) -> mladší (younger)
starý (starší) -> starší (older) [exception: no softening]
drahý (expensive, dear) -> dražší (more expensive, dearer)
tichý (quiet) -> tišší (quieter) [not in the course, and yes, we do get "šš"]

-í

Several adjectives ending in "-ký" use this even shorter suffix, whereby the consonant "k" softens into "č" as usual:

hezký (nice, pretty/handsome) -> hezčí (nicer, prettier/more handsome)
lehký (light as in light-weight, easy) -> lehčí (lighter, easier)

Irregular

Almost every (if not every) language has irregular comparatives for "good" and "bad". In Czech, a few more adjectives have irregular comparatives:

dobrý (good) -> lepší (better)
špatný (bad) -> horší (worse)
velký (big) -> větší (bigger)
malý (small) -> menší (smaller)
dlouhý (long) -> delší (longer)
krátký (short) -> kratší (shorter)
vysoký (tall, high) -> vyšší (taller, higer)

Note that comparative adjectives are always soft, even if they derive from hard adjectives.

Words that often go with comparatives

A very useful word that goes along with comparatives is "než", meaning "than". Example: "Můj táta je starší než moje máma." (My dad is older than my mom.)

To say "even more + adjective", we use the word "ještě" (which can mean "still" or "more" in other contexts). Example: "Teď jsem ještě šťastnější." (Now I'm even happier.)

For "much more + adjective", we need "mnohem" (which is technically the instrumental case of "mnoho", so literally "by a lot"). Example: "Tvoje auto je mnohem novější než moje." (Your car is much newer than mine.)

Superlative

Once you know how to form the comparative, the superlative is super easy! Just attach the "nej-" prefix to the beginning of the comparative, and you're done. Some examples:

lepší (better) -> nejlepší (the best)
krásnější (more beautiful) -> nejkrásnější (the most beautiful)
ošklivější (uglier) -> nejošklivější (the ugliest)

Like the comparative, the superlative is also always a soft adjective.

Family members

And finally, let's recap as well as extend our vocabulary pertaining to family members:

Příbuzný	Relative
matka	mother
máma	mom
maminka	mommy
otec	father
táta	dad
tatínek	daddy
sourozenec	sibling, brother or sister
bratr	brother
sestra	sister
syn	son
dcera	daughter
děda, dědeček	grandpa
babička	grandma
bratranec	(male) cousin
sestřenice	(female) cousin
strýc, strejda	uncle
teta	aunt

••• 50 Indefinite/Negative221 100
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41 words
••• 50 Restaurant352 100
bramborovou · bramborovém · bramborový · dohromady · doporučil · doporučila · doporučujete · doporučuji · došel · došlo · došly · dáme · dáte · hovězí · hovězím · jídelní · jídelním · k pití · kartou · karty · knedlíkem · knedlíky · knedlíků · lístek · lístku · mokré · mokrý · místo · nechal · nechat · nenechal · objednal · objednala · objednaly · objednat · osob · pečenou · pečená · pečeným · platila · platit · promiňte · předkrm · předkrmy · přineste · rezervoval · rezervovala · rezervované · rezervovaný · rezervovaných · rezervovat · rýže · rýži · salát · salátu · salátů · servírce · servírka · servírku · servírky · slaná · slané · slaného · slaný · smažená · smažený · spropitné · tvrdá · tvrdé · tvrdý · vegetariánovi · vegetariány · vepřové · vepřového · vepřovému · zelí · zelím · zvlášť · účet
79 words
••• 50 Transportation351 100
benzín · benzínu · brzd · brzda · brzdami · brzdy · chodce · chodci · cyklisty · cyklisté · dej · dejte · dopravní · dopravních · dopravním · dálnice · dálnici · fungoval · fungovalo · fungovaly · jízdu · jízdě · kilometrech · kilometrů · kopce · kopec · křižovatce · křižovatka · křižovatku · křižovatky · mezinárodní · mezinárodního · mezinárodním · motor · naboural · nabourala · nabourali · nabouralo · nebezpečnou · nebezpečná · nebezpečné · nebezpeční · nehoda · nehodou · nehodu · nepřežil · nástupišti · nástupiště · obrovská · obrovské · obrovský · odboč · odbočme · odjezd · odjezdu · odjezdy · parkovišti · parkoviště · parkuje · parkují · pokutu · pokuty · postavit · problém · prudká · prudké · prudký · pruh · pruhu · pruhů · pumpa · pumpu · pumpy · pumpě · předjel · předjet · přednost · předpisy · předpisům · přežil · přežít · příjezd · příjezdy · rozbitá · rozbité · rozbitý · rozbitými · rychlost · rychlosti · rychlostí · rychlík · rychlíku · semaforech · semaforu · semafory · silnice · silnici · silnicích · smůla · smůlu · uprostřed · vážnou · vážná · vážný · zaparkovali · zaparkovaly · zaparkovat · zastav · zastavit · zastavte · zatáčce · zatáčka · zdarma · značek · značka · značky · zpomal · zpomalme · zpomalte · zpoždění · zácp · zácpa · zácpy · zácpě
124 words
••• 50 Sports302 100
během · fotbal · fotbale · fotbalová · fotbalové · fotbalový · gól · gólu · góly · gólů · hokej · hokeji · hráč · hráče · hráči · hráčka · hráčku · hráčky · hráčů · hřišti · hřiště · kopl · lístky · lístků · míč · míče · míčem · nejraději · nekopl · neporazil · pokračovali · pokračovat · pokračuje · pokračujou · porazil · porazit · sport · sportů · turnaj · turnaji · tým · týmu · týmy · zápas · zápase · zápasem · zápasu
47 words
••• 50 Future 2301 100
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97 words
••• 50 Communication303 100
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141 words
••• 50 After233 100
deseti · devíti · dnech · dni · dvaceti · dvou · hodinách · hodině · jednom · jedné · konečně · letech · měsících · osmi · pěti · přestal · přestala · přestali · sedmi · třech · vrátil · vrátila · čtyřech · šesti
24 words
••• 50 Geography231 100
evropa · evropy · evropě · hlavní · jih · jihu · mapa · mapu · mapě · moravy · moravě · narodil · narodila · německa · německo · německu · polska · polsko · polsku · praha · prahy · rakouska · rakousko · rakousku · severní · severních · severním · slovenska · slovensko · slovensku · soused · sousedi · střední · středních · ze · země · západ · západní · západních · západě · čech · čechy · čechách · česka · česko · česku
46 words
••• 50 Skills232 100
anglicky · anglická · anglický · anglických · co · déle · hůř · jazyk · jazyků · jezdit · kole · líp · míň · nejhůř · nejlíp · nejmíň · nejrychleji · nejvíc · neumím · neuměl · neuměla · neúspěšně · plavala · plavat · plaveš · plavou · plavu · pomaleji · používal · používat · používám · počítač · počítače · počítači · rychleji · se · umí · umíte · umíš · uměl · uměla · uměli · umět · učil · učit · víc · úspěšně · úspěšněji · častěji · česky · řídit
51 words
••• 50 Abstract Topics391 100
falešné · informace · informací · naděje · naději · nadějí · nesmysl · nesmysly · nevěřím · náhoda · náhodu · osud · osudem · případ · případy · situace · situaci · smrt · smrti · smysl · snaha · snahou · umře · umřeme · umřu · vzpomínka · vzpomínky · vzpomínkách · vztah · víra · vírou · víru · výsledek · výsledky · věřím · věříme · věříte · věříš · život · života · životě
41 words
••• 50 Movement341 100
chodili · chodit · chodit · chodím · chodíš · choď · choďme · choďte · jde · jdeš · jdi · jdu · jděte · jede · jedeš · jedou · jedu · jel · jela · jely · jet · jezdi · jezdil · jezdila · jezdili · jezdit · jezdím · jezdíme · jezděme · jezděte · jeď · jeďme · jeďte · jít · nechodili · nechoď · nechoďme · nechoďte · nejdi · nejděme · nejeli · nejezdi · nejezděte · nejeď · neodcházej · neodcházela · neodjíždějme · neodjížděla · nepojedu · nepřijde · nepřijede · nepůjdu · nešel · obvykle · odcházel · odcházeli · odcházet · odcházíte · odcházíš · odejde · odejdeš · odejdi · odejděme · odejděte · odejít · odešel · odešla · odešli · odešlo · odešly · odjedeme · odjedou · odjedu · odjel · odjeli · odjet · odjeď · odjeďme · odjíždí · odjíždíte · odjížděl · odjíždět · pojedeme · pojedu · pojeď · pojeďme · pojď · pojďme · pojďte · právě · pěšky · přicházejí · přicházet · přichází · přijde · přijede · přijedeš · přijedou · přijel · přijeli · přijet · přijeď · přijeďte · přijít · přijíždějí · přijížděl · přijíždět · přijď · přijďte · přišel · přišla · přišlo · půjdeme · půjdeš · šli
115 words
Verbs of motion

Czech verbs of motion exist in pairs that distinguish between determinate and indeterminate actions. This is not quite like the perfective vs imperfective distinction.
- Determinate verbs of motion are used for single, one-directional, goal-directed movements.
- Indeterminate verbs of motion are used for repeated, habitual, multi-directional, general (non-goal-directed) movements.
For example, compare these four common Czech verbs, all corresponding to English "go":
- jít vs chodit (go, walk, go on foot)
- jet vs jezdit (go, go by vehicle, ride)
The first verb in these pairs is determinate, the second indeterminate. Note also the distinction between motion on foot and motion by vehicle. Czech does not have a generic "go" like English.

Jít (go, walk)

Number 1st person 2nd person 3rd person

Sg. jdu jdeš jde

Pl. jdeme jdete jdou

In colloquial Czech the j- in these present forms is sometimes silent in pronunciation, similar to most of the present forms of být. Já jsem. and Kam jdeš? may sound like Já sem. and Kam deš?. This does not happen in negative sentences.

The past tense forms of jít are šel (m), šla (f), šlo (n), šli/šly/šla (pl): Ony šly domů. (They went home.)

The future tense is created with the prefix pů-: Půjdu domů. (I will go home.)

Jet (go, ride, drive)

Number 1st person 2nd person 3rd person

Sg. jedu jedeš jede

Pl. jedeme jedete jedou

The past tense forms of jet are jel (m), jela (f), jelo (n), jeli/jely/jela (pl). Kam jeli? (Where did they go?)

The future tense is created with the prefix po-: Pojedu domů. (I will go home.)

Notes

Note that jít and jet can also mean both "go" or "come", depending on the direction of travel:
- Jde/Jede sem. (He is coming here.)
- Jde/Jede tam. (He is going there.)
Prefixed verbs of motion

The verbs of motion can also form aspectual pairs (imperfective and perfective) by prefixation, which alters their meanings.

Od- means "away", "from":
- jít/chodit (go, walk) become odejít/odcházet (go away, leave)
- jet/jezdit (go, ride, drive) become odjet/odjíždět (ride, go away, leave)
Při- means "to", "near":
- přijít/přicházet (arrive, come on foot)
- přijet/přijíždět (arrive, come by vehicle)
••• 50 Dating363 100
anděl · anděla · báseň · básní · básních · básně · kamarád · kamarádi · kamarádka · kina · kino · lásce · láska · manželství · miláčku · nepolíbila · nepolíbíš · nepřežiju · nevoní · nádherná · nádherné · nádherný · pohled · políbil · políbit · políbí · políbím · pozval · pozvat · prsten · přežije · přežiju · rande · růže · růži · skvělou · skvělá · skvělé · skvělý · slečno · snoubenec · snoubenka · srdce · srdcem · srdci · svatba · svatbou · svatbu · tančit · tančí · tančíš · večeře · večeři · voní · voníš · vyzvedneš · vyzvednu · zamiloval · zamilovali · zamiluje · zamiluji · zasnoubili · zasnoubit · úsměv · úsměvu
65 words
••• 50 Dual361 100
bolest · bolesti · dlouhýma · dotkl · dotkli · dvěma · hlavami · jazyky · jejíma · kolena · kolenem · koleno · kolenou · koleny · krásnýma · manželkami · modrýma · mýma · našima · nohama · nohami · nohou · oběma · očima · prsty · psy · ramena · ramenem · rameno · ramenou · rameny · rodiči · rukama · rukou · smutnýma · svýma · těma · těmahle · těmato · třema · ušima · vašima · velkýma · vlastníma · zelenýma · černýma · čtyřma · špinavýma
48 words
This Skill introduces the names of several body parts. Pair body parts, like hands - ruce, legs - nohy, knees - kolena, shoulders - "ramena", eyes - oči and ears - uši follow a special type of declination in the plural.

This declination is called dual because it is derived from the Old Czech dual grammatical number, which was used instead of the plural number to all entities, if they happened to be in two. It is used for numbers dva (two) and oba (both) and then for certain (namely externally visible) body parts, even if there are more than two of them.

If some of these words are used in a derived meaning, like nohy stolu - the legs of a table, they use the regular plural declination, not the dual one.

Case Dual Regular plural

nom. nohy nohy

gen. nohou/noh noh

dat. nohám nohám

loc. nohou/nohách nohách

instr.. nohama nohami

Adjectives and numbers tři and čtyři bound to dual nouns acquire dual endings as well: zvíře se čtyřma velkýma nohama - an animal with four large legs
••• 50 Science362 100
dokázali · dokázat · délce · délka · délky · dýchali · dýchat · důkaz · důkazy · důkazů · elektrárna · elektrárny · energie · energii · hmotnost · jaderná · jaderné · jaderný · jaderným · jednotka · jednotkách · jev · jevy · jevům · kilogram · kilogramech · kilogramů · kov · kovy · kyslík · kyslíku · laboratoř · laboratoře · letí · letíme · letíš · litr · litru · litry · litrů · látek · látkou · látky · látkách · měřím · měříme · měříte · měříš · nedostatek · nedostatku · nekonečné · nekonečném · nekonečný · neobjevili · nesmrdí · objem · objemu · objevil · obnovitelné · obnovitelným · odpad · odpadem · odpadu · opatrně · pevnou · pevné · pevný · pevných · planetou · planetu · planetách · plyn · plynem · plyny · pokus · pokusy · pokusů · popsal · popsala · popsali · popsat · pozoruje · pozorujeme · pozorují · provádím · provádíme · provádíte · prvek · prvky · přesně · přesvědčivé · přesvědčivý · přesvědčivých · přesvědčivějším · přibližně · přidej · přidejme · rtuti · rtutí · rtuť · smrdí · stupeň · stupně · stupňů · tekutá · tekuté · tekutý · teplotu · teplotě · uhlí · vesmír · vesmíru · vynález · vynálezem · vynálezů · vzduch · vzduchu · váha · váhy · váze · váží · vážíme · výzkum · výzkumu · vědcem · vědci · vědců · vědcům · vědec · vědecké · vědeckém · vědecký · vědeckých · zdroj · zdroje · zdrojem · zdrojům · změřil · změřili · změřit · znečištění · článcích · článku · články
144 words

••• 0 Modals 1211 100

mohou · mohu · musí · musím · musíme · musíte · musíš · má · mám · máš · můžeme · můžete · můžeš · můžu · nemohou · nemohu · nemusí · nemusím · nemusíte · nemusíš · nemám · nemáme · nemáš · nemůžeš · nemůžu · nesmí · nesmíme · nesmíš · otevřít · poslouchat · smím · smíme · smějí · snažit · sníst
35 words

Modals 1

In this unit we learn how to say that someone can, cannot, must/has to, must not, does not have to, or is (not) supposed to do something. The needed Czech “modal” verbs usually come with the infinitives of other verbs, much like in English.

Moct (can): Ability, possibility, permission/Their absence

This verb shows that someone can do something or that something can happen as a result of objective circumstances, availability, suitability, natural ability, or permission.

A good match in English is “can”, which also happens to overlap informally with “may” when it shows permission:

Můžeme na vás počkat. (We can wait for you.)
Tato zvířata mohou žít bez vody. (These animals can live without water.)
Můžu/mohu tady kouřit? (Can I smoke here?)

When this verb is negated, it expresses the absence of ability, possibility, or permission, much like cannot:

Nemůžeme už čekat. (We cannot wait anymore.)
To se tady stát nemůže. (That cannot happen here.)
Promiňte, tady kouřit nemůžete. (Sorry, you cannot smoke here.)

Czech does not express a learned ability/skill (such as to read) using the same verb as an inherent ability, although “can” covers both in English. Instead, Czech uses a different verb, “umět“, which we cover later.

Please also note that “can“ with many perception and some cognition verbs in English, as in

I can see them.
I can understand that.

usually describes perception or cognition at the moment of speaking, without actually referring to ability. Czech just uses the verb without the modal here, as in

Vidím je./Já je vidím.
To chápu.

Smět (may): Permission/Prohibition

This verb shows that someone may do something or that something may happen as a result of permission. (This is not about uncertainty!) The positive form is usually limited to questions (requests for permission):

Smím se vás na něco zeptat? (May I ask you something?)

and to limited permissions

Psi sem smějí jen v pondělí. (Dogs are only allowed here on Mondays.)

Negative statements are used to deny permission or express prohibition much like may not or must not:

Tady parkovat nesmíte. (You may not/must not park here.)

The nearest English match is “may”, which also happens to overlap with the informal permission sense of “can” or its negative. This same overlap exists between “moct” and “smět“.

In the second person, the negative may indicate milder advice and often does not work translated as “may not”:

Nesmíš věřit všemu, co slyšíš. (You must not/should not believe everything you hear.)

There is another way of expressing “should” and “should not” in Czech, but we are not ready for its grammar yet.

Muset (have to): Obligation/Absence of obligation

This verb shows that someone has to do something or that something has to happen. We would suggest memorizing the meaning as “have to” because then you will also easily remember the meaning of the negative.

Musíme tady počkat. (We have to/must wait here.)
Musí křičet? (Does he have to yell?)
Musíš se víc snažit. (You have to/must/should try harder.)

Even this verb can mean advice rather than an outright obligation. To express obligation, both “have to” and “must” are good translations. The reason we advise against memorizing “muset” as the obvious “must” is the uselessness of “must not” for predicting the meaning of “nemuset”:

Nemusíš mi to říkat dvakrát. (You don’t have to tell me twice.)

If we used negated “must”, we would be way off.

Mít (be [supposed] to): Conveyed obligation/prohibition

When used with the infinitive, this Czech verb becomes a modal verb of obligation falling somewhere between “should” and “have to”, often with a flavor of “I am just a messenger”. The best English translation “be to” shares this sense that the obligation originates from some other authority.

Máš jít domů. (You are to go home.)

Usually “should” would be too tentative as a translation of the modal “mít”, except in first-person questions, which function rather like requests for guidance:

Mám tady vystoupit? (Should I get off here?)

The negative communicates a negative obligation (prohibition), not an absence of obligation:

Nemáme na ni čekat. (We are not to wait for her.)

Forms

The forms of these modal verbs are listed below:

Person	can	may	have to	be to
já	můžu, mohu	smím	musím	mám
ty	můžeš	smíš	musíš	máš
on, ona, ono	může	smí	musí	má
my	můžeme	smíme	musíme	máme
vy	můžete	smíte	musíte	máte
oni, ony, ona	můžou, mohou	smějí, smí	musejí, musí	mají
infinitive	moct, moci	smět	muset, musit	mít

The duplicate forms shown in italics are formal.

Note

As in English, some of the same Czech modals can also convey degrees of certainty:

To musí/může/nemusí/nemůže být pravda. (That must/can=may/may not/cannot be true.)

••• 50 Imperative281 100
bojte · buď · buďte · dívej · dívejme · dívejte · hledejme · hledejte · jez · mami · mluvme · mluvte · mysleme · měj · mějme · napiš · napišme · napište · neboj · nebojme · nebuď · nedívej · nedívejme · nedívejte · nehledej · nejez · nejezte · nemluv · nemluvte · nemyslete · nemysli · nemějte · nepijte · nepiš · nepracuj · nesnažme · nesnězte · nespi · nestárněme · nestěžuj · nečti · nečtěme · nečtěte · otevřete · otevři · pij · pijme · piš · pišme · pište · podívej · podívejme · podívejte · pracuj · pracujme · pracujte · snaž · snažte · sněz · snězme · spi · spolu · spěte · stárni · stárněte · stěžuj · stěžujme · stěžujte · tátou · uč · učme · učte · viz · vizme · vypij · vypijme · vypijte · věz · vězte · zavřeme · zavřete · zavři · čti · čtěte
84 words

••• 0 Travel251 100

autobus · autobusem · autobusu · autobusů · cestoval · cestovala · cestovat · cestujeme · cestujete · cestuješ · cestuji · dvakrát · jednou · jezdím · jezdíme · jezdíš · kolikrát · kolo · kufr · kufru · letadla · letadlem · letadlo · lodí · loď · metra · metrem · metro · metru · motorce · motorku · nastoupil · nastoupili · nastoupily · nastoupit · pas · pětkrát · stanice · stanici · tramvaj · tramvaje · tramvaji · tramvají · turista · turisti · turistka · turistku · turistky · turistu · turisty · turisté · turistů · třikrát · vlak · vlakem · vlaku · vlaky · vystoupit · čtyřikrát · šestkrát
60 words

Travel

In this skill we extend our vocabulary to discuss travel and transportation. Let’s start with a few nouns.

Nouns

The following table presents each Czech noun with its declension paradigm (even if an unofficial one) to help with the gender and the case endings of each noun:

Czech	English
autobus (hrad)	bus
kolo (město)	bicycle
kufr (hrad)	suitcase
letadlo (město)	airplane
loď (postel)	boat, ship
metro (město)	subway, underground
motorka (žena)	motorcycle
pas (hrad)	passport
stanice (ulice)	station
tramvaj (postel)	tram
turista (táta)	tourist
turistka (žena)	tourist (female)
vlak (hrad)	train

The likely surprises here are the masculine “turista” (tourist) and the feminine loď (boat) and tramvaj (tram) because they go against the noun genders typically expected for their endings.

In Czech, the vehicle of transportation is often expressed using the instrumental of the vehicle word or phrase (vlak, to nové auto, etc.) without a preposition, much like we did for instruments and tools in With what, as long as the vehicle is one we can be physically inside of. Otherwise, we tend to use “na” with the locative, and that also is how we refer to riding animals. For example, we have

autem, autobusem, letadlem, lodí, metrem, tramvají, vlakem

but

na kole, na lodi, na motorce, na koni

The lodí/na lodi ambiguity for “by boat” indirectly justifies our rule, as one can be inside a cabin or on the deck.

Jedeme autobusem. (We are riding a bus.)

Verbs

We learn two new verbs in the present tense:

Czech	English	Conjugates like
cestovat	travel	potřebovat (need)
jezdit	ride, go (by vehicle/animal)	mluvit (speak)

The conjugation note is a hint to match the verb endings to another verb we already know. For example, we can recall the forms “potřebujete” and “mluvím” to figure out the verb endings for

Jak často cestujete lodí? (How often do you travel by boat?)
Často jezdím do školy na kole. (I often ride a bicycle to school.)

Note that “jezdit” is the indeterminate (repeated, habitual, multi-directional movement) mate to the determinate (single, one-directional movement) “jet” we encountered in Present 1:

Jedu na kole. (I am riding a bicycle.)

We also learn the past tense of three verbs:

Czech	English
cestovat	travel
nastoupit	board, get on
vystoupit	exit, get off

By now “cestovat” should be familiar, and its similarity to “potřebovat” works for the past tense as well. The other two verbs here, “nastoupit” and “vystoupit”, form a pair of mutually related verbs with opposite meanings, distinguished by the prefix. This is similar to how “inhale” and “exhale” are related in English. As shown in these examples, the opposite sense of the movement also impacts the choice of the preposition when the vehicle is mentioned:

Kde jste nastoupil do tramvaje? (Where did you board the tram?)
Z vlaku vystoupil jen František. (Only František got off the train.)

Perhaps you noticed the similarity of “nastoupil” and “vystoupil” to “koupil” (he bought). We encountered that verb in the Past 1 skill, whose tips explored how it relates to “kupoval” (he was buying). The difference has to do with the perfective/imperfective aspect and does not fully map to the simple and progressive tenses in English. We will deal with this in more detail later, but as a preview, yes, “nastupoval” and “vystupoval” are the corresponding imperfective forms.

Once, twice, three times…

Unlike the cardinal and ordinal numbers we have already encountered, the multiplicative number words do not change their form and stay as listed below:

Czech	English
jednou	once
dvakrát	twice
třikrát	three times
čtyřikrát	four times

The formation pattern suggested by “třikrát” and “čtyřikrát” continues to higher values: Take the cardinal number word and attach “krát”, so we get “pětkrát”, “devatenáctkrát”, and “dvacetkrát”. The “nkrát” pattern even holds for multi-word compound cardinal numbers above 20, which should get written as a single word with “krát” attached (dvacetjednakrát, třistašedesátpětkrát).

V Německu jsem byla třicetšestkrát. (I have been to Germany thirty-six times.)

To ask “how many times” in Czech, use “kolikrát” (note the spelling):

Kolikrát jsi tam byl? (How many times have you been there?)

The multiplicatives are often followed with expressions combining the preposition “za” with the accusative of a time period noun or noun phrase, such as “hodinu”, “den”, “týden”, “měsíc”, “rok” or “deset let”, and then they express the number of times per time period:

Na Slovensko cestujeme jednou nebo dvakrát za rok. (We travel to Slovakia once or twice a year.)

••• 50 Modals 2253 100
kupovat · mohl · mohla · mohlo · musel · musela · museli · měl · měla · měli · nemohl · nemohla · nemusel · nemusela · nemuseli · nemuselo · neměl · neměla · neměli · nesměl · nesměla · nesměli · odejít · pracovat · směl · směla · směly · studovat · tolik · zapomenout · zkusit · zpívat · říct
33 words
••• 50 Prepositions: Instrumental222 100
autem · babičkou · bratrem · chlapci · dcerou · dítětem · dětmi · děvčaty · děvčetem · hlavami · hrady · husami · jednou · jejich · její · jejím · jejími · jídlem · kachnami · koupelnou · košilemi · krávou · kuřetem · kým · lidmi · láhvemi · malými · manželem · manželkou · masem · matkou · mašinami · mezi · mladšími · mnou · modrými · mužem · myší · mým · mými · nad · nade · našimi · naším · nesouhlasí · nesouhlasím · nespokojený · nimi · nádražím · námi · ní · ním · někým · oknem · okny · pod · pode · postelí · počítačem · prsty · prázdnými · před · přede · přáteli · přítelkyní · přítelkyněmi · restaurací · rodiči · rozdíl · rukou · s · se · sestrou · souhlasí · souhlasím · sousedy · spokojená · spokojení · spokojený · starým · starými · staršími · stoletím · stroji · stromy · studenými · svou · svým · svými · synem · syny · takovými · tebou · vašimi · vaším · velkým · viselo · visí · vámi · většími · za · zeměmi · zvířaty · zvířetem · časopisy · špatným · špinavým · ženami · ženou · židlí · žofií
111 words

••• 0 Conjunctions 2212 100

aby · abych · abychom · abys · abyste · by · bych · bychom · bys · byste · bál · bála · báli · kdyby · kdybych · kdybychom · kdybys · kdybyste · nebál · nebála · požádal · požádala · požádali · se · ses · si · sis
27 words

Conjunctions 2

Recall that conjunctions connect other words, expressions, and clauses together. In Conj. 1 you met a handful of conjunctions that work with the present tense. Now let’s have a look at two special conjunctions that work with the past tense. These conjunctions are special in that they conjugate (change endings depending on person and number of their subject) somewhat like verbs. In fact, their endings are the only remnant of an old verb tense that has otherwise vanished from Czech.

Conjugating conjunctions may sound intimidating. Fortunately, these two conjunctions change their endings in lockstep and even follow the conjugation pattern of the conditional auxiliary. Let’s learn all three for the price of one!

Bych, bys, by, bychom, byste: Conditional auxiliary

To form the conditional mood in Czech, we use an auxiliary with the past participle, much like we did when forming the past tense for the 1st and 2nd person. Compare the auxiliaries below:

Person	Past	Conditional
Sg. 1st (já)	jsem	bych
Sg. Familiar 2nd (ty)	jsi (-s)	bys, by ses, by sis
Sg. 3rd (on, ona…)	-	by
Pl. 1st (my)	jsme	bychom
Pl./Formal 2nd (vy)	jste	byste
Pl. 3rd (oni, ony…)	-	by

For example, compare:

On pil vodu. (He drank water.)
Měl jsem dva psy. (I had two dogs.)

with

On by pil vodu. (He would drink water.)
Měl bych dva psy. (I would have two dogs.)

Like the past tense auxiliary, the conditional auxiliary is an obligatory clitic that demands placement in the second position of its clause and bumps pretty much every other clitic to the right. For example:

Bál by se ho. (He would be afraid of it/him.)

One last wrinkle: With reflexive verbs (those coming with the se/si particles), the “ty” form of the conditional auxiliary switches from the expected (but incorrect) “bys se”/”bys si” to “by ses” or “by sis”:

Bál by ses ho. (You would be afraid of it/him.)

And while some Czechs do not seem to know this, forms like “by jsi” and “by jste si” are wrong (“hypercorrect”) in standard Czech.

Kdybych, kdybys, kdyby, kdybychom, kdybyste: If (imaginary condition)

This conjunction will allow us to talk about imaginary situations, similar to how “if” works in English Type 2 conditionals:

Kdybys chtěl umět česky, víc bys studoval. (If you wanted to speak Czech, you would study harder.)

The forms of this conjuction mirror those of the conditional axiliary. Check out the summary table below.

Abych, abys, aby, abychom, abyste: (In order) to

This conjunction will allow us to talk about purpose, similar to how the infinitive, sometimes following “in order” or “so as”, works in English:

Hodně se učím, abych uměla dobře česky. (I study a lot in order to speak Czech well.)

Summary of forms

Person	Form
Sg. 1st (já)	(a/kdy)bych
Sg. Familiar 2nd (ty)	(a/kdy)bys, (a/kdy)by ses, (a/kdy)by sis
Sg. 3rd (on, ona…)	(a/kdy)by
Pl. 1st (my)	(a/kdy)bychom
Pl./Formal 2nd (vy)	(a/kdy)byste
Pl. 3rd (oni, ony…)	(a/kdy)by

Word order note

Learn more about clitics and word order here.

••• 50 Nations243 100
angličan · angličanech · angličanek · angličani · angličanka · angličanku · angličanky · angličané · angličtina · angličtinu · angličtině · cizince · cizinci · cizinec · cizinka · cizinky · cizí · cizích · cizího · kouřit · kouří · nepochází · nezní · němci · němcích · němců · německou · německé · německých · němka · němky · němčina · němčinu · němčiny · pochází · pocházím · pocházíte · polka · polky · polskou · polská · polské · poláci · polák · poláků · polština · polštině · procent · procento · slovenka · slovenky · slovenskou · slovenské · slovenských · slovenština · slovenštinu · slovenštině · slováci · slovák · slovákovi · slováků · typická · typické · typický · zní · znít · čech · čecha · čechy · čechů · česká · české · češi · češka · češky · češkách · čeština · češtinu · češtiny · češích
80 words
••• 50 With what?241 100
držel · držela · hlas · hlasem · holou · holýma · jedním · jinými · knihami · kterým · kterými · lžící · neudělala · nevyjádřil · novou · novým · nožem · nástrojem · nástroji · něčím · očima · perem · rukama · slovem · slovy · tou · tužka · tužkou · tím · těmi · udělal · udělala · udělat · vlastníma · vyjádřil · vyjádřit · větou · zabil · zabít · zranil · zranili · zranit · zvláštním · čím · šálkem
45 words
With what: Instrumental

Let’s meet our next to last new case: the instrumental! As its name hints, it’s primarily used to express using something to do something with, as with an instrument or a tool. Several prepositions may be associated with this case, including the one that often actually translates a “with”, but it has several important uses without a preposition, and that is what we explore in this unit.

How to form the instrumental

First, let’s look at the demonstratives and adjectives and how they change in the instrumental. It’s relatively easy because in the singular, the masculine (animate as well as inanimate) and neuter forms are the same, and the plural forms are identical for all three genders!

Sg. Nom. Sg. Ins., masc. and neuter Sg. Ins., fem. Pl. Ins.

ten/ta/to tím tou těmi

hard – nový novým novou novými

soft – zvláštní zvláštním zvláštní zvláštními

To decline “this” and “that”, we simply add “-to” and “tam-“, respectively. For example: “tento stroj” (this machine) -> “tímto strojem” (with this machine), “tamta kniha” (that book) -> “tamtou knihou”, or “toto slovo” (this word) -> “těmito slovy” (with these words).

Maybe an example is in order. When discussing how a construction task is accomplished, we may want to explain as follows:
- Děláme to tímto novým strojem. (We do it with this new machine.)
Here are the instrumental forms for the noun declension paradigms covered in this unit. We will cover more paradigms later.

Sg. Nom. Sg. Ins. Pl. Ins.

strom stromem stromy

stroj strojem stroji

kniha knihou knihami

slovo slovem slovy

We learn the instrumental form of “jeden”:

Nominative Instrumental

jeden/jedno (masc./neut.) jedním

jedna (fem.) jednou

Compare “one” with the demonstrative “ten/ta/to”: They decline exactly the same.

We also learn to decline “co” and related pronouns in the instrumental (note the similarity to the “to” declensions above):

Nominative Instrumental

co/něco čím/něčím

We encounter a few anomalies associated with the plural instrumental for paired body parts:

Sg. Nom. Sg. Ins. Pl. Ins.

oko okem očima

ruka rukou rukama

There will be an entire unit to explore this dual body part topic later. For now, review the last two examples below and note that the irregular endings impact even the adjectives attached to the dual nouns.

New words

This skill introduces a few new words:
- nouns: hlas (voice), nástroj (tool), pero (pen), and tužka (pencil)
- adjectives: holý (bare)
- verbs: držet (hold), udělat (do, perfective), vyjádřit (express, perfective), zabít (kill, perfective)
Examples
- Udělal to nožem. (He did it with a knife.)
- Píšu tím novým perem. (I am writing with the new pen.)
- Tohle jídlo nesmíš jíst lžící. (You must not eat this meal with a spoon.)
- Čím jsi otevřel tu láhev? (What did you open that bottle with?)
- Dnes je vyrábíme lepšími nástroji. (Today we make them with better tools.)
- Musíme se dívat vlastníma očima. (We must look with our own eyes.)
- Zabil holýma rukama medvěda! (He killed a bear with his bare hands!)
••• 50 Numbers 4372 100
deseti · devadesáti · dvaceti · dvěma · jednomu · jedné · kolika · několika · pošleme · pošlete · pošli · pěti · třem · třiceti · čtyřem
15 words
••• 50 Office373 100
hlasitě · hlasitěji · kašle · kašleme · křičí · křičíš · schůze · schůzi · schůzím · sešívačka · sešívačku · smradlavá · smradlavé · smradlavého · smradlavý · telefon · telefonu · telefony · výplata · výplatu · zbytečné · zbytečný · zíval · zívat · zívá
25 words
••• 50 Passives371 100
bude · byl · byla · bylo · byly · být · kým · napsán · napsána · napsány · nebylo · otevřen · otevřena · otevřeno · otevřeny · poslán · poslány · přeložen · přeložena · přeloženy · se · ukraden · ukradeno · ukradeny · vysvětlena · vysvětleno · zavřeno · zvolen · zvolena · řečeno
30 words
••• 50 Directions331 100
adresa · adrese · adresu · bankomat · blízko · budov · budova · budovy · cestu · daleko · do · doleva · doprava · most · mostem · mostů · muzea · muzea · muzeum · na · nejbližší · nemocnice · nemocnici · odsud · poblíž · pod · pošta · poštu · přes · směrem · tu · ukaž · ukažte · vezmi · vezměte · vlevo · vpravo
37 words
••• 50 Education332 100
baví · budoucnost · budoucnosti · chemie · chemii · chyba · chybu · chyby · domácí · domácích · domácím · dávají · dávej · dává · dávám · dějepis · dějepise · dějepisu · fyzice · fyzika · fyziku · fyziky · jde · knihovna · knihovny · knihovně · letos · matematika · matematiku · nebaví · nedáváš · nejde · obor · odpovědi · odpovědí · odpověď · pozor · pravopis · pravopisem · pravopisu · prázdniny · předmět · předměty · správnou · správná · správné · správný · správných · správně · strávil · strávila · střední · technické · technický · těžší · třídy · třídě · vloni · vybral · vybrala · vybrat · vysokou · vysoké · vysvědčení · zkouška · zkoušku · znalosti · známky · základní · úkol · úkolem · úkolu · úkoly · úkolů · čas · času
76 words
••• 50 Politics313 100
alternativní · alternativními · fakta · fakty · lež · lži · lží · mluvčí · mluvčímu · mír · mění · nemění · nenávist · nenávisti · nenávistí · nestydí · nevolil · nevolila · nevolím · nevyřeší · nevítězí · nezměnil · názor · názory · politice · politici · politika · pravda · pravdou · pravdu · předseda · předsedou · předsedu · příští · příštího · sen · slib · slibu · slibů · sny · strana · stranu · strany · stydí · stydím · svět · světovou · světová · světový · ukončit · vláda · vládu · vládě · volby · volbách · volil · volíme · volíš · vyřeší · válka · válku · války · vítězí · zaplatí · zaplatím · zaplatíme · zeď · zmanipulované · zmanipulovaných · změnil · změnit · zničila · zničili · zničit · zvolili · zvolit · zvítězí · zvítězíme
78 words
••• 50 Prepositions: Dative282 100
autobusu · bojovali · bojovat · bytu · domu · dostal · dostat · dveřím · díky · dětem · hlasovali · hlasovalo · hlasovat · hodí · hotelům · jezeru · jídlu · k · ke · kostem · koupelně · krávám · kuchyni · kvůli · ledničce · letadlům · letišti · letištím · lodím · lásce · malé · mladší · motorce · myším · naproti · nedostali · nehodí · nim · nožům · nádraží · nádražím · náměstím · ní · němu · obchodu · odešel · odešla · odešli · oknu · oknům · oranžové · ošklivé · pavoukům · ponožce · posteli · prasatům · proti · první · práci · restauracím · sklenicím · sousedům · stolu · sukni · tváři · tvářím · týmu · ulicím · upřímná · upřímní · upřímný · upřímnější · vidličce · vidličkám · věcem · větší · zahradám · záchodu · šedé · škole · špinavé · žrádlu · žízni
83 words
••• 50 Possessive Adjectives311 100
babiččin · babiččina · babiččino · babiččině · bratrancovu · bratrovy · bratrův · dceřina · dceřiny · dědečkova · dědečkovo · dědečkovu · dědečkových · dědečkově · dědečkův · františkova · františkovi · františkovo · františkovou · františkovu · františkovy · františkových · františkovým · františkovými · františkově · františkův · kateřinin · kateřinina · kateřinini · kateřinino · kateřininou · kateřininu · kateřininy · kateřininých · kateřininým · kateřinině · manželčina · matčin · matčina · matčiny · matčiných · matčině · matějova · matějovi · matějovo · matějovu · matějovy · matějových · matějovým · matějovými · matějově · matějův · oba · obě · otcova · otcovy · otcův · sestřina · sestřino · sestřiny · sousedova · sousedových · strýcova · synova · synovy · synově · tetin · tetina · tetině · učitelčina · žofiin · žofiina · žofiini · žofiino · žofiinou · žofiinu · žofiiny · žofiiných · žofiiným · žofiinými · žofiině
81 words
Possessive Adjectives

Czech possessive adjectives (PAs) offer an alternative to the genitive when expressing ownership. Unlike the genitive of possession (auto Františka), PAs go before the noun (Františkovo auto).

Restrictions

In standard Czech, the possessor (owner) name must be
- singular (no PA for "people's republic");
- animate, such as a person or something personified, or an animal (no PA for "water's edge");
- grammatically masculine or feminine (no PA from děvče or dítě);
- referring to a specific possessor, not a generic or abstract one (no PA for "man's best friend");
- a single word (no PA for "my younger brother's wife"); and
- a noun (no PAs from feminine surnames, which are adjectives, like Navrátilová).
Where these restrictions prevent the use of the PAs, Czech uses other types of adjectives or the genitive of possession.

Formation and Declension

PAs are formed by adding together three pieces:

root + suffix + ending
- The "root" comes from the owner noun.
- The "suffix" mostly depends on the owner gender.
- The "ending" depends on the owned object gender, number, and case.
To find the root for masculine owners,
- take the accusative of the owner noun (this deletes the "e" from the stem if appropriate; see "dědeček" below); and
- remove the vowel ending
Owner Accusative Root

bratr bratra bratr

muž muže muž

dědeček dědečka dědečk

táta tátu tát

soudce soudce soudc

To find the root for feminine owners,
- take the dative of the owner noun (this captures consonant shifts; see "sestra" and "matka" below);
- remove the vowel ending; and
- replace the final "c" with "č" and "z" with "ž"
Owner Dative Root

žena ženě žen

Žofie Žofii Žofi

sestra sestře sestř

matka matce matč

The suffix goes right after the root and is the simplest PA piece, being:
- "ův" for a masculine owner with a singular masculine owned object in the nominative and singular masculine inanimate owned object in the accusative;
- "ov" for a masculine owner otherwise; and
- "in" for a feminine owner
Finally, the ending depends on the gender, number, and case of the owned object. In the tables below, "-" denotes an empty ending, i.e., nothing.

For singular objects:

Case M (an./in.) F N

N sg. - a o

A sg. a / - u o

G sg. a y a

L sg. ě ě ě

I sg. ým ou ým

D sg. u ě u

Note that the "ův" suffix can only go with the empty ending for a masculine owner. Some learners may benefit from figuring out the ending before the suffix.

For plural objects:

Case M (an./in.) F N

N pl. i / y y a

A pl. y y a

G pl. ých ých ých

L pl. ých ých ých

I pl. ými ými ými

D pl. ým ým ým

Examples

Let's try it on translating "I don't know František's sister." As a hint, our translation will contain neznám ... sestru, with the object in accusative.
- First we get the PA root for a masculine owner (František) from its accusative form (Františka) by dropping the final vowel: "Františk".
- Next we pick the right suffix. The owner is masculine but the owned object is not M nom. sg. or M in. acc. sg. (which would give an empty ending next), so the suffix is "ov".
- Finally, from the tables of endings for A sg. and a feminine object, the ending we get "u".
- The PA becomes "Františkovu".
Note that the translation likely gets organized as "Františkovu sestru neznám." because the "not knowing" is more likely to be the key piece of information than who she is.

Our second example deals with the PA-related issue most frequently debated in sentence discussions for this skill: Whose grandfather is it anyway?
- Oba dědečkovy domy jsou v Praze. (Both of my grandfather's houses are in Prague.)
The main tripping hazard here is the "my grandfather's houses" translation. How do we know it was my grandfather of all grandfathers?

We could have said "both Grandpa's houses", using the family title as if it were a proper noun (note the capitalization). If I said "Grandpa's new house is in Prague." to you (assuming we are not related), you would apply my statement to my grandfather. The same connection makes the "dědeček" automatically apply to the speaker's grandpa.

If we wanted to explicitly specify whose grandfather we are talking about, we would lose the ability to use a PA (because PAs do not handle multi-word possessors), and end up replacing "oba dědečkovy domy" with the rather less idiomatic "oba domy mého dědečka".

Finally, in
- Vystoupila z otcova auta. (She got out of her father's car.)
the father could also be the narrator's, but it is a good example where "her" father is just as probable.
••• 50 Wishes382 100
ať · kéž · navždy · nepřeje · přejeme · přejete · přeješ · přání · přáním · zůstal · zůstala · zůstane · zůstanou · zůstat
14 words
Wishes

Until these Tips & Notes are added, please refer to James Naughton's Czech: An Essential Grammar, section 7.9.1, pp. 153-154, and section 7.14.4, pp. 159-160.
••• 50 Shopping381 100
cena · ceny · cenám · drogerie · drogerii · drogeriích · dárek · dát · kartáček · kartáčky · lístek · lístku · lístky · nakupovali · nakupovat · nezapomeň · nezapomeňte · pasta · pastu · peníze · peněz · potravin · potraviny · sleva · slevu · stálo · stály · taška · tašku · utrácí · utrácíme · utrácíš · velikost · velikosti · zrcadle · zrcadlo · zubní
37 words
••• 50 Feelings323 100
chybíš · chybět · naštvaná · naštvané · naštvaný · naštvaných · naštvaně · nepřekvapilo · nestýská · neurazil · nezklamal · nezklamala · nezlob · nešťastně · překvapil · překvapit · radost · smutnou · smutná · smutné · smutní · smutný · smutně · stýskalo · stýskat · stýská · tvářil · tvářila · urazil · urazila · urazit · zamilovaná · zamilovaný · zklamala · zklamaně · zklamat · zlobím · zlobíš · šťastně
39 words
••• 50 Reflexive Pronouns321 100
k · mezi · na · nad · nepíšeme · nesnášeli · nesnášely · neviděli · nezná · neznáme · o · pomáhali · pomáhaly · pomáhat · považoval · považovali · pro · proti · psali · píšete · před · půjčil · půjčit · sama · sami · samo · samy · se · sebe · sebou · ses · si · sis · sobě · sám · u · viděl · viděla · věřit · zná · znám · známe · znáte · znáš
44 words
••• 50 Relative Clauses 1322 100
auta · auto · autobus · bez · bratranec · chlapci · co · do · dopis · dopise · dopisech · dívek · dívka · děvčata · děvče · děvčeti · dům · hoch · hochovi · hotel · jablko · jazyk · jehož · jehož · jejž · jejž · jemuž · jenž · jež · jichž · jimž · již · jímž · jíž · jíž · kabátu · klukovi · kolega · kolo · kterou · která · které · kterého · kterém · kterému · který · kterých · kterým · kteří · kufru · kůň · letadlo · motorka · muže · myším · místo · na · nichž · nichž · nimiž · nimž · niž · nádraží · náměstí · nímž · níž · níž · něhož · něhož · nějž · nějž · němuž · němž · něž · o · od · okno · pohovka · pro · psa · ptácích · přítel · přítelkyně · restaurace · rodinu · rádio · slovo · soused · stolu · strojů · strom · stromům · student · syn · sýr · talíř · talíři · teta · triko · triku · tým · tělo · ulice · vesnice · vlak · věcech · věci · věcí · z · zvířata · řeka · ženu · židle
113 words
Relative clauses 1

In this skill we learn to construct relative subordinate clauses and connect them to the main clause. To do that, we are going to need relative pronouns as the connecting pieces.

Relative pronoun "který"

One of the relative pronouns looks and behaves like the interrogatory pronoun "který". Recall that this pronoun declines like a hard adjective.

As a relative pronoun, "který" does the job of the English relative pronouns "who", "whom", "which", and "that". This Czech pronoun cannot be omitted, and there is no distinction between restrictive (defining) and non-restrictive (non-defining) use. In Czech, relative clauses need to be set off by commas regardless of whether or not they are restrictive. Only context will show their restrictive status.

The structure of the complex sentence with "který" can be readily appreciated by first identifying the corresponding question using a form of "který" as an interrogative. Say we want to translate "He married the girl from whom he had been buying milk every morning." (It is easiest to start from an English sentence from which the relative pronoun was not omitted, and with any associated preposition preceding the pronoun rather than pushed to the end.)

The translation will predictably begin
- Vzal si dívku ...
The question we need asks about the English subordinate clause and uses the key piece from the main clause that the subordinate clause refers to:
- From which girl had he been buying milk every morning?
We get:
- U které dívky každé ráno kupoval mléko? ("U" is better than "od" here.)
Let’s delete the piece of the main clause from the question:
- u které [dívky] každé ráno kupoval mléko
and stitch it together, using the required comma:
- Vzal si dívku, u které každé ráno kupoval mléko.
This will work for other cases, including those without a preposition in Czech, even the nominative, and for questions:
- Who knows the man who is sitting on the yellow sofa?
- Intermediate: Který [muž] sedí na žluté pohovce?
- Kdo zná toho muže, který sedí na žluté pohovce?
It may be easier for some students to recognize that the case of the pronoun is determined by the subordinate clause, and the gender/number by the element of the main clause to which the subordinate clause refers.

Relative clause mid-sentence

The relative clause can be inserted in the middle of the main clause immediately following the element it refers to:
- Dívku, u které každé ráno kupoval mléko, si vzal.
- On/František si dívku, u které každé ráno kupoval mléko, vzal.
Note that the relative clause is needed to complete the unit of meaning, which is why in the first example the reflexive dative enclitic "si" must come immediately after it.

Clitics in relative clauses

For keeping track of where the clitics should go, the form of "který" with any associated preposition count as the first unit of meaning in the clause:
- Pamatuješ si tu studentku, které jsme se ho báli dát? (Do you remember the student we were afraid to give him/it to?)
None of the clitics can climb up from the relative clause to the governing clause:
- Pamatuješ jsme si se ho tu studentku, které báli dát?
••• 50 Ordinals201 100
desátého · desátém · desátý · devatenáctá · devatenáctém · devatenáctý · devátou · devátá · devátého · devátém · dopisu · dvacáté · dvacátého · dvacátém · dvanáctá · dvanáctého · dvanáctém · dvanáctý · jedenáctou · jedenáctého · jedenáctý · narozenin · narozeniny · narozeninách · osmnáctém · osmnáctý · osmnáctých · osmého · osmém · osmý · patnáctá · patnáctém · patnáctý · pátou · páté · pátý · sedmnáctá · sedmnácté · sedmnáctého · sedmnáctý · sedmé · sedmého · sedmém · sedmý · století · třináctou · třináctého · čtrnáctá · čtrnáctého · čtrnáctém · čtrnáctý · šestnáctá · šestnáctého · šestnáctý · šesté · šestý
56 words
Ordinal numbers

You may remember we dealt with the first four ordinal numbers (from “první“ to “čtvrtý“) earlier in the course. Since then we have learned to count higher than to four, so let's add a bunch more ordinals. The following table shows the first ten ordinals in their nominative form. Where gender and number matter, the forms are masculine singular. The irregular bits, where the connection to the cardinals is disrupted, are shown in bold.

Czech English

první first

druhý second

třetí third

čtvrtý fourth

pátý fifth

šestý sixth

sedmý seventh

osmý eighth

devátý ninth

desátý tenth

From five on, ordinal numbers are derived from cardinal numbers simply by adding the hard adjective endings (“-ý” for the masculine gender) and sometimes changing “-e/ě-“ to “-á-“ in the root. Numbers between 11th an 19th are all regular. In numbers 20th, 30th, etc. the “e>á” change applies. (Note that the existing course does not show you anything above "twentieth").

Czech English

jedenáctý eleventh

dvanáctý twelfth

… …

dvacátý twentieth

třicátý thirtieth

čtyřicátý fourtieth

… …

stý hundredth

For numbers between 20th and 100th that are not multiples of ten, such as 24th, we turn both parts into ordinals (unlike in English): thus “twenty-fourth” is “dvacátý čtvrtý”, and “fifty-seventh” is “padesátý sedmý”.

As we have seen with the first four ordinals, all ordinal numbers decline exactly like adjectives. Numbers “první” and “třetí” decline as soft adjectives (such as "zvláštní" or “poslední”), and all other ordinals decline as hard adjectives (such as “mladý” or "nový"). The mixed model applies to ordinals like "dvacátý třetí", with both parts following their respective declensions.

When written in numerical form, where English uses “-th” or “-st” etc., Czech uses a point (dot) after the number: 1. = první, 2. = druhý, 98. = devadesátý osmý.

Ordinal numbers are also useful when talking about calendar dates. We (normally) use genitive forms both for the day’s number and for the name of the month. We don’t use any preposition to express the “on the…” part. For example:
- Stalo se to druhého ledna. (It happened on the second of January.)
- Dnes je čtrnáctého dubna. (Today is the fourteenth of April.)
- Narodila se třicátého prvního prosince. (She was born on the thirty-first of December.)
We did say that the genitive forms are used for dates normally. It gets trickier if the date functions as anything other than a description of when or (on) what date. For example, if the sentence was about someone literally thinking (or talking) about the first of July, the date is the object of the verb that works with the accusative (or locative) case, and we get
- Myslel na první červenec.
- Mluvila o prvním červenci.
Again both parts of the date show up in whatever the case is required by the verb or the preposition. If the date falls where genitive is required, we get both parts in genitive, just for a different reason that before:
- Byli jsme tam od pátého února do osmnáctého března. (We were there from the fifth of February to the eighteenth of March.)
As we have already learned in the Numbers 1 skill, we need ordinals to tell the time in case the time is “half past something”. The ordinal number will be in the feminine genitive singular form:
- půl páté – half past four, literally “half of the fifth hour”
- půl jedenácté – half past ten
- půl druhé – half past one
- exception: půl jedné – half past twelve (cardinal number “jedna” instead)
Czech also has a question word – kolikátý – used to asked for ordinal numbers. This word is strangely absent from English, but the equivalent would be “how-manieth” or “how manyth” – see Wiktionary. None of the following examples can be translated directly:
- Kolikáté auto máš? (How many cars including this one have you had?)
- Kolikátou kávu pijete? (literally “How-manieth coffee are you drinking?”)
- Kolikátého je dnes? (What’s the date today?)
••• 50 Past 2202 100
běžel · běžela · běželi · chodil · chodila · chodili · chodily · cítila · cítily · dlouho · dostal · dostala · dostali · ležel · ležela · leželo · miloval · milovala · milovalo · našel · našla · našli · nechodili · necítil · nemiloval · neotevřela · nepamatovala · nepoznal · nepoznali · nepočkal · nepočkali · nepracoval · nepracovala · neskončilo · nestaral · nestála · nestáli · nestěžoval · netrvala · nevypadal · nevzali · nevěděl · nevěděli · nezapomněla · nezavřela · nečekal · nežil · nežila · otevřel · otevřela · pamatoval · pamatovala · pamatovali · poznal · poznala · počkal · počkala · pracoval · pracovala · pracovaly · přítele · seděl · seděla · seděli · seděly · sežral · sežralo · sežraly · skončil · skončila · skončili · stal · stalo · staral · starala · stál · stála · stěžoval · stěžovala · trvala · trvalo · vypadal · vypadala · vypadalo · vzal · vzala · vzali · věděla · zapomněl · zapomněla · zapomněli · zavřel · zavřela · zavřeli · zavřelo · začal · začala · začalo · ztratil · ztratila · čekali · čekaly · žil · žili
104 words
••• 50 Reported Speech272 100
chápali · dozvěděl · dozvěděla · dozvěděli · lehčí · nechápal · nepochopil · nepředpokládám · nezeptali · neřekl · neřekla · odpověděl · odpověděla · odpověděli · oznámili · pochopil · pochopila · pochopili · ptal · ptala · ptalo · předevčírem · předpokládal · předpokládali · předpokládám · předpokládáš · překvapená · překvapení · překvapený · slyšel · slyšeli · zeptal · zeptala · zklamaná · zklamané · zklamaný · řekl · řekly
38 words
••• 50 Nature and Weather271 100
chladno · foukal · foukat · hora · horko · horu · hory · horách · houba · houbu · houby · hvězd · hvězda · hvězdy · jezer · jezera · jezero · jezery · jižní · jižních · jižním · les · lesa · lese · lesy · lesů · moří · mořích · mracích · mrak · mraky · měsíc · nebe · nebi · nefouká · neprší · nesbírám · netečou · počasí · pršelo · pršet · prší · příroda · přírodu · přírodě · sbírají · sbírat · severu · slunce · sníh · sněžilo · sněžit · sněží · svítil · svítily · svítí · teplo · teče · tečou · venku · vítr · východ · východní · východních · východu · východě · řeka · řeky
68 words
••• 50 Ago263 100
dny · dvaceti · dvěma · existovaly · hodinami · hodinou · jedenácti · lety · minutami · minutou · měsícem · měsíci · neexistovalo · neexistovaly · osmdesáti · padesáti · pěti · rokem · sedmi · stoletím · stoletími · týdnem · týdny · třemi · třiceti · umřel · umřela · umřeli · čtyřiceti · čtyřmi · šesti
31 words
••• 50 Aspect261 100
dostával · dostávala · dostávali · hrál · hráli · hrály · jakmile · kupoval · kupovala · kupovali · myješ · myl · nadále · naposledy · naučil · naučila · naučili · naučilo · navštívil · navštívili · navštívily · navštěvoval · navštěvovala · navštěvovali · navštěvovat · nehrál · nemyje · nemyl · nenaučil · nenavštívili · nepodívaly · neprodala · neprohráli · nepřeložila · nepřeložili · neumyl · nádobí · otevíral · otevírala · otevírali · otevíráme · podíval · podívala · prala · pravidelně · prodali · prodával · prodávala · prohrál · prohráli · prohrát · prohrával · prohrávali · prohrávat · překládal · překládala · přeložil · umyl · vyhrál · vyhráli · vyhrát · vyhrával · vyhrávali · vyhrávat · vyprala · vyprat · vystoupil · vystoupila · vystoupili · vystoupilo · vystupoval · vystupovala · vystupovali · zapomínal · zapomínala · zavíral · zavírala
77 words
••• 50 Jobs262 100
dělnicí · dělník · dělníků · firma · firmu · firmy · firmě · kolega · kolegou · kolegy · kolegyní · kolegyně · lékař · lékaři · lékařka · líná · líné · línými · nevyděláváš · odbornice · odbornicí · odborníci · odborník · odborníkem · odborníků · pilná · pilné · pilný · pilným · podnikatel · podnikatelem · podnikatelkou · prezident · prezidenta · prezidentkou · prezidenty · práce · práci · soudce · soudcem · soudci · soudkyní · soudkyněmi · studenta · studentem · studenti · studentka · studentkami · studentkou · studentky · studenty · tamhletou · tamhletím · tamhletěmi · tamtou · tamtím · touhle · touto · továrna · továrně · tímhle · tímto · těmihle · těmito · umělcem · umělců · umělkyní · umělkyně · učitel · učitelem · učiteli · učitelka · učitelkou · vydělává · zaměstnance · zaměstnancem · zaměstnanci · zaměstnankyní · zaměstnankyně · zaměstnání · zkušenou · zkušená · zkušené · ředitel · ředitelem · ředitelkou · šéf · šéfa · šéfka · šéfku
90 words

••• 0 What The?!421 100

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152 words

What the?! Common Czech

See https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/35769759 for details and a warning.

Up to this point, the course was teaching standard Czech. Here we introduce “common” Czech, spoken in informal contexts pretty much by the entire native population of Bohemia and found in book and movie dialogue.

Let’s look at the main deviations of common Czech from the standard.

o -> vo (Von votevřel vokno.)

Common Czech often inserts v in front of the word-initial o. Words like okno, on, oba, otevřít, and o may become vokno, von, voba, votevřít and vo.

Plural Nom./Acc. and gender merger for demonstratives and hard adjectives (Ty americký turisti přišli vo svý telefony.)

Sequences like ti noví, ty nové, and ta nová (the/those new) are simplified to one “common” form in Nom./Acc. and all genders. This also impacts other demonstratives (tamten, tenhle) and words that decline like hard adjectives (such as pronouns jaký, který, and můj).

Form	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. standard	ti noví	ty nové	ty nové	ta nová
Acc. standard	ty nové	ty nové	ty nové	ta nová
Nom./Acc. common	ty nový	ty nový	ty nový	ty nový

The “common” hard adjective form also gets rid of the standard consonant shifts before the -í ending.

é -> ý (Proč chceš to velký zvíře ve svým malým pokoji?)

This shift is common in endings of hard adjectives and words that decline like them.

ý -> ej (Mluvil vo svejch novejch sousedech.)

This shift is common in endings of hard adjectives and words that decline like them but does not apply to the singular instrumental endings. We only shift the standard ý, not the ý resulting from other “common” shifts.

“Dual” endings in plural instrumental (Kam šla s těma třema velkejma hruškama?)

In common Czech, the special -a endings in Pl. Ins. reserved in the standard for ruce, nohy, oči, and uši along with any associated adjectives, various pronouns including demonstratives, and cardinal numerals tři and čtyři when referring to specific body parts of animate beings are used in Pl. Ins. without limitation to the listed nouns or animate being status.

Our new hard adjective declension table

The highlighted forms are non-standard:

Num./Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Sg. Nom.	novej	novej	nová	nový
Sg. Acc.	novýho	novej	novou	nový
Sg. Gen.	novýho	novýho	nový	novýho
Sg. Loc.	novým	novým	nový	novým
Sg. Ins.	novým	novým	novou	novým
Sg. Dat.	novýmu	novýmu	novou	novým
Pl. Nom./Acc.	nový	nový	nový	nový
Pl. Gen./Loc.	novejch	novejch	novejch	novejch
Pl. Ins.	novejma	novejma	novejma	novejma
Pl. Dat.	novejm	novejm	novejm	novejm

Masculine plural locative hard noun ending -ích -> -ách (Píšu knihy vo vlkách.)

The masculine plural locative ending -ích for hard declension nouns sometimes becomes -ách, and the consonant shift of the standard is avoided.

Deletion of the final -l in the past-tense verb form (Kdo ti to řek?)

The final -l following a consonant in the past-tense verb form is often deleted.

Unified ending in the plural past-tense verb form across all genders (Stáli tam ty auta.)

The "common" plural past-tense ending is -li regardless of gender.

Verb ending -eme -> -em (My vodejdem.)

The plural first person verb ending -eme may become just -em.

Deletion of “j” from some verb forms (Já tam nepudu, sou tam voni.)

Forms like (pů)jdu and (pů)jdeš often become (pu)du and (pu)deš. The unprefixed negatives like nejdu remain unchanged.

Půjčit and its forms can also undergo the transformation from ůj to u.

The forms jsem, jsi (jseš), jsme, jste, and jsou often lose the initial j-. The negative forms like nejsem remain unchanged. The forms jseš and nejseš are other possible “common” versions of jsi and nejsi.

Auxiliary/conjunction ending -chom -> -sme (Kdybysme mohli, tak bysme vodešli.)

The plural first person auxiliary/conjunctions bychom, abychom, and kdybychom often become (a/kdy)bysme.

Plural 3rd person verb endings -ají/-ejí/-ějí -> -aj/-ej/-ěj (Říkaj, že to nechtěj.)

These plural third-person endings sometimes lose the final -í.

Plural 3rd person verb ending -í -> -ej/-ěj (Nevěděj to.)

The plural third-person verb ending -í following a consonant other than “j” sometimes morphs to -ej/-ěj.

Simplified singular possessive adjectives (V Žofiiný škole)

These mirror hard adjectives.

Distorted and new words

A few examples of the changed or expanded vocabulary are introduced: barák (dům), bejt, brácha (bratr), furt (pořád), ňák (nějak), prachy (peníze), rychlejc (rychleji), štyry, tejden, tendle (tenhle), vim, vidim, and zejtra.

Cached // 2020-04-140.162

Words

Tips and Notes

··········· Table of Contents ···········

Start here 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Start here

Welcome to the 2nd version of the Czech course! We hope your efforts prove successful and enjoyable.

About this skill

Our first skill is intended to provide a simplified preview of the language. It presents basic words in simple, brief sentences modeled on the old "syllabary" books some of us used in first grade.

We learn three verbs, "je" (is), "jí" (eats, is eating), and "má" (has). The sentences in this skill can be translated word for word except where the subject pronoun is omitted in Czech or where English uses auxiliary words with its verbs.

For example,

Ona je tady.

means "She is here.", and

Je tady.

can mean "He/she/it is here.", depending on context. We usually don't need the subject pronoun, even if including it is normally possible.

Jitka má kolo. (Jitka has a/the bicycle)

we see that Czech does not have articles.

In sentences with "jí", we will need to map the Czech present tense (of which there is only one) to one of the English tenses appropriate for the meaning. For example,

Táta jí tady.

can mean "Dad eats here.", "Dad is eating here.", and even "Dad has been eating here.",

while

Jakub jí banán. (Jakub is eating a/the banana.)

has enough built-in context to lean towards an event in progress.

Kde jí Jitka? (Where is Jitka eating?/Where does Jitka eat?)

we see how the one-word Czech verbs produce sentence structures differing from English even when the subject is not skipped. ("Kde Jitka jí?" is also possible.)

Introduction to the sounds of Czech

Czech is much less challenging to pronounce than English. If you know how a Czech sentence is written, you can usually determine how it is pronounced, and usually even vice versa. Most letters are pronounced close to some of their possible pronunciations in English.

Czech vowels are as in most European languages:

a is always like the "a" in "father", never like the "a" in "dad".
e is as in "set".
i is as in "sit".
y is always a vowel, never a consonant, and sounds the same as i.
o is as in "gopher" in American English, but without the light w sound which usually follows it, or as in the British pronunciation of "lot".
u is as in "put".

Each Czech vowel has a short and a long form, and they are always distinguished in standard writing. As shown in the nice early examples "máma" and "táta", the long forms are written with accents like the "á" in these words (with one exception to come later), while the short forms are written plain.

The main difference between a short vowel and its long form is the length of time spent pronouncing them, except that i and y also undergo a quality change, possibly variable by region, so that:

í and ý are as the "ea" sound in "seat".

Finally, Czech has one domestic diphthong (in addition to those in imported words):

ou is as the "o" sound in "go".

Czech consonants are more tricky than the vowels. Let's start with the few that matter in this skill:

b is as in English, except it often sounds like a "p" when ending a word.
d is mostly as in English but pronounced with the tongue closer to the teeth.
g is as in "go".
j is like the "y" in "yellow".
k and p are as in English, but a bit less explosive.
l is as in English.
m and n are as in English.
t is as in English, but a bit less explosive and pronounced with the tongue closer to the teeth.

Each letter in Czech is usually pronounced independently of the letters around it. More exceptions will be noted later, but we do have two to start with in this skill:

If a word ends in a voiced consonant (one pronounced with the voice "on"), it gets pronounced as if the consonant were devoiced. This is why "Jakub" often sounds like "Jakup". This devoicing does not occur if another voiced consonant immediately follows in speech, as we get in:

Je Jakub doma? (Is Jakub at home?)

Consonant clusters like the "kd" in "kde" often show interaction. The rule of thumb is that groups of consonants in the same syllable are all pronounced voiced or unvoiced, usually according to the last consonant in the group. Our voice will be active while saying the "d", so we turn it on already for the "k", and that makes it sound like a "g". So "kde" ends up pronounced as "gde".

Note on the personal names

Several personal names are included in this course, starting with "Jakub" and "Jitka" in this initial skill. Please do not translate these to English, even if you figure out their English counterparts (Jacob and Judith).

Phrases 3 · 2021-09-15 ^

Hello: Phrases & Introductions

In this skill we learn how to greet or introduce someone, say our name, say "yes", "no", "please", "excuse me", "thank you", and "I do not understand". After "Jitka" and "Jakub" from the first skill, we get introduced to two more people by name, "Kateřina" and "Matěj". Please do not translate personal names to English in this course.

Cultural item

The most common greeting in Czech polite enough to greet complete strangers with during daytime is "Dobrý den!". No single English greeting exactly matches it. The literal translation "Good day!" in most of the English speaking world is for leave-taking, unlike the Czech greeting. "Good morning!" and "Good afternoon!" are both too limited as to period of applicability. In this course we settled on showing "Dobrý den!" translated as "Hello!".

Grammar bits

We learn "já jsem" ("I am"). You can use it to introduce yourself:

Já jsem Matěj. (I am Matěj.)

We also learn the ubiquitous word "to". You can use it along with "je" from the previous skill to introduce or point out someone else:

To je Kateřina. (That/This/She is Kateřina.)

Time to get into more Czech sounds.

Vowels

This should mostly be a review:

a is always like the "a" in "father", never like the "a" in "dad".
e is as in "set".
i is as in "sit".
y is always a vowel, never a consonant, and sounds the same as i.
o is as in "gopher" in American English, but without the light w sound which usually follows it, or as in the British pronunciation of "lot".
u is as in "put".

Each vowel has a short and a long form, the long forms generally being written with the accent like the "á" in "máma". The main difference between a short vowel and a long vowel is the length of time spent pronouncing them, except that i and y also undergo a quality change, possibly variable by region:

í and ý sound as the "ea" in "seat".

We do get a new vowel letter:

ě always follows a consonant. It is pronounced just like e but changes the pronunciation of the consonant just before it. See the final note below.

Consonants

We meet a few more consonants in this skill.

Many consonants occur in pairs, voiced and unvoiced, like b and p, d and t, z and s, or ž and š. Some consonants are not paired up (like m and n), and some (like r) don't fit into either category too well.

Voiced

b is as in English
d is mostly as in English but pronounced with the tongue closer to the teeth.
ď is a sound that does not exist in English. It sounds roughly like a d followed by the consonantal English "y", but merged into a single sound. Some of you may want to think about it as a sound between a d and a g.
g is as in English (not used much in Czech by spelling, but very common as the voiced pronunciation of k).
h is like the "h" in "hotel".
z is as in English.
ž is like the sound that the "s" makes in "pleasure".

Unvoiced

c represents a sound that doesn't quite exist in English, but it is close to how the "ts" at the end of "cats" sounds. It is much closer to a single sound rather than a sequence of two.
č is like the "ch" in "chicken".
k and p are as in English, but a bit less explosive.
s is as in English.
t is as in English, but with the tongue closer to the teeth and less explosive.
ť is the unvoiced mate of ď, and is similarly a sound which does not exist in English. It sounds roughly like a t followed by the consonantal English "y", but merged into one sound rather than a sequence of two. (Or try a sound between a t and a k.)

Other

j is like the "y" in "yellow".
l is as in English.
m and n are as in English.
ň is roughly like an n followed by the consonantal English "y", but it is one sound rather than a sequence of two. (Just think Spanish "mañana".)
r is lightly rolled, as in Spanish or Italian, or tapped, as in Scots, but never growled.
ř is a sound unique to Czech and is a sound the majority of foreigners and some natives find difficult to learn. It's roughly something between r and ž.

Combinations

As noted previously, each letter in Czech is usually pronounced independently of any letters which precede or follow it, with important exceptions individually noted in these tips.

If a word begins "js", like "jsem", there can be little evidence of the j in its pronunciation.
The letter ě is pronounced depending on what consonant it follows. When it follows d or t, the pronunciation changes the consonant to a d' or t' (resp.) followed by a plain e. Compare the sound of "dě" in "děkuju" with that of "de" in "dobrý den", and the sound of "tě" in "Matěj" with that of "te" in "Kateřina".

Masculine 12 · 2021-09-15 ^

Descriptions: Masculine

In this skill we learn a few words to describe people and things and get to see the grammatical gender in action.

Every noun in Czech has a gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Knowing the gender is important for choosing the form of the noun and even other words in the sentence. For inanimate nouns, there is little relation between their gender and their nature. For example "čaj" (tea) is masculine, "káva" (coffee) is feminine, and "mléko" (milk) is neuter. For nouns that refer to people, the grammatical gender and biological sex usually do coincide.

It may be possible to guess the gender of the noun from its ending:

Nouns ending in a consonant are mostly masculine. Early examples include "kluk" (boy), "muž" (man), "chléb" (bread), "čaj" (tea), and the proper names "František", "Jakub", and "Matěj".
Nouns ending in -a or -e are mostly feminine. Early examples include "holka" (girl), "žena" (woman, wife), "restaurace" (restaurant), "lžíce" (spoon), and the proper names "Jitka", "Kateřina", and "Žofie".
Nouns ending in -o are almost always neuter. Early examples include město (city), "auto" (car), "jablko" (apple), and "maso" (meat).
Nouns that end in -ě or -í are also often neuter. Early examples include "dítě" (child), "letiště" (airport), and "náměstí" (square, plaza).

Unfortunately, many nouns do not conform. Let's list a few taken from our early skills:

Some nouns that end in a consonant are feminine, e.g., "věc" (thing), "sůl" (salt), "mrkev" (carrot), "myš" (mouse), and "postel" (bed).
Some nouns that end in -a are masculine, e.g., "táta" (dad) and "turista" (tourist).
Some nouns that end in -e are neuter, e.g., "zvíře" (animal) and "vejce" (egg).

Adjectives

We encountered our very first Czech adjective in the previous skill as part of the "dobrý den" greeting. This adjective and others like it have endings that depend on the gender of the noun they modify:

-ý in masculine, e.g., "dobrý čaj" (good tea)
-á in feminine, e.g., "dobrá káva" (good coffee)
-é in neuter, e.g., "dobré mléko" (good milk)

The adjectives we will be using in this skill (listed in their masculine forms) are:

"dobrý" (good)
"malý" (little, small)
"mladý" (young)
"nový" (new)
"starý" (old)
"velký" (big, large)

Demonstratives

Czech doesn't have articles, so "mladý muž" could be "young man", "a young man", or "the young man", depending on context. Czech has a variety of ways of making clear which is meant when the distinction is important, including the word order. Here we only examine the demonstrative adjective (technically pronoun, but used before its noun like an adjective) that is sometimes used in place of the definite article. This demonstrative has the following forms:

"ten" in masculine, e.g., "ten muž" (the/that man)
"ta" in feminine, e.g., "ta žena" (the/that woman)
"to" in neuter, e.g., "to dítě" (the/that child)

Demonstrative adjectives and regular adjectives can usually be combined, in that order: "ten starý muž" (the/that old man).

Pronunciation notes

The comments below build on the tips provided with the first two skills. Please review them as needed.

Several new consonants matter in this skill:

ch is considered a single letter in Czech and is found after "h" in dictionaries. It is the unvoiced counterpart to h. The sound no longer exists in most dialects of English. Scots has retained it, for example in "Loch Ness".
dž is not a single letter, but this cluster is pronounced like the "j" in "juice". It is the voiced counterpart to č.
f is as in English (and an unvoiced counterpart to v).
š is like the "sh" in "sheep" (and an unvoiced counterpart to ž).
v is as in English. It is voiced.
ž is like the sound that the "s" makes in "pleasure". It is voiced.

The "ti" in "František" gives us an example of another pronunciation interference between letters:

In domestic Czech words, when followed by an i or í, d is pronounced like ď, t like ť, and n like ň.

This skill also includes two more examples of the final consonant devoicing, when a voiced consonant at the end of a word is pronounced as if it were devoiced (unless followed in the stream of speech by another voiced consonant):

The "b" at the end of "chléb" gets pronounced as its devoiced mate "p", making the word sound like "chlép".
The "ž" at the end of "muž" gets pronounced as its devoiced mate "š", making the word sound like "muš" (moosh).

Intros 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Intros

We now learn how to greet someone and say our name and common phrases. We get introduced to two more people by name, "Kateřina" and "Matěj".

Cultural item

The most common Czech greeting polite enough to greet strangers during daytime is "Dobrý den!". No single English greeting exactly matches it. The literal translation "Good day!" is mostly for leave-taking, unlike the Czech greeting. "Good morning!" and "Good afternoon!" are both too limited as to time of applicability. We settled on showing "Dobrý den!" translated as "Hello!".

Grammar bits

We learn "já jsem" ("I am"). You can use it to introduce yourself:

Já jsem Matěj. (I am Matěj.)

We also learn the very common word "to". You can use it along with "je" from the previous skill to introduce or point out someone else:

To je Jitka. (That/This/She is Jitka.)

Time for more Czech sounds.

Vowels

This should mostly be a review:

a is always like the "a" in "father", never like the "a" in "dad".
e is as in "set".
i is as in "sit".
y is always a vowel, never a consonant, and sounds the same as i.
o is as in "gopher" in American English, but without the light w sound which usually follows it, or as in the British pronunciation of "lot".
u is as in "put".

í and ý sound as the "ea" in "seat".

We do get a new vowel letter:

ě always follows a consonant. It is pronounced just like e but changes the pronunciation of the consonant just before it. See the final note below.

Consonants

We meet a few more consonants in this skill.

Voiced

b is as in English
d is mostly as in English but pronounced with the tongue closer to the teeth.
ď is a sound that does not exist in English. It sounds roughly like a d followed by the consonantal English "y", but merged into a single sound. Some of you may want to think about it as a sound between a d and a g.
g is as in English (not used much in Czech by spelling, but very common as the voiced pronunciation of k).
h is like the "h" in "hotel".
v and z are as in English.
ž is like the sound that the "s" makes in "pleasure".

Unvoiced

c makes a sound similar to the "ts" in "cats".
č is like the "ch" in "cheese".
ch is considered a single letter in Czech and is found after "h" in dictionaries. It serves as the unvoiced mate of h. The sound no longer exists in most dialects of English.
k and p are as in English, but a bit less explosive.
s is as in English.
t is as in English, but with the tongue closer to the teeth and less explosive.
ť is the unvoiced mate of ď, and is similarly a sound which does not exist in English. It sounds roughly like a t followed by the consonantal English "y", but merged into one sound rather than a sequence of two. (Or try a sound between a t and a k.)

Other

j is like the "y" in "yellow".
l is as in English.
m and n are as in English.
ň is roughly like an n followed by the consonantal English "y", but it is one sound rather than a sequence of two. (Or just think Spanish "mañana".)
r is lightly rolled, as in Spanish or Italian, or tapped, as in Scots, but never growled.
ř is a sound unique to Czech and is the sound the majority of foreigners and some natives find most difficult to learn. It's roughly something between r and ž.

Combinations

As noted previously, each letter in Czech is usually pronounced independently of any letters which precede or follow it, with important exceptions individually noted in these tips.

We already noted that "kd" is pronounced all voiced (as "gd") and that the word-final "b" usually gets devoiced into a "p".
The final "d" in "východ" & "záchod" is pronounced as its devoiced mate "t", making them sound as if spelled with a "t" (final consonant devoicing).
If a word begins "js", like "jsem", there can be little evidence of the j in its pronunciation.
The letter ě is pronounced depending on what consonant it follows. When it follows d or t, the pronunciation changes the consonant to a d' or t' (resp.) followed by a plain e. Compare the sound of "dě" in "děkuju" with that of "de" in "dobrý den", and the sound of "tě" in "Matěj" with that of "te" in "Kateřina".

Feminine 7 · 2021-03-24 ^

Descriptions: Feminine

Every noun in Czech has a gender, which can be "masculine", "feminine", or "neuter". Knowing the gender is important because it impacts the form of the noun and even other words in the sentence. For inanimate things, there is little relation between their gender and their nature. For example "čaj" (tea) is masculine, "káva" (coffee) is feminine, and "mléko" (milk) is neuter. For words that refer to people, the grammatical gender and biological sex usually do coincide.

It may be possible to guess the gender of the noun from its ending:

Nouns ending in a consonant are mostly masculine. Other examples include "kluk" (boy), "muž" (man), "chléb" (bread), "dům" (house), "míč" (ball), and the proper names "František" and "Matěj".
Nouns ending in -a or -e are mostly feminine. Early examples include "holka" (girl), "žena" (woman, wife), "restaurace" (restaurant), "lžíce" (spoon), and the proper names "Kateřina" and "Žofie".
Nouns ending in -o are almost always neuter. Other examples include město (city), "auto" (car), "jablko" (apple), and "maso" (meat).
Nouns that end in -ě or -í are also often neuter. Early examples include "dítě" (child), "letiště" (airport), and "náměstí" (square, plaza).

Unfortunately, many nouns do not conform. Let's list a few taken from our early skills:

Some nouns that end in a consonant are feminine, e.g., "věc" (thing), "sůl" (salt), "mrkev" (carrot), "myš" (mouse), and "postel" (bed).
Some nouns that end in -a are masculine, e.g., "táta" (dad) and "turista" (tourist).
Some nouns that end in -e are neuter, e.g., "zvíře" (animal) and "vejce" (egg).

Adjectives

We encountered our very first Czech adjective in the second skill as part of "dobrý den" (a polite greeting). This adjective and others like it have endings that depend on the gender as follows:

-ý in masculine, e.g., "dobrý čaj" (good tea)
-á in feminine, e.g., "dobrá káva" (good coffee)
-é in neuter, e.g., "dobré mléko" (good milk)

The adjectives we will be using in this skill (listed in their feminine forms) are:

"dobrá" (good)
"malá" (little, small)
"mladá" (young)
"nová" (new)
"stará" (old)
"velká" (big, large)

Demonstratives

Czech doesn't have articles, so "mladá žena" could be "young woman", "a young woman", or "the young woman", depending on context. Czech has a variety of ways for making it clear which is meant when the distinction is important, including the word order. Here we only examine the demonstrative adjective (technically pronoun, but used before its noun like an adjective) that is sometimes used in place of the definite article. This demonstrative has the following forms:

"ten" in masculine, e.g., "ten muž" (the/that man)
"ta" in feminine, e.g., "ta žena" (the/that woman)
"to" in neuter, e.g., "to dítě" (the/that child)

Demonstrative adjectives and regular adjectives can usually be combined, in that order: "ta mladá žena" (the/that young woman).

Pronunciation notes

The comments below build on the tips provided with the first two skills. Please make sure to review them as needed.

You may notice what appears to be a new vowel:

ů is just a different spelling of the long ú. They sound the same. The rule is to spell as ú at the beginning of the word or of the word root following a prefix, and as ů otherwise.

Several new consonants appear in this skill:

c represents a sound that doesn't quite exist in English, but it is very close to the "ts" at the end of "cats". It is, however, closer to a single sound rather than a sequence of two.
č is like the "ch" in "chicken".
h is like the "h" in "hotel". It is voiced.
l is as in English.
v is as in English. It is voiced.

This skill includes an example of a voiced consonant, "v", appearing at the end of a word, "mrkev". Such consonants are typically pronounced as if they were devoiced. The devoiced counterpart of "v" is "f", and so "mrkev" ends up sounding like "mrkef", a word that does not really exist in Czech any other way.

The "ni" in "kniha" gives us an example of another pronunciation interference between letters:

In domestic Czech words, when followed by an i or í, d is pronounced like ď, t like ť, and n like ň.

We have already seen that what consonant shows up before ě impacts the way the combination is pronounced:

When ě follows d, t, or n, the pronunciation changes the consonant to a d', t', or ň (resp.) followed by a plain e.
When ě follows any other consonant (excepting m), the consonant the ě is pronounced like the "y" in "yellow".

And that's why "věc" sounds like "vyec".

Neuter 5 · 2021-03-24 ^

Descriptions: Neuter

In this skill we learn a few more words to describe people and things and get to see the grammatical gender in action.

Please read the introductory gender notes in the neighboring Masculine skill. We need to save space here.

Adjectives

We encountered our very first Czech adjective in the second skill as part of "dobrý den" (a polite greeting). This adjective and others like it have endings that depend on the gender as follows:

-ý in masculine, e.g., "dobrý čaj" (good tea)
-á in feminine, e.g., "dobrá káva" (good coffee)
-é in neuter, e.g., "dobré mléko" (good milk)

The adjectives we will be using in this skill (listed in their neuter forms) are:

"dobré" (good)
"malé" (little, small)
"mladé" (young)
"nové" (new)
"staré" (old)
"velké" (big, large)

Demonstratives

Czech doesn't have articles, so "malé dítě" could be "small child", "a small child", or "the small child", depending on context. Czech has a variety of ways of making clear which is meant when the distinction is important, including the word order. Here we only examine the demonstrative adjective (technically pronoun, but used before its noun like an adjective) that is sometimes used in place of the definite article. This demonstrative has the following forms:

"ten" in masculine, e.g., "ten muž" (the/that man)
"ta" in feminine, e.g., "ta žena" (the/that woman)
"to" in neuter, e.g., "to dítě" (the/that child)

Demonstrative adjectives and regular adjectives can usually be combined, in that order: "to malé dítě" (the/that small child).

Pronunciation notes

The comments below build on the tips provided with the first two skills. Please make sure to review them as needed.

Vowel sequences are not too common in Czech and usually show up in foreign-derived words. The example in "auto" shows that the Czech approach to vowel sequences in the same syllable is to simply glide from the first vowel to the next.

Several new consonants appear in this skill:

c represents a sound that doesn't quite exist in English, but it is very close to the "ts" at the end of "cats". It is, however, closer to a single sound rather than a sequence of two.
č is like the "ch" in "chicken".
š is like the "sh" in "sheep" (and an unvoiced counterpart to ž).
v is as in English. It is voiced.
z is as in English. It is voiced.
ž is like the sound that the "s" makes in "pleasure".

This skill also includes examples of the "mě" sequence in "město" and "náměstí". This is a good place to summarize the rules for pronouncing the Czech ě in general. The pronunciation effects of ě depend on what consonant it follows:

When ě follows d, t, or n, the pronunciation changes the consonant to a d', t', or ň (resp.) followed by a plain e. Compare the sound of "dě" in "děkuju" with that of "de" in "dobrý den", and the sound of "tě" in "Matěj" with that of "te" in "Kateřina".
When ě follows m, the pronunciation effect is as if we replaced the "mě" with "mně". In the end, we get something like a "mñe" sound.
When ě follows any other consonant, we do not change the pronunciation of the consonant and just pronounce the ě like a consonantal "y" (the "y" in "yellow") followed by an e.

Finally, this skill also includes examples of "dí" and "tí" sequences. The rule for those is:

In domestic Czech words, when followed by an i or í, d is pronounced like ď, t like ť, and n like ň (whose sounds we know from "děkuju", "Matěj", and "promiňte"). The vowel itself still sounds the same as y or ý.

Men 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Men: Masculine grammar gender

In this skill we learn a few more words to describe people and things and get to see the grammatical gender in action.

It may be possible to guess the gender of the noun from its ending:

Nouns ending in a consonant are mostly masculine. Early examples include "kluk" (boy), "muž" (man), "chléb" (bread), "čaj" (tea), and the proper names "František", "Jakub", and "Matěj".
Nouns ending in -a or -e are mostly feminine. Early examples include "holka" (girl), "žena" (woman, wife), "restaurace" (restaurant), "lžíce" (spoon), and the proper names "Jitka", "Kateřina", and "Žofie".
Nouns ending in -o are almost always neuter. Early examples include město (city), "auto" (car), "jablko" (apple), and "maso" (meat).
Nouns that end in -ě or -í are also often neuter. Early examples include "dítě" (child), "letiště" (airport), and "náměstí" (square, plaza).

Unfortunately, many nouns do not conform. Let's list a few taken from our early skills:

Some nouns that end in a consonant are feminine, e.g., "věc" (thing), "sůl" (salt), "mrkev" (carrot), "myš" (mouse), and "postel" (bed).
Some nouns that end in -a are masculine, e.g., "táta" (dad) and "turista" (tourist).
Some nouns that end in -e are neuter, e.g., "zvíře" (animal) and "vejce" (egg).

Adjectives

We encountered our very first Czech adjective in a previous skill as part of the "dobrý den" greeting. This adjective and others like it have endings that depend on the gender of the noun they modify:

-ý in masculine, e.g., "dobrý čaj" (good tea)
-á in feminine, e.g., "dobrá káva" (good coffee)
-é in neuter, e.g., "dobré mléko" (good milk)

The adjectives we will be using in this skill (listed in their masculine forms) are:

"dobrý" (good)
"malý" (little, small)
"mladý" (young)
"nový" (new)
"starý" (old)
"velký" (big, large)

Demonstratives

"ten" in masculine, e.g., "ten muž" (the/that man)
"ta" in feminine, e.g., "ta žena" (the/that woman)
"to" in neuter, e.g., "to dítě" (the/that child)

Demonstrative adjectives and regular adjectives can usually be combined, in that order: "ten starý muž" (the/that old man).

Pronunciation notes

The comments below build on the tips provided with the first two skills. Please review them as needed.

You may notice what appears to be a new vowel:

ů is just a different spelling of the long ú. They sound the same. The rule is to spell as ú at the beginning of the word or of the word root following a prefix, and as ů otherwise.

Our word is "dům" (house), where the vowel starts neither the word nor its root (being internal to the root, which makes up the entire word), so we use ů.

Several new consonants matter in this skill:

dž is not a single letter, but this cluster is pronounced like the "j" in "juice". It is the voiced mate of č.
f is as in English (and an unvoiced counterpart to v).
š is like the "sh" in "sheep" (and an unvoiced counterpart to ž).
ž is like the sound that the "s" makes in "pleasure". It is voiced.

The "ti" in "František" gives us an example of another pronunciation interference between letters:

In domestic Czech words, when followed by an i or í, d is pronounced like ď, t like ť, and n like ň.

The "b" at the end of "chléb" gets pronounced as its devoiced mate "p", making the word sound like "chlép".
The "ž" at the end of "muž" gets pronounced as its devoiced mate "š", making the word sound like "muš" (moosh).

To Be Or Not To Be, Singular 10 · 2022-02-02 ^

To be: Singular

In this skill we keep on describing objects and living beings, including animals. We learn the missing pieces to complete this table:

Czech	English
(Já) jsem	I am
(Ty) jsi	You are (informal singular)
(On/Ona/Ono) je	He/She/It is
(Já) nejsem	I am not
(Ty) nejsi	You are not (informal singular)
(On/Ona/Ono) není	He/She/It is not

Czech verbs are usually negated by adding ne- to the front. The irregular "není" is a rare exception.

The "ty" forms of the pronoun and the verb are informal singular, meaning they are used to address single individuals with whom we are on a first name basis or who are much younger than us.

Pronoun "to"

Demonstrative "to": "To dítě je malé."

Here "to" functions as something between the definite article and the demonstrative adjective "that" for singular neuter nouns. For example, + To dítě je malé. (The/That child is small).

The demonstrative that can be translated as "the" must agree with the gender of the noun it is attached to just like it did in "To dítě je malé.":

Ten kluk je malý. (The/That boy is small.)
Ta holka je Kateřina. (The/That girl is Kateřina.)

Introduction "to": "To je Matěj"

The "to" in introductions like

To je Kateřina/Matěj. (That/This is Kateřina/Matěj.)

does not change to agree with the noun gender.

To je/není malá hruška. (That/This/It is/not a small pear.)

2nd place "to": "Je to malé zvíře."

Je/Není to starý muž. (He is/not an old man.)
Je/Není to starý stroj. (It is/not an old machine.)
Je/Není to mladá žena. (She is/not a young woman.)
Je/Není to malé dítě. (He/She/It is/not a little child.)

Noun-less "to": "To je velké."

Je/Není to nové. (It is/not new.)
To je/není nové. (That/This is new.)

Yes/no questions

Pronunciation notes

"Dlouhý" presents the one two-vowel sequence frequently found in domestic words, "ou", pronounced by gliding from one vowel to the next.
"Had" is another example of the final consonant devoicing. The devoiced counterpart of "d" is "t", so "had" sounds like "hat" (the English "hut").
"Není" is an example of a domestic word with a "ní" sequence. The second n gets pronounced like ň, the sound we needed to pronounce "město" or "náměstí".
"Ovce" presents a mixed voiced/devoiced consonant cluster. (Remember "kde"?) The last consonant is devoiced, so the preceding "v" gets pronounded as its devoiced mate "f", and the word sounds like "ofce".

Women 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Women: Feminine grammar gender

In this skill we learn a few more words to describe people and things and get to see the grammatical gender in action.

Please read the introductory gender notes in the neighboring Men skill.

Adjectives

-ý in masculine, e.g., "dobrý čaj" (good tea)
-á in feminine, e.g., "dobrá káva" (good coffee)
-é in neuter, e.g., "dobré mléko" (good milk)

The adjectives we will be using in this skill (listed in their feminine forms) are:

"dobrá" (good)
"malá" (little, small)
"mladá" (young)
"nová" (new)
"stará" (old)
"velká" (big, large)

Demonstratives

Czech doesn't have articles, so "mladá žena" could be "young woman", "a young woman", or "the young woman", depending on context. Czech has a variety of ways of making clear which is meant when the distinction is important, including the word order. Here we only examine the demonstrative adjective (technically pronoun, but used before its noun like an adjective) that is sometimes used in place of the definite article. This demonstrative has the following forms:

"ten" in masculine, e.g., "ten muž" (the/that man)
"ta" in feminine, e.g., "ta žena" (the/that woman)
"to" in neuter, e.g., "to dítě" (the/that child)

Demonstrative adjectives and regular adjectives can usually be combined, in that order: "ta mladá žena" (the/that young woman).

Pronunciation notes

The comments below build on the tips provided with the first two skills. Please review them as needed.

You may notice what appears to be a new vowel:

ů is just a different spelling of the long ú. They sound the same. The rule is to spell as ú at the beginning of the word or of the word root following a prefix, and as ů otherwise.

Our word is "sůl" (salt), where the vowel starts neither the word nor its root (being internal to the root, which makes up the entire word), so we use ů.

Unlike consonant clusters, vowel sequences are not common in Czech and usually show up in foreign-derived words. The examples in "restaurace" and "Žofie" show that the Czech approach to vowel sequences in the same syllable is to simply glide from the first vowel to the next, much like the sounds in "out" and "Sienna". Later we will see that when the vowels meet between adjacent syllables (as a result of prefixation), a stop is inserted between them instead of the glide.

Several new consonants appear in this skill:

f is as in English (and an unvoiced counterpart to v).
š is like the "sh" in "sheep" (and an unvoiced counterpart to ž).
ž is like the sound that the "s" makes in "pleasure".

We have already seen that what consonant shows up before ě impacts the way the combination is pronounced:

When ě follows d, t, or n, the pronunciation changes the consonant to a d', t', or ň (resp.) followed by a plain e.
When ě follows any other consonant (except m), we do not change the pronunciation of the consonant and just pronounce the ě like a consonantal "y" (the "y" in "yellow") followed by an e, so "věc" sounds like "vyec".

This skill also includes another example of the final consonant devoicing, when a voiced consonant at the end of a word is pronounced as if it were devoiced (unless followed in the stream of speech by another voiced consonant): + The "v" at the end of "mrkev" gets pronounced as its devoiced mate "f", making the word sound like "mrkef".

That last example, "mrkev", shows another interesting feature of Czech: At times, "r" (or "l") can be used to create a syllable in the absence of a vowel. It takes some time getting used to.

Children 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Children: Neuter grammar gender

In this skill we learn a few more words to describe people and things and get to see the grammatical gender in action.

Please read the introductory gender notes in the neighboring Men skill.

Adjectives

We encountered our very first Czech adjective in a previous skill as part of "dobrý den". This adjective and others like it have endings that depend on the gender of the noun they modify:

-ý in masculine, e.g., "dobrý čaj" (good tea)
-á in feminine, e.g., "dobrá káva" (good coffee)
-é in neuter, e.g., "dobré mléko" (good milk)

The adjectives we will be using in this skill (listed in their neuter forms) are:

"dobré" (good)
"malé" (little, small)
"mladé" (young)
"nové" (new)
"staré" (old)
"velké" (big, large)

Demonstratives

"ten" in masculine, e.g., "ten muž" (the/that man)
"ta" in feminine, e.g., "ta žena" (the/that woman)
"to" in neuter, e.g., "to dítě" (the/that child)

Demonstrative adjectives and regular adjectives can usually be combined, in that order: "to malé dítě" (the/that small child).

Pronunciation notes

The comments below build on the tips provided with the first two skills. Please make sure to review them as needed.

Several new consonants appear in this skill:

š is like the "sh" in "sheep" (and an unvoiced counterpart to ž).
v is as in English. It is voiced.
ž is like the sound that the "s" makes in "pleasure".

In "jablko", we get a pronunciation oddball. The "l" is sandwiched between two other consonants, but it makes a vowel-like voiced sound that makes this into a three-syllable word. The other consonant that can do this is "r".

When ě follows d, t, or n, the pronunciation changes the consonant to a d', t', or ň (resp.) followed by a plain e. Compare the sound of "dě" in "děkuju" with that of "de" in "dobrý den", and the sound of "tě" in "Matěj" with that of "te" in "Kateřina".
When ě follows m, the pronunciation effect is as if we replaced the "mě" with "mně". In the end, we get something like a "mñe" sound.
When ě follows any other consonant, we do not change the pronunciation of the consonant and just pronounce the ě like a consonantal "y" (the "y" in "yellow") followed by an e.

Finally, this skill also includes examples of "dí" and "tí" sequences. The rule for those is:

In domestic Czech words, when followed by an i or í, d is pronounced like ď, t like ť, and n like ň (whose sounds we know from "děkuju", "Matěj", and "promiňte"). The vowel itself still sounds the same as y or ý.

What? 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

What?

In this skill we keep on asking about and describing objects and living beings. We learn the missing pieces to complete this table:

Czech	English
(Já) jsem	I am
(Ty) jsi	You are (informal singular)
(On/Ona) je	He/She/It is
(Já) nejsem	I am not
(Ty) nejsi	You are not (informal singular)
(On/Ona) není	He/She/It is not

Czech verbs are usually negated by adding ne- to the front. The irregular "není" is a rare exception.

The "ty" forms of the pronoun and the verb are informal singular, meaning they are used to address single individuals with whom we are on a first name basis or who are much younger than us.

Czech subject pronouns are normally optional, so the table shows them in parentheses. Two of these pronouns normally refer to animate subjects, "on" to masculine animates like "muž" and "ona" to feminine animates like "žena". For inanimates/neuters, we often skip the pronoun or use "to". We have seen enough "to" to need a review.

Pronoun "to"

Demonstrative "to": "To dítě je malé."

Here "to" functions as something between the definite article and the demonstrative adjective "that" for singular neuter nouns. For example,

To dítě je malé. (The/That child is small).

Both "the" and "that" are usually acceptable in translations. The course currently does not allow translations with "this" where "the" can be used in English. Czech has another word for "this" when attached to a noun.

The demonstrative that can be translated as "the" must agree with the gender of the noun it is attached to just like it did in "To dítě je malé.":

Ten kluk je malý. (The/That boy is small.)
Ta holka je Kateřina. (The/That girl is Kateřina.)

Introduction "to": "To je Matěj"

The "to" in introductions like

To je Kateřina/Matěj. (That/This is Kateřina/Matěj.)

does not change to agree with the noun gender.

Here "to" is usually the first word and is mostly translated as "that" or "this" (never "the"). These introductions are not limited to introducing people by name and can be negative. Either "that" or "this" is usually shown in the best translations, but subject pronouns (he, she, it) are usually also recognized:

To je/není malá hruška. (That/This/It is/not a small pear.)

Make sure you notice the pattern: When "the" makes sense in English, "to" must agree with the noun gender in Czech (and cannot be translated as "this" in this course). When "the" does not make sense, "to" is unchanging across noun genders (and can be translated as "this"). "That" typically works in all translations of "ten", "ta", and "to" in the singular.

2nd place "to": "Je to malé zvíře."

We now add a slightly different "to". It is similar to the introduction/pointing kind, but rather than pointing, we are just referencing someone/something just discussed or understood to be the topic:

Je/Není to starý muž. (He is/not an old man.)
Je/Není to starý stroj. (It is/not an old machine.)
Je/Není to mladá žena. (She is/not a young woman.)
Je/Není to malé dítě. (He/She/It is/not a little child.)

Noun-less "to": "To je velké."

Our "the" test says that because "the" does not work in English, "to" does not change to reflect the noun gender. But here we have no noun, just an unattached adjective looking for something to agree with, and it only finds the "to", which then reverts to its singular neuter role. As before, "to" can go first or second:

Je/Není to nové. (It is/not new.)
To je/není nové. (That/This is new.)

Yes/no questions

Pronunciation notes

"Dlouhý" presents the one two-vowel sequence frequently found in domestic words, "ou", pronounced by gliding from one vowel to the next.
"Had" is another example of the final consonant devoicing. The devoiced counterpart of "d" is "t", so "had" sounds like "hat" (the English "hut").
"Není" is an example of a domestic word with a "ní" sequence. The second n gets pronounced like ň.
"Ovce" presents a voiced/devoiced consonant cluster. (Remember "kde"?) The final consonant is devoiced, so the preceding "v" gets pronounded as its devoiced mate "f", and the word sounds like "ofce".

To Be Or Not To Be, Plural 7 · 2022-02-02 ^

Descriptions: Plural

We continue describing objects and living beings, but this time in groups. We need to know the plural forms of the Czech be verb and a few plural personal pronouns:

Czech	English
(My) jsme	We are
(Vy) jste	You are (plural/formal singular)
(Oni/Ony/Ona) jsou	They are
(My) nejsme	We are not
(Vy) nejste	You are not (plural/formal singular)
(Oni/Ony/Ona) nejsou	They are not

The "vy" forms of the pronoun and the verb both formal singular and plural, meaning they are used to address single individuals whom we should show respect as well as groups of individuals.

Two of the plural third-person pronouns are normally used to refer to animate subjects only, "oni" to masculine animates like "muži" and "kluci" and "ony" to feminine animates like "ženy" and "holky". This contrasts with English, where "they" can easily refer to frosted flakes. For inanimate or neuter subjects we usually rely on our favorite Czech word, "to".

Nouns

We learn a few plural nouns:

Czech	English
muž > muži	man > men
kluk > kluci	boy(s)
strom > stromy	tree(s)
pomeranč > pomeranče	orange(s)
žena > ženy	woman > women
holka > holky	girl(s)
hruška > hrušky	pear(s)
restaurace	restaurant(s)
dítě > děti	child(ren)
zvíře > zvířata	animal(s)
jablko > jablka	apple(s)
vejce	egg(s)

This sampling previews some of the plural formation possibilities in Czech:

Animate masculine nouns ending in a consonant in the singular often append -i to form the plural, e.g., we get "muži" and "kluci". Note the written consonant shift from "k" to "c" before the -i ending.
Inanimate masculine nouns usually append -y or -e to form the plural, e.g., we get "stromy" and "pomeranče".
Feminine nouns ending in -a in the singular form the plural by replacing the -a with -y, e.g., "ženy" and "hrušky".
Feminine nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular stay that way in the plural, e.g., "restaurace" (restaurant/restaurants).
Neuter nouns ending in -o in the singular form the plural by replacing the -o with -a, e.g., "jablka".
Some neuter nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular form the plural by replacing the -e/ě with -ata, e.g., "zvířata"; others do not change, like "vejce" (egg/eggs).
The plural of the neuter "dítě" (child) shows that things are not always what they seem in Czech. Instead of the expected (but non-existent) neuter "díťata", we get the feminine plural "děti”.

Adjectives

In the plural, adjectives like "mladý" and "velký" differ in endings between the genders. For the masculine gender, the endings reflect the animate vs inanimate status:

-í in animate masculine, e.g., "mladí muži" (young men)
-é in inanimate masculine, e.g., "velké stromy/pomeranče" (big trees/oranges)
-é in feminine, e.g., "mladé ženy" (young women)
-á in neuter, e.g., "malá zvířata" (small animals)

The consonant shift from "k" to "c" also impacts the animate masculine adjective before the -í ending. Thus we get "velcí kluci" (big boys).

Demonstratives

The Czech demonstrative that is sometimes used where the definite article could go in English has the following plural forms (which again differ between animate and inanimate masculine nouns):

"ti" in animate masculine, e.g., "ti muži" (the/those men)
"ty" in inanimate masculine, e.g., "ty pomeranče" (the/those oranges)
"ty" in feminine, e.g., "ty ženy" (the/those women)
"ta" in neuter, e.g., "ta zvířata" (the/those animals)

Pronoun "to" (again?)

Remember the non-neuter uses of "to" and our "the" test? The same thing happens in the plural:

To ne/jsou velké hrušky. (Those/These are/not large pears.) ["The" does not work, so "to" does not change for the gender and the number of the noun. "They" is also acceptable.]
Ne/jsou to hrušky. (They are/not pears.) [Again, "the" does not work, so "to" does not change. The subject pronoun is preferred for the 2nd place "to". "Those" and "these" are acceptable.]
Ty hrušky ne/jsou velké. (The/Those pears are/not large.) ["The" is possible, so "to" must agree with the gender and the number of the noun.]

Keep in mind

Because the singular neuter "dítě" switches to the feminine "děti" in the plural, the correct forms get some getting used to:

Kde je to malé dítě?
Kde jsou ty malé děti? [Kde jsou ta malá díťata? would be wrong.]

The pronunciation of "děti" may be as challenging as that of "dítě". We had our first example of the "dě" sequence (pronounced as "ďe", where "ď" is roughly a "d"+"y" sequence merged into one sound half-way to "g") in "děkuju", and "ti" sounds like it does in "František" (where the "t" makes a "ť" sound, roughly a "t"+"y" sequence merged into one sound half-way from "t" to "k").

Who? 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Who?

We continue describing objects and living beings, but this time in groups. We need to know the plural forms of the Czech be verb and a few plural personal pronouns:

Czech	English
(My) jsme	We are
(Vy) jste	You are (plural/formal singular)
(Oni/Ony) jsou	They are
(My) nejsme	We are not
(Vy) nejste	You are not (plural/formal singular)
(Oni/Ony) nejsou	They are not

The "vy" forms of the pronoun and the verb are both formal singular and plural, meaning they are used to address single individuals whom we show respect as well as groups of individuals.

Czech plural third-person pronouns are normally used to refer to animate subjects only, "oni" to masculine animates like "muži" and "kluci" and "ony" to feminine animates like "ženy" and "holky". This contrasts with English, where "they" can easily refer to frosted flakes. For inanimate or neuter plural subjects, Czech usually relies on "to".

Nouns

We learn a few plural nouns:

Czech	English
muž > muži	man > men
kluk > kluci	boy(s)
strom > stromy	tree(s)
pomeranč > pomeranče	orange(s)
žena > ženy	woman > women
holka > holky	girl(s)
hruška > hrušky	pear(s)
restaurace	restaurant(s)
dítě > děti	child(ren)
zvíře > zvířata	animal(s)
jablko > jablka	apple(s)
vejce	egg(s)

This sampling previews some of the plural formation possibilities in Czech:

Animate masculine nouns ending in a consonant in the singular often append -i to form the plural, e.g., we get "muži" and "kluci". Note the written consonant shift from "k" to "c" before the -i ending.
Inanimate masculine nouns usually append -y or -e to form the plural, e.g., we get "stromy" and "pomeranče".
Feminine nouns ending in -a in the singular form the plural by replacing the -a with -y, e.g., "ženy" and "hrušky".
Feminine nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular stay that way in the plural, e.g., "restaurace" (restaurant/restaurants).
Neuter nouns ending in -o in the singular form the plural by replacing the -o with -a, e.g., "jablka".
Some neuter nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular form the plural by replacing the -e/ě with -ata, e.g., "zvířata"; others do not change, like "vejce" (egg/eggs).
The plural of the neuter "dítě" (child) shows that things are not always what they seem in Czech. Instead of the expected (but non-existent) neuter "díťata", we get the feminine plural "děti”.

Adjectives

In the plural, adjectives like "mladý" and "velký" differ in endings between the genders. For the masculine gender, the endings reflect the animate vs inanimate status:

-í in animate masculine, e.g., "mladí muži" (young men)
-é in inanimate masculine, e.g., "velké stromy/pomeranče" (big trees/oranges)
-é in feminine, e.g., "mladé ženy" (young women)
-á in neuter, e.g., "malá zvířata" (small animals)

The consonant shift from "k" to "c" also impacts the animate masculine adjective before the -í ending. Thus we get "velcí kluci" (big boys).

Demonstratives

The Czech demonstrative that is sometimes used where the definite article could go in English has the following plural forms (which again differ between animate and inanimate masculine nouns):

"ti" in animate masculine, e.g., "ti muži" (the/those men)
"ty" in inanimate masculine, e.g., "ty pomeranče" (the/those oranges)
"ty" in feminine, e.g., "ty ženy" (the/those women)
"ta" in neuter, e.g., "ta zvířata" (the/those animals)

Pronoun "to" (again?)

Remember the non-neuter uses of "to" and our "the" test? The same thing happens in the plural:

To ne/jsou velké hrušky. (Those/These are/not large pears.) ["The" does not work, so "to" does not change for the gender and the number of the noun. "They" is also acceptable.]
Ne/jsou to hrušky. (They are/not pears.) [Again, "the" does not work, so "to" does not change. The subject pronoun is preferred for the 2nd place "to". "Those" and "these" are acceptable.]
Ty hrušky ne/jsou velké. (The/Those pears are/not large.) ["The" is possible, so "to" must agree with the gender and the number of the noun.]

Keep in mind

Because the singular neuter "dítě" switches to the feminine "děti" in the plural, the correct forms get some getting used to:

Kde je to malé dítě?
Kde jsou ty malé děti? [Kde jsou ta malá díťata? would be wrong.]

The pronunciation of "děti" may be as challenging as that of "dítě". We had our first example of the "dě" sequence (pronounced as "ďe", where "ď" is roughly a "d"+"y" sequence merged into one sound half-way to "g") in "děkuju", and "ti" sounds like it does in "František" (where the "t" makes a "ť" sound, roughly a "t"+"y" sequence merged into one sound half-way from "t" to "k").

Plural 2 · 2020-08-15 ^

Plural

In this skill we build on our knowledge of forming the plural forms of nouns and adjectives to describe people and things.

Nouns

Recall our initial observations for nouns:

Animate masculine nouns ending in a consonant in the singular often append -i to form the plural, e.g., we get "muži" and "kluci". Note the written consonant shift from "k" to "c" before the -i ending.
Inanimate masculine nouns usually append -y or -e to form the plural, e.g., we get "stromy" and "pomeranče".
Feminine nouns ending in -a in the singular form the plural by replacing the -a with -y, e.g., "ženy" and "hrušky".
Feminine nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular stay that way in the plural, e.g., "restaurace" (restaurant/restaurants).
Neuter nouns ending in -o in the singular form the plural by replacing the -o with -a, e.g., "jablka".
Some neuter nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular form the plural by replacing the -e/ě with -ata, e.g., "zvířata"; others do not change, like "vejce" (egg/eggs).
The plural of the neuter "dítě" (child) is the feminine "děti”.

We introduce the following plurals:

Czech	English
had > hadi	snake(s)
pták > ptáci	bird(s)
táta > tátové	dad(s)
turista > turisti	tourist(s)
učitel > učitelé	teacher(s)
autobus > autobusy	bus(es)
hotel > hotely	hotel(s)
stroj > stroje	machine(s)
loď > lodě	ship(s)
mr`kev` > mr`kv`e	carrot(s)
postel > postele	bed(s)
věc > věci	thing(s)
auto > auta	car(s)
nádraží	train station(s)
rajče > rajčata	tomato(es)
sedadlo > sedadla	seat(s)

Let’s now expand our plural noun formation guidance:

Animate masculine nouns ending in -tel in the singular append -é to form the plural, e.g., we get "učitelé". (Feminine or inanimate masculine nouns ending in -tel do not follow this rule, so we have "postele" and "hotely".)
Animate masculine nouns ending in -a in the singular often append -ové to form the plural, e.g., we get "tátové". But nouns ending in -ista usually replace the -a with -i (in informal, colloquial settings) or -é (in writing or formal speech), so we get "turisti" or "turisté".
Inanimate masculine nouns append -y or -e to form the plural. The choice depends on the consonant the singular noun ends in. We get "autobusy", "hotely", and "stromy", but "pomeranče" and "stroje". Let’s start keeping track of what consonants go with the -e; we have "č" and "j" for now; a pattern will emerge.
Feminine nouns ending in a consonant in the singular append -e or -i to form the plural. We get "mrkve", "postele", "lodě", and "věci". Note the deletion of the inside "e" on the way from "mrkev" to "mrkve", which does not impact "postele".
Neuter nouns ending in -í in the singular remain the same in the plural, e.g., "nádraží".

Consonant shifts

"dlouhý had" to "dlouzí hadi"
"dobrý/chytrý učitel" to " dobří/chytří učitelé"

Pronunciation

Questions 1 6 · 2022-03-16 ^

Questions 1

In this skill, we focus on asking questions about people, animals, and objects, both those that can be answered just yes/no, and those requesting more information using question words like the English "which".

Yes-no questions

English usually uses word order (in addition to rising terminal intonation when speaking) to distinguish yes-no questions from statements. Czech often doesn't do this, instead relying on intonation in spoken Czech and leaving the question mark at the end of the sentence as the only written hint.

For example, "Jsi kluk?" looks just like "Jsi kluk.", while the usual English word order in the question "Are you a boy?" clearly differs from that in the statement "You are a boy."

In "Je František vysoký?", we see that the usual Czech word order for yes-no questions does involve a sort of inversion: The verb goes first. It just was not obvious in "Jsi kluk?" because of the dropped subject pronoun (ty).

Personal pronouns normally are dropped in yes-no questions, and including them gives some meaning nuance:

Jsi nový student? (Are you a new student?)

is the neutral way of asking,

Jsi nový student ty? (Are you a new student?)

emphasizes that now your situation is of interest (perhaps we have just mentioned some other new student),

Ty jsi nový student? (You are a new student?)

may express surprise similar to the English statement question, and

Jsi ty nový student?

(which matches the neutral English question word for word) is a strangely affected and marginal word order in Czech. There are other, more acceptable order permutations in Czech, but let’s move on.

Question-word questions

The English question words (a.k.a. the wh-words) have their counterparts in Czech, e.g., "kdo" (who), "co" (what, as in what thing), "kde" (where), "jak" (how), "proč" (why), "jaký" (what, as in what kind of), "který" (which), and "čí" (whose).

These words typically start their questions in Czech, much like in English, and the overall word order is also similar:

Kdo je ta zvláštní holka? (Who's that strange girl?)
Kdo jsou ti kluci? (Who are those boys?)
Co je to? (What is it/that?)
Kde jsem? (Where am I?)
Jak starý jsi? (How old are you? [asked of a male])
Proč je to malé? (Why is it small?)
Jaký muž je Matěj? (What kind of man is Matěj?)
Jaká je Kateřina? (What is Kateřina like?)
Jaké je to město? (What is that city like?)
Která holka je Jitka? (Which girl is Jitka?)
Čí pes to je? (Whose dog is it?)

You may have noticed that some of the question words change form:

"Jaký" and "který" behave like regular adjectives and change endings depending on gender and number, so we may get "jaká", "jaké", "která", "které". Similar to the consonant shifted "velcí" and "staří", the animate masculine forms are "jací" and "kteří".
None of the remaining question words change their endings for now.

New words of note

This skill introduces three adjectives that do not change their endings with gender: "další" (another/the next), "poslední" (last), and "zvláštní" (strange, odd). Because of their ending, these belong in the class called the soft adjectives. (Yes, the regular ones like "velký" are hard adjectives.) The interrogative "čí" also behaves like a soft adjective.

This skill introduces a new masculine animate noun "manžel" (husband). It has an odd plural, "manželé", which is also grammatically masculine animate and may mean "husbands" or "husband and wife".

Pronunciation notes

The new adjective "hezký" (pretty/handsome for people and nice for objects) and the new noun "otázka" (question) contain the same voiced/devoiced consonant cluster. The final consonant in the cluster ("k") is devoiced, and because the final consonant rules, the preceding "z" gets devoiced into an "s", and the words end up sounding like "heský" and "otáska".
The cluster in "kdo" (who) ends in a voiced final consonant, so the outcome is the opposite, voicing the "k" into a "g" and resulting in "gdo" as the pronunciation. (We saw this with "kde" in the intro skill.)

Prepositions: Accusative 3 · 2022-02-02 ^

Prepositions for the accusative case

This skill introduces the accusative forms of the first and last names we have in the course:

Nom.	Acc.
František	Františka
Jakub	Jakuba
Jitka	Jitku
Kateřina	Kateřinu
Matěj	Matěje
Žofie	Žofii

Nom.	Acc.
pan Dvořák	pana Dvořáka
pan Novotný	pana Novotného
paní Dvořáková	paní Dvořákovou
paní Novotná	paní Novotnou

Accusatives of a few regular nouns are also introduced:

Nom.	Acc.
divadlo	divadlo
jídlo	jídlo
muž	muže
žena	ženu

Na

Person	wait for	look at	think about
já	čekám	se dívám	myslím
ty	čekáš	se díváš	myslíš
on/ona/ono	čeká	se dívá	myslí
my	čekáme	se díváme	myslíme
vy	čekáte	se díváte	myslíte
oni/ony/ona	čekají	se dívají	myslí, myslejí
infinitive	čekat	dívat se	myslet

The "infinitive" forms are only shown to help you find the verbs in dictionaries.

The three English verbs each come with a different preposition. "Čekám na Kateřinu." is "I am waiting for Kateřina.", while "Dívám se na Kateřinu." is "I am looking at Kateřina."

The verb particle "se" in that last example is another encounter in this course with this challenging word. (Recall we saw it in sentences like "Jak se jmenuje?")

See the following additional examples of placing "se":

Ona se dívá na Matěje. (She is looking at Matěj.)
Ta nová holka se dívá na Matěje. (The new girl is looking at Matěj.)
Kdo se dívá na Matěje? (Who is looking at Matěj?)
Na Matěje se díváme my. (We are looking at Matěj.)
Proč se nedíváte na Františka? (Why aren't you looking at František?)

Ale on se dívá na Žofii. (But he is looking at Žofie.)
Ano, a ona se dívá na Kateřinu. (Yes, and she is looking at Kateřina.)

"Na" is also used with one other case, to be covered later in the course.

O

Two verbs are introduced to demonstrate the accusative use of "o":

Person	care about	be interested in
já	se starám	se zajímám
ty	se staráš	se zajímáš
on/ona/ono	se stará	se zajímá
my	se staráme	se zajímáme
vy	se staráte	se zajímáte
oni/ony/ona	se starají	se zajímají
infinitive	starat se	zajímat se

The "infinitive" forms are only shown to help you find the verbs in dictionaries.

Both of these verbs come with the particle se discussed above.

"O" is also used with one other case to be covered later in the course.

Groups 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Groups: More plurals

In this skill we build on our knowledge of forming the plural forms of nouns and adjectives to describe people, animals, and things.

Nouns

Recall our initial observations for nouns:

Animate masculine nouns ending in a consonant in the singular often append -i to form the plural, e.g., we get "muži" and "kluci". Note the written consonant shift from "k" to "c" before the -i ending.
Inanimate masculine nouns usually append -y or -e to form the plural, e.g., we get "stromy" and "pomeranče".
Feminine nouns ending in -a in the singular form the plural by replacing the -a with -y, e.g., "ženy" and "hrušky".
Feminine nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular stay that way in the plural, e.g., "restaurace" (restaurant/restaurants).
Neuter nouns ending in -o in the singular form the plural by replacing the -o with -a, e.g., "jablka".
Some neuter nouns ending in -e/ě in the singular form the plural by replacing the -e/ě with -ata, e.g., "zvířata"; others do not change, like "vejce" (egg/eggs).
The plural of the neuter "dítě" (child) is the feminine "děti”.

This skill introduces the following new plurals:

Czech	English
chlapec > chlapci	boy(s)
člověk > lidé (irregular)	person > people
dům > domy	house(s)
had > hadi	snake(s)
hotel > hotely	hotel(s)
hrad > hrady	castle(s)
táta > tátové	dad(s)
dívka > dívky	girl(s)
kniha > knihy	book(s)
kočka > kočky	cat(s)
koza > kozy	goat(s)
máma > mámy	mom(s)
mr`kev` > mr`kv`e	carrot(s)
myš > myši	mouse > mice
ovce > ovce	sheep (sg. & pl.)
postel > postele	bed(s)
věc > věci	thing(s)
věta > věty	sentence(s)
auto > auta	car(s)
jméno > jména	name(s)
nádraží	train station(s)
náměstí	town square(s)
pero > pera	pen(s)
prase > prasata	pig(s)
rajče > rajčata	tomato(es)
slovo > slova	word(s)
tričko > trička	word(s)

Let’s now expand our plural noun formation guidance:

Animate masculine nouns ending in -a in the singular often append -ové to form the plural, e.g., we get "tátové".
Feminine nouns ending in a consonant in the singular append -e or -i to form the plural. We get "mrkve", "myši", "postele", and "věci". Note the deletion of the inside "e" on the way from "mrkev" to "mrkve", which does not impact "postele".
Neuter nouns ending in -í in the singular remain the same in the plural, e.g., "nádraží" and "náměstí".

Consonant shifts

Recall the written consonant shift from "k" to "c" before the -i/í endings: That is how we went from "velký kluk" to "velcí kluci" (and keep going from "hezký chlapec" to "hezcí chlapci"). We also encounter new written shifts from "h" to "z" and from "r" to "ř". That’s how we go from

"dlouhý had" to "dlouzí hadi"
"dobrý táta" to " dobří tátové"

Vowel deletions/alterations

Sometimes the "e" just before the final consonant in the singular vanishes from the plural:

chlapec > chlapci [common for masculine nouns ending in -ec]
mrkev > mrkve [common for feminine nouns ending in -ev]

The "ů" that was the only vowel in the singular sometimes becomes an "o" in the plural:

dům > domy

Nouns with "ů" as the only stem vowel are rare enough to allow memorizing this irregularity individually.

Adjectives

The previous skill introduced the three "soft" adjectives that do not change their endings with gender: "další" (another/the next), "poslední" (last), and "zvláštní" (strange, odd). We now see that their endings stay the same in the plural as well:

Co jsou ty zvláštní domy/věci? (What are those strange houses/things?)

Thou 3 · 2022-02-02 ^

Addressing people: Vocative

We now learn how to address people, which is our opportunity to explore the vocative case.

Vocative

Recall that when Jakub's name appears as the subject of a verb, it is in the nominative case:

Jakub pije mléko. (Jakub drinks milk.).

When he appears as the object of a verb, his name is often in the accusative case:

Jakuba nevidím. (I cannot see Jakub.).

If you have yet to take the Prepos. A skill, just replace "Jakub" with "medvěd" and consider how the endings mirror what happened in the Animals skill.

If we want to call Jakub by name, we will need to use his name in the vocative case:

Jakube, proč nepiješ vodu? (Jakub, why don't you drink water?)

Yes, the ending changes again. We will only learn the vocative forms for the first names, last names, and the titles we have in the course:

Nom.	Acc.	Voc.
František	Františka	Františku
Jakub	Jakuba	Jakube
Jitka	Jitku	Jitko
Kateřina	Kateřinu	Kateřino
Matěj	Matěje	Matěji
Žofie	Žofii	Žofie
pan	pana	pane
Dvořák	Dvořáka	Dvořáku
Novotný	Novotného	Novotný
paní	paní	paní
Dvořáková	Dvořákovou	Dvořáková
Novotná	Novotnou	Novotná

Formal vs informal address (again)

Kateřino, (vy) jste mladá žena. (Kateřina, you are a young woman.)

uses the plural "(vy) jste" but singular "mladá".

More greetings

Your name? 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Your name?

In this skill we talk about what someone’s name is or what something is called. The most natural method of this in Czech is the same for people and things and involves a new verb:

Jak se jmenuje ten nový student? (What is the new student’s name?)
Nový student se jmenuje Jakub. (The new student’s name is Jakub.)
Jmenuje se Jakub. (His name is Jakub.)

The question includes "jak", which we already know means "how". The "se jmenuje" (or "jmenuje se" if starting the sentence) fragment means roughly "calls himself". The deconstructed sentences are approximately "How/what does the new student call himself?" and "The new student (he) calls himself Jakub." This may feel familiar to learners with Romance language backgrounds.

The "se" is a very common Czech word. For now let’s consider it a mobile piece of the verb.

The new verb

We will need a table to let us choose the right form of the verb to match who the sentence is about. Most of the verb endings should seem familiar from our work with the translations of "be":

Czech	English
já se jmenuju (jmenuju se)	my name is
ty se jmenuješ (jmenuješ se)	your name is
on/ona/to se jmenuje (jmenuje se)	his/her/its name is
my se jmenujeme (jmenujeme se)	our names are
vy se jmenujete (jmenujete se)	your name is/names are
oni/ony se jmenujou (jmenujou se)	their names are

So if someone asks you

Jak se jmenuješ? (What’s your name?)

you might reply

Já se jmenuju [your name here]. (My name is ...)
Jmenuju se [your name here]. (My name is ...)

or, when in doubt,

Nerozumím česky.

Nouns of note

We learn a few more nouns and plural noun forms. Let’s focus on those that do more than just follow our guidelines in progress:

We learn a new inanimate masculine noun and its plural: "stroj" and "stroje", machine(s). Our list of consonants after which the masculine inanimate ending in the plural is -e instead of -y grows to "č" and "j". (We already had "pomeranče".)

We also learn that the plural of the animate masculine "učitel" (teacher) is "učitelé". This along with "manželé" suggests that animate masculine nouns ending in -el in the singular append -é to form the plural.

Cultural item: Last names

Czech last names traditionally differ systematically between males and females for most last names. This skill introduces two very common surname pairs:

One very common last name is "Dvořák", made world-famous by the classical music composer. This is a male last name traditionally paired with "Dvořáková" as the female counterpart. Note the addition of -ová following the final consonant of the male last name.
Another very common pair is "Novotný" (male) and "Novotná" (female). Here the male last name has a hard adjective ending (similar to that in "nový"), and the paired female last name is one in which the masculine ending -ý becomes the feminine -á.

Many regular Czech nouns and adjectives are in use as last names. The traditional and still common approach is that a new wife takes on her new husband’s last name (adjusted as needed) on marrying him, and any children born within their marriage start their life with the same last name as the parent of the matching gender. This tradition is starting to change, but we use it as a simple starting point.

When referring to individuals using just their last names, it is polite to include "pan" (Mr.) or "paní" (Mrs./Ms.). just before the last name. For example:

Paní Novotná je dobrá učitelka. (Mrs. Novotná is a good teacher.)
Ne, pan Dvořák není doma. (No, Mr. Dvořák is not at home.)

Or both the first name and the last name can be used without implying lack of respect:

Nový student se jmenuje František Dvořák. (The new student’s name is František Dvořák.)

As we did with the first names, we want to keep the last names untranslated in the answers.

Personal Pronouns 2 · 2019-11-11 ^

Personal pronouns

The nominative and accusative forms of the personal pronouns are listed in the following table:

Nom.	Acc. w/o prep.	Acc. after prep.
já	mě, mne	mě, mne
ty	tě, tebe	tebe
on (animate)	ho, jeho, jej	něho, něj
on (inanimate)	ho, jej	něj
ona (sing.)	ji	ni
ono	ho, je, jej	ně, něj
my	nás	nás
vy	vás	vás
oni, ony, ona (pl.)	je	ně

Several things to keep in mind:

The accusative forms of some of the pronouns differ depending on whether or not a preposition precedes them.
Some of the forms can only appear in the second position in the clause (like the verb particle se). These "clitics" are the forms listed in italics. Using these outside of the second position is an error, except when a higher priority second-place item, such as the verb particle, pushes the pronoun to the right. Using the two-syllable alternatives to the clitics in the second position tends to be emphatic, sometimes to the point of clashing with the ordering in the rest of the sentence, and thus also an error.
Several forms are in parallel use for some of the pronouns. In general, the forms given first are more common.
Several forms (e.g., ho, je/ně, and jej/něj) appear in more than one row of the table. Their meaning depends on context.
The pronoun to in the meaning of "it" is used much more frequently than ono in the same meaning in all cases. The accusative of to is also to.

A few examples:

Máš mě rád? (Do you like me?)
Stará se o mě. (She is taking care of me.)
Nesnáším tě. (I can't stand you.)
Ta polévka je pro tebe. (That soup is for you.)
Vidíte ho? (Can you see him/it?)
Jeho nevidím. (I can't see him.)
My jej potřebujeme. (We need him/it.)
Čekají na něho. (They are waiting for him.)
Kde na něj čekají? (Where are they waiting for him/it?)
Potřebujou ji? (Do they need her?)
Myslím na ni. (I am thinking about her.)
Ženy ho chápou. (Women understand it/him.)
Ženy je chápou. (Women understand it/them.)
Ženy jej chápou. (Women understand it/him.)
Díváme se na ně. (We are looking at it/them.)
Dívám se na něj. (I am looking at it/him.)
Kateřina je nesnáší. (Kateřina can't stand them/it.)

A: Její auto je velmi špinavé. (Her car is very dirty.)
B: Opravdu? Kde ho vidíš? (Really? Where do you see it?)

Possessive Pronouns 1 · 2018-10-25 ^

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns můj, tvůj, and svůj

Můj corresponds to the English “my” or “mine”.
Tvůj corresponds to the English “your” or “yours” if the possessor is singular and referred to informally.
Svůj very loosely corresponds to the English “own” and indicates the possession by the subject of the clause. This is the pronoun we would use to translate “I love my dog.”

Summary of possessive pronouns můj, tvůj, and svůj

Gender	Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
M an.	můj	mého	moji, mí	moje, mé
M in.	můj	můj	moje, mé	moje, mé
F	moje, má	moji, mou	moje, mé	moje, mé
N	moje, mé	moje, mé	moje, má	moje, má

Several things to keep in mind:

The “gender” in the table is the grammatical gender of the thing being possessed. It does not matter what gender the possessor is.
Multiple (two) choices exist for several gender/number/case combinations. The forms given earlier are generally more common.
The form mého and (where two choices are provided) the forms given second share their endings with the hard adjective paradigm. For example, the feminine singular accusative mou predictably follows the ending of velkou. However, the masculine form “mý“ that could be expected from velký does not exist.
Many of the forms appear in multiple portions of the table.

It gets easier from here.

Possessive pronouns náš and váš

Náš corresponds to the English “our” or “ours”.
Váš corresponds to the English “your” or “yours” if the possessor is either singular and referred to formally or plural.

Summary of possessive pronouns náš and váš

Gender	Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
M an.	náš	našeho	naši	naše
M in.	náš	náš	naše	naše
F	naše	naši	naše	naše
N	naše	naše	naše	naše

Several things to keep in mind:

The “gender” in the table is the grammatical gender of the thing being possessed. It does not matter what gender the possessor is.
Many of the forms appear in multiple portions of the table.
The endings follow the non-adjectival entries in the previous table.

Possessive pronoun její

This pronoun means "her" or "hers".

Summary of the possessive pronoun její

Gender	Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
M an.	její	jejího	její	její
M in.	její	její	její	její
F	její	její	její	její
N	její	její	její	její

Things to note:

The “gender” in the table is the grammatical gender of the thing being possessed.
The endings follow the soft adjective paradigm.

Possessive pronouns jeho and jejich

Food 7 · 2022-03-16 ^

Food: Accusative

Please read the introductory paragraphs on cases and the summary of the adjective endings in the nominative and the accusative in the neighboring Animals skill. We needed to conserve room here.

Masculine animate nouns

No new masculine animate nouns appear in this skill.

Masculine inanimate nouns

Hrad paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
hrad	hrad	hrady	hrady
banán	banán	banány	banány
cukr	cukr	cukry	cukry
hlad	hlad	-	-
chléb	chléb	chleby	chleby
meloun	meloun	melouny	melouny
sýr	sýr	sýry	sýry

Stroj paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
stroj	stroj	stroje	stroje
čaj	čaj	čaje	čaje

Feminine nouns

Žena paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
žena	ženu	ženy	ženy
hruška	hrušku	hrušky	hrušky
káva	kávu	kávy	kávy
polévka	polévku	polévky	polévky
voda	vodu	vody	vody

Ulice paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
ulice	ulici	ulice	ulice

No new nouns following this pattern appear in this skill.

Píseň paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
píseň	píseň	písně	písně
žízeň	žízeň	žízně	žízně

Věc paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
věc	věc	věci	věci
sůl	sůl	soli	soli

Neuter nouns

Město paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
město	město	města	města
jablko	jablko	jablka	jablka
maso	maso	masa	masa
mléko	mléko	mléka	mléka
pivo	pivo	piva	piva
vajíčko	vajíčko	vajíčka	vajíčka

Kuře paradigm

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
kuře	kuře	kuřata	kuřata

"Kuře" (chicken) is the official declension paradigm word for "prase", "rajče", and "zvíře".

Náměstí pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
náměstí	náměstí	náměstí	náměstí

No new nouns following this pattern appear in this skill.

A few extra verbs

Person	eat	have	drink	need	stand	want
já	jím	mám	piju, piji	potřebuju, potřebuji	snáším	chci
ty	jíš	máš	piješ	potřebuješ	snášíš	chceš
on, ona, ono	jí	má	pije	potřebuje	snáší	chce
my	jíme	máme	pijeme	potřebujeme	snášíme	chceme
vy	jíte	máte	pijete	potřebujete	snášíte	chcete
oni, ony, ona	`jedí`	mají	pijou, pijí	potřebujou, potřebují	snášejí, snáší	chtějí
infinitive	jíst	mít	pít	potřebovat	snášet	chtít

The "infinitive" forms are only shown to help you find the verbs in dictionaries.

The verb shown in the "stand" column would be close to "tolerate" when used without negation. But it is almost always used as a negated verb best translated as "cannot stand":

Nesnáším hrušky. (I can't stand pears.)

Pro: Our first preposition

Animals 3 · 2022-03-16 ^

Animals: Accusative

The accusative case is mostly used to mark the object of a verb, i.e., the target of the action, and often without preposition. Whatever František is eating normally ends up in the accusative.

To tell the accusative from the nominative, we need to pay attention to the endings, just like we did when making the plural.

Demonstrative adjective forms

Singular

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	ten	ten	ta	to
Acc.	toho	ten	tu	to

Plural

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	ti	ty	ty	ta
Acc.	ty	ty	ty	ta

Hard adjective endings

Singular

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	-ý	-ý	-á	-é
Acc.	-ého	-ý	-ou	-é

Plural

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	-í	-é	-é	-á
Acc.	-é	-é	-é	-á

Soft adjective endings

Singular

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Acc.	-ího	-í	-í	-í

Plural

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Acc.	-í	-í	-í	-í

Masculine animate nouns

Kluk pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
kluk	kluka	kluci	kluky
medvěd	medvěda	medvědi	medvědy
osel	osla	osli	osly
pavouk	pavouka	pavouci	pavouky
pes	psa	psi	psy
pták	ptáka	ptáci	ptáky
vlk	vlka	vlci	vlky

Muž pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
muž	muže	muži	muže
kůň	koně	koně	koně

Masculine inanimate nouns

No new masculine inanimate nouns appear in this skill.

Feminine nouns

Žena pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
žena	ženu	ženy	ženy
husa	husu	husy	husy
kachna	kachnu	kachny	kachny
kočka	kočku	kočky	kočky
koza	kozu	kozy	kozy
kráva	krávu	krávy	krávy
liška	lišku	lišky	lišky
moucha	mouchu	mouchy	mouchy
ryba	rybu	ryby	ryby

Ulice pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
ulice	ulici	ulice	ulice
ovce	ovci	ovce	ovce
slepice	slepici	slepice	slepice

Věc pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
věc	věc	věci	věci
myš	myš	myši	myši

Neuter nouns

Město pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
město	město	města	města
žrádlo	žrádlo	žrádla	žrádla

Zvíře pattern

Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
zvíře	zvíře	zvířata	zvířata
prase	prase	prasata	prasata

A few extra verbs

Person	look for	chase	see	eat*
já	hledám	honím	vidím	žeru
ty	hledáš	honíš	vidíš	žereš
on/a/o	hledá	honí	vidí	žere
my	hledáme	honíme	vidíme	žereme
vy	hledáte	honíte	vidíte	žerete
oni/y/a	hledají	honí	vidí	žerou
infinitive	hledat	honit	vidět	žrát

*Please note that the Czech verb shown for English "eat" is only applicable in standard Czech if the eater is an animal. Using it to describe the consumption of food by humans is rather coarse.

The "infinitive" forms are only shown to help you find the verbs in dictionaries.

Waiting 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Waiting: Prepositions for the accusative case

This skill introduces the accusative forms of the first and last names we have in the course:

Nom.	Acc.
František	Františka
Jakub	Jakuba
Jitka	Jitku
Kateřina	Kateřinu
Matěj	Matěje
Žofie	Žofii

Nom.	Acc.
pan Dvořák	pana Dvořáka
pan Novotný	pana Novotného
paní Dvořáková	paní Dvořákovou
paní Novotná	paní Novotnou

Accusatives of a few regular nouns are also introduced:

Nom.	Acc.
divadlo	divadlo
jídlo	jídlo
muž	muže
žena	ženu

Na

Person	wait for	look at	think about
já	čekám	se dívám	myslím
ty	čekáš	se díváš	myslíš
on/ona/ono	čeká	se dívá	myslí
my	čekáme	se díváme	myslíme
vy	čekáte	se díváte	myslíte
oni/ony/ona	čekají	se dívají	myslí, myslejí
infinitive	čekat	dívat se	myslet

The "infinitive" forms are only shown to help you find the verbs in dictionaries.

The three English verbs each come with a different preposition. "Čekám na Kateřinu." is "I am waiting for Kateřina.", while "Dívám se na Kateřinu." is "I am looking at Kateřina."

The verb particle "se" in that last example is another encounter in this course with this challenging word. (Recall we saw it in sentences like "Jak se jmenuje?")

See the following additional examples of placing "se":

Ona se dívá na Matěje. (She is looking at Matěj.)
Ta nová holka se dívá na Matěje. (The new girl is looking at Matěj.)
Kdo se dívá na Matěje? (Who is looking at Matěj?)
Na Matěje se díváme my. (We are looking at Matěj.)
Proč se nedíváte na Františka? (Why aren't you looking at František?)

Ale on se dívá na Žofii. (But he is looking at Žofie.)
Ano, a ona se dívá na Kateřinu. (Yes, and she is looking at Kateřina.)

"Na" is also used with one other case, to be covered later in the course.

O

Two verbs are introduced to demonstrate the accusative use of "o":

Person	care about	be interested in
já	se starám	se zajímám
ty	se staráš	se zajímáš
on/ona/ono	se stará	se zajímá
my	se staráme	se zajímáme
vy	se staráte	se zajímáte
oni/ony/ona	se starají	se zajímají
infinitive	starat se	zajímat se

The "infinitive" forms are only shown to help you find the verbs in dictionaries.

Both of these verbs come with the particle se discussed above.

"O" is also used with one other case to be covered later in the course.

Demonstratives 2 · 2020-05-23 ^

Demonstratives

Forms of ten

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	ten	ten	ta	to
Acc. sg.	toho	ten	tu	to
Gen. sg.	toho	toho	té	toho
Nom. pl.	ti	ty	ty	ta
Acc. pl.	ty	ty	ty	ta
Gen. pl.	těch	těch	těch	těch

Forms of tamten

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	tamten	tamten	tamta	tamto
Acc. sg.	tamtoho	tamten	tamtu	tamto
Gen. sg.	tamtoho	tamtoho	tamté	tamtoho
Nom. pl.	tamti	tamty	tamty	tamta
Acc. pl.	tamty	tamty	tamty	tamta
Gen. pl.	tamtěch	tamtěch	tamtěch	tamtěch

A few examples from the skill:

Znám tamtoho hocha a tamten dům. (I know that boy and that house.)
Tamto jméno neznáme. (We do not know that name.)
Počítá tamhlety osly. (He is counting those donkeys over there.)

Forms of tento

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	tento	tento	tato	toto
Acc. sg.	tohoto	tento	tuto	toto
Gen. sg.	tohoto	tohoto	této	tohoto
Nom. pl.	tito	tyto	tyto	tato
Acc. pl.	tyto	tyto	tyto	tato
Gen. pl.	těchto	těchto	těchto	těchto

The forms of tenhle follow the same pattern as those of tento. Both of these demonstratives mean "this", but tento is quite formal and tenhle informal. Both are standard Czech.

Forms of takový, takovýto, and takovýhle

The declensions are easy to figure out: Just decline "takový" as a hard adjective, and append "to" or "hle" after the hard adjective ending as appropriate.

Some examples:

Takové auto potřebujeme i my! (Even we need a car like that!)
Proč chceš znát takováto slova? (Why do you want to know words like these/such words?)
Takovýchhle přátel mám málo. (I have few friends like these.)

In/Formal: Vocative 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

In/Formal: Addressing people and the vocative case

We now learn how to address people, which is our opportunity to explore the vocative case and get into more greetings.

Vocative

When Jakub's name appears as the subject of a verb, it is in the nominative case:

Jakub pije mléko. (Jakub drinks milk.).

When Jakub appears as the object of a verb, his name is often in the accusative case:

Jakuba nevidím. (I cannot see Jakub.)

If we want to call Jakub by name, we will need to use his name in the vocative case:

Jakube, proč nepiješ vodu? (Jakub, why don't you drink water?)

Yes, the ending changes again. We will only learn the vocative forms for the first names, last names, and titles we have in the course:

Nom.	Acc.	Voc.
František	Františka	Františku
Jakub	Jakuba	Jakube
Jitka	Jitku	Jitko
Kateřina	Kateřinu	Kateřino
Matěj	Matěje	Matěji
Žofie	Žofii	Žofie
pan	pana	pane
Dvořák	Dvořáka	Dvořáku
Novotný	Novotného	Novotný
paní	paní	paní
Dvořáková	Dvořákovou	Dvořáková
Novotná	Novotnou	Novotná

Review the cases in this example:

Františku, má Jitka meloun pro Žofii?

Formal vs informal address (again)

Paní Dvořáková, (vy) jste mladá. (Mrs. Dvořáková, you are young.)

uses the plural "(vy) jste" but singular "mladá".

Cultural item

The familiarity level implied in using the "ty" address in Czech goes well beyond using the first name in English. In Czech, both "ty" and "vy" forms can occur with the first name address, depending on the actual level of familiarity and situation. Intermediate situations in which the "vy" forms are used along with the first name are possible.

But because that intermediate zone requires much calibration in the field, we will work with the simplified model in which the "ty" address in Czech corresponds to the first name basis in English, and the "vy" address is used otherwise. This at least avoids the biggest cultural blunder, using the overly familiar "ty" address where deference is in order. The course enforces this by rejecting the "ty" forms when individuals are being addressed as "pan" or "paní" with last names. With first names, we prefer the "ty" forms but do not reject answers with "vy".

More greetings

The polite/familiar distinctions also impact the appropriate greetings and set phrases. For example, while "děkuju" is widely applicable, "dobrý den" is mostly incompatible with the "ty" address. More greetings and phrases with their suggested politeness context below:

Czech	English	Politeness
ahoj	hi/hello, bye	ty
děkuju	thank you	both
díky	thanks	both
dobré odpoledne	good afternoon	vy
dobré ráno	good morning	vy
dobrou noc	good night	both
dobrý den	hello	vy
dobrý večer	good evening	vy
hezký víkend	have a nice weekend	both
na shledanou	good bye	vy

The only politeness incompatibility in the above table that we reject answers for is the use of "ahoj" with "pan" or "paní" plus last name.

Pronunciation note

"Na shledanou" shows a complication in how consonant clusters mixing voiced and unvoiced consonants in the same syllable get pronounced.

Words like "kde" show the usual effect, where the final consonant of the cluster determines how to pronounce the rest of it. In "kde", the final "d" is voiced, so the preceding "k" gets converted to its voiced mate "g" in speech, and the word sounds like "gde".

The "sh" cluster gets processed in the opposite direction, at least in Bohemia. Instead of matching the cluster to the final voiced/unvoiced consonant, which would produce the "zh" sound by voicing the "s" into a "z" to match the voiced "h" at the end as expected, the unvoiced "s" remains and instead converts the final voiced "h" into the unvoiced "ch". As a result, the greeting gets pronounced as "naschledanou". (Speakers of Moravian dialects of Czech skip these complications for the "sh" cluster, and their "na shledanou" is rendered simply as "nazhledanou".)

You may wonder why the important cluster in "na shledanou" is "sh" rather than "shl". This is because these voicings and devoicings within the cluster ignore any final "l". (Other similarly ignored cluster-final consonants include "r", "ř", and "v").

Questions 2 3 · 2022-03-16 ^

Questions with the accusative case

Yes-no questions

Yes-no questions (i.e., those that can be answered with yes or no) are formed with the accusative just as they are with the nominative.

For example, Díváš se na Žofii? means "Are you looking at Žofie?".

Question-word questions

When we are asking about the verb object in the accusative, the question words that look like adjectives (jaký, který, and čí) have to be put in their accusative forms. These will follow the hard (jaký, který) or soft (čí) adjective paradigms:

Hard adjective endings (summary)

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	-ý	-ý	-á	-é
Acc. sg.	-ého	-ý	-ou	-é
Nom. pl.	-í	-é	-é	-á
Acc. pl.	-é	-é	-é	-á

Soft adjective endings (summary)

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Acc. sg.	-ího	-í	-í	-í
Nom. pl.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Acc. pl.	-í	-í	-í	-í

The Czech question words are typically used to start the questions even in the accusative (and other applicable cases), except that if any preposition is associated with the question word, the preposition must come first. For example, "Which girl are you looking at?" is Na kterou holku se díváš?

The accusative of kdo (who) is koho. Co (what) remains unchanged between the nominative and the accusative.

A few more examples:

Co chceš? (What do you want?)
Na koho se dívá ta dívka? (Who's that girl looking at?)
O čího koně se staráte? (Whose horse are you looking after?)
Pro kterého psa potřebují to žrádlo? (Which dog do they need the food for?)
Jaká jablka chce? (What kind of apples does she want?)

Additionally, this skill introduces the question word for "when", which is kdy. This word is not necessarily related to the accusative case.

Kdy to potřebuješ? (When do you need it?)

You and me 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

You and me: Personal pronouns

The nominative and accusative forms of the personal pronouns are listed in the following table:

Nom.	Acc. w/o prep.	Acc. after prep.
já	mě, mne	mě, mne
ty	tě, tebe	tebe
on (animate)	ho, jeho, jej	něho, něj
on (inanimate)	ho, jej	něj
ona (sing.)	ji	ni
ono	ho, je, jej	ně, něj
my	nás	nás
vy	vás	vás
oni, ony, ona (pl.)	je	ně

Several things to keep in mind:

The accusative forms of some of the pronouns differ depending on whether or not a preposition precedes them.
Some of the forms can only appear in the second position in the clause (like the verb particle se). These "clitics" are the forms listed in italics. Using these outside of the second position is an error, except when a higher priority second-place item, such as the verb particle, pushes the pronoun to the right. Using the two-syllable alternatives to the clitics in the second position tends to be emphatic, sometimes to the point of clashing with the ordering in the rest of the sentence, and thus also an error.
Several forms are in parallel use for some of the pronouns. In general, the forms given first are more common.
Several forms (e.g., ho, je/ně, and jej/něj) appear in more than one row of the table. Their meaning depends on context.
The pronoun to in the meaning of "it" is used much more frequently than ono in the same meaning in all cases. The accusative of to is also to.

A few examples:

Máš mě rád? (Do you like me?)
Stará se o mě. (She is taking care of me.)
Nesnáším tě. (I can't stand you.)
Ta polévka je pro tebe. (That soup is for you.)
Vidíte ho? (Can you see him/it?)
Jeho nevidím. (I can't see him.)
My jej potřebujeme. (We need him/it.)
Čekají na něho. (They are waiting for him.)
Kde na něj čekají? (Where are they waiting for him/it?)
Potřebujou ji? (Do they need her?)
Myslím na ni. (I am thinking about her.)
Ženy ho chápou. (Women understand it/him.)
Ženy je chápou. (Women understand it/them.)
Ženy jej chápou. (Women understand it/him.)
Díváme se na ně. (We are looking at it/them.)
Dívám se na něj. (I am looking at it/him.)
Kateřina je nesnáší. (Kateřina can't stand them/it.)

A: Její auto je velmi špinavé. (Her car is very dirty.)
B: Opravdu? Kde ho vidíš? (Really? Where do you see it?)

Conjunctions 1 3 · 2020-06-03 ^

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that connect other words, expressions, and clauses together.

Czech	English
a	and
i	as well as, and also, even
nebo/anebo	or
buď…nebo/anebo	either…or
ani	not even, …neither
ani…ani	neither…nor
ale	but
že	that
když	when
pokud	if, as long as
jestli	if, whether
proto	therefore, that’s why, so
protože	because
přesto	yet, anyway, despite this
přestože	although, even though
i když	although, even though
kdežto	while, whereas
zatímco	while, whereas, at the same time as

The tiny, yet mighty “i”

Mám i psa. – I even have a dog. I also have a dog (not just a cat).
I já mám psa. – Even I have a dog. I have a dog, too (like you).
Máme psa i kočku. – We have a dog as well as a cat.
Mají i psa, i kočku. – They have both a dog and a cat.

Nemám ani hlad. or: Ani nemám hlad. – I’m not even hungry.
Ani já nemám hlad. – I’m not hungry either (like you).
Nepije pivo ani víno. – He drinks neither beer nor wine.

"Nebo" nebo "anebo"?

Chceš kávu nebo vodu? – Do you want coffee or water? (Or perhaps both?)
Jedno pivo, anebo dvě? – One beer or two? (More exclusive than nebo)
Chci koupit buď psa, anebo kočku. – I want to buy either a cat or a dog.

Note that there are no strict boundaries between these expressions.

The mandatory "že"

In English, we can easily omit the conjunction “that” from sentences, but its Czech counterpart – že – can’t be left out.

Vím, že mě miluješ. – I know (that) you love me.
Říkáš, že nemáš čas? – Are you saying (that) you don’t have time?
Jsme rádi, že vás vidíme. – We are glad to see you. (lit. “…that we see you”)

If and when…

Miluju tě, když spíš. – I love you when you’re asleep.
Pokud mám žízeň, piju pivo. – If/when I’m thristy, I drink beer.
Můžeme už jít domů, pokud/jestli chceš. – We can go home already if you want.
Nevím, jestli je František doma. – I don’t know if/whether František is at home.

While and whereas…

Já jsem tady, kdežto/zatímco ty jsi tam. – I am over here while/whereas you are over there.
Víno piju rád, kdežto/zatímco pivo nesnáším. – I like drinking wine, whereas I can’t stand beer.
Žofie spí, zatímco Matěj vaří. – Žofie is sleeping while (at the same time as) Matěj is cooking.

Word order

Most conjunctions start their clause and take up the first position in it, so the clitics will want to follow them directly:

Jsem rád, že tě miluju. – I’m glad that I love you.
Ptáš se mě, jestli tě miluju? – Are you asking me whether I love you?

The exception is the conjunctions a, i, and ale, which do not count as the "first position" in the clause they introduce, and we get:

Znám tě a miluju tě. – I know you and I love you.
Ještě tě dobře neznám, ale miluju tě. – I don’t know you well yet, but I love you.
I on tě miluje. – He also loves you.

Learn more about clitics and word order here.

Yours/Mine 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Yours/Mine: Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns můj, tvůj, and svůj

Můj corresponds to the English “my” or “mine”.
Tvůj corresponds to the English “your” or “yours” if the possessor is singular and referred to informally.
Svůj very loosely corresponds to the English “own” and indicates the possession by the subject of the clause. This is the pronoun we would use to translate “I love my dog.”

Summary of possessive pronouns můj, tvůj, and svůj

Gender	Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
M an.	můj	mého	moji, mí	moje, mé
M in.	můj	můj	moje, mé	moje, mé
F	moje, má	moji, mou	moje, mé	moje, mé
N	moje, mé	moje, mé	moje, má	moje, má

Several things to keep in mind:

The “gender” in the table is the grammatical gender of the thing being possessed. It does not matter what gender the possessor is.
Multiple (two) choices exist for several gender/number/case combinations. The forms given earlier are generally more common.
The form mého and (where two choices are provided) the forms given second share their endings with the hard adjective paradigm. For example, the feminine singular accusative mou predictably follows the ending of velkou. However, the masculine form “mý“ that could be expected from velký does not exist.
Many of the forms appear in multiple portions of the table.

It gets easier from here.

Possessive pronouns náš and váš

Náš corresponds to the English “our” or “ours”.
Váš corresponds to the English “your” or “yours” if the possessor is either singular and referred to formally or plural.

Summary of possessive pronouns náš and váš

Gender	Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
M an.	náš	našeho	naši	naše
M in.	náš	náš	naše	naše
F	naše	naši	naše	naše
N	naše	naše	naše	naše

Several things to keep in mind:

The “gender” in the table is the grammatical gender of the thing being possessed. It does not matter what gender the possessor is.
Many of the forms appear in multiple portions of the table.
The endings follow the non-adjectival entries in the previous table.

Possessive pronoun její

This pronoun means "her" or "hers".

Summary of the possessive pronoun její

Gender	Nom. sg.	Acc. sg.	Nom. pl.	Acc. pl.
M an.	její	jejího	její	její
M in.	její	její	její	její
F	její	její	její	její
N	její	její	její	její

Things to note:

The “gender” in the table is the grammatical gender of the thing being possessed.
The endings follow the soft adjective paradigm.

Possessive pronouns jeho and jejich

Colors 3 · 2022-03-16 ^

Colors

English	Czech
white	bílý
black-and-white	černobílý
black	černý
red	červený
purple	fialový
brown	hnědý
blue	modrý
orange	oranžový
pink	růžový
gray	šedý
green	zelený
yellow	žlutý

You may notice sentences of the type

Jejich dům má žlutou barvu.

This is a fairly common way of saying "Their house is yellow." in Czech, and you may notice that Czech speakers of English like to use it even in English, "Their house has yellow color."

Present 1 7 · 2022-03-16 ^

Present 1: Introduction to present tense

Verb classes for present tense

Class	1	2	3	4	5
Stem-	nes-	stár-	kupu-	sp-	děl-
-end	-e	-ne	-je	-í	-á
já	u	nu	ju, ji	ím	ám
ty	eš	neš	ješ	íš	áš
on/a/o	e	ne	je	í	á
my	eme	neme	jeme	íme	áme
vy	ete	nete	jete	íte	áte
oni/y/a	ou	nou	jou, jí	í	ají

Native Czech speakers sometimes use the mnemonic “žene je bída” (poverty compels them) to remember the five verb classes, but most of them conjugate their verbs by heart.

Czech has only one present tense, which may correspond to present simple, present continuous, present perfect continuous, and present perfect in English. A few examples:

To nečteme. (We do not read that.)
Jakou knihu čteš? (What book are you reading?)
Dělám čaj. (I am making tea.)
Proč to děláš? (Why do you do it?)

Motion verbs: jde, jede, nese, vede

This is our first encounter with a few members of a tricky verb group, the verbs of motion. The core meanings are as follows:

3rd pers. sg.	infinitive	English
jde	jít	go (by foot), walk, come
jede	jet	go (by vehicle/animal), ride, drive, come
nese	nést	carry, bring from, take to
vede	vést	lead, bring from, take to

Kam jdou? (Where are they going?)
Odkud jedeš? (Where are you coming from?)
Odkud nesete ty věci? (Where are you bringing those things from?)
Kam nesete ty věci? (Where are you taking those things to?)
Vedu děti do školy. (I am taking the kids to school.)

the use of the simple present in English would imply scenarios inconsistent with the nature of the Czech verbs.

Note how Czech distinguished whether the "things" were being brought from somewhere or taken to somewhere despite not changing the verb itself.

Other verbs

This is the list of the other (non-motion) verbs introduced in this skill:

3rd pers. sg.	infinitive	English
bydlí	bydlet	live, reside
čte	číst	read
dělá	dělat	do, make, work
existuje	existovat	exist
jmenuje se	jmenovat se	be called, one’s name is
kupuje	kupovat	buy
končí	končit	end
miluje	milovat	love
mluví	mluvit	speak
nenávidí	nenávidět	hate
obsahuje	obsahovat	contain
pamatuje si	pamatovat si	remember
píše	psát	write
pláče	plakat	cry, weep
počítá	počítat	count
poslouchá	poslouchat	listen
prodává	prodávat	sell
respektuje	respektovat	respect
říká	říkat	say, tell
spí	spát	sleep
stárne	stárnout	age
ví	vědět	know
vyrábí	vyrábět	make, produce
začíná	začínat	begin, start
znamená	znamenat	mean

Family 1 7 · 2022-03-16 ^

Family 1: Genitive

Demonstrative adjective forms

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	ten	ten	ta	to
Acc. sg.	toho	ten	tu	to
Gen. sg.	toho	toho	té	toho
Nom. pl.	ti	ty	ty	ta
Acc. pl.	ty	ty	ty	ta
Gen. pl.	těch	těch	těch	těch

Hard adjective endings

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	-ý	-ý	-á	-é
Acc. sg.	-ého	-ý	-ou	-é
Gen. sg.	-ého	-ého	-é	-ého
Nom. pl.	-í	-é	-é	-á
Acc. pl.	-é	-é	-é	-á
Gen. pl.	-ých	-ých	-ých	-ých

Soft adjective endings

Also use these with the possessive její (her/hers).

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Acc. sg.	-ího	-í	-í	-í
Gen. sg.	-ího	-ího	-í	-ího
Nom. pl.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Acc. pl.	-í	-í	-í	-í
Gen. pl.	-ích	-ích	-ích	-ích

Masculine noun endings

Case/Num.	kluk	muž	hrad	stroj
Nom. sg.	-	-	-	-
Acc. sg.	-a	-e	-	-
Gen. sg.	-a	-e	-u	-e
Nom. pl.	-i	-i	-y	-e
Acc. pl.	-y	-e	-y	-e
Gen. pl.	-ů	-ů	-ů	-ů

Feminine noun endings

Case/Num.	žena	ulice	ovce
Nom. sg.	-a	-e	-e
Acc. sg.	-u	-i	-i
Gen. sg.	-y	-e	-e
Nom. pl.	-y	-e	-e
Acc. pl.	-y	-e	-e
Gen. pl.	-	-	-í

Note the insertion of "e" in the Gen. Pl. of the žena paradigm for words that would end in a consonant followed by "k" or "r" ("babiček", "matek", "sester").

Neuter noun endings

Case/Num.	město	kuře	náměstí
Nom. sg.	-o	-e	-í
Acc. sg.	-o	-e	-í
Gen. sg.	-a	-ete	-í
Nom. pl.	-a	-ata	-í
Acc. pl.	-a	-ata	-í
Gen. pl.	-	-at	-í

Personal pronouns

Nom.	Acc. w/o prep.	Acc. after prep.	Gen. w/o prep.	Gen. after prep.
já	mě, mne	mě, mne	mě, mne	mě, mne
ty	tě, tebe	tebe	tě, tebe	tebe
on (an.)	ho, jeho, jej	něho, něj	ho, jeho, jej	něho, něj
on (in.)	ho, jej	něj	ho, jeho, jej	něho, něj
ona (sg.)	ji	ni	jí	ní
ono	ho, je, jej	ně, něj	ho, jeho, jej	něho, něj
my	nás	nás	nás	nás
vy	vás	vás	vás	vás
oni, ony, ona (pl.)	je	ně	jich	nich

The forms in italics can only appear in the second position; their two-syllable alternatives in that position are emphatic.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns můj, tvůj, and svůj

Gender	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	můj	můj	moje, má	moje, mé
Acc. sg.	mého	můj	moji, mou	moje, mé
Gen. sg.	mého	mého	mojí, mé	mého
Nom. pl.	moji, mí	moje, mé	moje, mé	moje, má
Acc. pl.	moje, mé	moje, mé	moje, mé	moje, má
Gen. pl.	mých	mých	mých	mých

Possessive pronouns náš and váš

Gender	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	náš	náš	naše	naše
Acc. sg.	našeho	náš	naši	naše
Gen. sg.	našeho	našeho	naší	našeho
Nom. pl.	naši	naše	naše	naše
Acc. pl.	naše	naše	naše	naše
Gen. pl.	našich	našich	našich	našich

New verbs

Some verbs take genitive objects:

Person	be afraid of	ask	respect
já	se bojím	se ptám	si vážím
ty	se bojíš	se ptáš	si vážíš
on/ona/ono	se bojí	se ptá	si váží
my	se bojíme	se ptáme	si vážíme
vy	se bojíte	se ptáte	si vážíte
oni/ony/ona	se bojí	se ptají	si váží
infinitive	bát se	ptát se	vážit si

The "infinitive" form is only shown to help you find the verb in dictionaries.

The word si is another verb particle. Similar to se, it occurs in the second position and bumps words like tě and ho to the right:

Vážíme si tě. (We respect you.)
Beru si ho. (I'm marrying him.) [Accusative object, forms like žere.]
Bereme se. (We are getting married.) [Always plural.]

Prepositions bez and beze

These mean "without". The version beze is used almost exclusively with mě and mne. Beze mě is "without me" and bez jejího auta is "without her car".

Mnoho

This adverb corresponds to "many" or "a lot of". Note the singular verb:

Je tam mnoho dětí.

Clothing 3 · 2022-03-16 ^

Clothing

New nouns

Czech	Gender	Declination	English
bota	F	žena	shoe
bunda	F	žena	jacket
kabát	M in.	hrad	coat
klobouk	M in.	hrad	hat
košile	F	ulice	shirt
oblečení	N	náměstí	clothes
oblek	M in.	hrad	suit
ponožka	F	žena	sock
sukně	F	ovce	skirt
svetr	M in.	hrad	sweater
šperk	M in.	hrad	jewel, gem
triko	N	město	tee shirt

Plural-only nouns

Oblečení

Nosí

Kateřina nosí moji košili. (Kateřina wears my shirt.)

The new verb is related to the previously introduced nese, which describes the non-habitual, single-event, goal-oriented action of carrying something somewhere:

Kam neseš ty klobouky? (Where are you carrying/taking those hats?)

We will return to motion verbs later in the course.

This-That 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

This-That: Demonstratives

Forms of ten

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	ten	ten	ta	to
Acc. sg.	toho	ten	tu	to
Gen. sg.	toho	toho	té	toho
Nom. pl.	ti	ty	ty	ta
Acc. pl.	ty	ty	ty	ta
Gen. pl.	těch	těch	těch	těch

Forms of tamten

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	tamten	tamten	tamta	tamto
Acc. sg.	tamtoho	tamten	tamtu	tamto
Gen. sg.	tamtoho	tamtoho	tamté	tamtoho
Nom. pl.	tamti	tamty	tamty	tamta
Acc. pl.	tamty	tamty	tamty	tamta
Gen. pl.	tamtěch	tamtěch	tamtěch	tamtěch

A few examples from the skill:

Znám tamtoho hocha a tamten dům. (I know that boy and that house.)
Tamto jméno neznáme. (We do not know that name.)
Počítá tamhlety osly. (He is counting those donkeys over there.)

Forms of tento

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	tento	tento	tato	toto
Acc. sg.	tohoto	tento	tuto	toto
Gen. sg.	tohoto	tohoto	této	tohoto
Nom. pl.	tito	tyto	tyto	tato
Acc. pl.	tyto	tyto	tyto	tato
Gen. pl.	těchto	těchto	těchto	těchto

The forms of tenhle follow the same pattern as those of tento. Both of these demonstratives mean "this", but tento is quite formal and tenhle informal. Both are standard Czech.

Forms of takový, takovýto, and takovýhle

The declensions are easy to figure out: Just decline "takový" as a hard adjective, and append "to" or "hle" after the hard adjective ending as appropriate.

Some examples:

Takové auto potřebujeme i my! (Even we need a car like that!)
Proč chceš znát takováto slova? (Why do you want to know words like these/such words?)
Takovýchhle přátel mám málo. (I have few friends like these.)

Adverbs 4 · 2022-03-16 ^

Adverbs

Adverbs of time/frequency

These adverbs tell us when or how often something happens. In Czech, these questions are “kdy?” and “jak často?“ respectively.

Czech	English
vždy	always, every time
stále	always, all the time
často	often, frequently
někdy	sometimes, sometime
zřídka	seldom, rarely
nikdy	never

Adverbs of place

Kde jsi? – Where are you?
Jsem doma. – I’m (at) home.
Kam jdeš? – Where are you going?
Jdu domů. – I’m going home.

Kde?	Kam?	English
tam	tam	there
tady	sem	here
někde	někam	somewhere
všude	všude	everywhere
jinde	jinam	elsewhere, somewhere else
nikde	nikam	nowhere
pryč	pryč	away
doma	domů	at home (place) / home (direction)

Adverbs of quantity and degree

We can use the question word “kolik?” – how much/many? to ask for adverbs of quantity. Adverbs of degree (e.g. almost) do not have a simple question word.

When an adverb of quantity modifies a noun, the noun must be in the genitive case. Study the following examples:

Pivo, hodně piva, málo piva . – Beer, a lot of beer, little beer.
Voda, příliš vody, dost vody. – Water, too much water, enough water.
Chlapci, hodně chlapců, málo chlapců. – Boys, many boys, few boys.

Czech	English
hodně	many, much, a lot of
málo	few, little, not enough
dost	enough, quite
příliš	too, too much
velmi	very
úplně	entirely, totally, completely
téměř	almost
vůbec	at all, actually

Adverbs derived from adjectives

Czech adjective	English adjective	Czech adverb	English adverb
dobrý	good	dobře	well, correctly
špatný	bad, wrong	špatně	badly, poorly, wrong(-ly)
rychlý	fast	rychle	fast, quickly
pomalý	slow	pomalu	slowly
určitý	definite	určitě	definitely, surely

A large number of Czech adjectives end in “-ný” or “-ní”. All these change to “-ně” when they become adverbs. For example (don't worry if you don't know some of these yet):

pěkný -> pěkně (nice -> nicely)
smutný -> smutně (sad -> sadly)
zvláštní -> zvláštně (strange -> strangely)

Other adverbs

And finally, an assortment of adverbs that don’t readily fit into any category.

Czech	English
tak	so
jen	only
už	already, anymore, yet
ještě	still, (not) yet
asi	probably, perhaps
možná	maybe, possibly
opravdu	really, truly
také	also, as well
potom	then, later
zase	again
nejdřív	(at) first, initially

Už jsem doma. (positive statement) – I’m already at home.
Už jsi doma? (question) – Are you (at) home yet? (“already” would also work here).
Už to nechci. (negative statement) – I don’t want it anymore.
Ještě jsem tady. (positive statement) – I’m still here. (I haven’t left yet.)
Ještě jsi doma? (question) – Are you still (at) home?
Ještě to nemám. (negative statement) – I don’t have it yet.

Numbers 1 2 · 2022-03-16 ^

Numbers 1

This skill is our first introduction to Czech numerals.

Cardinal numerals one to four

One: Jeden

Knowing the forms of the demonstrative ten is enough to figure out those of jeden (“one”). Compare

Case/Num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	ten	ten	ta	to
Acc. sg.	toho	ten	tu	to
Gen. sg.	toho	toho	té	toho

with

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	jeden	jeden	jedna	jedno
Acc.	jednoho	jeden	jednu	jedno
Gen.	jednoho	jednoho	jedné	jednoho

A few examples:

Mám jednoho bratra. (I have one brother.)
Slyšíme jeden z jejich strojů. (We can hear one of their machines.)
Potřebujou jedno velké prase. (They need one large pig.)

Two: Dva

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom.	dva	dva	dvě	dvě
Acc.	dva	dva	dvě	dvě
Gen.	dvou	dvou	dvou	dvou

A few examples:

Jsme dva. (There are two of us.)
Jsou tam dva žluté stromy. (There are two yellow trees there.)
Kde je matka těch dvou dětí. (Where is the mother of those two children?)
Která z těchto dvou žen je jeho dcera? (Which of these two women is his daughter?)

Note the order: demonstrative, numeral, adjective(s), noun--much like in English: Hledáme matku těch dvou malých děvčat. (We are looking for the mother of those two little girls.)

Three, Four: Tři, Čtyři

Neither tři (three) nor čtyři (four) depends on gender:

Case	Three	Four
Nom.	tři	čtyři
Acc.	tři	čtyři
Gen.	tří, třech	čtyř, čtyřech

The genitive forms ending in -ech are informal, although they have been officially recognized as standard forms.

A few examples:

Mám tři psy a tři kočky. (I have three dogs and three cats.)
Jsem matka tří dětí. (I am a mother of three children.)
Jsem otec třech dětí. (I am a father of three children.)
Která z těchto čtyřech dívek je jeho sestřenice? (Which of these four girls is his cousin?)

Ordinal numerals first to fourth

English	Czech
first	první
second	druhý
third	třetí
fourth	čtvrtý

A few examples:

Jsi moje první láska. (You are my first love.)
Kupujeme svého druhého koně. (We are buying our second horse.)
Jím už třetí hrušku. (I am already eating my third pear.)
Čekají čtvrté dítě. (They are expecting their fourth child.)

Telling the time

Je jedna hodina. (It is one o'clock.)
Jsou dvě/tři/čtyři hodiny. (It is two/three/four o'clock.)

Digital	English	Czech
12:15	quarter past twelve	čtvrt na jednu
12:30	half past twelve	půl jedné
12:45	a quarter to one	tři čtvrtě na jednu
1:15	quarter past one	čtvrt na dvě
1:30	half past one	půl druhé
1:45	a quarter to two	tři čtvrtě na dvě

The čtvrt na, půl, and tři čtvrtě na expressions are all treated as singular in the time-telling sentences.

A few examples:

Je čtvrt na jednu. (It is quarter past twelve.)
Už je čtvrt na dvě? (Is it quarter past one yet?)
Je půl jedné odpoledne. (It is half past twelve in the afternoon.)
Je tři čtvrtě na jednu. (It is a quarter to/of one.)

If/When 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

If/When: Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that connect other words, expressions, and clauses together.

Czech	English
a	and
i	as well as, and also, even
nebo/anebo	or
buď…nebo/anebo	either…or
ani	not even, …neither
ani…ani	neither…nor
ale	but
že	that
když	when
pokud	if, as long as
jestli	if, whether
proto	therefore, that’s why, so
protože	because
přesto	yet, anyway, despite this
přestože	although, even though
i když	although, even though
kdežto	while, whereas
zatímco	while, whereas, at the same time as

The tiny, yet mighty “i”

Mám i psa. – I even have a dog. I also have a dog (not just a cat).
I já mám psa. – Even I have a dog. I have a dog, too (like you).
Máme psa i kočku. – We have a dog as well as a cat.
Mají i psa, i kočku. – They have both a dog and a cat.

Nemám ani hlad. or: Ani nemám hlad. – I’m not even hungry.
Ani já nemám hlad. – I’m not hungry either (like you).
Nepije pivo ani víno. – He drinks neither beer nor wine.

"Nebo" nebo "anebo"?

Chceš kávu nebo vodu? – Do you want coffee or water? (Or perhaps both?)
Jedno pivo, anebo dvě? – One beer or two? (More exclusive than nebo)
Chci koupit buď psa, anebo kočku. – I want to buy either a cat or a dog.

Note that there are no strict boundaries between these expressions.

The mandatory "že"

In English, we can easily omit the conjunction “that” from sentences, but its Czech counterpart – že – can’t be left out.

Vím, že mě miluješ. – I know (that) you love me.
Říkáš, že nemáš čas? – Are you saying (that) you don’t have time?
Jsme rádi, že vás vidíme. – We are glad to see you. (lit. “…that we see you”)

If and when…

Miluju tě, když spíš. – I love you when you’re asleep.
Pokud mám žízeň, piju pivo. – If/when I’m thristy, I drink beer.
Můžeme už jít domů, pokud/jestli chceš. – We can go home already if you want.
Nevím, jestli je František doma. – I don’t know if/whether František is at home.

While and whereas…

Já jsem tady, kdežto/zatímco ty jsi tam. – I am over here while/whereas you are over there.
Víno piju rád, kdežto/zatímco pivo nesnáším. – I like drinking wine, whereas I can’t stand beer.
Žofie spí, zatímco Matěj vaří. – Žofie is sleeping while (at the same time as) Matěj is cooking.

Word order

Most conjunctions start their clause and take up the first position in it, so the clitics will want to follow them directly:

Jsem rád, že tě miluju. – I’m glad that I love you.
Ptáš se mě, jestli tě miluju? – Are you asking me whether I love you?

The exception is the conjunctions a, i, and ale, which do not count as the "first position" in the clause they introduce, and we get:

Znám tě a miluju tě. – I know you and I love you.
Ještě tě dobře neznám, ale miluju tě. – I don’t know you well yet, but I love you.
I on tě miluje. – He also loves you.

Learn more about clitics and word order here.

Adjectives 1 · 2018-10-25 ^

Adjectives in Czech

Soft adjectives in their dictionary entry form end in -í, for example cizí (foreign, strange), poslední (last, final), vlastní (own), and zvláštní (strange, weird odd).

Forms of hard adjectives

As we have already seen, Czech adjectives change their endings to match (agree with) the gender, number, and case of the nouns they refer to.

Hard adjective endings vary extensively. Let's demonstrate the endings that we should already know on the example of dobrý:

Forms of dobrý

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	dobrý	dobrý	dobrá	dobré
Acc. sg.	dobrého	dobrý	dobrou	dobré
Gen. sg.	dobrého	dobrého	dobré	dobrého

Nom. pl.	dobří	dobré	dobré	dobrá
Acc. pl.	dobré	dobré	dobré	dobrá
Gen. pl.	dobrých	dobrých	dobrých	dobrých

Notes:

Some of the endings are the same for different cases/genders etc. Remember, the gender, number, and case of the noun and the associated adjective have to agree, and the appropriate endings have to be used.
Hard plural masculine animate adjectives sometimes undergo a consonant shift in the root just like the nouns do. See the Nom. pl. form of dobrý, and re-read the T&N for the Plural skill.
Vocative endings are identical to nominative endings. (We do not teach the vocative much.)
There is only one ending for all genders in Gen. pl.

Forms of soft adjectives

Soft adjective endings vary with case in both singular and plural, but they change with gender in singular only.

Forms of zvláštní

Case/num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Acc. sg.	zvláštního	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Gen. sg.	zvláštního	zvláštního	zvláštní	zvláštního

Nom. pl.	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Acc. pl.	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Gen. pl.	zvláštních	zvláštních	zvláštních	zvláštních

Notes:

The nominative ending is the same for all genders and numbers. (The vocative ending is identical to the nominative ending.)
The plural endings do not depend on gender.
The singular feminine ending stays the same for all cases.

Position of adjectives

Czech adjectives are typically placed before the nouns they refer to, much like in English. For example:

Byl to zvláštní den. (It was a strange day.)
Má mladou ženu. (He has a young wife.
Čekají další dítě. (They are expecting another child.)
Je to jiné slovo. (That's another word.)
Nesnáším velká města. (I can't stand big cities.)

Confusing adjectives

Our users sometimes struggle with partly synonymous or otherwise challenging Czech adjectives.

Další vs jiný

The confusion here may be that both další and jiný are often translated as "another", but that is largely because that English word has multiple meanings.

Infinitive 2 · 2022-03-16 ^

Short and irregular infinitives

Sg. 3rd person	Infinitive	English
bere	brát	take
bojí	bát	be afraid
čte	číst	read
chce	chtít	want
jde	jít	go, walk
je	být	be
jede	jet	go, ride
jí	jíst	eat
má	mít	have
nese	nést	carry
pije	pít	drink
píše	psát	write
spí	spát	sleep
vede	vést	lead
ví	vědět	know
zná	znát	know
žije	žít	live

Longer infinitives by verb class

Class	3rd pers.	Infinitive	English
1	chápe	chápat	understand
2	stárne	stárnout	age
3	miluje	milovat	love
3	pamatuje	pamatovat	remember
3	respektuje	respektovat	respect
4	bydlí	bydlet	live
4	myslí	myslet	think
4	nenávidí	nenávidět	hate
4	slyší	slyšet	hear
4	váží si	vážit si	respect
4	vidí	vidět	see
5	čeká	čekat	wait
5	dělá	dělat	do
5	dívá se	dívat se	look
5	hledá	hledat	look for
5	říká	říkat	say
5	stará se	starat se	take care
5	zajímá	zajímat	interest

Notes:

Class 1 is quite full of the unpredictable short verbs. For the one longer verb shown we only need to replace -e with -at.
In Class 2 we replace -ne with -nout (until we learn verbs that do something else).
In Class 3 we replace -(u)je with -(ov)at. (The verbs without the u before -je will just have -at.)
In Class 4 we replace -í with -et/ět or -it.
In Class 5 we replace -á with -at.

Application of infinitives

Need to ...

Potřebuju vědět, že mě miluješ. (I need to know that you love me.)
Jejich jména si pamatovat nepotřebujeme. (We do not need to remember their names.) [The particle si went after the first unit of meaning, "jejich jména".]

Want to ...

Chci si tě pamatovat. (I want to remember you.) [The particle si and the clitic pronoun tě went after the first unit of meaning, "chci", although they are both associated with the "pamatovat" at the end.]
Proč chceš vědět, jak se jmenuje? (Why do you want to know what her name is?) [The se went second in its clause.]
Už ty lidi nenávidět nechci. (I no longer want to hate those people.)

Be beginning to ...

Ano, začínáš mě chápat. (Yes, you are beginning to understand me.)
Začíná si ho vážit? (Is she starting to respect him?) [Here the particle si went right after the first unit of meaning, "začíná", and even bumped the clitic "ho" to the right.]

Be afraid to ...

In these examples the se comes from the bojí/bojíš:

Bojí se tam jít. (They are/He is afraid to go there.)
Proč se bojíš mluvit? (Why are you afraid to talk?)

Try to ...

In these examples the new verb snaží/snažím/snažíme comes with se. Notice what happens when the infinitive brings its own se or si.

Snažíme se tu ženu chápat. (We are trying to understand that woman.)
Snažím se na ni nedívat. (I am trying not to look at her.) [We avoided the duplication of se. We could also say Snažím se nedívat (se) na ni., with or without duplication. Duplication may be necessary to avoid ambiguity. The weird "se se" particle sequence does need to be avoided in all cases.]
Snaží se vážit si ho. (She is trying to respect him.) [This is an advanced topic for later. We could also say Snaží si ho vážit. or perhaps Snaží se si ho vážit., but not Snaží (si) se ho vážit.]

Other uses

Nevím, co si myslet. (I don't know what to think.)
Proč nemá co jíst ani pít? (Why does he have nothing to eat or drink?)
Nestačí to jen říkat. (It is not enough just to say it.)

Household 2 · 2022-03-16 ^

Household

This skill introduces basic vocabulary useful for talking about common household items. There is no tricky grammar here. One word being introduced here deserves a special mention: postel (bed).

The noteworthy thing about "postel" is that it is a feminine noun, clearly ending in a consonant, and less obviously a useful model noun for the noun declension paradigm poorly represented in the course up to this point. The "official" model noun for this paradigm is "píseň" (song), which does not work well for practically useful sentences. And we have already encountered "žízeň" (thirst), which is likewise limited in its practical range. Let's use this opportunity to show the "postel" declension in the context of our other feminine model nouns in the three cases we have met so far:

Case/Num.	žena	ulice	postel	věc
Nom. sg.	-a	-e	-	-
Acc. sg.	-u	-i	-	-
Gen. sg.	-y	-e	-e	-i
Nom. pl.	-y	-e	-e	-i
Acc. pl.	-y	-e	-e	-i
Gen. pl.	-	-	-í	-í

So let's welcome "postel" into the fold and start following its declensions.

Past 1 3 · 2022-03-16 ^

Past tense:

Number/Gender	Past ending	Example
Sg. M (on)	-l	hledal
Sg. F (ona)	-la	hledala
Sg. N (ono)	-lo	hledalo
Pl. M-a (oni)	-li	hledali
Pl. F/M-i (ony)	-ly	hledaly
Pl. N (ona)	-la	hledala

In the 1st and 2nd person, we must add the form of the auxiliary verb být appropriate for the number/person:

Person	Auxiliary
Sg. 1st (já)	jsem
Sg. Familiar 2nd (ty)	jsi (-s)
Pl. 1st (my)	jsme
Pl./Formal 2nd (vy)	jste

Notes:

The –s auxiliary is a form that attaches to the end of a word in the first position, often a verb, pronoun, or question word.
The Czech formal 2nd person address is inconsistent in the past tense. We use the plural auxiliary with one of the singular gendered l-forms.

Examples:

Františku, kde jste hledal Kateřinu? (František, where did you look for Kateřina?) [Formal address of a male. Don’t use “hledali” to refer to him alone.]
Kdes to hledala? (Where were you looking for it?) [Familiar address of a female.]
Žofie a Matěj hledali své dítě. (Žofie and Matěj were looking for their child.) [We used the M-a form because at least one member of the group is masculine animate.]
Hledala jsem ho tady. (I looked for him/it here.) [Female speaker. The past-tense auxiliary is an obligatory enclitic with the highest priority for the second position of everything we have seen so far.]

Verbs from this skill that work as advertised:

Infinitive	l-form	English
bydlet	bydlel	live, reside
dělat	dělal	do, make, work
dívat	díval	look, watch
hledat	hledal	look for
jet	jel	go, drive, ride
mluvit	mluvil	talk, speak
potřebovat	potřeboval	need
snažit se	snažil se	try
vážit si	vážil si	respect
vidět	viděl	see

The reflexive particles in snažit se and vážit si deserve a few words:

The singular familiar auxilary -s that latches onto host words obligatorily merges with the verb particles, forming the reflexive auxiliaries ses and sis. Alternatively, we can use the full jsi immediately followed by the verb particle. The course accepts this alternative, even if its official status remains “not yet codified”.
The past tense auxiliary is a higher priority enclitic than even the reflexive verb particles.

Examples:

Matěje sis nevážila. (You did not respect Matěj.) [The “ne” of negation is prefixed to the past form.]
Snažili jsme se ho jíst. (We were trying to eat it/him.) [“We“ includes at least one masculine member. Note the ordering of the enclitics competing for the second slot.]

Verbs from this skill that deviate from the regular pattern:

Infinitive	Past l-form	English	Comments
brát si	bral	marry	shortening
být	byl	be	shortening
číst	četl	read	irregular
chtít	chtěl	want	shortening/change
jíst	jedl	eat	irregular
jít	šel	go, walk	irregular
mít	měl	have	shortening/change
pít	pil	drink	shortening
psát	psal	write	shortening
spát	spal	sleep	shortening
znát	znal	know	shortening

Note the extra “e” in the singular masculine past form of jít:

On tam nešel, ale šla tam jeho sestra. (He did not go there, but his sister did.)

Aspect: Preview

Two aspects exist for most Czech verbs in the past tense:

imperfective aspect views the event being described as an ongoing or repetitive activity without referencing its completion, while
perfective aspect concerns a completed event.

Imperfective	Perfective	English
číst, četl	přečíst, přečetl	read
jíst, jedl	sníst, snědl	eat
kupovat, kupoval	koupit, koupil	buy
pít, pil	vypít, vypil	drink
psát, psal	napsat, napsal	write

Ten dopis jsem psal celý den. (I was writing that letter all day long.) [Activity focus.]
Napsal jsi už ten dopis? (Have you written the letter yet?) [Completion focus.]
Stalo se to, když kupoval mléko. (It happened while he was buying milk.) [Ongoing activity in the background.]
Koupils to mléko? (Did you buy that milk?) [Oops. Failure to complete?]

Locations and Topics 2 · 2020-07-21 ^

More locative

In this skill we introduce more locative forms and several new prepositions.

Prepositions

The following prepositions take the locative case. Some of them also work with the accusative to convey different meanings.

Locative preposition	Approximate Meaning
v/ve	in, at
na	on, sometimes at or in
o	about
při	by, during, at
po	along, after

The locative "o" means roughly "about" (or "on") when referring to a topic of some thing or activity:

Chci knihu o autech. (I want a book about cars.)

"Při" only comes with the locative, and its core meanings include "during" referring to timing and "by" referring to proximity in space:

Při jídle nemluvíme. (We do not speak during meals.)
Mají dům při cestě. (They have a house by the road.)

The locative "po" expresses taking place "after" something in time or following "along" something in space:

Po jídle vždy spím. (I always sleep after meals.)
Šli po pláži. (They walked along the beach.)

Now let’s take a look at some model nouns and how they change in the locative. We already encountered some of them in the Places skill.

Nouns

Masculine nouns:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc.	Pl. Loc.
kluk	klukovi	klucích
muž	muži	mužích
hrad	hradě, hradu	hradech
stroj	stroji	strojích

Let’s take "dědeček" (grandpa). As an animate noun ending in a hard consonant (-k), it will decline as "kluk". In the locative we get "o dědečkovi" (about Grandpa); note that the last "-e-" is dropped just like in most other similar nouns, including "František". All proper names get the "hard" paradigm ending in the singular locative, so we have "o Matějovi" just like we do "o Františkovi".

Inanimate hard nouns, like "hrad" (castle), are trickier because they tend to have two locative forms, and sometimes only one is used. For example, "oběd" (lunch) -> "po obědě" (after lunch), but "hotel" -> "v hotelu" (in the hotel). This is best learned through exposure. The "-ě" ending ("-e" after "s") is a safer bet in our course, except for the mandatory "-u" in "hotelu".

Feminine nouns:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc.	Pl. Loc.
žena	ženě	ženách
ulice	ulici	ulicích
postel	posteli	postelích
věc	věci	věcech

Feminine nouns that end in "-a" decline like "žena". The "-ě" ending softens the preceding consonant, so "matka" (mother) and "babička" (grandma) become "o matce" and "o babičce". Similarly, "kniha" (book) changes to "v knize". We have dealt with these shifts of "h", "ch", "k", and "r" (into "z", "š", "c", and "ř") in the Plural tips. The spelling does not change for "d" ,"t", "n", and "m", but the "-ě" ending impacts their pronunciation as discussed in the Hello tips. Nouns ending in "s" or "l" take "-e" instead of "-ě", so for "škola" (school) we get "ve škole".

Feminine nouns that end in a consonant follow two main declension models (postel and věc). Let's stick to postel for now: the word "pláž" (beach) becomes "po pláži" (along the beach) and "na plážích" (on the beaches), and "láhev" (bottle) changes to "v láhvi" (in the bottle) and "o láhvích" (about bottles)–note the disappearing "-e-".

Neuter nouns:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc.	Pl. Loc.
město	městě, městu	městech
moře	moři	mořích
kuře	kuřeti	kuřatech
náměstí	náměstí	náměstích

Nouns ending in “-o” often have two locative forms (just like "hrad"). Both forms are often possible; we can say "v autě" as well as "v autu". We may say "po pivu" (after a beer), with "po pivě" also being correct, while there’s usually only one plural form, "po třech pivech". This skill does provide some exposure to the exceptions by only accepting "místě", "čísle", "jablku", "ránu", and "vajíčku" in the singular locative, and by revealing the existence of the plural locatives "jablkách" and "vajíčkách" (rather than the expected but incorrect forms with "-ech"). Note that the singular locative ending is "-e" rather than "-ě" after "l" and "s", so we have "v mase" and "po jídle".

The word "dítě" (child) is irregular because it changes gender to feminine when it becomes plural "děti". That’s why we have "o dítěti", which follows the "kuře" model, but "o dětech", which follows the other feminine model noun, "věc", with its "o věcech" plural locative.

Personal pronouns

Finally, let’s learn the locative forms of personal pronouns:

Nominative	Locative
já	mně
ty	tobě
on	něm
ona	ní
ono	něm
my	nás
vy	vás
oni/ony/ona	nich

Examples:

Mluvíte o mně? (Are you talking about me?)
Co na něm vidíš? (What do you see in him?)
Vy hrajete po nás. (You play after us.)

Numbers 2 5 · 2022-03-16 ^

Numbers 2

Recall that Czech cardinal numerals from one to four behave as if they were adjectives. The counted object appears in the case appropriate for the context, and the numeral matches that case. If the phrase appears as a subject, it gets a plural verb in agreement with the noun being counted: Jsou tam ty dva naše žluté stromy., and Jsou čtyři hodiny.

Cardinal numerals 5-20

These higher cardinals 5-20 are not gendered and decline in a limited way:

English	Nom., Acc.	Gen.
five	pět	pěti
six	šest	šesti
seven	sedm	sedmi
eight	osm	osmi
nine	devět	devíti
ten	deset	deseti
eleven	jedenáct	jedenácti
twelve	dvanáct	dvanácti
thirteen	třináct	třinácti
fourteen	čtrnáct	čtrnácti
fifteen	patnáct	patnácti
sixteen	šestnáct	šestnácti
seventeen	sedmnáct	sedmnácti
eighteen	osmnáct	osmnácti
nineteen	devatenáct	devatenácti
twenty	dvacet	dvaceti

Note the unexpected forms devíti, čtrnáct(i), patnáct(i), and devatenáct(i).

Examples:

Začíná v pět hodin. (It starts at five o'clock.)
Je devět hodin. (It is nine o'clock.)
Co jsi dělala v osm hodin? (What were you doing at eight o'clock?)
Ve dvanáct hodin? (At twelve o'clock?)
Čeká od deseti nebo jedenácti hodin. (She has been waiting since ten or eleven o'clock.)
Četl ty dopisy od dvanácti do čtyř. (He was reading the letters from twelve to four.)

Note the new prepositions.

Always use v before a vowel: v osm hodin.
Always use ve before "v" or "f". (No example yet.)
Use v before a single consonant other than "v" and "f"": v deset hodin, v půl jedné, v šest.
Use v before a two-consonant sequence ending "l", "r", or "ř", except use ve if the first consonant is "t", "d", "s", or "z": ve tři čtvrtě na pět.
Use ve before a two-consonant sequence ending in a consonant other than "l", "r", or "ř": ve dvě hodiny, ve čtyři hodiny.
Use ve before a three-consonant or longer consonant sequence with other than "l", "r", or "ř" in second position: ve čtvrt na osm, ve čtrnáct hodin.
When in doubt, try using whichever is easier to pronounce. Eventually you should be able to choose by "feel".

Od is always used with the genitive, and usually means "from", or sometimes "since" or "of". (Its vocalized variety ode is mandatory with mě and mne and only shows up later in the course.)

Do is always used with the genitive, and in time expressions usually means "until", sometimes "by".

Cardinal numerals 21-29

A few examples:

Bylo tady těch dvacet jedna mužů. (Those twenty-one men were here.)[Nom.]
Potřebujeme sukně pro dvacet dva holek. (We need skirts for twenty-two girls.)[Acc.]
Zná jména dvaceti čtyř měst? (Does he know the names of twenty-four citíes?)[Gen.]
Jedno z těch dvaceti osmi zvířat je osel. (One of those twenty-eight animals is a donkey.)[Gen.]
Který z tamhletěch dvaceti jedna mužů je jejich bratranec? (Which of those twenty-one men is their cousin?)[Gen.]

What kind? 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

What kind: Adjectives

Soft adjectives in their dictionary entry form end in -í, for example cizí (foreign, strange), poslední (last, final), vlastní (own), and zvláštní (strange, weird odd).

Forms of hard adjectives

As we have already seen, Czech adjectives change their endings to match (agree with) the gender, number, and case of the nouns they refer to.

Hard adjective endings vary extensively. Let's demonstrate the endings that we should already know on the example of dobrý:

Forms of dobrý

Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	dobrý	dobrý	dobrá	dobré
Acc. sg.	dobrého	dobrý	dobrou	dobré
Gen. sg.	dobrého	dobrého	dobré	dobrého

Nom. pl.	dobří	dobré	dobré	dobrá
Acc. pl.	dobré	dobré	dobré	dobrá
Gen. pl.	dobrých	dobrých	dobrých	dobrých

Notes:

Some of the endings are the same for different cases/genders etc. Remember, the gender, number, and case of the noun and the associated adjective have to agree, and the appropriate endings have to be used.
Hard plural masculine animate adjectives sometimes undergo a consonant shift in the root just like the nouns do. See the Nom. pl. form of dobrý, and re-read the T&N for the Plural skill.
Vocative endings are identical to nominative endings. (We do not teach the vocative much.)
There is only one ending for all genders in Gen. pl.

Forms of soft adjectives

Soft adjective endings vary with case in both singular and plural, but they change with gender in singular only.

Forms of zvláštní

Case/num.	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Acc. sg.	zvláštního	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Gen. sg.	zvláštního	zvláštního	zvláštní	zvláštního

Nom. pl.	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Acc. pl.	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní	zvláštní
Gen. pl.	zvláštních	zvláštních	zvláštních	zvláštních

Notes:

The nominative ending is the same for all genders and numbers. (The vocative ending is identical to the nominative ending.)
The plural endings do not depend on gender.
The singular feminine ending stays the same for all cases.

Position of adjectives

Czech adjectives are typically placed before the nouns they refer to, much like in English. For example:

Byl to zvláštní den. (It was a strange day.)
Má mladou ženu. (He has a young wife.
Čekají další dítě. (They are expecting another child.)
Je to jiné slovo. (That's another word.)
Nesnáším velká města. (I can't stand big cities.)

Confusing adjectives

Our users sometimes struggle with partly synonymous or otherwise challenging Czech adjectives.

Další vs jiný

The confusion here may be that both další and jiný are often translated as "another", but that is largely because that English word has multiple meanings.

Places 6 · 2022-03-16 ^

Locative

How to form the locative

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc., masc. and neuter	Sg. Loc., fem.	Pl. Loc.
ten/ta/to	tom	té	těch
můj/má (moje)/mé (moje)	mém	mé (mojí)	mých
její	jejím	její	jejích
náš/naše	našem	naší	našich

Now for the locative forms of adjectives:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc., masc. and neuter	Sg. Loc., fem.	Pl. Loc.
hard – mladý	mladém	mladé	mladých
soft – zvláštní	zvláštním	zvláštní	zvláštních

And here are the locative forms for the noun declension patterns included in this skill:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc.	Pl. Loc.
dům	domě	domech
hotel	hotelu	hotelech
talíř	talíři	talířích
škola	škole	školách
ulice	ulici	ulicích
postel	posteli	postelích
město	městě	městech
letiště	letišti	letištích
náměstí	náměstí	náměstích

Finally, we should learn the locative forms of cardinal numbers:

Nominative	Locative
jeden/jedno (masc./neut.)	jednom
jedna (fem.)	jedné
dva/dvě	dvou
tři	třech
čtyři	čtyřech
pět	pěti

Examples

Let’s combine the newly gained knowledge to make some examples with words that we already know:

má velká rodina (my big family) -> v mé velké rodině (in my big family)
jeho bílé ponožky (his white socks) -> v jeho bílých ponožkách (in his white socks)
její červené víno (her red wine) -> v jejím červeném víně (in her red wine)
naše čtyři modrá auta (our four blue cars) -> v našich čtyřech modrých autech (in our four blue cars)
ten nový časopis (that new magazine) -> v tom novém časopisu/časopise (in that new magazine), plural: v těch nových časopisech (in those new magazines)
tato zvláštní stará židle (this strange old chair) -> na této zvláštní staré židli (on this strange old chair), plural: na těchto zvláštních starých židlích (on these strange old chairs)

Numbers 3 2 · 2022-03-16 ^

Numbers 3

Cardinal numerals 30 to 99

English	Nom., Acc.	Gen.
twenty	dvacet	dvaceti
thirty	třicet	třiceti
forty	čtyřicet	čtyřiceti
fifty	padesát	padesáti
sixty	šedesát	šedesáti
seventy	sedmdesát	sedmdesáti
eighty	osmdesát	osmdesáti
ninety	devadesát	devadesáti

Note the unexpected forms padesát(i), šedesát(i), and devadesát(i).

To decline the compound numeral along with the counted entity, we:

use the appropriate form of the multiple of ten (i.e., the form ending in -t if the whole phrase is in Nom. or Acc. and one ending in -ti otherwise),
decline the 1-9 piece of the compound as appropriate for the case of the whole phrase (except we keep jedna fixed), and
either keep the counted entity in the genitive (Nom. or Acc. of the whole phrase) or match it to the case of the whole phrase (otherwise).

Examples:

Hledáme ženy od dvaceti do třiceti let. (We are looking for women from twenty to thirty.)[Gen.]
Ptáme se čtyřiceti dvou matek. (We are asking forty-two mothers.)[Gen.]
Počítá těch čtyřicet dva jablek (He is counting those forty-two apples.)[Acc.]
Trvá to od padesáti do šedesáti pěti minut. (It lasts from fifty to sixty-five minutes.)[Gen.]
Čeká na sedmdesát dva dívek. (He is waiting for seventy-two girls.)[Acc.]
Peru pro sedmdesát jedna chlapců. (I do laundry for seventy-one boys.)[Acc.]
Měli jen osmdesát devět židlí pro devadesát lidí. (They had only eighty-nine chairs for ninety people.)[Acc.]

Cardinal numerals 100+

English	Czech
one hundred	sto
two hundred	dvě stě
three hundred	tři sta
four hundred	čtyři sta
five hundred	pět set
six hundred	šest set
seven hundred	sedm set
eight hundred	osm set
nine hundred	devět set

To decline these compounds, we:

keep the hundreds piece fixed,
use the appropriate form of the multiple of ten (i.e., the form ending in -t if the whole phrase is in Nom. or Acc. or one ending in -ti otherwise),
decline the 1-9 piece of the compound as appropriate for the case of the whole phrase, except we keep jedna fixed no matter what, and
either keep the counted entity in the genitive (Nom. or Acc. of the whole phrase) or match it to the case of the whole phrase (otherwise).

About... 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

About: More locative

In this skill we introduce more locative forms and several new prepositions.

Prepositions

The following prepositions take the locative case. Some of them also work with the accusative to convey different meanings.

Locative preposition	Approximate Meaning
v/ve	in, at
na	on, sometimes at or in
o	about
při	by, during, at
po	along, after

The locative "o" means roughly "about" (or "on") when referring to a topic of some thing or activity:

Chci knihu o autech. (I want a book about cars.)

"Při" only comes with the locative, and its core meanings include "during" referring to timing and "by" referring to proximity in space:

Při jídle nemluvíme. (We do not speak during meals.)
Mají dům při cestě. (They have a house by the road.)

The locative "po" expresses taking place "after" something in time or following "along" something in space:

Po jídle vždy spím. (I always sleep after meals.)
Šli po pláži. (They walked along the beach.)

Now let’s take a look at some model nouns and how they change in the locative. We already encountered some of them in the Places skill.

Nouns

Masculine nouns:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc.	Pl. Loc.
kluk	klukovi	klucích
muž	muži	mužích
hrad	hradě, hradu	hradech
stroj	stroji	strojích

Feminine nouns:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc.	Pl. Loc.
žena	ženě	ženách
ulice	ulici	ulicích
postel	posteli	postelích
věc	věci	věcech

Neuter nouns:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Loc.	Pl. Loc.
město	městě, městu	městech
moře	moři	mořích
kuře	kuřeti	kuřatech
náměstí	náměstí	náměstích

Personal pronouns

Finally, let’s learn the locative forms of personal pronouns:

Nominative	Locative
já	mně
ty	tobě
on	něm
ona	ní
ono	něm
my	nás
vy	vás
oni/ony/ona	nich

Examples:

Mluvíte o mně? (Are you talking about me?)
Co na něm vidíš? (What do you see in him?)
Vy hrajete po nás. (You play after us.)

Ordinals 3 · 2022-03-16 ^

Ordinal numbers

You may remember we dealt with the first four ordinal numbers (from “první“ to “čtvrtý“) earlier in the course. Since then we have learned to count higher than to four, so let's add a bunch more ordinals. The following table shows the first ten ordinals in their nominative form. Where gender and number matter, the forms are masculine singular. The irregular bits, where the connection to the cardinals is disrupted, are shown in bold.

Czech	English
první	first
druhý	second
třetí	third
čtvrtý	fourth
pátý	fifth
šestý	sixth
sedmý	seventh
osmý	eighth
devátý	ninth
desátý	tenth

From five on, ordinal numbers are derived from cardinal numbers simply by adding the hard adjective endings (“-ý” for the masculine gender) and sometimes changing “-e/ě-“ to “-á-“ in the root. Numbers between 11th an 19th are all regular. In numbers 20th, 30th, etc. the “e>á” change applies. (Note that the existing course does not show you anything above "twentieth").

Czech	English
jedenáctý	eleventh
dvanáctý	twelfth
…	…
dvacátý	twentieth
třicátý	thirtieth
čtyřicátý	fourtieth
…	…
stý	hundredth

For numbers between 20th and 100th that are not multiples of ten, such as 24th, we turn both parts into ordinals (unlike in English): thus “twenty-fourth” is “dvacátý čtvrtý”, and “fifty-seventh” is “padesátý sedmý”.

As we have seen with the first four ordinals, all ordinal numbers decline exactly like adjectives. Numbers “první” and “třetí” decline as soft adjectives (such as "zvláštní" or “poslední”), and all other ordinals decline as hard adjectives (such as “mladý” or "nový"). The mixed model applies to ordinals like "dvacátý třetí", with both parts following their respective declensions.

When written in numerical form, where English uses “-th” or “-st” etc., Czech uses a point (dot) after the number: 1. = první, 2. = druhý, 98. = devadesátý osmý.

Ordinal numbers are also useful when talking about calendar dates. We (normally) use genitive forms both for the day’s number and for the name of the month. We don’t use any preposition to express the “on the…” part. For example:

Stalo se to druhého ledna. (It happened on the second of January.)
Dnes je čtrnáctého dubna. (Today is the fourteenth of April.)
Narodila se třicátého prvního prosince. (She was born on the thirty-first of December.)

We did say that the genitive forms are used for dates normally. It gets trickier if the date functions as anything other than a description of when or (on) what date. For example, if the sentence was about someone literally thinking (or talking) about the first of July, the date is the object of the verb that works with the accusative (or locative) case, and we get

Myslel na první červenec.
Mluvila o prvním červenci.

Again both parts of the date show up in whatever the case is required by the verb or the preposition. If the date falls where genitive is required, we get both parts in genitive, just for a different reason that before:

Byli jsme tam od pátého února do osmnáctého března. (We were there from the fifth of February to the eighteenth of March.)

As we have already learned in the Numbers 1 skill, we need ordinals to tell the time in case the time is “half past something”. The ordinal number will be in the feminine genitive singular form:

půl páté – half past four, literally “half of the fifth hour”
půl jedenácté – half past ten
půl druhé – half past one
exception: půl jedné – half past twelve (cardinal number “jedna” instead)

Czech also has a question word – kolikátý – used to asked for ordinal numbers. This word is strangely absent from English, but the equivalent would be “how-manieth” or “how manyth” – see Wiktionary. None of the following examples can be translated directly:

Kolikáté auto máš? (How many cars including this one have you had?)
Kolikátou kávu pijete? (literally “How-manieth coffee are you drinking?”)
Kolikátého je dnes? (What’s the date today?)

With What 1 · 2021-09-15 ^

With what: Instrumental

Let’s meet our next to last new case: the instrumental! As its name hints, it’s primarily used to express using something to do something with, as with an instrument or a tool. Several prepositions may be associated with this case, including the one that often actually translates a “with”, but it has several important uses without a preposition, and that is what we explore in this unit.

How to form the instrumental

First, let’s look at the demonstratives and adjectives and how they change in the instrumental. It’s relatively easy because in the singular, the masculine (animate as well as inanimate) and neuter forms are the same, and the plural forms are identical for all three genders!

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Ins., masc. and neuter	Sg. Ins., fem.	Pl. Ins.
ten/ta/to	tím	tou	těmi
hard – nový	novým	novou	novými
soft – zvláštní	zvláštním	zvláštní	zvláštními

To decline “this” and “that”, we simply add “-to” and “tam-“, respectively. For example: “tento stroj” (this machine) -> “tímto strojem” (with this machine), “tamta kniha” (that book) -> “tamtou knihou”, or “toto slovo” (this word) -> “těmito slovy” (with these words).

Maybe an example is in order. When discussing how a construction task is accomplished, we may want to explain as follows:

Děláme to tímto novým strojem. (We do it with this new machine.)

Here are the instrumental forms for the noun declension paradigms covered in this unit. We will cover more paradigms later.

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Ins.	Pl. Ins.
strom	stromem	stromy
stroj	strojem	stroji
kniha	knihou	knihami
slovo	slovem	slovy

We learn the instrumental form of “jeden”:

Nominative	Instrumental
jeden/jedno (masc./neut.)	jedním
jedna (fem.)	jednou

Compare “one” with the demonstrative “ten/ta/to”: They decline exactly the same.

We also learn to decline “co” and related pronouns in the instrumental (note the similarity to the “to” declensions above):

Nominative	Instrumental
co/něco	čím/něčím

We encounter a few anomalies associated with the plural instrumental for paired body parts:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Ins.	Pl. Ins.
oko	okem	očima
ruka	rukou	rukama

There will be an entire unit to explore this dual body part topic later. For now, review the last two examples below and note that the irregular endings impact even the adjectives attached to the dual nouns.

New words

This skill introduces a few new words:

nouns: hlas (voice), nástroj (tool), pero (pen), and tužka (pencil)
adjectives: holý (bare)
verbs: držet (hold), udělat (do, perfective), vyjádřit (express, perfective), zabít (kill, perfective)

Examples

Udělal to nožem. (He did it with a knife.)
Píšu tím novým perem. (I am writing with the new pen.)
Tohle jídlo nesmíš jíst lžící. (You must not eat this meal with a spoon.)
Čím jsi otevřel tu láhev? (What did you open that bottle with?)
Dnes je vyrábíme lepšími nástroji. (Today we make them with better tools.)
Musíme se dívat vlastníma očima. (We must look with our own eyes.)
Zabil holýma rukama medvěda! (He killed a bear with his bare hands!)

Modals 1 2 · 2022-03-16 ^

Modals 1

Moct (can): Ability, possibility, permission/Their absence

This verb shows that someone can do something or that something can happen as a result of objective circumstances, availability, suitability, natural ability, or permission.

A good match in English is “can”, which also happens to overlap informally with “may” when it shows permission:

Můžeme na vás počkat. (We can wait for you.)
Tato zvířata mohou žít bez vody. (These animals can live without water.)
Můžu/mohu tady kouřit? (Can I smoke here?)

When this verb is negated, it expresses the absence of ability, possibility, or permission, much like cannot:

Nemůžeme už čekat. (We cannot wait anymore.)
To se tady stát nemůže. (That cannot happen here.)
Promiňte, tady kouřit nemůžete. (Sorry, you cannot smoke here.)

Please also note that “can“ with many perception and some cognition verbs in English, as in

I can see them.
I can understand that.

usually describes perception or cognition at the moment of speaking, without actually referring to ability. Czech just uses the verb without the modal here, as in

Vidím je./Já je vidím.
To chápu.

Smět (may): Permission/Prohibition

Smím se vás na něco zeptat? (May I ask you something?)

and to limited permissions

Psi sem smějí jen v pondělí. (Dogs are only allowed here on Mondays.)

Negative statements are used to deny permission or express prohibition much like may not or must not:

Tady parkovat nesmíte. (You may not/must not park here.)

The nearest English match is “may”, which also happens to overlap with the informal permission sense of “can” or its negative. This same overlap exists between “moct” and “smět“.

In the second person, the negative may indicate milder advice and often does not work translated as “may not”:

Nesmíš věřit všemu, co slyšíš. (You must not/should not believe everything you hear.)

There is another way of expressing “should” and “should not” in Czech, but we are not ready for its grammar yet.

Muset (have to): Obligation/Absence of obligation

Musíme tady počkat. (We have to/must wait here.)
Musí křičet? (Does he have to yell?)
Musíš se víc snažit. (You have to/must/should try harder.)

Nemusíš mi to říkat dvakrát. (You don’t have to tell me twice.)

If we used negated “must”, we would be way off.

Mít (be [supposed] to): Conveyed obligation/prohibition

Máš jít domů. (You are to go home.)

Usually “should” would be too tentative as a translation of the modal “mít”, except in first-person questions, which function rather like requests for guidance:

Mám tady vystoupit? (Should I get off here?)

The negative communicates a negative obligation (prohibition), not an absence of obligation:

Nemáme na ni čekat. (We are not to wait for her.)

Forms

The forms of these modal verbs are listed below:

Person	can	may	have to	be to
já	můžu, mohu	smím	musím	mám
ty	můžeš	smíš	musíš	máš
on, ona, ono	může	smí	musí	má
my	můžeme	smíme	musíme	máme
vy	můžete	smíte	musíte	máte
oni, ony, ona	můžou, mohou	smějí, smí	musejí, musí	mají
infinitive	moct, moci	smět	muset, musit	mít

The duplicate forms shown in italics are formal.

Note

As in English, some of the same Czech modals can also convey degrees of certainty:

To musí/může/nemusí/nemůže být pravda. (That must/can=may/may not/cannot be true.)

Conjunctions 2 1 · 2021-09-15 ^

Conjunctions 2

Bych, bys, by, bychom, byste: Conditional auxiliary

To form the conditional mood in Czech, we use an auxiliary with the past participle, much like we did when forming the past tense for the 1st and 2nd person. Compare the auxiliaries below:

Person	Past	Conditional
Sg. 1st (já)	jsem	bych
Sg. Familiar 2nd (ty)	jsi (-s)	bys, by ses, by sis
Sg. 3rd (on, ona…)	-	by
Pl. 1st (my)	jsme	bychom
Pl./Formal 2nd (vy)	jste	byste
Pl. 3rd (oni, ony…)	-	by

For example, compare:

On pil vodu. (He drank water.)
Měl jsem dva psy. (I had two dogs.)

with

On by pil vodu. (He would drink water.)
Měl bych dva psy. (I would have two dogs.)

Bál by se ho. (He would be afraid of it/him.)

Bál by ses ho. (You would be afraid of it/him.)

And while some Czechs do not seem to know this, forms like “by jsi” and “by jste si” are wrong (“hypercorrect”) in standard Czech.

Kdybych, kdybys, kdyby, kdybychom, kdybyste: If (imaginary condition)

This conjunction will allow us to talk about imaginary situations, similar to how “if” works in English Type 2 conditionals:

Kdybys chtěl umět česky, víc bys studoval. (If you wanted to speak Czech, you would study harder.)

The forms of this conjuction mirror those of the conditional axiliary. Check out the summary table below.

Abych, abys, aby, abychom, abyste: (In order) to

This conjunction will allow us to talk about purpose, similar to how the infinitive, sometimes following “in order” or “so as”, works in English:

Hodně se učím, abych uměla dobře česky. (I study a lot in order to speak Czech well.)

Summary of forms

Person	Form
Sg. 1st (já)	(a/kdy)bych
Sg. Familiar 2nd (ty)	(a/kdy)bys, (a/kdy)by ses, (a/kdy)by sis
Sg. 3rd (on, ona…)	(a/kdy)by
Pl. 1st (my)	(a/kdy)bychom
Pl./Formal 2nd (vy)	(a/kdy)byste
Pl. 3rd (oni, ony…)	(a/kdy)by

Word order note

Learn more about clitics and word order here.

Family 2 3 · 2022-03-16 ^

Comparative

-ejší, -ější

This is the main comparative suffix, used with most adjectives. Whether we use the variant with "-e-" or "-ě-" depends on the last consonant of the adjective:

L, S, Z: -ejší
H, CH, K, R: -ejší, but the consonant softens -> Ž, Š, Č, Ř
D, T, N, M, B, P, V: -ější

Some examples:

rychlý (fast) -> rychlejší (faster)
levný (cheap) -> levnější (cheaper)
zvláštní (strange) -> zvláštnější (stranger)
zajímavý (interesting) -> zajímavější (more interesting)
důležitý (important) -> důležitější (more important)
chytrý (clever) -> chytřejší (cleverer / more clever)

-ší

A relatively small group of (quite common) adjectives use this shorter comparative suffix:

mladý (young) -> mladší (younger)
starý (starší) -> starší (older) [exception: no softening]
drahý (expensive, dear) -> dražší (more expensive, dearer)
tichý (quiet) -> tišší (quieter) [not in the course, and yes, we do get "šš"]

-í

Several adjectives ending in "-ký" use this even shorter suffix, whereby the consonant "k" softens into "č" as usual:

hezký (nice, pretty/handsome) -> hezčí (nicer, prettier/more handsome)
lehký (light as in light-weight, easy) -> lehčí (lighter, easier)

Irregular

Almost every (if not every) language has irregular comparatives for "good" and "bad". In Czech, a few more adjectives have irregular comparatives:

dobrý (good) -> lepší (better)
špatný (bad) -> horší (worse)
velký (big) -> větší (bigger)
malý (small) -> menší (smaller)
dlouhý (long) -> delší (longer)
krátký (short) -> kratší (shorter)
vysoký (tall, high) -> vyšší (taller, higer)

Note that comparative adjectives are always soft, even if they derive from hard adjectives.

Words that often go with comparatives

A very useful word that goes along with comparatives is "než", meaning "than". Example: "Můj táta je starší než moje máma." (My dad is older than my mom.)

To say "even more + adjective", we use the word "ještě" (which can mean "still" or "more" in other contexts). Example: "Teď jsem ještě šťastnější." (Now I'm even happier.)

Superlative

Once you know how to form the comparative, the superlative is super easy! Just attach the "nej-" prefix to the beginning of the comparative, and you're done. Some examples:

lepší (better) -> nejlepší (the best)
krásnější (more beautiful) -> nejkrásnější (the most beautiful)
ošklivější (uglier) -> nejošklivější (the ugliest)

Like the comparative, the superlative is also always a soft adjective.

Family members

And finally, let's recap as well as extend our vocabulary pertaining to family members:

Příbuzný	Relative
matka	mother
máma	mom
maminka	mommy
otec	father
táta	dad
tatínek	daddy
sourozenec	sibling, brother or sister
bratr	brother
sestra	sister
syn	son
dcera	daughter
děda, dědeček	grandpa
babička	grandma
bratranec	(male) cousin
sestřenice	(female) cousin
strýc, strejda	uncle
teta	aunt

With what? 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

With what: Instrumental

How to form the instrumental

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Ins., masc. and neuter	Sg. Ins., fem.	Pl. Ins.
ten/ta/to	tím	tou	těmi
hard – nový	novým	novou	novými
soft – zvláštní	zvláštním	zvláštní	zvláštními

Maybe an example is in order. When discussing how a construction task is accomplished, we may want to explain as follows:

Děláme to tímto novým strojem. (We do it with this new machine.)

Here are the instrumental forms for the noun declension paradigms covered in this unit. We will cover more paradigms later.

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Ins.	Pl. Ins.
strom	stromem	stromy
stroj	strojem	stroji
kniha	knihou	knihami
slovo	slovem	slovy

We learn the instrumental form of “jeden”:

Nominative	Instrumental
jeden/jedno (masc./neut.)	jedním
jedna (fem.)	jednou

Compare “one” with the demonstrative “ten/ta/to”: They decline exactly the same.

We also learn to decline “co” and related pronouns in the instrumental (note the similarity to the “to” declensions above):

Nominative	Instrumental
co/něco	čím/něčím

We encounter a few anomalies associated with the plural instrumental for paired body parts:

Sg. Nom.	Sg. Ins.	Pl. Ins.
oko	okem	očima
ruka	rukou	rukama

New words

This skill introduces a few new words:

nouns: hlas (voice), nástroj (tool), pero (pen), and tužka (pencil)
adjectives: holý (bare)
verbs: držet (hold), udělat (do, perfective), vyjádřit (express, perfective), zabít (kill, perfective)

Examples

Udělal to nožem. (He did it with a knife.)
Píšu tím novým perem. (I am writing with the new pen.)
Tohle jídlo nesmíš jíst lžící. (You must not eat this meal with a spoon.)
Čím jsi otevřel tu láhev? (What did you open that bottle with?)
Dnes je vyrábíme lepšími nástroji. (Today we make them with better tools.)
Musíme se dívat vlastníma očima. (We must look with our own eyes.)
Zabil holýma rukama medvěda! (He killed a bear with his bare hands!)

Would you? 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Would you?

Recall that conjunctions connect other words, expressions, and clauses together. In If/When you met a handful of conjunctions that work with the present tense. Now let’s have a look at two special conjunctions that work with the past tense. These conjunctions are special in that they conjugate (change endings depending on person and number of their subject) somewhat like verbs. In fact, their endings are the only remnant of an old verb tense that has otherwise vanished from Czech.

Bych, bys, by, bychom, byste: Conditional auxiliary

To form the conditional mood in Czech, we use an auxiliary with the past participle, much like we did when forming the past tense for the 1st and 2nd person. Compare the auxiliaries below:

Person	Past	Conditional
Sg. 1st (já)	jsem	bych
Sg. Familiar 2nd (ty)	jsi (-s)	bys, by ses, by sis
Sg. 3rd (on, ona…)	-	by
Pl. 1st (my)	jsme	bychom
Pl./Formal 2nd (vy)	jste	byste
Pl. 3rd (oni, ony…)	-	by

For example, compare:

On pil vodu. (He drank water.)
Měl jsem dva psy. (I had two dogs.)

with

On by pil vodu. (He would drink water.)
Měl bych dva psy. (I would have two dogs.)

Bál by se ho. (He would be afraid of it/him.)

Bál by ses ho. (You would be afraid of it/him.)

And while some Czechs do not seem to know this, forms like “by jsi” and “by jste si” are wrong (“hypercorrect”) in standard Czech.

Kdybych, kdybys, kdyby, kdybychom, kdybyste: If (imaginary condition)

This conjunction will allow us to talk about imaginary situations, similar to how “if” works in English Type 2 conditionals:

Kdybys chtěl umět česky, víc bys studoval. (If you wanted to speak Czech, you would study harder.)

The forms of this conjuction mirror those of the conditional axiliary. Check out the summary table below.

Abych, abys, aby, abychom, abyste: (In order) to

This conjunction will allow us to talk about purpose, similar to how the infinitive, sometimes following “in order” or “so as”, works in English:

Hodně se učím, abych uměla dobře česky. (I study a lot in order to speak Czech well.)

Summary of forms

Person	Form
Sg. 1st (já)	(a/kdy)bych
Sg. Familiar 2nd (ty)	(a/kdy)bys, (a/kdy)by ses, (a/kdy)by sis
Sg. 3rd (on, ona…)	(a/kdy)by
Pl. 1st (my)	(a/kdy)bychom
Pl./Formal 2nd (vy)	(a/kdy)byste
Pl. 3rd (oni, ony…)	(a/kdy)by

Word order note

Learn more about clitics and word order here.

Travel 2 · 2022-03-16 ^

Travel

In this skill we extend our vocabulary to discuss travel and transportation. Let’s start with a few nouns.

Nouns

The following table presents each Czech noun with its declension paradigm (even if an unofficial one) to help with the gender and the case endings of each noun:

Czech	English
autobus (hrad)	bus
kolo (město)	bicycle
kufr (hrad)	suitcase
letadlo (město)	airplane
loď (postel)	boat, ship
metro (město)	subway, underground
motorka (žena)	motorcycle
pas (hrad)	passport
stanice (ulice)	station
tramvaj (postel)	tram
turista (táta)	tourist
turistka (žena)	tourist (female)
vlak (hrad)	train

The likely surprises here are the masculine “turista” (tourist) and the feminine loď (boat) and tramvaj (tram) because they go against the noun genders typically expected for their endings.

autem, autobusem, letadlem, lodí, metrem, tramvají, vlakem

but

na kole, na lodi, na motorce, na koni

The lodí/na lodi ambiguity for “by boat” indirectly justifies our rule, as one can be inside a cabin or on the deck.

Jedeme autobusem. (We are riding a bus.)

Verbs

We learn two new verbs in the present tense:

Czech	English	Conjugates like
cestovat	travel	potřebovat (need)
jezdit	ride, go (by vehicle/animal)	mluvit (speak)

The conjugation note is a hint to match the verb endings to another verb we already know. For example, we can recall the forms “potřebujete” and “mluvím” to figure out the verb endings for

Jak často cestujete lodí? (How often do you travel by boat?)
Často jezdím do školy na kole. (I often ride a bicycle to school.)

Note that “jezdit” is the indeterminate (repeated, habitual, multi-directional movement) mate to the determinate (single, one-directional movement) “jet” we encountered in Present 1:

Jedu na kole. (I am riding a bicycle.)

We also learn the past tense of three verbs:

Czech	English
cestovat	travel
nastoupit	board, get on
vystoupit	exit, get off

Kde jste nastoupil do tramvaje? (Where did you board the tram?)
Z vlaku vystoupil jen František. (Only František got off the train.)

Once, twice, three times…

Unlike the cardinal and ordinal numbers we have already encountered, the multiplicative number words do not change their form and stay as listed below:

Czech	English
jednou	once
dvakrát	twice
třikrát	three times
čtyřikrát	four times

V Německu jsem byla třicetšestkrát. (I have been to Germany thirty-six times.)

To ask “how many times” in Czech, use “kolikrát” (note the spelling):

Kolikrát jsi tam byl? (How many times have you been there?)

Na Slovensko cestujeme jednou nebo dvakrát za rok. (We travel to Slovakia once or twice a year.)

Relative Clauses 2 · 2021-09-15 ^

Relative clauses 1

In this skill we learn to construct relative subordinate clauses and connect them to the main clause. To do that, we are going to need relative pronouns as the connecting pieces.

Relative pronoun který

One of the relative pronouns looks and behaves like the interrogatory pronoun který. Recall that this pronoun declines like a hard adjective.

As a relative pronoun, který does the job of the English relative pronouns “who”, “whom”, “which”, and “that”. This Czech pronoun cannot be omitted, and there is no distinction between restrictive (defining) and non-restrictive (non-defining) use. In Czech, relative clauses need to be set off by commas regardless of whether or not they are restrictive, and only context will show their restrictive status.

The structure of the complex sentence with který can be readily appreciated by first identifying the corresponding question using a form of který as an interrogative. Say we want to translate “He married the girl from whom he had been buying milk every morning.” (It is easiest to start from an English sentence from which the relative pronoun was not omitted, and with any associated preposition preceding the pronoun rather than pushed to the end.)

The translation will predictably begin

Vzal si dívku...

The question we need asks about the English subordinate clause and uses the key piece from the main clause that the subordinate clause refers to:

From which girl had he been buying milk every morning?

We get:

U které dívky každé ráno kupoval mléko? (U is better than od here.)

Let’s lose the piece of the main clause again

u které každé ráno kupoval mléko

and stitch it together, using the required comma:

Vzal si dívku, u které každé ráno kupoval mléko.

This will work for other cases, including those without a preposition in Czech, even the nominative, and for questions:

Who knows the man who is sitting on the yellow sofa?
Intermediate: Který (muž) sedí na žluté pohovce?
Kdo zná toho muže, který sedí na žluté pohovce?

It may be easier for some students to recognize that the case of the pronoun is determined by the subordinate clause, and the gender/number by the element of the main clause to which the subordinate clause refers.

Relative pronoun jenž

In formal contexts, the relative pronoun jenž may be used instead of který. This pronoun also comes in different forms for different genders and cases:

Case/ Number	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	jenž	jenž	jež	jež
Acc. sg.	jehož, jejž, něhož, nějž	jejž, nějž	již, niž	jež, něž
Gen. sg.	jehož, jejž, něhož, nějž	jehož, jejž, něhož, nějž	jíž, níž	jehož, jejž, něhož, nějž
Loc. sg.	němž	němž	níž	němž
Ins. sg.	jímž, nímž	jímž, nímž	jíž, níž	jímž, nímž
Dat. sg.	jemuž, němuž	jemuž, němuž	jíž, níž	jemuž, němuž
Nom. pl.	již	jež	jež	jež
Acc. pl.	jež, něž	jež, něž	jež, něž	jež, něž
Gen. pl.	jichž, nichž	jichž, nichž	jichž, nichž	jichž, nichž
Loc. pl.	nichž	nichž	nichž	nichž
Ins. pl.	jimiž, nimiž	jimiž, nimiž	jimiž, nimiž	jimiž, nimiž
Dat. pl.	jimž, nimž	jimž, nimž	jimž, nimž	jimž, nimž

As we have seen with personal pronouns, the forms starting with j- are used in the absence of a preposition, and those starting with n- are used after a preposition.

The connection with the personal pronouns will help us avoid memorizing the entire table. If we know which forms of the personal pronouns are used in which cases, we can simply append -ž to them. Using our milk girl as an example, take the subordinate clause question:

U které dívky každé ráno kupoval mléko?

Replace what makes sense with the personal pronoun:

u ní každé ráno kupoval mléko

Append -ž to the pronoun and assemble the translation:

Vzal si dívku, u níž každé ráno kupoval mléko.

We do have to memorize the nominative forms, as we cannot just add -ž to on to get jenž, to oni to get již, or to the other nominative forms to get jež.

Relative clause mid-sentence

The relative clause can be inserted in the middle of the main clause immediately following the element it refers to:

Dívku, u které/níž každé ráno kupoval mléko, si vzal.
On/František si dívku, u které/níž každé ráno kupoval mléko, vzal.

Note that the relative clause is needed to complete the unit of meaning, which is why in the first example the reflexive dative enclitic si must come immediately after it.

Clitics in relative clauses

For keeping track of where the clitics should go, the form of který or jenž with any associated preposition count as the first unit of meaning in the clause:

Pamatuješ si tu studentku, které/jíž jsme se ho báli dát? (Do you remember the student we were afraid to give him/it to?)

None of the clitics can climb up from the relative clause to the governing clause.

Possessive Adjectives 3 · 2022-03-16 ^

Possessive Adjectives

Czech possessive adjectives (PAs) offer an alternative to the genitive when expressing ownership. Unlike the genitive of possession (auto Františka), PAs go before the noun (Františkovo auto).

Restrictions

In standard Czech, the possessor (owner) name must be

singular (no PA for "people's republic");
animate, such as a person or something personified, or an animal (no PA for "water's edge");
grammatically masculine or feminine (no PA from děvče or dítě);
referring to a specific possessor, not a generic or abstract one (no PA for "man's best friend");
a single word (no PA for "my younger brother's wife"); and
a noun (no PAs from feminine surnames, which are adjectives, like Navrátilová).

Where these restrictions prevent the use of the PAs, Czech uses other types of adjectives or the genitive of possession.

Formation and Declension

PAs are formed by adding together three pieces:

root + suffix + ending

The "root" comes from the owner noun.
The "suffix" mostly depends on the owner gender.
The "ending" depends on the owned object gender, number, and case.

To find the root for masculine owners,

take the accusative of the owner noun (this deletes the "e" from the stem if appropriate; see "dědeček" below); and
remove the vowel ending

Owner	Accusative	Root
bratr	bratra	bratr
muž	muže	muž
dědeček	dědečka	dědečk
táta	tátu	tát
soudce	soudce	soudc

To find the root for feminine owners,

take the dative of the owner noun (this captures consonant shifts; see "sestra" and "matka" below);
remove the vowel ending; and
replace the final "c" with "č" and "z" with "ž"

Owner	Dative	Root
žena	ženě	žen
Žofie	Žofii	Žofi
sestra	sestře	sestř
matka	matce	mat`č`

The suffix goes right after the root and is the simplest PA piece, being:

"ův" for a masculine owner with a singular masculine owned object in the nominative and singular masculine inanimate owned object in the accusative;
"ov" for a masculine owner otherwise; and
"in" for a feminine owner

Finally, the ending depends on the gender, number, and case of the owned object. In the tables below, "-" denotes an empty ending, i.e., nothing.

For singular objects:

Case	M (an./in.)	F	N
N sg.	-	a	o
A sg.	a / -	u	o
G sg.	a	y	a
L sg.	ě	ě	ě
I sg.	ým	ou	ým
D sg.	u	ě	u

Note that the "ův" suffix can only go with the empty ending for a masculine owner. Some learners may benefit from figuring out the ending before the suffix.

For plural objects:

Case	M (an./in.)	F	N
N pl.	i / y	y	a
A pl.	y	y	a
G pl.	ých	ých	ých
L pl.	ých	ých	ých
I pl.	ými	ými	ými
D pl.	ým	ým	ým

Examples

Let's try it on translating "I don't know František's sister." As a hint, our translation will contain neznám ... sestru, with the object in accusative.

First we get the PA root for a masculine owner (František) from its accusative form (Františka) by dropping the final vowel: "Františk".
Next we pick the right suffix. The owner is masculine but the owned object is not M nom. sg. or M in. acc. sg. (which would give an empty ending next), so the suffix is "ov".
Finally, from the tables of endings for A sg. and a feminine object, the ending we get "u".
The PA becomes "Františkovu".

Note that the translation likely gets organized as "Františkovu sestru neznám." because the "not knowing" is more likely to be the key piece of information than who she is.

Our second example deals with the PA-related issue most frequently debated in sentence discussions for this skill: Whose grandfather is it anyway?

Oba dědečkovy domy jsou v Praze. (Both of my grandfather's houses are in Prague.)

The main tripping hazard here is the "my grandfather's houses" translation. How do we know it was my grandfather of all grandfathers?

We could have said "both Grandpa's houses", using the family title as if it were a proper noun (note the capitalization). If I said "Grandpa's new house is in Prague." to you (assuming we are not related), you would apply my statement to my grandfather. The same connection makes the "dědeček" automatically apply to the speaker's grandpa.

If we wanted to explicitly specify whose grandfather we are talking about, we would lose the ability to use a PA (because PAs do not handle multi-word possessors), and end up replacing "oba dědečkovy domy" with the rather less idiomatic "oba domy mého dědečka".

Finally, in

Vystoupila z otcova auta. (She got out of her father's car.)

the father could also be the narrator's, but it is a good example where "her" father is just as probable.

Relative Clauses 1 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Relative clauses 1

In this skill we learn to construct relative subordinate clauses and connect them to the main clause. To do that, we are going to need relative pronouns as the connecting pieces.

Relative pronoun "který"

One of the relative pronouns looks and behaves like the interrogatory pronoun "který". Recall that this pronoun declines like a hard adjective.

As a relative pronoun, "který" does the job of the English relative pronouns "who", "whom", "which", and "that". This Czech pronoun cannot be omitted, and there is no distinction between restrictive (defining) and non-restrictive (non-defining) use. In Czech, relative clauses need to be set off by commas regardless of whether or not they are restrictive. Only context will show their restrictive status.

The structure of the complex sentence with "který" can be readily appreciated by first identifying the corresponding question using a form of "který" as an interrogative. Say we want to translate "He married the girl from whom he had been buying milk every morning." (It is easiest to start from an English sentence from which the relative pronoun was not omitted, and with any associated preposition preceding the pronoun rather than pushed to the end.)

The translation will predictably begin

Vzal si dívku ...

The question we need asks about the English subordinate clause and uses the key piece from the main clause that the subordinate clause refers to:

From which girl had he been buying milk every morning?

We get:

U které dívky každé ráno kupoval mléko? ("U" is better than "od" here.)

Let’s delete the piece of the main clause from the question:

u které [dívky] každé ráno kupoval mléko

and stitch it together, using the required comma:

Vzal si dívku, u které každé ráno kupoval mléko.

This will work for other cases, including those without a preposition in Czech, even the nominative, and for questions:

Who knows the man who is sitting on the yellow sofa?
Intermediate: Který [muž] sedí na žluté pohovce?
Kdo zná toho muže, který sedí na žluté pohovce?

Relative clause mid-sentence

The relative clause can be inserted in the middle of the main clause immediately following the element it refers to:

Dívku, u které každé ráno kupoval mléko, si vzal.
On/František si dívku, u které každé ráno kupoval mléko, vzal.

Note that the relative clause is needed to complete the unit of meaning, which is why in the first example the reflexive dative enclitic "si" must come immediately after it.

Clitics in relative clauses

For keeping track of where the clitics should go, the form of "který" with any associated preposition count as the first unit of meaning in the clause:

Pamatuješ si tu studentku, které jsme se ho báli dát? (Do you remember the student we were afraid to give him/it to?)

None of the clitics can climb up from the relative clause to the governing clause:

Pamatuješ jsme si se ho tu studentku, které báli dát?

Movement 2 · 2022-03-16 ^

Verbs of motion

Czech verbs of motion exist in pairs that distinguish between determinate and indeterminate actions. This is not quite like the perfective vs imperfective distinction.

Determinate verbs of motion are used for single, one-directional, goal-directed movements.
Indeterminate verbs of motion are used for repeated, habitual, multi-directional, general (non-goal-directed) movements.

For example, compare these four common Czech verbs, all corresponding to English "go":

jít vs chodit (go, walk, go on foot)
jet vs jezdit (go, go by vehicle, ride)

The first verb in these pairs is determinate, the second indeterminate. Note also the distinction between motion on foot and motion by vehicle. Czech does not have a generic "go" like English.

Jít (go, walk)

Number	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Sg.	jdu	jdeš	jde
Pl.	jdeme	jdete	jdou

In colloquial Czech the j- in these present forms is sometimes silent in pronunciation, similar to most of the present forms of být. Já jsem. and Kam jdeš? may sound like Já sem. and Kam deš?. This does not happen in negative sentences.

The past tense forms of jít are šel (m), šla (f), šlo (n), šli/šly/šla (pl): Ony šly domů. (They went home.)

The future tense is created with the prefix pů-: Půjdu domů. (I will go home.)

Jet (go, ride, drive)

Number	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
Sg.	jedu	jedeš	jede
Pl.	jedeme	jedete	jedou

The past tense forms of jet are jel (m), jela (f), jelo (n), jeli/jely/jela (pl). Kam jeli? (Where did they go?)

The future tense is created with the prefix po-: Pojedu domů. (I will go home.)

Notes

Note that jít and jet can also mean both "go" or "come", depending on the direction of travel:

Jde/Jede sem. (He is coming here.)
Jde/Jede tam. (He is going there.)

Prefixed verbs of motion

The verbs of motion can also form aspectual pairs (imperfective and perfective) by prefixation, which alters their meanings.

Od- means "away", "from":

jít/chodit (go, walk) become odejít/odcházet (go away, leave)
jet/jezdit (go, ride, drive) become odjet/odjíždět (ride, go away, leave)

Při- means "to", "near":

přijít/přicházet (arrive, come on foot)
přijet/přijíždět (arrive, come by vehicle)

Dual 2 · 2022-03-16 ^

This Skill introduces the names of several body parts. Pair body parts, like hands - ruce, legs - nohy, knees - kolena, shoulders - "ramena", eyes - oči and ears - uši follow a special type of declination in the plural.

This declination is called dual because it is derived from the Old Czech dual grammatical number, which was used instead of the plural number to all entities, if they happened to be in two. It is used for numbers dva (two) and oba (both) and then for certain (namely externally visible) body parts, even if there are more than two of them.

If some of these words are used in a derived meaning, like nohy stolu - the legs of a table, they use the regular plural declination, not the dual one.

Case	Dual	Regular plural
nom.	nohy	nohy
gen.	nohou/noh	noh
dat.	nohám	nohám
loc.	nohou/nohách	nohách
instr..	nohama	nohami

Adjectives and numbers tři and čtyři bound to dual nouns acquire dual endings as well: zvíře se čtyřma velkýma nohama - an animal with four large legs

Wishes 2 · 2022-03-16 ^

Wishes

Until these Tips & Notes are added, please refer to James Naughton's Czech: An Essential Grammar, section 7.9.1, pp. 153-154, and section 7.14.4, pp. 159-160.

Used To 2 · 2022-03-16 ^

Past habit

Until these Tips & Notes are added, please refer to James Naughton's Czech: An Essential Grammar, section 7.17, pp. 165-166.

Relative 2 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

Relative clauses 2

In this skill we learn a few more relative pronouns to connect relative subordinate clauses to the main clause. So far we have been using the relative pronoun "který", which does the job of the English relative pronouns "who", "whom", "which", and "that".

Recall that this Czech pronoun cannot be omitted and that there is no distinction between restrictive (defining) and non-restrictive (non-defining) use.

The example we studied in some detail was

Vzal si dívku, u které každé ráno kupoval mléko.

The case of the pronoun is determined by the subordinate clause, and the gender/number by the element of the main clause to which the subordinate clause refers.

Relative pronoun "jenž"

In formal contexts, the relative pronoun "jenž" may be used instead of "který". This pronoun also comes in different forms for different genders and cases. The forms are challenging even for many native Czechs, but learning them could help our students decipher more formal texts.

Case/ Number	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. sg.	jenž	jenž	jež	jež
Acc. sg.	jehož, jejž, něhož, nějž	jejž, nějž	již, niž	jež, něž
Gen. sg.	jehož, jejž, něhož, nějž	jehož, jejž, něhož, nějž	jíž, níž	jehož, jejž, něhož, nějž
Loc. sg.	němž	němž	níž	němž
Ins. sg.	jímž, nímž	jímž, nímž	jíž, níž	jímž, nímž
Dat. sg.	jemuž, němuž	jemuž, němuž	jíž, níž	jemuž, němuž
Nom. pl.	již	jež	jež	jež
Acc. pl.	jež, něž	jež, něž	jež, něž	jež, něž
Gen. pl.	jichž, nichž	jichž, nichž	jichž, nichž	jichž, nichž
Loc. pl.	nichž	nichž	nichž	nichž
Ins. pl.	jimiž, nimiž	jimiž, nimiž	jimiž, nimiž	jimiž, nimiž
Dat. pl.	jimž, nimž	jimž, nimž	jimž, nimž	jimž, nimž

As we have seen with personal pronouns, the forms starting with j- are used in the absence of a preposition, and those starting with n- are used after a preposition.

The connection with the personal pronouns will help us avoid the need to memorize the entire table. If we know which forms of the personal pronouns are used with which cases, we can simply append -ž to them. Using our milk girl from Relative 1 again as an example, take the subordinate clause question:

U které dívky každé ráno kupoval mléko?

Replace what makes sense with the personal pronoun:

u ní každé ráno kupoval mléko

Append -ž to the pronoun and assemble the translation:

Vzal si dívku, u níž každé ráno kupoval mléko.

We do have to memorize the nominative forms, as we cannot just add -ž to "on" and get "jenž", to "oni" and get "již", or to the other nominative forms and get "jež".

Relative clause mid-sentence

The relative clause can be inserted in the middle of the main clause immediately following the element it refers to:

Dívku, u níž každé ráno kupoval mléko, si vzal.
On/František si dívku, u níž každé ráno kupoval mléko, vzal.

Note that the relative clause is needed to complete the initial unit of meaning, which is why in the first example the reflexive dative enclitic "si" from the verb in the main clause must come immediately after it.

Clitics inside relative clauses

For keeping track of where the clitics should go inside the relative clauses, the form of "který" or "jenž" with any associated preposition count as the first unit of meaning in the clause:

Pamatuješ si tu studentku, které/jíž jsme se ho báli dát? (Do you remember the student we were afraid to give him/it to?)

None of the clitics can "climb up" from the relative clause to the governing clause:

???Pamatuješ jsme si se ho tu studentku, které/jíž báli dát?

What The?! 6 · 2022-03-16 ^

What the?! Common Czech

See https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/35769759 for details and a warning.

Let’s look at the main deviations of common Czech from the standard.

o -> vo (Von votevřel vokno.)

Common Czech often inserts v in front of the word-initial o. Words like okno, on, oba, otevřít, and o may become vokno, von, voba, votevřít and vo.

Plural Nom./Acc. and gender merger for demonstratives and hard adjectives (Ty americký turisti přišli vo svý telefony.)

Form	M an.	M in.	F	N
Nom. standard	ti noví	ty nové	ty nové	ta nová
Acc. standard	ty nové	ty nové	ty nové	ta nová
Nom./Acc. common	ty nový	ty nový	ty nový	ty nový

The “common” hard adjective form also gets rid of the standard consonant shifts before the -í ending.

é -> ý (Proč chceš to velký zvíře ve svým malým pokoji?)

This shift is common in endings of hard adjectives and words that decline like them.

ý -> ej (Mluvil vo svejch novejch sousedech.)

“Dual” endings in plural instrumental (Kam šla s těma třema velkejma hruškama?)

Our new hard adjective declension table

The highlighted forms are non-standard:

Num./Case	M an.	M in.	F	N
Sg. Nom.	novej	novej	nová	nový
Sg. Acc.	novýho	novej	novou	nový
Sg. Gen.	novýho	novýho	nový	novýho
Sg. Loc.	novým	novým	nový	novým
Sg. Ins.	novým	novým	novou	novým
Sg. Dat.	novýmu	novýmu	novou	novým
Pl. Nom./Acc.	nový	nový	nový	nový
Pl. Gen./Loc.	novejch	novejch	novejch	novejch
Pl. Ins.	novejma	novejma	novejma	novejma
Pl. Dat.	novejm	novejm	novejm	novejm

Masculine plural locative hard noun ending -ích -> -ách (Píšu knihy vo vlkách.)

The masculine plural locative ending -ích for hard declension nouns sometimes becomes -ách, and the consonant shift of the standard is avoided.

Deletion of the final -l in the past-tense verb form (Kdo ti to řek?)

The final -l following a consonant in the past-tense verb form is often deleted.

Unified ending in the plural past-tense verb form across all genders (Stáli tam ty auta.)

The "common" plural past-tense ending is -li regardless of gender.

Verb ending -eme -> -em (My vodejdem.)

The plural first person verb ending -eme may become just -em.

Deletion of “j” from some verb forms (Já tam nepudu, sou tam voni.)

Forms like (pů)jdu and (pů)jdeš often become (pu)du and (pu)deš. The unprefixed negatives like nejdu remain unchanged.

Půjčit and its forms can also undergo the transformation from ůj to u.

Auxiliary/conjunction ending -chom -> -sme (Kdybysme mohli, tak bysme vodešli.)

The plural first person auxiliary/conjunctions bychom, abychom, and kdybychom often become (a/kdy)bysme.

Plural 3rd person verb endings -ají/-ejí/-ějí -> -aj/-ej/-ěj (Říkaj, že to nechtěj.)

These plural third-person endings sometimes lose the final -í.

Plural 3rd person verb ending -í -> -ej/-ěj (Nevěděj to.)

The plural third-person verb ending -í following a consonant other than “j” sometimes morphs to -ej/-ěj.

Simplified singular possessive adjectives (V Žofiiný škole)

These mirror hard adjectives.

Distorted and new words

Proverbs 1 · 2022-03-16 ^

We close the course with a selection of Czech proverbs.

66 skills with tips and notes

KatieJames07

Katie James

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Learning Czech from English

Skills

Czech Skills by StrengthCrownsNameOriginal Order

Numbers 3

Cardinal numerals 30 to 99

Cardinal numerals 100+

Locative

How to form the locative

Examples

Descriptions: Masculine

Adjectives

Demonstratives

Pronunciation notes

Adjectives in Czech

Forms of hard adjectives

Forms of dobrý

Forms of soft adjectives

Forms of zvláštní

Position of adjectives

Confusing adjectives

Další vs jiný

Numbers 2

Cardinal numerals 5-20

Cardinal numerals 21-29

Past tense:

Aspect: Preview

Household

Short and irregular infinitives

Longer infinitives by verb class

Application of infinitives

Need to ...

Want to ...

Be beginning to ...

Be afraid to ...

Try to ...

Other uses

Conjunctions

The tiny, yet mighty “i”

"Nebo" nebo "anebo"?

The mandatory "že"

If and when…

While and whereas…

Word order

Numbers 1

Cardinal numerals one to four

One: Jeden

Two: Dva

Three, Four: Tři, Čtyři

Ordinal numerals first to fourth

Telling the time

Adverbs

Adverbs of time/frequency

Adverbs of place

Adverbs of quantity and degree

Adverbs derived from adjectives

Other adverbs

Clothing

New nouns

Plural-only nouns

Oblečení

Nosí

Family 1: Genitive

Demonstrative adjective forms

Hard adjective endings

Soft adjective endings

Masculine noun endings

Feminine noun endings

Neuter noun endings

Personal pronouns

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns můj, tvůj, and svůj

Possessive pronouns náš and váš

New verbs

Prepositions bez and beze

Mnoho

Present 1: Introduction to present tense

Verb classes for present tense

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1841#116926

17628#36702

1574