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".

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).
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".

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.
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.
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".
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)
 Czech English

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").

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.)

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)

 Czech English

mrkev > mrkve 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.

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
 Case M an. M in. F N

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

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

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

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

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

 Person look for chase see eat*

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.

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, snáším chci

potřebuji

ty jíš máš piješ potřebuješ snášíš chceš

on, ona, jí má pije potřebuje snáší chce

ono

my jíme máme pijeme potřebujeme snášíme chceme

 Person eat have drink need stand want

vy jíte máte pijete potřebujete snášíte chcete

oni, ony, jedí mají pijou, potřebujou, snášejí, chtějí

ona pijí potřebují snáší

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."

Kdo hledá tu velkou krávu a toho velkého vlka? Who is looking for the big cow and the big wolf?

Nevidím velkou lišku, ale velkého psa. I can't see a big fox but a big dog.

Hledám velké psy. I am looking for big dogs.

Vidím velký strom a velkého koně. I see a big tree and a big horse.

Vidíš ty psy? Do you see those dogs?

Vidíš toho psa? Do you see the dog?

Ta myš je malá. That mouse is small.

Jak malé jsou myši? How small are mice?

Nevidíš ty myši? Do you not see those mice?

Nevidíš kočku? Do you not see a cat?

Ty ryby jsou velké. Those fish are big.

Kočka žere žrádlo. The cat is eating the food.

Tu myš žere kočka. A cat is eating the mouse.

Ta kočka vidí rybu. The cat sees a fish.

Ta kočka žere myš. The cat is eating a mouse.

Vidím malého koně. I see a small horse.

Vidíš toho malého psa? Can you see that small dog?

Vidíš toho osla? Do you see that donkey?

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

 Nom. Acc.

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
 Person care about be interested in

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.
František se stará o koně. František takes care of horses.

O poslední zvířata se nestarají. They aren't looking after the last animals.

Já se dívám na tu lišku. I am looking at that fox.

O další muže se nezajímám. I am not interested in other men.

Žofie se o zvláštní domy nezajímá. Žofie is not interested in strange houses.

Proč čekáte? Why are you waiting?

Na co se díváte? What are you looking at?

Já na poslední auto nečekám. I am not waiting for the last car.

Kateřina na posledního koně nemyslí. Kateřina is not thinking about the last horse.

On se na to auto nedívá. He is not looking at the car.

František se zajímá o Žofii. František is interested in Žofie.

Zajímáš se o toho muže? Are you interested in that man?

František se stará o koně. František takes care of horses.

O to se František nezajímá. František is not interested in that.

Na co čekáš? What are you waiting for?

Nečeká na poslední den. He does not wait for the last day.

František se stará o koně. František takes care of horses.

Čekám na muže. I am waiting for my husband.

Matěj hledá to jídlo. Matěj is looking for the food.

Matěj čeká na jídlo. Matěj is waiting for food.

Ty se o toho koně nestaráš! You are not taking care of the horse!

Kdo má ten sýr pro Františka? Who has that cheese for František?

František se o ženy nezajímá. František is not interested in women.

O poslední strom se nestaráme. We are not taking care of the last tree.

Kateřina se zajímá o divadlo. Kateřina is interested in theater.

O další muže se nezajímám. I am not interested in other men.

Matěj se na ta jídla dívá. Matěj is looking at those meals.

Žofie se o zvláštní domy nezajímá. Zofie is not interested in strange houses.

Františka ten zvláštní člověk nezajímá. František is not interested in that strange person.

hledáme děvčata pro to divadlo. We are seeking girls for the theater.

O Františka se nezajímám. I do not care about František.

O koně se nestaráš! You are not taking care of the horse!

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

 Nom. Acc. Voc.

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

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
 Case M an. M in. F N

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?)

Who or what are you waiting for? -> Na koho nebo na co čekáte?

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

 Nom. Acc. w/o prep. Acc. after prep.

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).

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

 Gender Nom. sg. Acc. sg. Nom. pl. Acc. pl.

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

 Gender Nom. sg. Acc. sg. Nom. pl. Acc. pl.

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.

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
English Czech

black-and-white černobílý

black černý

red červený

purple fialový

brown hnědý

blue modrý

orange oranžový

pink růžový

gray šedý
 English Czech

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."

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

 Class 1 2 3 4 5

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

3rd pers. sg. infinitive English

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

3rd pers. sg. infinitive English

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
 3rd pers. sg. infinitive English

vyrábí vyrábět make, produce

začíná začínat begin, start

znamená znamenat mean

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

 Case/Num. M an. M in. F N

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
 Case/Num. M an. M in. F N

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
 Case/Num. žena ulice ovce

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

 Case/Num. město kuře náměstí

Nom. pl. -a -ata -í

Acc. pl. -a -ata -í

Gen. pl. - -at -í

Personal pronouns

Acc. w/o Acc. after Gen. w/o Gen. after

Nom.
prep. prep. prep. prep.

já mě, mne mě, mne mě, mne mě, mne

ty tě, tebe tebe tě, tebe tebe

on (an.) ho, jeho, něho, něj ho, jeho, něho, něj

jej jej

on (in.) ho, jej něj ho, jeho, něho, něj

jej
 Acc. w/o Acc. after Gen. w/o Gen. after
Nom.
prep. prep. prep. prep.

ona (sg.) ji ni jí ní

ono ho, je, jej ně, něj ho, jeho, něho, něj
jej

my nás nás nás nás

vy vás vás vás vás

oni, ony, je ně jich nich

ona (pl.)

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

 Gender M an. M in. F N

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

 Person be afraid of ask respect

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
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

 Czech Gender Declination English

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.

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

 Case/Num. M an. M in. F N

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

 Case/Num. M an. M in. F N

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.)

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

 Czech English

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

 Kde? Kam? English

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

 Czech English

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 English Czech

English adverb
adjective adjective 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

 Czech English

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.