Locative Case
What are the main contexts in which the locative case is used?
What are the forms of the locative case for nouns in the singular and plural?
The locative case expresses the location of someone or something in space, in time, or in an
abstract domain. The locative is the only Czech case that cannot be used without a
preposition. The prepositions that take the locative include: na (on, at), v(e) (in, at), o (about),
and po (after).
Neznáte levné hotely v Praze a v Brně? nom: Praha, Brno
cheap
Byla jsem celý den na semináři. nom: seminář
I-was all
Bude Nadal hrát letos ve Wimbledonu? nom: Wimbledon
will play this-year
Americký Den díkůvzdání je v listopadu. nom: listopad
thanksgiving November
Zavede Česká republika euro v roce 2012? nom: rok
will-adopt year
Po práci jdu do posilovny. nom: práce
I-go gym
Byty ve většině měst zlevnily. nom: většina
majority of-towns got-cheaper
Koho volíš v eurovolbách? nom pl: eurovolby
who vote-for EU-elections
Kdo ví víc o pivě: Češi nebo Němci? nom: pivo
more
Na hodině češtiny často mluvíme o pádech. nom: hodina, pád
cases
The preposition na + locative means on a surface of something:
Tady se nesmí tancovat na stole. nom: stůl
is-not-allowed to-dance
Dobré nápady existují jen na papíře. nom: papír
ideas
Dali jsme si rande na střeše školy. nom: střecha
we-had date roof
Málokdo má tetování na hlavě. nom: hlava
few-people tattoo head
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Na + locative can also indicate in or at a location in combination with certain words. Students
of Czech must, generally speaking, memorize the so-called na-words, but many do fall into
certain categories (although these are guidelines only):
1. Directions:
na severu (in the north), na jihu (in the south), na západě (in the west), na východě (in the east)
2. Names of islands and peninsulas:
na Kubě (in Cuba), na Floridě (in Florida)…
3. Other geographical locations:
na Moravě (in Moravia), na Slovensku (in Slovakia)…
4. Open (public) spaces:
na pláži (at/on the beach), na stadioně (at the stadium), na náměstí (at/on the town square),
na nádraží (at the train station), na venkově (in the countryside), na výstavě (at the exhibition)…
5. Many words with the locational suffix -iště:
na pracovišti (at a workplace), na letišti (at the airport), na fotbalovém hrišti (at the soccer field),
na parkovišti (at the parking lot), na sídlišti (at the housing complex)…
6. Many academic settings:
na přednášce (at the lecture), na semináři (at the seminar), na hodině (at the class),
na fakultě (in the school/college), na katedře (in the department), na univerzitě (at the university)…
The preposition v(e) + locative means in or at a location or space.
Kluci ve třídě se zajímají o jiné věci než já. nom: třída
boys class are-interested-in other things than
Co dělají drogy v lidském mozku? nom: lidský mozek
drugs human brain
Dneska se zdržím v práci. nom: práce
I-will-be-held-up
Hrajeme divadlo v parcích. nom sg: park
we-act theater
Kde je české velvyslanectví v Berlíně? nom: Berlín
embassy
Básničky píšu v depresi. nom: deprese
poems depression
The preposition o + locative has as its main meaning about in the sense of talking about,
writing about, lecturing about…
Radši bych nemluvil o politice. nom: politika
rather I-would
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Píšeme o globálním oteplování. nom: globální oteplování
warming
Profesorka přednášela o Evropské unii. nom: Evropská unie
lectured union
In its temporal meaning, po + locative means after:
Po dokončení školy jsem se vrátil do Evropy. nom: dokončení
finishing-up I-returned
Po práci jsme šli do hospody. nom: práce
we-went pub
Po tréninku si dá potréninkový nápoj. nom: trénink
workout will-have drink
Kam jdeme po kině? nom: kino
where we-go movies
Endings for the locative case
Below are the locative endings for the following noun declensions: Masculine inanimate and
Masculine animate, Neuter, Feminine, and Neuters in -í. (There are more declensional types in
Czech, but the others — for example, feminine nouns with nominative endings in a consonant —
are more complicated and will be treated elsewhere as will adjective and pronoun declensions.)
There are complications in the locative endings that make this case the most tricky of all
Czech cases in terms of endings—which is why the remarks are so lengthy.
Singular Hard Soft Plural
M inanim stole, hradě, parku pokoji, počítači stolech, hradech, parcích; pokojích, počítačích
M anim studentovi, psovi učiteli, češtináři (-ovi) studentech, psech; učitelích, češtinářích
N městě, okně moři, letišti městech, oknech; mořích, letištích
F třídě, tužce tabuli, zemi třídách, tužkách; tabulích, zemích
-í nádraží, náměstí nádražích, náměstích
Some remarks:
1. For M inanim nouns in the locative singular, there are two possible endings: -u and -e/-ě.
The great majority of these nouns (90% according to Janda and Clancy, p. 225) take -u: these
include abstract nouns, recent borrowings (hotel > v hotelu, klub > v klubu…), most—but not
all—nouns endings in -k, -g, -h, -ch, or -r (taxík > v taxíku, Haag > v Haagu, roh < na rohu,
vzduch > ve vzduchu, sever > na severu…). Many nouns, however, favor the -e/-ě ending: stol >
na stole, strop > na stropě, dům > v domě, hrad > na hradě…Even some nouns ending in -k or -r
favor the -e ending: rok > v roce, jazyk > v jazyce, jezero > na jezeře… Some nouns, especially
those ending in -s, admit either ending: v dopise ~ v dopisu, v autobuse ~ v autobusu… Among
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these nouns, -e is favored for concrete locative meanings (with the prepositions v and na)
while -u is preferred in other contexts (with, for example, the preposition o).
2. The locative pl endings for M nouns are -ech (hard) and -ích (soft). The -ích ending is also
used with certain nouns ending in -s, -l, or -z: les > v lesích, kostel > v kostelích/kostelech… In
addition, -ích is added to stems ending in -k, -g, -h, and -ch, which causes consonant
changes: park > v parcích, kluk > o klucích, Čech > o Češích… Sometimes, especially in
colloquial Czech and with words that are more conversational in nature, the feminine -ách
ending (without consonant changes) is used with these stems: taxík > v taxíkách, kluk > o
klukách…
3. The locative pl ending for N nouns with stems ending in -k, -g, -h, or -ch is -ách (without
consonant changes): jablko > o jablkách.
4. M anim nouns, especially names, sometimes take the hard ending -ovi in the locative sg:
Tomáš > Tomášovi.
5. M anim nouns that consistent of a series of words follow a special pattern in the locative
sg: the last word in the series (hard or soft) takes the ending -ovi while the preceding words take
either -u or -i (as appropriate): pan profesor Havránek > o panu profesoru Havránkovi, pan
Miloš Forman > o panu Miloši Formanovi.
6. M anim nouns with grammatically feminine endings always take -ovi in the locative sg:
Honza > o Honzovi.
7. F nouns ending in -k, -g, -h, or -ch undergo consonant changes with the addition of the -e
ending in the locative sg: dívka > o dívce, Praha > v Praze, střecha > na střeše…
Question words for locative: O kom? O čem?
* Analysis of the locative case presented here is drawn from the highly recommended book by Laura Janda and
Steven Clancy, The Case Book for Czech (Slavica Publishers, 2006). More analytic details and examples are
available in Janda and Clancy’s book.
