Czech declension
Encyclopedia
Czech declension describes the declension
, or system of grammatically-determined modifications, in noun
s, adjective
s, pronoun
s and numeral
s in the Czech language
. There is a system of 7 cases
(nominative
, genitive
, dative
, accusative
, vocative
, locative
and instrumental
) in Czech. This essentially means that a word can have 14 possible forms in singular and plural, however no word has the maximum number of forms. Some forms are the same in more than one place in each paradigm.
of nominal declension depends on the gender
and the ending in the nominative
of the noun.
For nouns in which the stem ends with a consonant
group, floating e is usually inserted between last two consonants in cases with no ending. Examples:
Consonant alternations at the end of the word-stem are also obvious in some cases, e.g. zámek (N sg) -> zámcích (L pl), Věra (N sg) -> Věře (D sg), kniha (N sg) -> knize (D sg), moucha (N sg) -> mouše (D sg), hoch (N sg) -> hoši (N pl), kluk (N sg) -> kluci (N pl), bůh (N sg) -> bozích (L pl), kolega (N sg) -> kolezích (L pl), moucha (N sg) -> much (G pl), smlouva (N sg) -> smluv (G pl), díra (N sg) -> děr (G pl), víra (N sg) -> věr (G pl), kráva (N sg) -> krav (G pl), dvůr (N sg) -> dvora (G sg), hnůj (N sg) -> hnoje (G sg), sůl (N sg) -> soli (G sg), lest (N sg) -> lsti (G sg), čest (N sg) -> cti (G sg), křest (N sg) -> křtu (G sg), mistr (N sg) -> mistře (V sg), švec (N sg) -> ševce (G sg). See Czech phonology for more details.
pán - sir, lord; muž - man; předseda - chairman; soudce - judge; soudruh - comrade; kůň - horse; host - guest; otec - father
hrad - castle; stroj - engine; les - forest; zámek - chateau, lock
Latin
words ending -us are declined according to the paradigm pán (animate) or hrad (inanimate) as if there were no -us ending in the nominative: Brutus, Bruta, Brutovi, Bruta, Brute, Brutovi, Brutem
žena - woman; růže - rose; píseň - song; kost - bone
město - town; moře - sea; kuře - chicken; stavení - building, house;
Latin
words ending -um are declined according to the paradigm město: muzeum, muzea, muzeu, muzeum ...
Submodels of feminine declension
Submodels of neuter declension
Other cases of special inflection
mladý - young
jarní - spring, vernal
Examples:
Possessive adjectives are often used in the names of streets, squares, buildings, etc.:
but:
is formed by the suffix
-ejší, -ější, -ší, or -í (there is no simple rule which suffix should be used).
The superlative
is formed by adding the prefix nej- to the comparative.
Examples:
The comparative and the superlative can be also formed by the words více (more)/méně (less) and nejvíce (most)/nejméně (least):
Irregular comparisons:
s. (See Czech verb)
Example:
Rád is used in a short form only: Jsem rád, že jste přišli. (I am glad that you came.)
In some singular cases, short forms of pronouns are possible, which are clitic
s. They cannot be used with prepositions. They are unstressed, therefore they cannot be the first words in sentences. Usually they appear in second place in a sentence or clause, obeying Wackernagel
's Law. Examples:
In 3rd person (singular and plural) j-forms are used without prepositions, n-forms are used after prepositions:
Accusative forms jej (on), je, ně (ono) are usually regarded as archaic.
They: oni - masculine animate gender, ony - masculine inanimate and feminine genders, ona - neuter gender
Reflexive personal pronoun
Reflexive personal pronoun is used when the object is identical to the subject. It has no nominative form and it is the same for all persons and numbers. It is translated into English as myself, yourself, himself, etc.
Example:
Short form se and si are again clitics; often they are a part of reflexive verb
s and as such are not usually translated into English explicitly:
Tvůj - your
Jeho - his, its
This pronoun is indeclinable.
Její - her
Náš - our
Váš - your
Jejich - their
This pronoun is indeclinable.
Reflexive possessive pronoun
The reflexive possessive pronoun is used when the possessor is also the subject (my own, your own, etc.). It is identical for all persons.
Examples:
Compare:
Tenhle, tahle, tohle/tento, tato, toto (this) and tamten, tamta, tamto (that) are declined as ten + to (tento, tohoto, tomuto ...), resp. tam + ten (tamten, tamtoho, tamtomu ...).
Onen, ona, ono (that - not to be confused with personal pronouns) is declined as ten (onen, onoho, onomu ...).
To is often used as personal pronoun instead of ono (it):
"To je/jsou" means "this is/these are" and is used for all genders and both numbers:
Co - what
Který - which, who
declined as mladý
Jaký - what
declined as mladý
Compare:
Čí - whose
declined as jarní
Jenž - which, who
Jež is not an interrogative pronoun, it is equivalent to který (as a relative pronoun):
Nikdo - nobody, no one
declined like kdo (někdo, někoho, někomu, ...; nikdo, nikoho, nikomu, ...)
Něco - something
Nic - nothing
declined like co (něco, něčeho, něčemu, ...; nic, ničeho, ničemu, ...)
Každý - every, everyone, each
Nějaký, některý - some, one, a(n)
Žádný, nijaký - no (as in "no man has ever been there")
declined like mladý
Czech grammar allows more than one negative word to exist in a sentence. For example: V té firmě nikdy nikdo nikam nijak nepostoupí., standing for: No one would promote anywhere, any time, in any way, in that firm., uses four negatives in adverbs and pronouns and one at verb while still being grammatically correct.
Genitive:
Dative:
Accusative:
Locative:
Instrumental:
(dlouhý - long, hodina - hour, pár - a few; a pair)
Declension
In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender...
, or system of grammatically-determined modifications, in noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
s, adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
s, pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
s and numeral
Number names
In linguistics, number names are specific words in a natural language that represent numbers.In writing, numerals are symbols also representing numbers...
s in the Czech language
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
. There is a system of 7 cases
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
(nominative
Nominative case
The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
, genitive
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
, dative
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
, accusative
Accusative case
The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
, vocative
Vocative case
The vocative case is the case used for a noun identifying the person being addressed and/or occasionally the determiners of that noun. A vocative expression is an expression of direct address, wherein the identity of the party being spoken to is set forth expressly within a sentence...
, locative
Locative case
Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
and instrumental
Instrumental case
The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
) in Czech. This essentially means that a word can have 14 possible forms in singular and plural, however no word has the maximum number of forms. Some forms are the same in more than one place in each paradigm.
Nouns
There are 14 paradigms of noun declension. The paradigmParadigm
The word paradigm has been used in science to describe distinct concepts. It comes from Greek "παράδειγμα" , "pattern, example, sample" from the verb "παραδείκνυμι" , "exhibit, represent, expose" and that from "παρά" , "beside, beyond" + "δείκνυμι" , "to show, to point out".The original Greek...
of nominal declension depends on the gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
and the ending in the nominative
Nominative case
The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
of the noun.
For nouns in which the stem ends with a consonant
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
group, floating e is usually inserted between last two consonants in cases with no ending. Examples:
- zámek (N sg, A sg), zámku (G sg, D sg, V sg, L sg), zámkem (I sg), etc. (chateau; lock) - paradigm hrad
- karta (N sg), ..., karet (G pl) (card) - paradigm žena
Consonant alternations at the end of the word-stem are also obvious in some cases, e.g. zámek (N sg) -> zámcích (L pl), Věra (N sg) -> Věře (D sg), kniha (N sg) -> knize (D sg), moucha (N sg) -> mouše (D sg), hoch (N sg) -> hoši (N pl), kluk (N sg) -> kluci (N pl), bůh (N sg) -> bozích (L pl), kolega (N sg) -> kolezích (L pl), moucha (N sg) -> much (G pl), smlouva (N sg) -> smluv (G pl), díra (N sg) -> děr (G pl), víra (N sg) -> věr (G pl), kráva (N sg) -> krav (G pl), dvůr (N sg) -> dvora (G sg), hnůj (N sg) -> hnoje (G sg), sůl (N sg) -> soli (G sg), lest (N sg) -> lsti (G sg), čest (N sg) -> cti (G sg), křest (N sg) -> křtu (G sg), mistr (N sg) -> mistře (V sg), švec (N sg) -> ševce (G sg). See Czech phonology for more details.
Masculine animate
Sg. | Nominative | pán | muž | předseda | soudce |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genitive | pána | muže | předsedy | soudce | |
Dative | pánovi, pánu | mužovi, muži | předsedovi | soudci, soudcovi | |
Accusative | pána | muže | předsedu | soudce | |
Vocative | pane! soudruhu! |
muži! otče! |
předsedo! | soudce! | |
Locative | pánovi, pánu | mužovi, muži | předsedovi | soudci, soudcovi | |
Instrumental | pánem | mužem | předsedou | soudcem | |
Pl. | Nominative | pánové, páni | mužové, muži | předsedové | soudci, soudcové |
Genitive | pánů hostí |
mužů | předsedů | soudců | |
Dative | pánům | mužům | předsedům | soudcům | |
Accusative | pány | muže | předsedy | soudce | |
Vocative | pánové! páni! | mužové! muži! | předsedové! | soudci! soudcové! | |
Locative | pánech soudruzích |
mužích | předsedech | soudcích | |
Instrumental | pány | muži koňmi |
předsedy | soudci |
pán - sir, lord; muž - man; předseda - chairman; soudce - judge; soudruh - comrade; kůň - horse; host - guest; otec - father
Masculine inanimate
Sg. | Nominative | hrad | stroj |
---|---|---|---|
Genitive | hradu lesa |
stroje | |
Dative | hradu | stroji | |
Accusative | hrad | stroj | |
Vocative | hrade! zámku! |
stroji! | |
Locative | hradu, hradě lesu, lese |
stroji | |
Instrumental | hradem | strojem | |
Pl. | Nominative | hrady | stroje |
Genitive | hradů | strojů | |
Dative | hradům | strojům | |
Accusative | hrady | stroje | |
Vocative | hrady! | stroje! | |
Locative | hradech zámcích |
strojích | |
Instrumental | hrady | stroji |
hrad - castle; stroj - engine; les - forest; zámek - chateau, lock
Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
words ending -us are declined according to the paradigm pán (animate) or hrad (inanimate) as if there were no -us ending in the nominative: Brutus, Bruta, Brutovi, Bruta, Brute, Brutovi, Brutem
Feminine
Sg. | Nominative | žena | růže | píseň | kost |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genitive | ženy | růže | písně | kosti | |
Dative | ženě škole |
růži | písni | kosti | |
Accusative | ženu | růži | píseň | kost | |
Vocative | ženo! |
růže! | písni! | kosti! | |
Locative | ženě škole |
růži | písni | kosti | |
Instrumental | ženou | růží | písní | kostí | |
Pl. | Nominative | ženy | růže | písně | kosti |
Genitive | žen | růží | písní | kostí | |
Dative | ženám | růžím | písním | kostem vsím |
|
Accusative | ženy | růže | písně | kosti | |
Vocative | ženy! | růže! | písně! | kosti! | |
Locative | ženách | růžích | písních | kostech vsích |
|
Instrumental | ženami | růžemi | písněmi | kostmi vsemi |
žena - woman; růže - rose; píseň - song; kost - bone
Neuter
Sg. | Nominative | město | moře | kuře | stavení |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genitive | města | moře | kuřete | stavení | |
Dative | městu | moři | kuřeti | stavení | |
Accusative | město | moře | kuře | stavení | |
Vocative | město! |
moře! | kuře! | stavení! | |
Locative | městě, městu | moři | kuřeti | stavení | |
Instrumental | městem | mořem | kuřetem | stavením | |
Pl. | Nominative | města | moře | kuřata | stavení |
Genitive | měst | moří | kuřat | stavení | |
Dative | městům | mořím | kuřatům | stavením | |
Accusative | města | moře | kuřata | stavení | |
Vocative | města! | moře! | kuřata! | stavení! | |
Locative | městech želízkách rizicích |
mořích | kuřatech | staveních | |
Instrumental | městy | moři | kuřaty | staveními |
město - town; moře - sea; kuře - chicken; stavení - building, house;
Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
words ending -um are declined according to the paradigm město: muzeum, muzea, muzeu, muzeum ...
Irregular nouns
Parts of body have irregular declension, especially in plural, but only when used to refer to the parts of the body and not in metaphorical contexts. For example, when "noha" (leg) is used to refer to the part of the body, it declines as below, but when used to refer to a leg on a chair or table, it declines regularly (according to žena).Sg. | Nominative | oko | ucho | rameno | koleno | ruka | noha |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genitive | oka | ucha | ramena ramene |
kolena kolene |
ruky | nohy | |
Dative | oku | uchu | ramenu rameni |
kolenu koleni |
ruce | noze | |
Accusative | oko | ucho | rameno | koleno | ruku | nohu | |
Vocative | oko! | ucho! | rameno! | koleno! | ruko! | noho! | |
Locative | oku | uchu | ramenu rameni rameně |
kolenu koleni koleně |
ruce | noze | |
Instrumental | okem | uchem | ramenem | kolenem | rukou | nohou | |
Pl. | Nominative | oči | uši | ramena | ramena | ruce | nohy |
Genitive | očí | uší | ramenou ramen |
kolenou kolen |
rukou | nohou | |
Dative | očím | uším | ramenům | kolenům | rukám | nohám | |
Accusative | oči | uši | ramena | kolena | ruce | nohy | |
Vocative | oči! | uši! | ramena! | kolena! | ruce! | nohy! | |
Locative | očích | uších | ramenou ramenech |
kolenou kolenech |
rukou rukách |
nohou nohách |
|
Instrumental | očima | ušima | rameny | koleny | rukama | nohama |
Sg. | Nominative | bůh | člověk | obyvatel | přítel |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genitive | boha | člověka | obyvatele | přítele | |
Dative | bohu | člověku | obyvateli | příteli | |
Accusative | boha | člověka | obyvatele | přítele | |
Vocative | bože! | člověče! | obyvateli! | příteli! | |
Locative | bohu | člověku | obyvateli | příteli | |
Instrumental | bohem | člověkem | obyvatelem | přítelem | |
Pl. | Nominative | bohové | lidé | obyvatelé | přátelé |
Genitive | bohů | lidí | obyvatelů obyvatel |
přátel | |
Dative | bohům | lidem | obyvatelům | přátelům | |
Accusative | bohy | lidi | obyvateli | přáteli | |
Vocative | bohové! | lidé! | obyvatelé! | přátelé! | |
Locative | bozích | lidech | obyvatelích | přátelích | |
Instrumental | bohy | lidmi | obyvateli | přáteli |
Submodels of feminine declension
Sg. | Nominative | dcera | ulice |
---|---|---|---|
Genitive | dcery | ulice | |
Dative | dceři | ulici | |
Accusative | dceru | ulici | |
Vocative | dcero! | ulice! | |
Locative | dceři | ulici | |
Instrumental | dcerou | ulicí | |
Pl. | Nominative | dcery | ulice |
Genitive | dcer | ulic | |
Dative | dcerám | ulicím | |
Accusative | dcery | ulice | |
Vocative | dcery! | ulice! | |
Locative | dcerách | ulicích | |
Instrumental | dcerami | ulicemi |
Submodels of neuter declension
Sg. | Nominative | vejce | letiště |
---|---|---|---|
Genitive | vejce | letiště | |
Dative | vejci | letišti | |
Accusative | vejce | letiště | |
Vocative | vejce! | letiště! | |
Locative | vejci | letišti | |
Instrumental | vejcem | letištěm | |
Pl. | Nominative | vejce | letiště |
Genitive | vajec | letišť | |
Dative | vejcím | letištím | |
Accusative | vejce | letiště | |
Vocative | vejce! | letiště! | |
Locative | vejcích | letištích | |
Instrumental | vejci | letišti |
Other cases of special inflection
Sg. | Nominative | loket | dvůr | čest | zeď | loď |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genitive | lokte loktu |
dvoru dvora |
cti | zdi | lodi lodě |
|
Dative | lokti loktu |
dvoru | cti | zdi | lodi | |
Accusative | loket | dvůr | čest | zeď | loď | |
Vocative | lokte! lokti |
dvore! | cti! | zdi! | lodi! | |
Locative | lokti loktu loktě |
dvoru dvoře |
cti | zdi | lodi | |
Instrumental | loktem | dvorem | ctí | zdí | lodí | |
Pl. | Nominative | lokty | dvory | cti | zdi | lodi lodě |
Genitive | loktů | dvorů | ctí | zdí | lodí | |
Dative | loktům | dvorům | ctem | zdem zdím |
lodím | |
Accusative | lokty | dvory | cti | zdi | lodi lodě |
|
Vocative | lokty! | dvory! | cti | zdi | lodi lodě |
|
Locative | loktech | dvorech | ctech | zdech zdích |
lodích | |
Instrumental | lokty | dvory | ctmi | zdmi | loďmi loděmi |
Adjective
Adjective declension varies according to the gender of the noun which they are related to:- mladý muž (male) - young man
- mladá žena (female) - young woman
- mladé víno (neuter) - new wine, stum
Hard declension
Masculine animate |
Masculine inanimate |
Feminine | Neuter | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sg. | Nominative | mladý | mladá | mladé | |
Genitive | mladého | mladé | mladého | ||
Dative | mladému | mladé | mladému | ||
Accusative | mladého | mladý | mladou | mladé | |
Vocative | mladý! | mladá! | mladé! | ||
Locative | mladém | mladé | mladém | ||
Instrumental | mladým | mladou | mladým | ||
Pl. | Nominative | mladí | mladé | mladá | |
Genitive | mladých | ||||
Dative | mladým | ||||
Accusative | mladé | mladá | |||
Vocative | mladí! | mladé! | mladá! | ||
Locative | mladých | ||||
Instrumental | mladými |
mladý - young
Soft declension
Masculine animate |
Masculine inanimate |
Feminine | Neuter | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sg. | Nominative | jarní | |||
Genitive | jarního | jarní | jarního | ||
Dative | jarnímu | jarní | jarnímu | ||
Accusative | jarního | jarní | |||
Vocative | jarní! | ||||
Locative | jarním | jarní | jarním | ||
Instrumental | jarním | jarní | jarním | ||
Pl. | Nominative | jarní | |||
Genitive | jarních | ||||
Dative | jarním | ||||
Accusative | jarní | ||||
Vocative | jarní! | ||||
Locative | jarních | ||||
Instrumental | jarními |
jarní - spring, vernal
Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives are formed from animate singular nouns (masculine and feminine):- otec (father) -> otcův (father's)
- matka (mother) -> matčin (mother's)
Masculine animate |
Masculine inanimate |
Feminine | Neuter | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sg. | Nominative | otcův | otcova | otcovo | |
Genitive | otcova | otcovy | otcova | ||
Dative | otcovu | otcově | otcovu | ||
Accusative | otcova | otcův | otcovu | otcovo | |
Vocative | otcův | otcova | otcovo | ||
Locative | otcově | ||||
Instrumental | otcovým | otcovou | otcovým | ||
Pl. | Nominative | otcovi | otcovy | otcova | |
Genitive | otcových | ||||
Dative | otcovým | ||||
Accusative | otcovy | otcova | |||
Vocative | otcovi | otcovy | otcova | ||
Locative | otcových | ||||
Instrumental | otcovými |
Masculine animate |
Masculine inanimate |
Feminine | Neuter | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sg. | Nominative | matčin | matčina | matčino | |
Genitive | matčina | matčiny | matčina | ||
Dative | matčinu | matčině | matčinu | ||
Accusative | matčina | matčin | matčinu | matčino | |
Vocative | matčin | matčina | matčino | ||
Locative | matčině | ||||
Instrumental | matčiným | matčinou | matčiným | ||
Pl. | Nominative | matčini | matčiny | matčina | |
Genitive | matčiných | ||||
Dative | matčiným | ||||
Accusative | matčiny | matčina | |||
Vocative | matčini | matčiny | matčina | ||
Locative | matčiných | ||||
Instrumental | matčinými |
Examples:
- otcův dům - father's house
- matčino auto - mother's car
Possessive adjectives are often used in the names of streets, squares, buildings, etc.:
- Neruda -> Nerudova ulice (Neruda street)
but:
- Jan Neruda -> ulice Jana Nerudy (noun genitive)
- partyzáni (partisans, guerilla) -> ulice Partyzánů
Comparisons
The comparativeComparative
In grammar, the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another, and is used in this context with a subordinating conjunction, such as than,...
is formed by the suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
-ejší, -ější, -ší, or -í (there is no simple rule which suffix should be used).
The superlative
Superlative
In grammar, the superlative is the form of an adjective that indicates that the person or thing modified has the quality of the adjective to a degree greater than that of anything it is being compared to in a given context. English superlatives are typically formed with the suffix -est In...
is formed by adding the prefix nej- to the comparative.
Examples:
- krásný - krásnější - nejkrásnější (beautiful - more beautiful - the most beautiful)
- brzký - brzčejší - nejbrzčejší (early - earlier - earliest)
- hladký - hladší - nejhladší (smooth - smoother - the smoothest)
- tenký - tenčí - nejtenčí (slim - slimmer - the slimmest)
- snadný - snazší, snadnější - nejsnazší, nejsnadnější (easy - easier - the easiest)
- zadní - zazší, zadnější - nejzazší, nejzadnější (posterior - more posterior - the most posterior)
- úzký - užší - nejužší (narrow - narrower - the narrowest)
- měkký - měkčí - nejměkčí (soft - softer - the softest)
The comparative and the superlative can be also formed by the words více (more)/méně (less) and nejvíce (most)/nejméně (least):
- spokojený - více/méně spokojený - nejvíce/nejméně spokojený (satisfied - more/less satisfied - the most/least satisfied)
Irregular comparisons:
- dobrý - lepší - nejlepší (good - better - the best)
- zlý/špatný - horší - nejhorší (ill/bad - worse - the worst)
- velký - větší - největší (big - bigger - the biggest)
- malý - menší - nejmenší (small/little - smaller/less - the smallest/least)
- dlouhý - delší - nejdelší (long - longer - the longest)
- svatý - světější - nejsvětější (holy - holier - the holiest)
- bílý - bělejší - nejbělejší (white - whiter - the whitest)
Short forms
There are also short forms in some adjectives. They are used in the nominative and are regarded as literary in the contemporary language. They are related to active and passive participleParticiple
In linguistics, a participle is a word that shares some characteristics of both verbs and adjectives. It can be used in compound verb tenses or voices , or as a modifier...
s. (See Czech verb)
Singular | Plural | English | ||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine animate |
Masculine inanimate & Feminine |
Neuter | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
mlád rád |
mláda ráda |
mládo rádo |
mládi rádi |
mlády rády |
mláda ráda |
young glad |
Example:
- On je ještě příliš mlád. = On je ještě příliš mladý. (He is still too young.)
Rád is used in a short form only: Jsem rád, že jste přišli. (I am glad that you came.)
Pronouns
Pronoun conjugation is complicated, some are conjugated according to adjective paradigms, some are irregular.Personal pronouns
Sg. | Nominative | já (I) | ty (you) | on (he) | ona (she) | ono (it) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genitive | mne, mě | tebe, tě | jeho, ho něho |
jí ní |
jeho, ho něho |
|
Dative | mně, mi | tobě, ti | jemu, mu němu |
jí ní |
jemu, mu němu |
|
Accusative | mne, mě | tebe, tě | jeho, ho, jej něho, něj |
ji ni |
je(j), ho ně(j) |
|
Locative | mně | tobě | něm | ní | něm | |
Instrumental | mnou | tebou | jím ním |
jí ní |
jím ním |
|
Pl. | Nominative | my (we) | vy (you) | oni (they) | ony (they) | ona (they) |
Genitive | nás | vás | jich nich |
|||
Dative | nám | vám | jim nim |
|||
Accusative | nás | vás | je ně |
|||
Locative | nás | vás | nich | |||
Instrumental | námi | vámi | jimi nimi |
In some singular cases, short forms of pronouns are possible, which are clitic
Clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
s. They cannot be used with prepositions. They are unstressed, therefore they cannot be the first words in sentences. Usually they appear in second place in a sentence or clause, obeying Wackernagel
Jacob Wackernagel
Jacob Wackernagel was an Indo-Europeanist and scholar of Sanskrit. He was born in Basel, son of the philologist Wilhelm Wackernagel.He studied classical and Germanic philology and history in...
's Law. Examples:
- Nedávej mi to. Don't give it to me.
- Mně to nedávej. Don't give it to me. (emphasizing mně)
- Přijď ke mně. Come to me.
In 3rd person (singular and plural) j-forms are used without prepositions, n-forms are used after prepositions:
- Ukaž mu to. or Ukaž to jemu. (emphasizing jemu) Show it to him.
- Přišla k němu. She came to him.
Accusative forms jej (on), je, ně (ono) are usually regarded as archaic.
They: oni - masculine animate gender, ony - masculine inanimate and feminine genders, ona - neuter gender
Reflexive personal pronoun
Reflexive personal pronoun is used when the object is identical to the subject. It has no nominative form and it is the same for all persons and numbers. It is translated into English as myself, yourself, himself, etc.
Nominative | ---- |
---|---|
Genitive | sebe |
Dative | sobě, si |
Accusative | sebe, se |
Locative | sobě |
Instrumental | sebou |
Example:
- Vidím se (sebe) v zrcadle. I see myself in the mirror.
Short form se and si are again clitics; often they are a part of reflexive verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s and as such are not usually translated into English explicitly:
- Posaď se./Sedni si. Sit down.
Possessive pronouns
Můj - myTvůj - your
Masculine animate |
Masculine inanimate |
Feminine | Neuter | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sg. | Nominative | můj tvůj |
moje, má tvoje, tvá |
moje, mé tvoje, tvé |
|
Genitive | mého tvého |
mojí, mé tvojí, tvé |
mého tvého |
||
Dative | mému tvému |
mojí, mé tvojí, tvé |
mému tvému |
||
Accusative | mého tvého |
můj tvůj |
moji, mou tvoji, tvou |
moje, mé tvoje, tvé |
|
Locative | mém tvém |
mojí, mé tvojí, tvé |
mém tvém |
||
Instrumental | mým tvým |
mojí, mou tvojí, tvou |
mým tvým |
||
Pl. | Nominative | moji, mí tvoji, tví |
moje, mé tvoje, tvé |
moje, má tvoje, tvá |
|
Genitive | mých tvých |
||||
Dative | mým tvým |
||||
Accusative | moje, mé tvoje, tvé |
moje, má tvoje, tvá |
|||
Locative | mých tvých |
||||
Instrumental | mými tvými |
Jeho - his, its
This pronoun is indeclinable.
Její - her
Masculine animate |
Masculine inanimate |
Feminine | Neuter | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sg. | Nominative | její | |||
Genitive | jejího | její | jejího | ||
Dative | jejímu | její | jejímu | ||
Accusative | jejího | její | |||
Locative | jejím | její | jejím | ||
Instrumental | jejím | její | jejím | ||
Pl. | Nominative | její | |||
Genitive | jejích | ||||
Dative | jejím | ||||
Accusative | její | ||||
Locative | jejích | ||||
Instrumental | jejími |
Náš - our
Váš - your
Masculine animate |
Masculine inanimate |
Feminine | Neuter | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sg. | Nominative | náš váš |
naše vaše |
||
Genitive | našeho vašeho |
naší vaší |
našeho vašeho |
||
Dative | našemu vašemu |
naší vaší |
našemu vašemu |
||
Accusative | našeho vašeho |
náš váš |
naši vaši |
naše vaše |
|
Locative | našem vašem |
naší vaší |
našem vašem |
||
Instrumental | naším vaším |
naší vaší |
naším vaším |
||
Pl. | Nominative | naši vaši |
naše vaše |
||
Genitive | našich vašich |
||||
Dative | našim vašim |
||||
Accusative | naše vaše |
||||
Locative | našich vašich |
||||
Instrumental | našimi vašimi |
Jejich - their
This pronoun is indeclinable.
Reflexive possessive pronoun
The reflexive possessive pronoun is used when the possessor is also the subject (my own, your own, etc.). It is identical for all persons.
Masculine animate |
Masculine inanimate |
Feminine | Neuter | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sg. | Nominative | svůj | svoje, svá | svoje, své | |
Genitive | svého | svojí, své | svého | ||
Dative | svému | svojí, své | svému | ||
Accusative | svého | svůj | svoji, svou | svoje, své | |
Locative | svém | svojí, své | svém | ||
Instrumental | svým | svojí, svou | svým | ||
Pl. | Nominative | svoji, sví | svoje, své | svoje, svá | |
Genitive | svých | ||||
Dative | svým | ||||
Accusative | svoje, své | svoje, svá | |||
Locative | svých | ||||
Instrumental | svými |
Examples:
- Vidím svého otce. I see my father.
- Vidíš svého otce. You see your father.
Compare:
- On vidí svého otce. He sees his father. (his own father)
- On vidí jeho otce. He sees his father. (the father of someone else)
Demonstrative pronouns
Ten - the, this, thatMasculine animate |
Masculine inanimate |
Feminine | Neuter | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sg. | Nominative | ten | ta | to | |
Genitive | toho | té | toho | ||
Dative | tomu | té | tomu | ||
Accusative | toho | ten | tu | to | |
Locative | tom | té | tom | ||
Instrumental | tím | tou | tím | ||
Pl. | Nominative | ti | ty | ta | |
Genitive | těch | ||||
Dative | těm | ||||
Accusative | ty | ta | |||
Locative | těch | ||||
Instrumental | těmi |
Tenhle, tahle, tohle/tento, tato, toto (this) and tamten, tamta, tamto (that) are declined as ten + to (tento, tohoto, tomuto ...), resp. tam + ten (tamten, tamtoho, tamtomu ...).
Onen, ona, ono (that - not to be confused with personal pronouns) is declined as ten (onen, onoho, onomu ...).
To is often used as personal pronoun instead of ono (it):
- Dej mi to. Give it to me.
"To je/jsou" means "this is/these are" and is used for all genders and both numbers:
- To je můj přítel. This is my friend. (Přítel is masculine.)
- To jsou mí přátelé. These are my friends.
Interrogative and relative pronouns
Kdo - whoCo - what
Nominative | kdo | co |
---|---|---|
Genitive | koho | čeho |
Dative | komu | čemu |
Accusative | koho | co |
Locative | kom | čem |
Instrumental | kým | čím |
Který - which, who
declined as mladý
Jaký - what
declined as mladý
Compare:
- Co je to? What is it/this?
- Jaké je to? What is it like?
Čí - whose
declined as jarní
Jenž - which, who
Masculine animate |
Masculine inanimate |
Feminine | Neuter | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sg. | Nominative | jenž | jež | ||
Genitive | jehož něhož |
jíž níž |
jehož něhož |
||
Dative | jemuž němuž |
jíž níž |
jemuž němuž |
||
Accusative | jehož, jejž něhož |
jejž nějž |
již niž |
jež něž |
|
Locative | němž | níž | němž | ||
Instrumental | jímž nímž |
jíž níž |
jímž nímž |
||
Pl. | Nominative | již | jež | ||
Genitive | jichž nichž |
||||
Dative | jimž nimž |
||||
Accusative | jež něž |
||||
Locative | nichž | ||||
Instrumental | jimiž nimiž |
Jež is not an interrogative pronoun, it is equivalent to který (as a relative pronoun):
- Vidím muže, který/jenž právě přichází. I can see a man who is just coming.
Indefinite and negative pronouns
Někdo - somebody, someoneNikdo - nobody, no one
declined like kdo (někdo, někoho, někomu, ...; nikdo, nikoho, nikomu, ...)
Něco - something
Nic - nothing
declined like co (něco, něčeho, něčemu, ...; nic, ničeho, ničemu, ...)
Každý - every, everyone, each
Nějaký, některý - some, one, a(n)
Žádný, nijaký - no (as in "no man has ever been there")
declined like mladý
Czech grammar allows more than one negative word to exist in a sentence. For example: V té firmě nikdy nikdo nikam nijak nepostoupí., standing for: No one would promote anywhere, any time, in any way, in that firm., uses four negatives in adverbs and pronouns and one at verb while still being grammatically correct.
Prepositions with certain cases
Czech prepositions are matched with certain cases of nouns. They are usually not matched with the nominative case, which is primarily used as the subject in sentences. However, there are some exceptions to this rule: foreign prepositions (kontra, versus, etc.) are matched with the nominative, but their use is very rare. No prepositions are matched with the vocative, because it is used for addressing people only.Genitive:
- od – from (e.g. odstup od něj - step away from him)
- z – from, out of (e.g. kouř z komínu - smoke out of a chimney)
- do – (in)to; till (e.g. jít do bytu - to go into a flat; čekat do tří - to wait until 3:00)
- bez – without (e.g. bez dcerky neodejdu - I won't go without my daughter)
- vyjma/mimo – except for, excluding (e.g. kromě tebe všichni souhlasí - all agree except for you; less frequent)
- krom(ě) - except, besides (e.g. kromě něj tam byla i ona - besides him, she was there too)
- místo – instead of (e.g. místo tebe hrál náhradník - a substitute played instead of you)
- podle – along; according to (e.g. podle normy - according to norm)
- podél/kolem - along (e.g. šel kolem potoka - he walked along the brook; šel jsem kolem - I went by)
- okolo - about, around, circa/roughly (e.g. tráva okolo studny - a grass around the well)
- u – by, next to, at (e.g. vchod u rohu - entrance at the corner; u stolu - at/around the table)
- vedle – next to, besides (e.g. na té fotce stojí Lucie vedle Moniky - in the photo, Lucie is standing next to Monika)
- během – during, while (e.g. během prázdnin - during holiday)
- pomocí - with the help of (e.g. pomocí klacku ho dostali z bažiny - with a help of a stick they got him out of a marsh)
- stran - according to (not so frequent)
- prostřednictvím - through, with a device/instrument of (not so frequent)
- s - from higher place to lower (obsolete)
Dative:
- k – to(wards) (e.g. jdu k tobě - i'm coming to you)
- (na)proti – against, opposite to (e.g. je proti tobě - (s) he's against you; je to naproti lékárně - it's opposite to the pharmacy)
- oproti - opposite to, unlike (e.g. oproti teoriím věřím faktům - unlike the theories, I believe the facts)
- kvůli - due to, because of, for (e.g. udělej to kvůli mě - do it for me; udělal to kvůli mě - he did it because of me)
- vůči - in the face of,toward(s) (e.g laskavost vůči - kindness to)
- díky - thanks to (e.g. díky němu (my) máme naše peníze zpět - thanks to him, we have our money back)
Accusative:
- pro – for (e.g. udělal to pro mě - he did/made it for me)
- za – for (less frequent); instead of; behind (direction); per (e.g. kandidoval za demokraty - he made a candidature for the democrats; 1 porce za 5 korun - 1 portion for 5 (Czech) crowns)
- před – in front of (direction) (e.g. vyvěs to před dům - (go) hang it in front of the house)
- mimo - besides, off, out of, parallel to (place) (e.g. všichni mimo tebe - all besides you; mimo terč - off the bullet; mimo provoz - out of order; mimo - out/miss/no hit)
- na – (on)to (direction) (e.g. dej to na stůl - put it on the table)
- pod – under, below (direction)
- nad – over, above (direction)
- mezi – between, among (direction)
- krom(ě) - except (for), besides, among (e.g. krom ostatního - among other things)
- skrz – through
- o – by, for (e.g. zvýšit o 1 - increase by one; zápas o 3. místo - match for the 3rd place)
- v - in (e.g. věřit v boha - to believe in God)
Locative:
- o - about, of (e.g. mluvit o ní - to talk about her)
- na - on (e.g. skvrna na sukni - stain on a skirt)
- v - in (e.g. ruka v rukávu - arm in a sleeve)
- po - after (e.g. po obědě - after lunch; jdu po čáře - I walk the line)
- při – by; during (e.g. při obřadu - during the ceremonial; stůj při mě - stand by me/be my support)
Instrumental:
- s – with (e.g. s tebou - with you)
- za – behind, beyond, after (place), in/after (time); (e.g. stát za rohem - to stay behind corner; kdo za tím je? - who's behind (it)?/what's the meritum?; za horizontem - beyond the horizon; za hodinu tam budeme - we will be there in an hour)
- před – in front of (place); before; ago; from; against (e.g. přímo před tebou - right in front of you; před mnoha lety - many years ago; uniknout před pronásledovateli - to escape from pursuers; varovat před ním - to warn against him)
- pod – under(neath), below (place) (e.g. pod stolem spí pes - a dog is sleeping under the table)
- nad – over, above (place)
- mezi – between, among (place) (e.g. mezi póly - between poles; mezi kuřaty - among chicken)
Plural forms
Like other Slavic languages, Czech distinguishes two different plural forms in the nominative case. For numbers 2 to 4 or in cases where the quantity of the plural noun is not defined in any way, the nominative plural form is used. For higher numbers or when used with a quantifying adjective, the genitive form is used. This declension applies to nouns and adjectives.Singular Nominative | 1 dlouhá hodina |
---|---|
Nominative Plural (2 to 4 or indefinite) | 2 dlouhé hodiny |
Genitive Plural (over 4 or quantified) | 5 dlouhých hodin; pár hodin |
(dlouhý - long, hodina - hour, pár - a few; a pair)
Sources
- KARLÍK, P.; NEKULA, M.; RUSÍNOVÁ, Z. (eds.). Příruční mluvnice češtiny. Praha: Nakladelství Lidové noviny, 1995. ISBN 80-7106-134-4.
- ŠAUR, Vladimír. Pravidla českého pravopisu s výkladem mluvnice. Praha: Ottovo nakladatelství, 2004. ISBN 80-7181-133-5.
See also
- Czech conjugation
- Czech languageCzech languageCzech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
- Czech alphabetCzech alphabetThe Czech alphabet is a version of the Latin script, used when writing Czech. Its basic principles are "one sound, one letter" and the addition of diacritical marks above letters to represent sounds alien to Latin...
- Czech nameCzech nameCzech names are composed of a given name and a surname. Surnames used by women differ from their male counterparts.-Given names:In the Czech Republic, names are simply known as jména or, if the context requires it, křestní jména . The singular form is jméno...
- Czech orthographyCzech orthographyCzech orthography is a system of rules for correct writing in the Czech language.The Czech orthographic system is diacritic. The háček is added to standard Latin letters for expressing sounds which are foreign to the Latin language...
- Czech verbCzech verbCzech conjugation is a term denoting Czech language verb conjugation, or system of grammatically-determined modifications, in verbs in the Czech language....