Language/Czech/Grammar/Nouns

Czech Grammar - Nouns

Hi Czech learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will dive into Czech grammar and study the most essential aspect of the language: nouns! Nouns are used to refer to people, places, things, or ideas, and they are often accompanied by various forms of adjectives, articles, and pronouns.

So, let's get started!

Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: Possessive Case in Czech, Instrumental Case in Czech, Negation & Locative Case in Czech.

Basic Concepts

In Czech, nouns have three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. The gender of a noun is not always determined by its meaning, and often has to be memorized. However, some general rules do apply:

- Masculine nouns usually end in a consonant: hrad (castle), muž (man), stůl (table). - Feminine nouns usually end in -a or -e: růže (rose), kniha (book), krajina (landscape). - Neuter nouns usually end in -o or -e: město (city), zvíře (animal), kuře (chicken).

Nouns also have singular and plural forms. To form the plural of masculine and neuter nouns, the endings -i and -a are used, respectively. Feminine nouns have various ways of forming the plural, but adding -y to the stem or adding -ové to the ending are most common.

The cases of nouns indicate their function in a sentence, and there are seven cases in Czech: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, locative, and instrumental.

In the following sections, we will look at each of these cases in more detail.

Nominative Case

The nominative case is used for the subject of a sentence, or for a noun that is in apposition to the subject. In other words, the nominative case answers the question "who" or "what" in a sentence.

Here are some examples:

Czech	Pronunciation	English
chlapec	['xlapɛts]	boy
stůl	[stuːl]	table
jablko	['jablko]	apple

Example dialogue:

• Person 1: Kdo tam stojí? (Who is standing there?)
• Person 2: Chlapec. (A boy.)
• Person 1: A co tam má? (And what does he have there?)
• Person 2: Jablko. (An apple.)

Genitive Case

The genitive case is used to express possession (e.g. "Anna's book"), absence (e.g. "Without money"), and some prepositions (e.g. "From Prague"). In Czech, the genitive case is formed by adding -a or -u to the stem or the ending of a noun.

Here are some examples:

Czech	Pronunciation	English
kniha	['kɲɪɦa]	book
pes	[pɛs]	dog
hora	['hora]	mountain

Example dialogue:

• Person 1: Čí kniha to je? (Whose book is this?)
• Person 2: Moje. (Mine.)
• Person 1: Kolik máš psů? (How many dogs do you have?)
• Person 2: Dva. (Two.)
• Person 1: Byl jsi někdy na té hoře? (Have you ever been to that mountain?)
• Person 2: Ne, je mi moc vysoká. (No, it's too high for me.)

Dative Case

The dative case is used to indicate the indirect object of a sentence (e.g. "I gave a book to Anna"), or to express location (e.g. "I am at home"). In Czech, the dative case is formed by adding -u or -ovi to the stem or the ending of a noun.

Here are some examples:

Czech	Pronunciation	English
psu	[psu]	to the dog
dceři	['dtʃɛr̝ɪ]	to the daughter
rodičům	[rodɪtʃuːm]	to the parents

Example dialogue:

• Person 1: Kde jsi byl včera večer? (Where were you yesterday evening?)
• Person 2: U dceře. (At my daughter's.)
• Person 1: Co jsi jí hledal v kabelce? (What were you looking for in her bag?)
• Person 2: Klíče. (Keys.)
• Person 1: A psu jsi je už našel? (And have you found them for the dog?)
• Person 2: Ano, jsou tady. (Yes, here they are.)

Accusative Case

The accusative case is used to indicate the direct object of a sentence (e.g. "I bought a book"), or to indicate the object of certain prepositions (e.g. "To Prague"). In Czech, the accusative case is formed by changing the ending of masculine personal nouns to -a or by adding -y to masculine inanimate nouns. Feminine and neuter nouns usually have the same form in the nominative and accusative cases.

Here are some examples:

Czech	Pronunciation	English
pivo	[pɪvo]	beer
matku	['matku]	mother
Prahu	['prahu]	Prague

Example dialogue:

• Person 1: Co jsi si objednal? (What did you order?)
• Person 2: Pivo a buřty. (Beer and sausages.)
• Person 1: A kde je matka? (And where is your mother?)
• Person 2: Doma. (At home.)
• Person 1: Plánuješ někam jet? (Are you planning to go somewhere?)
• Person 2: Chci jet do Prahy. (I want to go to Prague.)

Vocative Case

The vocative case is used to address someone directly (e.g. "Anna, come here!"). In Czech, the vocative case is usually identical to the nominative case, but some names and nouns have special forms.

Here are some special vocative forms:

Czech	Pronunciation	English
Jitko	['jɪtko]	Jitka
Pepo	['pɛpo]	Josef
maminko	['mamɪŋko]	mom

Example dialogue:

• Person 1: Ovládáš dobře češtinu, Jitko. (You speak Czech well, Jitka.)
• Person 2: Díky, snažím se. (Thank you, I'm trying.)
• Person 1: Pepo, pomůžeš mi s tím těžkým kufrem? (Josef, can you help me with that heavy suitcase?)
• Person 2: Jasně, kde ho máme? (Sure, where is it?)
• Person 1: Maminko, uvaříš mi něco dobrého? (Mom, will you cook me something delicious?)
• Person 2: Co by sis přál? (What do you want?)

Locative and Instrumental Cases

The locative case is used to indicate location (e.g. "In Prague"), and the instrumental case is used to indicate the means by which something is done (e.g. "With a pen"). In Czech, these cases require various endings depending on the noun and the context, and they are often accompanied by prepositions.

Here are some examples:

Czech	Pronunciation	English
kávě	['kaːvɛ]	in coffee
pilotem	['pɪlotɛm]	with a pilot
v Lomnici	[vlomnɪtsɪ]	in Lomnice

Example dialogue:

• Person 1: Bydlíš v centru nebo na okraji města? (Do you live in the center or on the outskirts of the city?)
• Person 2: V centru, blízko kávy a dobrého koláče. (In the center, close to coffee and a good cake.)
• Person 1: Jak jsi se dostal sem? (How did you get here?)
• Person 2: S pilotem, v malém letadle. (With a pilot, in a small plane.)
• Person 1: Určitě ti chybí hory, ne? (You surely miss the mountains, don't you?)
• Person 2: Ano, ale mám rád i Lomnici, město s krásnými horami kolem. (Yes, but I also like Lomnice, a city with beautiful mountains around it.)

Plurals and Exceptions

As mentioned before, plural formation in Czech can be tricky, especially with feminine nouns. Here are some common rules:

- Add -y to the stem or ending of feminine or soft masculine nouns: kniha – knihy, žena – ženy, kaváren – kavárny. - Add -i to the ending of masculine animate nouns: muž – muži, pes – psi. - Add -a to the ending of neuter nouns: zvíře – zvířata, muzeum – muzea.

However, there are always exceptions, such as:

- Nouns with consonant stem (e.g. dům – domy, most – mosty). - Irregular or foreign nouns (e.g. auto – auta, muzeum – muzea). - Nouns that change in stem or have multiple forms (e.g. kůň – koně, oko – oči).

So, it's important to learn the plural form of each noun as you go.

Practice with Nouns

Now that we have covered the basics of Czech nouns, it's time to practice! Here are some recommended exercises:

1. Create ten sentences using different cases and gender forms of nouns. 2. Write a short paragraph about your favorite place in Czech. 3. Translate the following sentences to Czech, including the necessary cases: "I lost my keys in the park", "They want to visit Prague next year", "My friends have two cats and a dog".

Don't forget to practice speaking and listening as well. To improve your Czech Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Sources

• Czech declension - Wikipedia
• Czech nouns - declension
• Declension of Nouns | Czech Time

Other Lessons

• Modal Verb (Must) in Czech
• Future Tense
• Instrumental Case in Czech
• Ablative Case in Czech
• Conditional Mood
• Give your Opinion
• Dative Case in Czech
• Verb There to be in Czech
• Pronouns
• Prepositions