Czech/Printable version

Czech

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Czech in a Nutshell

Czech is an Indo-European, West Slavic Language, especially similar to Slovak, which means it is very likely for a native speaker of each to also understand some Russian, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian, etc. Czech and Slovak are very similar languages, and at first glance, one may incorrectly think of them as being dialects of each other, in the same manner that one might compare Spanish and Catalan. Czech is spoken by 10 million people as a native language and at least 6 million as a de facto second language. Even before the birth of Czechoslovakia in 1918, Czechs and Slovaks have always understood each other without the need of a translator as both have been subjected to Austro-Hungarian domniation for many centuries until after the First World War.

The relatively hard parts of the language are, like all other Balto-Slavic Languages (except Bulgarian and Macedonian):

• Declination (7 cases)
• Several types and subtypes of endings for nouns and verbs

The easier parts may be:

• Simple, regular pronunciation
• Very simple and straightforward verb conjugations: Only one present tense (imperfective) two types of past and conditional tenses, a compound future (imprf.) a simple future (perf.). Verb are always found in pairs, imperfective on the left and the perfective on the right separated by a dash (usually, but NOT always, one adds a prefix to the imperfective infinitive to change it to perfective).

Lesson 1

We'll start with a simple dialogue between two people who are meeting each other for the first time. In Czech, there's a difference between formal and informal speech. The main difference is that when speaking to a person, you should use the second person of plural instead of the second person of singular. Another difference is in greetings. These differences will be discussed through all lessons, since there are many of them. In the following dialogue, the informal speech is used.

Dialogue

David: Čau, jak se jmenuješ?
Hi, what's your name?

Jana: Ahoj, já jsem Jana.
Hello, I am Jana.

David: Rád tě poznávám, Jano.
Nice to meet you, Jana.

Jana: Já tebe také. Jak se máš?
Nice to meet you too. How are you?

David: Mám se dobře, děkuji. A ty?
I am well, thanks. And you?

Jana: Já také.
Me too.

David: Promiň, musím jít. Měj se!
Sorry, I have to go. See you!

Jana: Měj se!
See you!

Vocabulary

ahoj hello, hi
čau hello, hi (there's no big difference to ahoj, the usage from person to person)
dobrý den good day (formal greeting) promiň sorry, excuse me
také also (or taky in spoken language)
já I
jít to go

Phrases

Jak se máš? How are you?
Jak se jmenuješ? What's your name?
Rád(a) tě poznávám Nice to meet you (Rád is for male speakers, Ráda is for female speakers)
Já jsem __ I am __
Jmenuji se __ My name is __
Měj se! See you! (literally translates as have yourself)

Formal speech

Here you will find the same dialogue as above, but changed into the formal way.

David: Dobrý den, jak se jmenujete?
Hi, what's your name?

Jana: Dobrý den, já jsem Jana.
Hello, I am Jana.

David: Rád Vás poznávám, Jano.
Nice to meet you, Jana.

Jana: Já Vás také. Jak se máte?
Nice to meet you too. How are you?

David: Mám se dobře, děkuji. A Vy?
I am well, thanks. And you?

Jana: Já také.
Me too.

David: Promiňte, musím jít. Mějte se!
Sorry, I have to go. See you!

Jana: Mějte se!
See you!

When to use the formal speech

The formal speech is used as a default one. Example situations are:

• In a shop
• In a bank
• In a school when speaking to a teacher as a student
• In a workplace (to your colleagues, to your boss)

... and many more. Usually use it with people you don't know well.

When to use the informal speech

• With your friends
• With young people (teenage and few years on)
• With parents
• With people you explicitly agree on using the informal speech (*)

(*) Even though the etiquette says you can use informal speech to people younger than you, it's more common to agree on this first. The older person (or the person with higher "level", i.e. your boss, your teacher, your customer, ...) is the one who must offer the usage of informal speech, otherwise it's considered impolite.

Numbers

Čísla - Numbers

Numbers from 0 to 99

0 nula
1 jedna
2 dva
3 tři
4 čtyři
5 pět
6 šest
7 sedm
8 osm
9 devět
10 deset

11 jedenáct
12 dvanáct
13 třináct
14 čtrnáct
15 patnáct
16 šestnáct
17 sedmnáct
18 osmnáct
19 devatenáct

20 dvacet
21 dvacet jedna
22 dvacet dva
30 třicet
31 třicet jedna
40 čtyřicet
41 čtyřicet jedna
50 padesát
60 šedesát
70 sedmdesát
80 osmdesát
90 devadesát
99 devadesát devět

100 and above

100 sto
200 dvě stě
300 tři sta
400 čtyři sta
500 pět set
600 šest set
700 sedm set
800 osm set
900 devět set

1000 tisíc
2000 dva tisíce
3000 tři tisíce
4000 čtyři tisíce
5000 pět tisíc
6000 šest tisíc
7000 sedm tisíc
8000 osm tisíc
9000 devět tisíc

1 000 000 jeden milion

Řadové číslovky - Ordinals

1st první
2nd druhý
3rd třetí
4th čtvrtý
5th pátý
6th šestý
7th sedmý
8th osmý
9th devátý
10th desátý
11th jedenáctý
12th dvanáctý
13th třináctý
14th čtrnáctý
15th patnáctý
16th šestnáctý
17th sedmnáctý
18th osmnáctý
19th devatenáctý
20th dvacátý
21st dvacátý první
22nd dvacátý druhý
30th třicátý
40th čtyřicátý
50th padesátý
60th šedesátý
70th sedmdesátý
80th osmdesátý
90th devadesátý

100th stý
101st sto první
102nd sto druhý
1000th tisíctý

Note that every ordinal behaves like an adjective, therefore the ending -ý applies only to masculine forms.

Basic arithmetic operations

plus - mínus - krát - děleno

1 + 7 = 8 ⇒ jedna plus sedm se rovná osm

6 − 6 = 0 ⇒ šest mínus šest se rovná nula

7 ⋅ 7 = 49 ⇒ sedm krát sedm se rovná čtyřicet devět

80 : 8 = 10 ⇒ osmdesát děleno osmi se rovná deset

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Czech alphabet consists of 42 normal Latin letters, some have an accent:

• All vowels can be either short (aeiouy), or long with acute (čárka) (áéíóúůý). (This can denote a different word.)
• The only difference between Ú and Ů is that Ú is used only at the beginning of a word (or a part of a word like: triangle = trojúhelník), while Ů cannot be used at the beginning of a word.
• There are also "softened" versions of the letters D E N R S T Z, with a hook (háček): ˇ
• The accents lengthen the vowels, but they do not imply stress. Stress is almost always on the first syllable. The same rules also apply in Slovak.

A Á B C Č D Ď E É Ě F G H Ch I Í J K L M N Ň O Ó P Q R Ř S Š T Ť U Ú Ů V W X Y Ý Z Ž

Stuck with Ď or Ť? Listen to this recording for help.

Stuck with Ř? Listen to this recording for help.

Note: Except for foreign words, the letters Q, W and X are almost never used, and the first two are often replaced with Kv and V. F, G and Ó also mostly occur in words of foreign origin, but are nowhere near as rare as Q, W, or X.

Most of the letters are pronounced similarly to in German. Note:

• Ch is pronounced as "kh" and considered as one letter
• C like in the 'zz' in pizza or German 'z' as in 'Zimmer'
• Ď like /ɟ/ (D, but with your tongue touching the entire roof of your mouth) or Polish 'gi'
• E and G like in "beggar"
• H like in "head"
• J like the 'y' in "yeah"
• Ň like in "menu" or the Spanish 'señor'
• R somewhat harder than in English, a bit like in Spanish "arriba" initially and rolled in the middle of a word.
• Ť like /c/ (T, but with your tongue touching the entire roof of your mouth) or Polish 'ki'

The pronunciation rarely changes depending on the position, except for:

1. D, N, T are pronounced as Ď, Ň, Ť before I, Í, or Ě
   Note: This is the only reason why Ě is used. The letter itself is pronounced as E.
   Not quite true, consider following example: "válka měla mnoho obětí" and "těšila se domů na jeho objetí..." etc.
2. Czech has word-final devoicing of consonants. This means that in speech, voiced consonants are pronounced as their voiceless counterparts: D → T, Ď → Ť, H → Ch, G → K, V → F, B → P, Z → S, Ž → Š.

Other notes:

1. Y and Ý are mostly used to avoid palatalizing the preceding consonant where I or Í would palatize the preceding consonant: dy is pronounced /dɪ/

Now you know almost everything. You can go to the Czech pronunciation page and hear it.

Basics

Personal pronouns

In Czech there are ten personal pronouns. Czech uses two different pronouns for the English "you". Each third person singular pronoun got its own counterpart in plural (while only they is used in English).

Let's take a look at the table with the primary forms (nominative) of the Czech personal pronouns :

number	person	gender	English	Czech	Pronunciation /IPA/
singular	1st	mas., fem., neut.	I	já	[jaː]
	2nd	mas., fem., neut.	you	ty	[tɪ]
	3rd	mas.	he	on	[ɔn]
		fem.	she	ona	[ɔna]
		neut.	it	ono	[ɔnɔ]
plural	1st	mas., fem., neut.	we	my	[mɪ]
	2nd	mas., fem., neut.	you	vy	[vɪ]
	3rd	mas.	they	oni	[ɔɲɪ]
		fem.	they	ony	[ɔnɪ]
		neut.	they	ona	[ɔna]

For declination of the Czech personal pronouns and for details about them, see section Czech/Pronouns.

Important verbs

To be

The translation of to be is být [biːt]. It is pronounced in the same way like the English word beat.

		English	Czech	Pronunciation /IPA/
singular	1st person	I am	já jsem	[jaː sɛm]
	2nd person	you are	ty jsi	[tɪ sɪ]
	3rd person	he/she/it is	on/ona/ono je	[ɔn/ɔna/ɔnɔ jɛ]
plural	1st person	we are	my jsme	[mɪ smɛ]
	2nd person	you are	vy jste	[vɪ stɛ]
	3rd person	they are	oni/ony jsou	[ɔɲɪ/ɔnɪ/ɔna soʊ̯]

To have

The translation of to have is mít [miːt]. It is pronounced in the same way like the English word meat.

		English	Czech	Pronunciation /IPA/
singular	1st person	I have	já mám	[jaː maːm]
	2nd person	you have	ty máš	[tɪ maːʃ]
	3rd person	he/she/it has	on/ona/ono má	[ɔn/ɔna/ɔnɔ maː]
plural	1st person	we have	my máme	[mɪ maːmɛ]
	2nd person	you have	vy máte	[vɪ maːtɛ]
	3rd person	they have	oni/ony mají	[ɔɲɪ/ɔnɪ/ɔna majiː]

Nouns

Skloňování - declension

There are 7 grammar cases in Czech:

1. Nominative
2. Genitive
3. Dative
4. Accusative
5. Vocative
6. Locative
7. Instrumental

Although it's common to refer to each by their ordinal name (i.e. "první pád" - first case would be Nominative).

Declension depends on the gender and on the number. For each type of declension, Czech has example words, which are listed below. All Czech words are declined the same way as these example words.

Rod mužský životný - 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! diváku!	muži!	předsedo!	soudce!
	Locative	pánovi, pánu	mužovi, muži	předsedovi	soudci, soudcovi
	Intrumental	pánem	mužem	předsedou	soudcem
Pl.	Nominative	pánové, páni	mužové, muži	předsedové	soudci, soudcové
	Genitive	pánů	mužů	předsedů	soudců
	Dative	pánům	mužům	předsedům	soudcům
	Accusative	pány	muže	předsedy	soudce
	Vocative	pánové! páni!	mužové! muži!	předsedové!	soudci! soudcové!
	Locative	pánech divácích	mužích	předsedech kolezích	soudcích
	Intrumental	pány	muži	předsedy	soudci

Rod mužský neživotný - 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
	Intrumental	hradem	strojem
Pl.	Nominative	hrady	stroje
	Genitive	hradů	strojů
	Dative	hradům	strojům
	Accusative	hrady	stroje
	Vocative	hrady!	stroje!
	Locative	hradech zámcích	strojích
	Intrumental	hrady	stroji

Rod ženský - 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
	Intrumental	ženou	růží	písní	kostí
Pl.	Nominative	ženy	růže	písně	kosti
	Genitive	žen	růží	písní	kostí
	Dative	ženám	růžím	písním	kostem
	Accusative	ženy	růže	písně	kosti
	Vocative	ženy!	růže!	písně!	kosti!
	Locative	ženách	růžích	písních	kostech
	Intrumental	ženami	růžemi	písněmi	kostmi

Rod střední - 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
	Intrumental	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	mořích	kuřatech	staveních
	Intrumental	městy	moři	kuřaty	staveními

Pronouns

Details on and declination of personal pronouns

As other pronouns, also personal pronouns are declined in Czech language. As verbs used with pronouns are declined and it's easy for listener to guess person (first, second, third) and number (singular, plural), pronouns are not often use in their primary form - nominative. Examples with nominative written below are a little bit artificial structures. Czechs do not usually make sentences with nominative form of pronouns unless they want to emphasize the person.

I

Pronoun já [jaː] (I in English) substitutes speaker (first person) in a sentence.

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	já [jaː]		Já to umím. [jaː tɔ umiːm]	I can do it.
genitive	mě [mɲɛ]	mne [mnɛ]	Hráli si beze mě. [ˈɦraːlɪ sɪ ˈbɛzɛ mɲɛ]	They played without me.
dative	mně [mɲɛ]	mi [mɪ]	Maminko, povídej mi pohádku, prosím. [mamɪŋkɔ pɔviːdɛj mɪ poɦaːtkʊ prosiːm]	Mum, tell me a fairytale, please.
accusative	mě [mɲɛ]	mne [mnɛ]	Vidíš mě? [vɪɟiːʃ mɲɛ]	Can you see me?
vocative	*
locative	mně [mɲɛ]		Povídali si o mně. [pɔviːdalɪ sɪ ɔmɲɛ]	They talked about me.
instrumental	mnou [mnɔʊ̯]		Můžeš pracovat se mnou. [muːʒɛʃ prat͡sɔvat sɛ mnɔʊ̯]	You can work with me.

* Vocative of já is not used.

You (singular)

Ty [tɪ] (you in English) is used to replace speaker's partner (second person, singular). It's mostly used in informal conversation, i.e. when speakers are friends or members of same family, when one speaker is significantly older than the other or when the speaker abuses their partner. In formal conversations pronoun vy [vɪ] is broadly used to address speaker's partner.

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	ty [tɪ]		Ty jsi náš hrdina. [tɪ jsɪ naːʃ hrɟɪna]	You are our hero.
genitive	tě [cɛ]	tebe [tɛbɛ]	Od tebe jsem nic nečekal. [ot tɛbɛ ˈjsɛm ˈɲɪt͡s nɛt͡ʃɛkal]	I didn't expect anything from you.
dative	ti [cɪ]	tobě [tɔbjɛ]	Táta ti to poví. [taːta cɪ tɔ pɔviː]	Dad is going to tell you.
accusative	tě [cɛ]	tebe [tɛbɛ]	Uděláš-li chybu, opravím tě. [uɟɛlaːʃ lɪ xɪbʊ ɔpraviːm cɛ]	If you make mistake, I will correct you.
vocative	ty [tɪ]		Ty v tom modrém triku, pojď sem! [tɪ ftɔm mɔdrɛːm trɪkʊ pɔjc sɛm]	You, the one in blue t-shirt, come here!
locative	tobě [tɔbjɛ]		Ta kniha je o tobě. [ta kɲɪɦa jɛ ɔtɔbjɛ]	The book is about you.
instrumental	tebou [tɛbɔʊ̯]		Nad tebou je obloha. [nad tɛbɔʊ̯ jɛ ɔblɔɦa]	There is the sky above you.

He

Pronoun on [ɔn] (he in English) is a substitution for third person, singular, masculine gender. It substitutes masculine singular nouns in sentences. Unlike English there is no influence of animacy or humanity to use this pronoun, only gender of the substituted noun is relevant. Therefore in Czech on substitutes nouns strom (a tree), stroj (a machine) or hrad (a castle) as well as lékař (a doctor), otec (a father), majitel (an owner) or herec (an actor).

	form 1	form 2	form 3	form 4	form 5	Example	Translation
nominative	on [ɔn]					Tu smlouvu podepsal on. [tʊ smlɔʊ̯vʊ pɔdɛpsal ɔn]	It was he who signed the agreement.
genitive	ho [ɦɔ]	jej [jɛj]	něj [ɲɛj]	jeho [jɛɦɔ]	něho [ɲɛɦɔ]	Bez něj jsou Prokopovi ztraceni. [bɛzɲɛj sɔʊ̯ prɔkɔpɔvɪ strat͡sɛɲɪ]	The Prokops are lost without him.
dative	mu [mʊ]	jemu [jɛmʊ]	němu [ɲɛmʊ]			Jakub mu dal míč. [jakʊp mʊ dal miːt͡ʃ]	Jacob gave him a ball.
accusative	ho [ɦɔ]	jej [jɛj]	něj [ɲɛj]	jeho [jɛɦɔ]	něho [ɲɛɦɔ]	Jindřich jej provázel po celou cestu. [jɪndr̝ɪx jɛj prɔvaːzɛl pɔt͡sɛlɔʊ̯ t͡sɛstʊ]	Henry has accompanied him all the way.
vocative	*
locative	něm [ɲɛm]					Helena udržela tajemství - nic nám o něm neřekla. [ɦɛlɛna ʊdrʒɛla tajɛmstviː ɲɪt͡s naːm ɔɲɛm nɛr̝ɛkla]	Helen kept the secret - she did not tell us anything about him.
instrumental	jím [jiːm]	ním [ɲiːm]				Vstoupili s ním do první místnosti hradu. [fstɔʊ̯pɪlɪ sɲiːm dɔpr̩vɲiː miːsnɔscɪ ɦradʊ]	They entered with him to first room of the castle.

* Vocative of on is not used.

She

Ona [ɔna] (she in English) is third person singular, feminine gender. Pronoun ona substitutes feminine nouns (animate and inanimate ones), i.e. it can be is used to replace nouns as kočka (a cat), láhev (a bottle), vnučka (a granddaughter ) or lampa (a lamp).

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	ona [ɔna]		To ona připravila ten dort. [tɔ ɔna pr̝ɪpravɪla tɛn dɔrt]	It was she who made the cake.
genitive	jí [jiː]	ní [ɲiː]	Vrátil se bez ní. [vraːtɪl sɛ bɛzɲiː]	He came back without her.
dative	jí [jiː]	ní [ɲiː]	Děda požádal vnuka, abych jí to dal. [djɛda pɔʒaːdal vnʊka abɪ jiː tɔ dal]	My Granddad asked his grandson to give it to her.
accusative	ji [jɪ]	ni [ɲɪ]	Petr ji požádal o pomoc. [pɛtr̩ jɪ pɔʒaːdal ɔpɔmɔt͡s]	Peter asked her for help.
vocative	*
locative	ní [ɲiː]		Nevěděli jsme o ní nic. [nɛvjɛdjɛlɪ smɛ ɔɲiː nɪt͡s]	We didn't know anything about her.
instrumental	jí [jiː]	ní [ɲiː]	Jan s ní procestoval celý svět. [jan sɲiː prɔt͡sɛstɔval t͡sɛliː svjɛt]	John has travelled the whole world with her.

* Vocative of ona is not used.

It

Ono [ɔnɔ] (it in English) is a substitution for third person singular, neuter gender. It is used instead of neuter nouns, e.g. instead of auto (a car), vězení (a prison), zvíře (an animal).

	form 1	form 2	form 3	form 4	form 5	Example	Translation
nominative	ono [ɔnɔ]					Chytnul jsem kuře a ono mi uteklo. [xɪtnʊl sɛm kʊr̝ɛ a ɔnɔ mɪ ʊtɛklɔ]	I caught a chicken and it has escaped.
genitive	ho [ɦɔ]	jej [jɛj]	něj [ɲɛj]	jeho [jɛɦɔ]	něho [ɲɛɦɔ]	Moře - spatřil jej jen jednou. [mɔr̝ɛ - spatr̝ɪl jɛj jɛn jɛdnɔʊ̯]	A sea - he has seen it only once.
dative	mu [mʊ]	jemu [jɛmʊ]	němu [ɲɛmʊ]			Rodiče uviděli staveniště a šli k němu. [rɔɟɪt͡ʃɛ ʊvɪɟɛlɪ stavɛɲɪʃcɛ a ʃlɪ kɲɛmʊ]	Parents saw construction site and went to it.
accusative	ho [ɦɔ]	je [jɛ]	ně [ɲɛ]	jej [jɛj]	něj [ɲɛj]	To je obilné pole? Ano, maluji jej. [tɔ jɛ ɔbɪlnɛː pɔlɛ - anɔ malʊjɪ jɛj]	Is that cornfield? Yes it is - I just am painting it.
vocative	*
locative	něm [ɲɛm]					Jiří si koupil sako, ale neřekl mi o něm. [jɪr̝iː sɪ kɔʊ̯pɪl sakɔ alɛ nɛr̝ɛkl mɪ ɔɲɛm]	George bought a coat but he did not say to me about it.
instrumental	jím [jiːm]	ním [ɲiːm]				Měli s sebou jasné světlo, došli s ním až do města. [mɲɛlɪ sɛbɔʊ̯ jasnɛː svjɛtlɔ dɔʃlɪ sɲiːm aʒ dɔ mɲɛsta]	They had a bright light and went with it to the town.

* Vocative of ono is not used.

We

Pronoun my [mɪ] (we in English) substitutes first person plural.

	form 1	Example	Translation
nominative	my [mɪ]	My máme maso, ó, my se máme! [mɪ maːmɛ masɔ ɔː mɪ sɛ maːmɛ]	We had meat, oh, we are so lucky!
genitive	nás [naːs]	Je nás na ten úkol málo. [jɛ naːs na tɛn uːkɔl maːlɔ]	It's too little of us to manage the task.
dative	nám [naːm]	Jeho bratranec nám otevřel bránu. [jɛɦɔ bratranɛt͡s naːm otɛvr̝ɛl braːnʊ]	His cousin has opened the gate for us.
accusative	nás [naːs]	Nás se to netýká. [naːsɛ tɔ nɛtiːkaː]	It does not concern us.
vocative	my [mɪ]	My, hasiči, pojďme hasit! [mɪ ɦasɪt͡ʃɪ pɔjcmɛ ɦasɪt]	We, firemen, let's quensch!
locative	nás [naːs]	Ten příběh vypráví o nás. [tɛn pr̝iːbjex vɪpraːviː ɔnaːs]	The story talks about us.
instrumental	námi [naːmɪ]	Tomáš a Marie s námi pobyli týden u moře. [tɔmaːʃ a marɪɛ snaːmɪ pɔbɪlɪ tiːdɛn ʊmɔr̝ɛ]	Thomas and Mary have stayed with us at the seaside for a week.

You (plural)

Pronoun vy [vɪ] (you in English) substitutes second person plural. It is used not only to address a group of speaker's partners but also in formal speech called vykání. In that speech pronoun vy is used and verbs are declined in plural (except the declination in case of conditional and past tense).

English does not distinguish between you in singular and you in plural and it does not use vykání either. At English-to-Czech translation one must understand the context to use the appropriate forms of pronouns and verbs.

	form 1	Example	Translation
nominative	vy [vɪ]	Vy jste vyhráli pohár. [vɪ stɛ vɪɦraːlɪ pɔɦaːr]	You have won the cup!
genitive	vás [vaːs]	Vás dva Jeroným potřebuje. [jɛ naːs na tɛn uːkɔl maːlɔ]	Jerome needs the two of you.
dative	vám [vaːm]	Vám patří celé toto pole. [vaːm patr̝iː t͡sɛlɛː tɔtɔ pɔlɛ]	This whole field belongs to you.
accusative	vás [vaːs]	Vás obdivuju, skládáte pěkné písně. [vaːs ɔpɟɪvʊjɪ sklaːdaːtɛ pjɛknɛː piːsɲɛ]	I admire you, you compose very nice songs.
vocative	vy [vɪ]	Hej, vy tam - jděte z toho pozemku! [ɦɛɪ vɪ tam ɟɛtɛ stɔɦɔ pɔzɛmkʊ]	Hey you there - leave that land!
locative	vás [vaːs]	Ta hra je o vás, o vašem pokrytectví. [ta ɦra jɛ ɔvaːs ɔvaʃɛm pɔkrɪtɛt͡stviː]	The drama is about you, about your hypocrisy.
instrumental	vámi [vaːmɪ]	Váš vedoucí poletí do Londýna s vámi. [vaːʃ vɛdɔʊ̯t͡siː pɔlɛtiː dɔlɔndiːna svaːmɪ]	Your boss is going to fly with you to London.

They (masculine)

Pronoun oni [ɔnɪ] (they in English)

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	oni [ɔɲɪ]		Petr četl synům pohádku a oni poslouchali. [pɛtr t͡ʃɛtl sɪnuːm pɔɦaːtkʊ a ɔɲɪ pɔslɔʊ̯xalɪ]	Peter read a tale to their sons and they listened to him.
genitive	jich [jɪx]	nich [ɲɪx]	Mám mokré všechny své svetry a bez nich nemohu jít ven. [maːm mɔkrɛː vʃɛxnɪ svɛː svɛtrɪ a bɛsɲɪx nɛmɔɦʊ jiːt vɛn]	All my sweaters are wet and I can't go outside without them.
dative	jim [jɪm]	nim [ɲɪm]	Josef a Marek? Jim já důvěřuji. [jɔzɛf a marɛk jɪm jaː duːvjɛr̝ʊjɪ]	Joseph and Mark? I trust them.
accusative	je [jɛ]	ně [ɲɛ]	Vidíš ty žraloky? Ano! Vidím je! [vɪɟiːʃ tɪ rɪbɪ anɔ vɪɟiːm jɛ]	Could you see the sharks? Yes! I can see them!
vocative	*
locative	nich [ɲɪx]		Řekl mi o nich, že jsou dobří hráči. [r̝ɛkl mɪ ɔɲɪx ʒɛ sɔʊ̯ dɔbr̝iː ɦraːt͡ʃɪ]	He told me about them that they were good players.
instrumental	jimi [jɪmɪ]	nimi [ɲɪmɪ]	Zadíval se na míčky a pak jimi pohnul. [zaɟiːval sɛ na miːt͡ʃkɪ a pak jɪmɪ pɔɦnʊl]	He took a look at the balls and then he moved with them.

* Vocative of oni is not used.

They (feminine)

Pronoun ony [ɔnɪ] (they in English)

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	ony [ɔnɪ]		Tu tabuli pomalovaly ony - Petra s Monikou! [tʊ tabʊlɪ pɔmalɔvalɪ ɔnɪ pɛtra smɔnɪkoʊ̯]	They scrawled over the blackboard, they - Petra and Monika.
genitive	jich [jɪx]	nich* [ɲɪx]	Pavel má rád kočky. Bez nich by mu bylo smutno. [pavɛl maː kɔt͡ʃkɪ raːt bɛsnɪɣ bɪ mʊ bɪlɔ smʊtnɔ]	Paul likes cats. He would feel lonely without them.
dative	jim [jɪm]	nim* [ɲɪm]	Mým babičkám? Jim to jednoduše vysvětlím. [miːm babɪt͡ʃkaːm jɪm tɔ jɛdnɔdʊʃɛ vɪsvjɛtliːm]	To my grandmothers? I will explain it to them easily.
accusative	je [jɛ]	ně* [ɲɛ]	Koukej na ty lokomotivy! Vidíš je? [koʊ̯kɛj na tɪ lɔkɔmɔtɪvɪ vɪdiːʃ jɛ]	Look at those locomotives! Can you see them?
vocative	+
locative	nich [ɲɪx]		Max má dvě důvěrné přítelkyně. Neřekl mi o nich vůbec nic. [maks maː dvjɛ duːvjɛrnɛː pr̝iːtɛlkɪɲɛ nɛr̝ɛkl mɪ ɔnɪɣ vuːbɛc ŋɪc]	Max has two intimate girlfriends. He did not say a word about them.
instrumental	jimi [jɪmɪ]	nimi* [ɲɪmɪ]	Oblékni si tyto rukavice - práce ti s nimi půjde sama. [ɔblɛːkɲɪ sɪ tɪtɔ rʊkavɪcɛ praːt͡sɛ tɪ sɲɪmɪ puːjdɛ sama]	Wear those gloves and your work will get easy with them.

* This form is used after preposition only.

+ Vocative of ony is not used.

They (neuter)

Pronoun ona [ɔna] (they in English)

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	ona [ɔna]		Rodí se kuřata? Ona se nerodí, líhnou se. [rɔɟiː sɛ kʊr̝ata ɔna sɛ nɛrɔɟiː liːɦnɔʊ̯ sɛ]	Are chickens born? They are not born, they are hatched.
genitive	jich [jɪx]	nich* [ɲɪx]
dative	jim [jɪm]	nim* [ɲɪm]
accusative	je [jɛ]	ně* [ɲɛ]
vocative	+
locative	nich* [ɲɪx]
instrumental	jimi [jɪmɪ]	nimi* [ɲɪmɪ]

* This form is used after preposition only.

+ Vocative of ona is not used.

Present

Czech verbs in infinitive usually end by -t or -ti but we can find some with -ci or -ct which doesn't influence conjugation at all. However the most important verbs such as být (to be) are irregular so the best way to learn them is separately for ex. from this summary. To be able to conjugate regular ones we have to divide them in 5 classes based on their present form in the 3^rd person of singular. Native speaker does it naturally and most of Czechs doesn't even know about existence of classes. Foreigner has to learn not just infinitives and their traductions but the present in 3^rd p. of sg. If you know it, you can simply change the suffixe for other person.

Frequently-used verbs and their present form in 3^rd p. of sg

czech infinitive	present form	translation (infinitive)		class
číst	on čte	to read	he's reading	1
jet/jít	on jde	to go	he's going	1
psát	on píše	to write	he's writing	1
žít	on žije	to live	he's living	3
milovat	on miluje	to love	he loves	3
stát	on stojí	to stand/to cost	he's standing	4
spát	on spí	to sleep	he's sleeping	4
jíst	on jí	to eat	he's eating	4
volat	on volá	to call	he's calling	5

1^st class: -e

nést - on nese (to carry)

	sg	pl
1st	já nesu	my neseme
2nd	ty neseš	vy nesete
3rd	on nese	oni nesou

psát - on píše (to write)

	sg	pl
1st	já píši	my píšeme
2nd	ty píšeš	vy píšete
3rd	on píše	oni píší

2^nd class: -ne

začít - on začne (to start)

	sg	pl
1st	já začnu	my začneme
2nd	ty začneš	vy začnete
3rd	on začne	oni začnou

3^rd class: -je

kupovat - on kupuje (to buy)

	sg	pl
1st	já kupuji	my kupujeme
2nd	ty kupuješ	vy kupujete
3rd	on kupuje	oni kupují

4^th class: -í

prosit - on prosí (to beg)

	sg	pl
1st	já prosím	my prosíme
2nd	ty prosíš	vy prosíte
3rd	on prosí	oni prosí

5^th class: -á

dělat - on dělá (to do)

	sg	pl
1st	já dělám	my děláme
2nd	ty děláš	vy děláte
3rd	on dělá	oni dělají

Common phrases

Czech (Slavic)

Translation	Phrase	Pronunciation	IPA	Remarks
Czech	Česky	CHEHskee	/'ʧɛski/
Czech Republic	Česká republika	CHEHskah REHpublikah	/'ʧɛskaː ɾɛpublika/
hello	dobrý den	DObree den	/'dobɾiː dɛn/	Literal translation: Good day
good-bye	na shledanou	na sKHLEdanow	/nɐ 'sxlɛdanou/	Literal translation: Until we see each other again
please	prosím	PROseem	/'pɾosiːm/	Literal translation: I beg
thank you	děkuji vám	DYEkooyi vam	/'ɟɛkuji vaːm/
that one	tamten	tamten	/tamtɛn/
how much?	kolik	KOlik	/'kolik/
English	anglicky	anglytskee	/angliʦki/
yes	ano		/ano/	More often is said "jo" /jo/ (!)
no	ne		/ne/
sorry	promiňte		/pɾomiɲte/	Literal translation: Forgive
cheers	Na zdraví		/na zdɾaviː/	Literal translation: To health
I don't understand	Nerozumím		/nɛɾozumiːm/
Where's the bathroom?	Kde je toaleta?		/gdɛ jɛ toaleta/
Do you speak English?	Mluvíte anglicky?		/mluviːtɛ angliʦki/
I don't speak Czech	Nemluvím česky		/nɛmluviːm 'ʧɛski/
Do you speak Czech?	Mluvíte česky?		/mluviːtɛ 'ʧɛski/
Where can I find a restaurant?	Kde najdu restauraci?		/gdɛ najdu ɾɛstaurɐʦi/
Where is the nearest hospital?	Kde je nejbližší nemocnice?		/gdɛ jɛ nɛjbliʃiː nɛmoʦniʦɛ/