Czech declension
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Czech_declension".

Czech declension describes the declension, or system of grammatically-determined modifications, in nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals in the Czech language. There is a system of 7 cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, locative and instrumental) in Czech. Notice that no word has the maximum of 14 potential forms in singular and plural. Some forms are the same in more than one place in each paradigm.

Nouns

There are 14 paradigms of noun declension. The 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:

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). See Czech phonology for more details.

Masculine animate

pán - sir, lord; muž - man; předseda - chairman; soudce - judge; soudruh - comrade

Masculine inanimate

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

Feminine

žena - woman; růže - rose; píseň - song; kost - bone

Neuter

město - town; moře - sea; kuře - chicken; stavení - building, house

Latin words ending -um are declined according to the paradigm město: muzeum, muzea, muzeu, muzeum ...

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

mladý - young

Soft declension

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)

Examples:

otcův dům - father's house

matčino auto - mother's car

Possessive adjectives are often used in the names of streets, squares, buildins, etc.:

Neruda -> Nerudova ulice (Neruda street)

but:

Jan Neruda -> ulice Jana Nerudy (noun genitive)

partyzáni (partisans, guerilla) -> ulice Partyzánů

Comparisons

The comparative 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:

krásný - krásnější - nejkrásnější (beautiful - more beautiful - the most beautiful)

hladký - hladší - nejhladší (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)

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 participles. (See Czech verb)

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

In some singular cases, short forms of pronouns are possible, which are clitics. 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:

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.

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 verbs and as such are not usually translated into English explicitly:

Posaď se./Sedni si. Sit down.

Possessive pronouns

Můj - my Tvůj - your

Jeho - his, its
This pronoun is indeclinable.

Její - her

Náš - our Váš - your

Jejich - their
This pronoun is indeclinable.

Reflexive possessive pronoun

Reflexive possessive pronoun is used when possessing to the subject. It is identical for all persons.

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, that

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 - who Co - what

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

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, someone
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.

Prepositions with certain cases

Czech prepositions are matched with certain cases of names. They are never matched with the nominative case which is primarily used as the subject in the sentences. However, there is some exception from this rule: foreign prepositions (kontra, versus, etc.) are matched with the nominative, but their use is very rare. No preposition are also 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 expept 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 marsch)

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)

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 talki 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)

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 language
• Czech alphabet
• Czech name
• Czech orthography
• Czech verb