# Czech/Printable version

The current, editable version of this book is available in Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection, at
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Czech

# 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) (áéěíóúůý). (This can denote a different word.)
* The only difference between Ú and Ů is that Ú is used only at the beginning or end of a word (or a part of a word like: triangle = trojúhelník), while Ů can only be in the middle 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.
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
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 English. 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:
* 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.
* 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:
* 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] |
| singular | 2nd | mas., fem., neut. | you | ty | [tɪ] |
| singular | 3rd | mas. | he | on | [ɔn] |
| singular | 3rd | fem. | she | ona | [ɔna] |
| singular | 3rd | neut. | it | ono | [ɔnɔ] |
| plural | 1st | mas., fem., neut. | we | my | [mɪ] |
| plural | 2nd | mas., fem., neut. | you | vy | [vɪ] |
| plural | 3rd | mas. | they | oni | [ɔɲɪ] |
| plural | 3rd | fem. | they | ony | [ɔnɪ] |
| plural | 3rd | 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] |
| singular | 2nd person | you are | ty jsi | [tɪ sɪ] |
| singular | 3rd person | he/she/it is | on/ona/ono je | [ɔn/ɔna/ɔnɔ jɛ] |
| plural | 1st person | we are | my jsme | [mɪ smɛ] |
| plural | 2nd person | you are | vy jste | [vɪ stɛ] |
| plural | 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] |
| singular | 2nd person | you have | ty máš | [tɪ maːʃ] |
| singular | 3rd person | he/she/it has | on/ona/ono má | [ɔn/ɔna/ɔnɔ maː] |
| plural | 1st person | we have | my máme | [mɪ maːmɛ] |
| plural | 2nd person | you have | vy máte | [vɪ maːtɛ] |
| plural | 3rd person | they have | oni/ony mají | [ɔɲɪ/ɔnɪ/ɔna majiː] |

# Nouns
## Skloňování - declension

There are 7 grammar cases in Czech:
* Nominative
* Genitive
* Dative
* Accusative
* Vocative
* Locative
* 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 |
| Sg. | Genitive | pána | muže | předsedy | soudce |
| Sg. | Dative | pánovi, pánu | mužovi, muži | předsedovi | soudci, soudcovi |
| Sg. | Accusative | pána | muže | předsedu | soudce |
| Sg. | Vocative | pane! diváku! | muži! | předsedo! | soudce! |
| Sg. | Locative | pánovi, pánu | mužovi, muži | předsedovi | soudci, soudcovi |
| Sg. | Intrumental | pánem | mužem | předsedou | soudcem |
| Pl. | Nominative | pánové, páni | mužové, muži | předsedové | soudci, soudcové |
| Pl. | Genitive | pánů | mužů | předsedů | soudců |
| Pl. | Dative | pánům | mužům | předsedům | soudcům |
| Pl. | Accusative | pány | muže | předsedy | soudce |
| Pl. | Vocative | pánové! páni! | mužové! muži! | předsedové! | soudci! soudcové! |
| Pl. | Locative | pánech divácích | mužích | předsedech kolezích | soudcích |
| Pl. | Intrumental | pány | muži | předsedy | soudci |

### Rod mužský neživotný - masculine inanimate

| Sg. | Nominative | hrad | stroj |
| Sg. | Genitive | hradu lesa | stroje |
| Sg. | Dative | hradu | stroji |
| Sg. | Accusative | hrad | stroj |
| Sg. | Vocative | hrade! zámku! | stroji! |
| Sg. | Locative | hradu, hradě lesu, lese | stroji |
| Sg. | Intrumental | hradem | strojem |
| Pl. | Nominative | hrady | stroje |
| Pl. | Genitive | hradů | strojů |
| Pl. | Dative | hradům | strojům |
| Pl. | Accusative | hrady | stroje |
| Pl. | Vocative | hrady! | stroje! |
| Pl. | Locative | hradech zámcích | strojích |
| Pl. | Intrumental | hrady | stroji |

### Rod ženský - feminine

| Sg. | Nominative | žena | růže | píseň | kost |
| Sg. | Genitive | ženy | růže | písně | kosti |
| Sg. | Dative | ženě škole | růži | písni | kosti |
| Sg. | Accusative | ženu | růži | píseň | kost |
| Sg. | Vocative | ženo! | růže! | písni! | kosti! |
| Sg. | Locative | ženě škole | růži | písni | kosti |
| Sg. | Intrumental | ženou | růží | písní | kostí |
| Pl. | Nominative | ženy | růže | písně | kosti |
| Pl. | Genitive | žen | růží | písní | kostí |
| Pl. | Dative | ženám | růžím | písním | kostem |
| Pl. | Accusative | ženy | růže | písně | kosti |
| Pl. | Vocative | ženy! | růže! | písně! | kosti! |
| Pl. | Locative | ženách | růžích | písních | kostech |
| Pl. | Intrumental | ženami | růžemi | písněmi | kostmi |

### Rod střední - neuter

| Sg. | Nominative | město | moře | kuře | stavení |
| Sg. | Genitive | města | moře | kuřete | stavení |
| Sg. | Dative | městu | moři | kuřeti | stavení |
| Sg. | Accusative | město | moře | kuře | stavení |
| Sg. | Vocative | město! | moře! | kuře! | stavení! |
| Sg. | Locative | městě, městu | moři | kuřeti | stavení |
| Sg. | Intrumental | městem | mořem | kuřetem | stavením |
| Pl. | Nominative | města | moře | kuřata | stavení |
| Pl. | Genitive | měst | moří | kuřat | stavení |
| Pl. | Dative | městům | mořím | kuřatům | stavením |
| Pl. | Accusative | města | moře | kuřata | stavení |
| Pl. | Vocative | města! | moře! | kuřata! | stavení! |
| Pl. | Locative | městech | mořích | kuřatech | staveních |
| Pl. | 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 3rd 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 3rd p. of sg. If you know it, you can simply change the suffixe for other person.

### Frequently-used verbs and their present form in 3rd 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 |

### 1st 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 |

### 2nd class: -ne

začít - on začne (to start)
| | sg | pl |
| 1st | já začnu | my začneme |
| 2nd | ty začneš | vy začnete |
| 3rd | on začne | oni začnou |

### 3rd class: -je

kupovat - on kupuje (to buy)
| | sg | pl |
| 1st | já kupuji | my kupujeme |
| 2nd | ty kupuješ | vy kupujete |
| 3rd | on kupuje | oni kupují |

### 4th class: -í

prosit - on prosí (to beg)
| | sg | pl |
| 1st | já prosím | my prosíme |
| 2nd | ty prosíš | vy prosíte |
| 3rd | on prosí | oni prosí |

### 5th 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/ |