Czech Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Czech grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Czech and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Czech and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Czech.

Prepositions - Czech
and a
above nad
under pod
before před
after po
in front of před
behind za
far from daleko od
near blízko
in v
inside uvnitř
outside mimo
with s
without bez
about o
between mezi
but ale
for pro
from od, z
to na

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Czech
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] Jím bez nože
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] žije u kostela
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] Je vyšší než ona
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] přišel se svým psíkem
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] Můžete jít se mnou?

Negation in Czech

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Czech
I understand you [affirmative form] Já vám rozumím
I don't understand you [negation + verb] Já vám nerozumím
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] není to správné slovo
don't leave me [imperative negation] Neopouštěj mě
no problem [negation + noun] není problém

Negative Sentences - Czech
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] Neumím francouzsky
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] (Nikdy) nenavštívila Německo
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] Nevidí nás
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] Nechtěla by hrát šachy?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] Nepřijdeme pozdě

Questions in Czech

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Czech
how? Jak (na to)?
what? Co?
who? Kdo?
why? Proč?
where? Kde?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Czech
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] Kde bydlíte?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] ona mluví čínsky?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] Kolik to stojí?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] Můžu vám pomoci?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] Jaké je vaše jméno?

Adverbs in Czech

It's time to learn the adverbs in Czech. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Czech
now nyní
yesterday včera
today dnes
tonight dnes večer
tomorrow zítra
soon brzy
quickly rychle
slowly pomalu
together společně
very velmi
almost téměř
always vždy
usually obvykle
sometimes někdy
rarely zřídka
never nikdy

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Czech
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] Už mi rozumíte?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] Potřebuji okamžitou pomoc
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] Je velmi inteligentní
I will always love you [verb + adverb] Vždy vás budu milovat
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] Můžeme se spolu učit německy?

Pronouns in Czech

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Czech. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Czech
I Já
you ty, vy
he on
she ona
we my
they oni, ony

Object Pronouns - Czech
me mě, mne, mně, mi
you vás, vám, tobě, ti, tebe, tě
him ho, jej, jemu, mu, němu,ním
her jí, ní,
us nás, nám, námi
them je, jim, jimi

Possessive Pronouns - Czech
my můj, moje
your tvůj, tvoje, vaše, váš
his jeho
her její
our náš
their jejich

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Czech
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] Jsem tvůj přítel
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] Mluvíte velmi rychle
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] má tři psy
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] umí mluvit německy
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] Nepřijdeme pozdě
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] Koupili mléko a chléb

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Czech
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] Můžete mi říct své jméno?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] Dám vám peníze
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] Napsala mu dopis
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] Navštívili ji včera
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] Může nám pomoci?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] dal jim jídlo

Possessive Pronouns - Czech
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] Mé jméno je Maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] tvůj bratr žije zde
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] její matka vaří pro nás
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] Jeho koníčkem je čtení knih
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] Naším snem je navštívit Paříž
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] Jejich dům je blízko

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Czech
this is my house To je můj dům
that restaurant is far Tato restaurace je daleko
these apples are delicious Tato jablka jsou výborná
those stars are shiny Tamty hvězdy září

I hope you learned a lot about the Czech grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!