Gender · Czech grammar A1

Contents · A1

Být
The present
Gender
The plural
The accusative
The locative
Going places
Possessives
Short pronouns
The past
The future
Modal verbs
Numbers and time
Calling and joining

In this part, you will learn to tell a noun's gender and to describe people and things. You will also learn to name a woman's job and surname, and to say how something is done.

Telling a noun's gender: masculine (animate or inanimate), feminine and neuter, ten, ta, to
Describing things: adjectives, jaký, který and tenhle in the nominative singular
Naming women and saying how: -ka, -ová and adverbs in -sky and -ě

Telling a noun's gender: masculine (animate or inanimate), feminine and neuter, ten, ta, to#

Every Czech noun is masculine, feminine or neuter, and the ending of its nominative singular usually shows which.

Ten byt je malý, ale ta kuchyně je velká.The flat is small, but the kitchen is big.
To pero je moje.That pen is mine.
Ta restaurace u nádraží je dobrá.The restaurant by the station is good.
Ten pes je hodný.That dog is friendly.
To dítě spí.The child is asleep.

Formation

A noun ending in a consonant is usually masculine: stůl, byt, dům, telefon.
A noun in -a is feminine (káva, kniha, škola), and a noun in -o is neuter (okno, auto, pivo, město).
A noun in -a naming a man is masculine: ten táta.
The demonstrative ten (“that, the”) has a form for each gender: ten, ta, to.

Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
ten stůl, ten pokoj, ten pes	ta káva, ta restaurace, ta kancelář	to okno, to náměstí, to dítě

Endings that do not show the gender

Nouns in -e or -ě are usually feminine (restaurace, ulice, židle, kuchyně), but a few are neuter (moře, vejce, rajče).
A noun in -í is usually neuter (náměstí, nádraží), and a noun in -um is neuter (muzeum).
The soft consonants are ž, š, č, ř, c, j, ď, ť and ň.
A noun ending in a soft consonant or in -l is masculine (pokoj, nůž, počítač) or feminine (kancelář, postel, sůl).

People and animals

A masculine noun naming a person or an animal is animate: student, kamarád, muž, pes, kůň, pták.
A masculine noun naming a thing is inanimate.
A noun naming a woman or a female animal is feminine: sestra, kočka, kráva.
A few nouns for people and young animals are neuter: dítě, miminko, zvíře, prase.

Animate and inanimate masculines differ in the accusative: Naming the object: the accusative singular of nouns, kávu, restauraci, bratra, učitele.

Use

Ten, ta and to are used for a person or a thing already known, and translate English “the” or “that”.
Czech has no article, so ten, ta and to are often left out.
In to je (“this is”), to does not change, whatever the gender of the noun: To je škola. (“This is a school.”)

Difference from English

English the is the same for every noun. Czech ten, ta or to is chosen by the noun's gender: ten stůl, ta káva, to okno.
In English, a thing or an animal is it, and a child has no gender. In Czech, things and animals have a gender too: dítě is neuter, kůň masculine and kočka feminine.

Common mistakes

~~Ten ulice je dlouhá.~~ → Ta ulice je dlouhá.Ulice is feminine, like most nouns in -e.
~~Ta pokoj je velký.~~ → Ten pokoj je velký.Pokoj is masculine; a noun in a soft consonant is learnt with its gender.

Remember

Learn every noun with ten, ta or to: ten stůl, ta káva, to okno.
Most nouns in -e are feminine: ta ulice.
Learn a noun in a soft consonant or in -l with its gender: ten pokoj, ta postel.

You now know the three genders of Czech nouns and the forms ten, ta, to.

Practise

“Gender: ten, ta, to and the adjective that agrees (nový, nová, nové)”, Telling the gender from the ending: ten stůl, ta káva, to okno “Gender: ten, ta, to and the adjective that agrees (nový, nová, nové)”, Nouns that hide their gender: ta restaurace, ten pokoj, to náměstí, ta kancelář “Gender: ten, ta, to and the adjective that agrees (nový, nová, nové)”, People and animals: ten student, ten pes, ta kočka, to dítě

Create an account: you will go straight to these exercises.

Describing things: adjectives, jaký, který and tenhle in the nominative singular#

An adjective agrees with its noun in gender, and so do the question words and the demonstratives.

Mám nový počítač.I have a new computer.
Jaká je ta kniha? — Zajímavá.What's the book like? — Interesting.
Které auto je tvoje? — Tamto červené.Which car is yours? — That red one over there.
Tahle kavárna je moderní a levná.This café is modern and cheap.
Ten film je super.The film is great.

Formation

A hard adjective ends in -ý with a masculine noun, -á with a feminine noun, -é with a neuter noun.
A soft adjective ends in -í and has one form for all three genders.
The question words jaký? (“what … like?”) and který? (“which?”) take the endings of a hard adjective.
Tenhle (“this”), tamten (“that, over there”) and tento (“this”, in writing and formal speech) change like ten, ta, to.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
hard adjective	nový	nová	nové
soft adjective	moderní	moderní	moderní
what … like?	jaký	jaká	jaké
which?	který	která	které
this	tenhle	tahle	tohle
that, over there	tamten	tamta	tamto
this (written)	tento	tato	toto

Use

An adjective usually comes before its noun: nový telefon.
After je, an adjective stands alone and agrees with the subject: Naše nová kuchyně je moderní. (“Our new kitchen is modern.”)
Jaký? is used to ask what something is like, and který? to ask which one of several is meant: Jaký je ten dům? — Velký. Který dům? — Tamten. (“What is the house like? — Big. Which house? — That one over there.”)
Fajn and super (“fine”, “great”, both colloquial) never change: Ten film je super. (“The film is great.”)

Difference from English

An English adjective has one form. A Czech hard adjective has a form for each gender: mladý muž, mladá žena, mladé zvíře.
English which, this and that have no gender. In Czech, který, tenhle and tamten agree with the noun: které auto, tahle kniha, tamta kniha.

Common mistakes

~~Ta kniha je nový.~~ → Ta kniha je nová.Kniha is feminine, so the adjective ends in -á.
~~moderná škola~~ → moderní školaAn adjective in -í has one form for every gender.
~~Který kniha?~~ → Která kniha?Který agrees with its noun like an adjective.

Remember

Make the adjective agree with its noun: nový telefon, nová kniha.
Use the same form of a soft adjective for every gender: moderní škola.
Make jaký and který agree like an adjective: Která kniha? (“Which book?”)

You now know the endings of adjectives in the nominative singular and the forms of jaký, který and tenhle.

Going further

The accusative endings are explained in Describing the object: adjectives, ten, jeden and possessives in the accusative.
For the plural, see Talking about several things: the plural of things and their adjectives, obchody, auta, pokoje, nové knihy.

Practise

“Gender: ten, ta, to and the adjective that agrees (nový, nová, nové)”, Making an adjective agree: nový, nová, nové “Gender: ten, ta, to and the adjective that agrees (nový, nová, nové)”, Adjectives in -í and words that never change: moderní, fajn, super, jaký, jaká, jaké? “Gender: ten, ta, to and the adjective that agrees (nový, nová, nové)”, Asking which and pointing: který, tenhle, tamten, tento

Create an account: you will go straight to these exercises.

Naming women and saying how: -ka, -ová and adverbs in -sky and -ě#

A woman's job and a woman's surname have forms of their own, and an adverb is formed from an adjective.

Eva je lékařka a její bratr je řidič.Eva is a doctor and her brother is a driver.
Pan Dvořák a paní Dvořáková bydlí v Plzni.Mr and Mrs Dvořák live in Plzeň.
Mluvíte anglicky?Do you speak English?
Tomáš vaří dobře, ale pomalu.Tomáš cooks well, but slowly.

Formation

A woman's job or role usually ends in -ka: student → studentka, učitel → učitelka, kamarád → kamarádka, lékař → lékařka, řidič → řidička.
A few women's nouns are formed otherwise: herec → herečka, číšník → číšnice.
A woman's surname is formed with -ová, which replaces a final -a: Novák → Nováková, Svoboda → Svobodová, Procházka → Procházková.
A surname that is an adjective takes the feminine ending: Novotný → Novotná, Černý → Černá.

Adverbs

An adjective in -ský or -cký has an adverb in -sky or -cky: český → česky, anglický → anglicky, německý → německy.
Many other adjectives have an adverb in -ě or -e: dobrý → dobře, špatný → špatně, krásný → krásně, rychlý → rychle.
The adverb of pomalý is pomalu.
Moc and velmi (“very, a lot”) and trochu (“a little”) never change.

Use

A woman says Jsem učitelka. (“I am a teacher.”), and a man Jsem učitel. (“I am a teacher.”)
A woman's surname in -ová is used with paní: paní Nováková.
A language is named with the adverb after mluvit, rozumět, číst and psát, written with a small letter: Mluvím česky. (“I speak Czech.”)
An adjective is used with a noun (dobrý film), and an adverb with a verb (vaří dobře).

Difference from English

English teacher, doctor and driver are the same word for a man and a woman. Czech has two nouns: učitel and učitelka, lékař and lékařka.
In English, a job after be takes a; Czech has no article: Jsem učitelka. (“I am a teacher.”)
In English, a language is named with a noun and a capital letter. In Czech, it is named with an adverb and a small letter: Mluvíte anglicky? (“Do you speak English?”)

Common mistakes

~~Jana je učitel.~~ → Jana je učitelka.A woman's job has its own noun.
~~paní Novák~~ → paní NovákováA woman's surname takes -ová.
~~Mluví dobrý.~~ → Mluví dobře.A verb takes the adverb dobře, never the adjective dobrý.

Remember

Use the woman's noun for a woman's job: Jana je lékařka. (“Jana is a doctor.”)
Use the surname in -ová for a woman: paní Nováková.
Name a language with the adverb and a small letter: Mluvím česky. (“I speak Czech.”)

In short

Point	Form	Example
masculine	a consonant; pokoj, nůž; men in -a	ten stůl, ten táta
feminine	-a; usually -e; kancelář, postel	ta káva, ta ulice
neuter	-o; -í; -um; moře, dítě	to okno, to náměstí
animate masculine	men and male animals	ten student, ten pes
hard adjective	-ý, -á, -é	nový, nová, nové
soft adjective	-í for every gender	moderní
question and pointing words	jaký, který, tenhle, tamten, tento	Která kniha?
a woman's job, a woman's surname	-ka; -ová	učitelka, Nováková
adverbs	-sky, -cky; -ě, -e	česky, dobře

You now know how a woman's job and surname are formed, and how an adverb is formed from an adjective.

Practise

“Calling and joining: the vocative, a, ale, protože, že, když”, Saying how well and how much: česky, dobře, moc “Gender: ten, ta, to and the adjective that agrees (nový, nová, nové)”, A woman's job and surname: učitelka, studentka, paní Nováková

Create an account: you will go straight to these exercises.