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Czech is written with the Latin alphabet and three marks of its own: the háček (č, š, ž, ř, ď, ť, ň, ě), the čárka (á, é, í, ó, ú, ý) and the kroužek (ů). Its spelling is very regular: every letter is said, a word is read as it is written, and once the spellings are known, any word can be read aloud. The difficulties for an English speaker are elsewhere: ř is a sound of its own, a rolled r and the “s” of “pleasure” said at once; ch is said as in Scottish “loch”; c is said “ts” and j is said “y”; a vowel with a čárka is long, and length can tell two words apart; ě is said “ye” after some consonants and softens others; and the stress is always on the first syllable of a word.
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The Czech alphabet
The Czech alphabet has forty-two letters. Five of them have a place of their own in alphabetical order: č comes after every word in c, ch after every word in h, ř after r, š after s and ž after z, so that in a dictionary chléb is found after hora and before i. The other marked letters (á, ď, é, ě, í, ň, ó, ť, ú, ů, ý) are sorted with their plain letter: dům is found among the words in d. The letters q, w and x are found mostly in loanwords and foreign names. The vowels are named after their sound held long, most consonants with the “e” of “bed”, held long after the consonant (bé, cé, dé) and short before it (ef, el, em). The names that catch out an English speaker are those of c (cé, “tseh”), h (há), ch (chá), j (jé, “yeh”), k (ká), w (dvojité vé) and y (ypsilon).
A letter’s name is what you say when you spell a word aloud, for example your name or address on the phone.
| Letter | Name | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | á /aː/ | /a/ | tam | like “a” in “father”, but short (tam); never “ay” as in “name” said á, like “a” in “father”, held long; never “ay” |
| Á á | dlouhé á /ˈdlou̯ɦɛː aː/ | said dlouhé á, “long á”sorted with a | ||
| B b | bé /bɛː/ | /b/ | být | as in English (být) said bé, the “e” of “bed” held long; never “bee” |
| C c | cé /tsɛː/ | /ts/ | co | “ts” as in “cats”, at the start of a word too (co); never “k” or “s” said cé, the “ts” of “cats” followed by a long “e” as in “bed”; never “see” |
| Č č | čé /tʃɛː/ | said čé, with the “ch” of “church” | ||
| D d | dé /dɛː/ | /d/ | dům | as in English (dům); before ě, i and í, said soft (děkuji) said dé, the “e” of “bed” held long; never “dee” |
| Ď ď | ďé /ɟɛː/ | said ďé, with a soft “d”sorted with d | ||
| E e | é /ɛː/ | /ɛ/ | pes | like “e” in “bed” (pes); never “ee”, and never silent at the end of a word said é, like “e” in “bed”, held long; never “ee” |
| É é | dlouhé é /ˈdlou̯ɦɛː ɛː/ | said dlouhé é, “long é”sorted with e | ||
| Ě ě | ije /ˈɪjɛ/ | said ije, “ee-yeh”; also called é s háčkem, “é with a háček”sorted with e | ||
| F f | ef /ɛf/ | /f/ | film | as in English (film) said ef, as in English |
| G g | gé /ɡɛː/ | /ɡ/ | gól | hard, as in “go” (gól), before e and i too; found mostly in loanwords; never the “j” of “jet” said gé, with the hard “g” of “go”; never “jee” |
| H h | há /ɦaː/ | /ɦ/ | hora | a voiced, breathy “h”, as in “ahead” said with the voice (hora); never silent said há, “hah”; never “aitch” |
| CH ch | chá /xaː/ | said chá, with the “ch” of Scottish “loch” | ||
| I i | í /iː/ | /ɪ/ | pivo | like “i” in “bit” (pivo); never “eye” said í, like “ee” in “see”, held long; never “eye” |
| Í í | dlouhé í /ˈdlou̯ɦɛː iː/ | said dlouhé í, “long í”sorted with i | ||
| J j | jé /jɛː/ | /j/ | já | like “y” in “yes” (já); never the “j” of “jet” said jé, “yeh”; never “jay” |
| K k | ká /kaː/ | /k/ | kdo | as in English, without the puff of air of “cat” (kdo) said ká, “kah”; never “kay” |
| L l | el /ɛl/ | /l/ · /l̩/ | les vlk | a clear “l”, as in “look” (les), never the dark “ll” of “full”; between two consonants, a syllable of its own (vlk) said el, as in English |
| M m | em /ɛm/ | /m/ | máma | as in English (máma) said em, as in English |
| N n | en /ɛn/ | /n/ | nos | as in English (nos); before ě, i and í, said soft (nic) said en, as in English |
| Ň ň | eň /ɛɲ/ | said eň, with the “ny” of “canyon” at the endsorted with n | ||
| O o | ó /oː/ | /o/ | okno | like “o” in British “hot”, a little closer (okno); never “oh” gliding into “oo” as in “go” said ó, a pure “o” held long; never “oh” |
| Ó ó | dlouhé ó /ˈdlou̯ɦɛː oː/ | said dlouhé ó, “long ó”sorted with o | ||
| P p | pé /pɛː/ | /p/ | pes | as in English, without the puff of air of “pen” (pes) said pé, the “e” of “bed” held long; never “pee” |
| Q q | kvé /kvɛː/ | said kvé, a letter of loanwords and names, said “kv”; never “cue” | ||
| R r | er /ɛr/ | /r/ · /r̩/ | ruka krk | a rolled r, the tip of the tongue tapping behind the upper teeth (ruka); never the English r; between two consonants, a syllable of its own (krk) said er, with a rolled r |
| Ř ř | eř /ɛr̝/ | said eř, the “e” of “bed” followed by ř | ||
| S s | es /ɛs/ | /s/ | sýr | “s” as in “sun” (sýr), between two vowels too; never “z” said es, as in English |
| Š š | eš /ɛʃ/ | said eš, “esh” | ||
| T t | té /tɛː/ | /t/ | tam | as in English, without the puff of air of “top” (tam); before ě, i and í, said soft (ticho) said té, the “e” of “bed” held long; never “tee” |
| Ť ť | ťé /cɛː/ | said ťé, with a soft “t”sorted with t | ||
| U u | ú /uː/ | /u/ | ruka | like “oo” in “book”, short (ruka); never “you” said ú, like “oo” in “food”, held long; never “you” |
| Ú ú | dlouhé ú /ˈdlou̯ɦɛː uː/ | said dlouhé ú, “long ú”sorted with u | ||
| Ů ů | ů s kroužkem /uː s ˈkrou̯ʃkɛm/ | said ů s kroužkem, “ů with a little ring”sorted with u | ||
| V v | vé /vɛː/ | /v/ | voda | “v” as in “van” (voda) said vé, the “e” of “bed” held long; never “vee” |
| W w | dvojité vé /ˈdvojɪtɛː vɛː/ | said dvojité vé, “double v”, a letter of loanwords and names, said “v”; never “double u” | ||
| X x | iks /ɪks/ | /ks/ | taxi | “ks” as in “taxi” (taxi) said iks, “eeks” |
| Y y | ypsilon /ˈɪpsɪlon/ | /ɪ/ | my | the same sound as i, like “i” in “bit” (my); never “why” said ypsilon, stressed on the first syllable; never “why” |
| Ý ý | dlouhé ypsilon /ˈdlou̯ɦɛː ˈɪpsɪlon/ | said dlouhé ypsilon, “long ypsilon”sorted with y | ||
| Z z | zet /zɛt/ | /z/ | zima | “z” as in “zoo” (zima); never “ts” said zet, like British “zed” with an “e” as in “bed” |
| Ž ž | žet /ʒɛt/ | said žet, with the “s” of “pleasure” |
Spelling aloud. A word is spelt aloud with the name of each letter: to the question Jak se to píše? (“How is it written?”), the answer for Eva is é – vé – á. A letter with a mark is named with its mark: dlouhé á (“long á”) for á, ů s kroužkem (“ů with a little ring”) for ů, and ije or é s háčkem (“é with a háček”) for ě.
- Jak se to píše?How is it written?
- dlouhé álong á
- ů s kroužkemů with a little ring
Remember
In Czech, c is called cé (“tseh”), h há, j jé (“yeh”), w dvojité vé and y ypsilon. Ch is one letter, placed after h, and č, ř, š and ž each come after their plain letter.
Many consonants are said much as in English: b, d, f, g (always hard, as in “go”), k, l, m, n, p, s, t, v and z, although p, t and k are said without the puff of air heard in English “pen”, “top” or “cat”. Said differently are c, h, j, r and the vowels. Each vowel has one clear sound, whether stressed or not, and is never reduced to the “a” of “about”.
Difference from English
English vowels glide: “no” ends in “oo”, “day” in “ee”. Czech vowels are pure and held steady, stressed or not: okno has two clean “o” sounds. The letters i and y are two spellings of one sound, the “i” of “bit”: my (“we”) sounds like the “mi” of “mitt”, never like English “my”. Three letters have the sound of another English letter: c is said “ts”, j “y”, and w, in the few words that have it, “v”.
The letters r and l as syllables
Between two consonants, or after a consonant at the end of a word, r and l are said as a syllable of their own, with no vowel: krk (“neck”) and vlk (“wolf”) each have one syllable, and Brno has two, Br-no.
- cowhat
- jáI
- horamountain
- my / pivowe / beer
- rukahand
- krk / vlkneck / wolf
Common mistakes
[ko]→ [tso]In co, c is said “ts”, at the start of a word too.[dʒaː]→ [jaː]In já, j is said like “y” in “yes”.[maɪ]→ [mɪ]In my, y is said like the “i” of “bit”, never like English “my”.
Practise
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Letter groups
A few Czech sounds are written with two letters, and a consonant is said soft before ě, i and í. Ch is one sound and one letter; ou is one syllable; dž is the “j” of “jam”. After d, t and n, the letters ě, i and í show that the consonant is soft: dě, tě, ně are said with the soft sounds also written ď, ť, ň, and so are di, ti, ni. After b, p and v, ě is said “ye”; after m, it is said “nye”.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| ch | /x/ | chléb | like “ch” in Scottish “loch” (chléb); never the “ch” of “church” |
| ou | /ou̯/ | koupelna | one syllable, o gliding into u, close to the “o” of American “go” (koupelna); never the “ou” of “house” |
| dž | /dʒ/ | džus | like “j” in “jam” (džus) |
| dě | /ɟɛ/ | děkuji | a soft “d” followed by “e”, close to the “d” of British “duke” (děkuji) |
| tě | /cɛ/ | tělo | a soft “t” followed by “e”, close to the “t” of British “tune” (tělo) |
| ně | /ɲɛ/ | něco | like “nye” in “canyon” (něco) |
| di | /ɟɪ/ | divadlo | a soft “d” followed by the “i” of “bit” (divadlo) |
| ti | /cɪ/ | ticho | a soft “t” followed by the “i” of “bit” (ticho) |
| ni | /ɲɪ/ | nic | like “ny” in “canyon” followed by the “i” of “bit” (nic) |
| bě | /bjɛ/ | oběd | a “b” followed by the “ye” of “yes” (oběd) |
| pě | /pjɛ/ | pět | a “p” followed by the “ye” of “yes” (pět) |
| vě | /vjɛ/ | věc | a “v” followed by the “ye” of “yes” (věc) |
| mě | /mɲɛ/ | město | “mnye”, an m followed by the “ny” of “canyon” (město) |
Difference from English
English has no soft d, t or n; in Czech, they tell words apart. They are said with the middle of the tongue pressed against the roof of the mouth, as in British “duke”, “tune” and “new”. A d, t or n followed by y or ý stays hard: ty (“you”) begins with a plain “t”, ticho (“silence”) with a soft one.
- chlébbread
- koupelnabathroom
- džusjuice
- děkujithank you
- nicnothing
- pětfive
- městotown
Remember
Ch and h are two different sounds: ch is the voiceless “ch” of Scottish “loch” (chléb), h a voiced, breathy “h” (hora). Ě never begins a word; after d, t and n it marks a soft consonant, after b, p, v and m it is said “ye” or “nye”.
Common mistakes
[tʃlɛːp]→ [xlɛːp]In chléb, ch is said like “ch” in Scottish “loch”.[ˈdɛkujɪ]→ [ˈɟɛkujɪ]In děkuji, dě is said with a soft “d”, never a plain one.[mɛsto]→ [ˈmɲɛsto]In město, mě is said “mnye”.
Practise
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Written marks
Three marks are used in Czech, each part of the letter. The čárka (“stroke”) over á, é, í, ó, ú and ý marks a long vowel: the same sound held about twice as long. The kroužek (“little ring”) over ů also marks a long “oo”. The háček (“little hook”) over č, š, ž, ř, ď, ť, ň and ě marks another sound; on ď and ť it is printed as a small stroke beside the letter. A mark never shows the stress, and a word written without its mark is spelt wrong, or becomes another word.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| á | /aː/ | mám | a long “a”, like “a” in “father” (mám) |
| č | /tʃ/ | čaj | like “ch” in “church” (čaj) |
| ď | /ɟ/ | Maďarsko | a soft “d”, close to the “d” of British “duke” (Maďarsko); written d before ě, i and í |
| é | /ɛː/ | mléko | a long “e”, like “e” in “bed” held long (mléko); never “ee” |
| ě | /jɛ/ · /ɛ/ | pět děkuji | after b, p, v and f, “ye” as in “yes” (pět); after m, “nye” (město); after d, t and n, a plain “e”, the consonant before it said soft (děkuji) |
| í | /iː/ | bílý | a long “ee”, as in “see” (bílý) |
| ň | /ɲ/ | kůň | like “ny” in “canyon” (kůň); written n before ě, i and í |
| ó | /oː/ | gól | a long “o”, held steady (gól); found mostly in loanwords; never “oh” gliding into “oo” |
| ř | /r̝/ | řeka | a rolled r and the “s” of “pleasure” said at once, as in Dvořák (řeka); after p, t and k, closer to a rolled r and “sh” (tři); never r followed by ž |
| š | /ʃ/ | škola | like “sh” in “ship” (škola) |
| ť | /c/ | chuť | a soft “t”, close to the “t” of British “tune” (chuť); written t before ě, i and í |
| ú | /uː/ | úterý | a long “oo”, as in “food” (úterý); written at the start of a word |
| ů | /uː/ | dům | a long “oo”, as in “food”, the same sound as ú (dům); written inside a word or at its end, never at its start |
| ý | /iː/ | být | a long “ee”, as in “see”, the same sound as í (být) |
| ž | /ʒ/ | žena | like the “s” of “pleasure” (žena) |
The stress
A Czech word is stressed on its first syllable: děkuji (DYEH-koo-yi), Praha, okno. A long vowel is not a stressed one: in dobrý (“good”), the stress is on do-, and the long ý is held long without stress. The stress is never written.
Difference from English
In English, a stressed vowel is long and an unstressed one short or reduced. In Czech, length and stress are independent: a long vowel can stand in any syllable, and it tells words apart: byt (“flat”) and být (“to be”), pas (“passport”) and pás (“belt”). Ú and ů are two spellings of one sound: ú is written at the start of a word (úterý), ů inside it or at its end (dům, domů). Í and ý are also one sound, and so are i and y.
- mámI have
- mlékomilk
- důmhouse
- čajtea
- řekariver
- školaschool
- ženawoman, wife
Common mistakes
[ˈrʒɛka]→ [ˈr̝ɛka]In řeka, ř is one sound, a rolled r and a “zh” said at once, never r followed by ž.[dum]→ [duːm]In dům, ů is a long “oo”, held about twice as long as u.[maˈɟarsko]→ [ˈmaɟarsko]Maďarsko is stressed on its first syllable, like every Czech word.
Capital letters. As in English, a capital marks the start of a sentence and proper names. Many names of several words take a capital on their first word only: Česká republika (“the Czech Republic”). A noun of nationality takes a capital, Čech (“a Czech”), Angličan (“an Englishman”), but the adjective and the language are written with a small letter, unlike in English: český (“Czech”), čeština (“the Czech language”), anglický (“English”). Days and months are written with a small letter too: pondělí (“Monday”), leden (“January”). In a letter or a message, the polite Vy (“you”) and Váš (“your”) may be written with a capital as a sign of respect. A capital letter is written with its mark: Č, Ř, Ž, Ú.
Punctuation. A comma is written before every subordinate clause, those opened by že (“that”) and který (“which, who”) included, where English often has none: Myslím, že přijde. (“I think he will come.”). No comma is written before a (“and”) joining two equal parts. Quotation marks open low and close high: „Ahoj,“ řekla.
Practise
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Sound changes at the end of a word
No letter is silent in Czech, as letters are in English “knife” or “lamb”. But a consonant is not always said with its own sound. At the end of a word, b, d, ď, g, h, v, z and ž are said voiceless, as p, t, ť, k, ch, f, s and š: chléb sounds like “khlep”. Inside a word, and between words said together, a group of consonants is said all voiced or all voiceless, after its last consonant: kde (“where”) is said “gde”, všechno (“everything”) “fshekhno”. A v after another consonant leaves that consonant as it is: svět (“world”) is said with a plain s.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| -b | /p/ | chléb | like “p” (chléb) |
| -d | /t/ | oběd | like “t” (oběd) |
| -ž | /ʃ/ | muž | like “sh” in “ship” (muž) |
Difference from English
English “bad” and “bat” end differently; in Czech, a final b is said “p” and a final d “t”, so that chléb ends in a “p” sound and oběd in a “t” sound. The b is written because it is heard again when an ending follows: chleba (“of bread”), obědy (“lunches”). In the same way, muž (“man”) ends in a “sh” sound, and muži (“men”) is said with the “s” of “pleasure”.
- chlébbread
- obědlunch
- mužman
Common mistakes
[xlɛːb]→ [xlɛːp]At the end of chléb, b is said “p”.[ˈobjɛd]→ [ˈobjɛt]At the end of oběd, d is said “t”.[muʒ]→ [muʃ]At the end of muž, ž is said like “sh” in “ship”.
Practise
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In short
| Written | Said | Example |
|---|---|---|
| c | “ts” | co |
| j | “y” of “yes” | já |
| ch | “ch” of “loch” | chléb |
| h | voiced, breathy “h” | hora |
| č, š, ž | “ch”, “sh”, “s” of “pleasure” | čaj, škola, žena |
| ř | rolled r and “zh” at once | řeka |
| i, y | “i” of “bit” | pivo, my |
| á é í ó ú ý ů | long vowels | mám, dům |
| ú / ů | long “oo”: ú at the start, ů elsewhere | úterý, dům |
| dě tě ně, di ti ni | soft d, t, n | děkuji, nic |
| bě pě vě, mě | b, p, v + “ye” of “yes”; “mnye” | pět, město |
| ou | “o” gliding into “u”, one syllable | koupelna |
| final b, d, ž | p, t, š | chléb, oběd, muž |
| stress | first syllable | děkuji |