Basic Prepositions in Czech

In Brief

Four very useful Czech prepositions form reliable case patterns: s + instrumental means “with,” bez + genitive means “without,” pro + accusative means “for,” and o + locative means “about.” The preposition stays the same, but the noun, pronoun, and any describing words after it must take the required case form: mléko becomes s mlékem, for example.

Overview

A preposition is a short word such as “with,” “without,” “for,” or “about” that shows a relationship between other words. English usually places a preposition before an unchanged noun: “with milk,” “without sugar.” Czech does more. It uses a case—a change in a word’s form that helps show its role in the phrase or sentence.

At A1, the most useful strategy is to learn each preposition together with its case, almost as one vocabulary item: s + instrumental, not simply s. The instrumental is the form used here after “with”; the genitive is the form required after bez; the accusative follows pro; and the locative follows o when it means “about.” You do not need to know every possible ending before using common phrases successfully.

These four patterns appear constantly in everyday Czech: ordering káva s mlékem (“coffee with milk”), asking for something bez cukru (“without sugar”), giving a present pro tebe (“for you”), or talking o počasí (“about the weather”). They also provide an easy way to see why Czech prepositions cannot be translated word for word without considering case and meaning.

How It Works

The four core patterns

Preposition	Core meaning	Required case	Czech case question	Example	English
s / se	with, together with	instrumental (7th case)	s kým? s čím?	s mlékem	with milk
bez / beze	without	genitive (2nd case)	bez koho? bez čeho?	bez cukru	without sugar
pro	for, intended for	accusative (4th case)	pro koho? pro co?	pro tebe	for you
o	about, concerning	locative (6th case)	o kom? o čem?	o počasí	about the weather

The numbered labels are common in Czech teaching: 2. pád is the genitive, 4. pád the accusative, 6. pád the locative, and 7. pád the instrumental. Czech speakers often use the case questions shown in the table as a memory aid.

To build a phrase, follow three steps:

1. Choose the preposition that matches the intended meaning.
2. Put the noun or pronoun after it into the required case.
3. Change any adjective (a word describing a noun), demonstrative such as “this,” or possessive such as “my” to match the noun’s gender, number, and case.

Compare malý syn (“a young son”) with s malým synem (“with a young son”). Both malý and syn change because the entire phrase is instrumental.

S / se + instrumental: “with”

Use s when people or things are together, accompany one another, or are combined:

• s kamarádem — with a friend
• se sestrou — with a sister
• káva s mlékem — coffee with milk
• chléb se sýrem — bread with cheese

The form se has the same meaning and governs the same case. It is used where it makes pronunciation easier, especially before certain consonant groups: se sestrou, se psem, se mnou. There is no change in meaning between s and se.

Common instrumental singular endings include -em for many masculine and neuter nouns and -ou for many feminine nouns: kamarád → s kamarádem, mléko → s mlékem, sestra → se sestrou. These are useful patterns, not a complete account of Czech declension.

English “with” also introduces a tool: “I write with a pencil.” Czech normally uses the instrumental without s for a means or instrument: Píšu tužkou. The preposition s presents the pencil as accompanying or being combined with something, not simply as the tool used.

Bez / beze + genitive: “without”

Use bez to say that a person or thing is absent:

• bez cukru — without sugar
• bez kávy — without coffee
• bez mléka — without milk
• bez problémů — without problems

The expanded form beze makes some combinations easier to pronounce and is especially familiar in phrases such as beze mě (“without me”) and beze slova (“without a word”). It is not a different preposition: the following phrase is still genitive.

Genitive endings vary by noun type. The examples above show common forms: masculine cukr → cukru, feminine káva → kávy, and neuter mléko → mléka. Learn the complete phrase when a form is unfamiliar.

Pro + accusative: “for”

Use pro for an intended recipient, beneficiary, audience, or purpose:

• dárek pro Annu — a present for Anna
• místo pro děti — a place for children
• kurz pro začátečníky — a course for beginners
• To je pro vás. — That is for you.

The accusative often resembles a form you already know. A feminine noun in -a commonly changes to -u: Anna → pro Annu, sestra → pro sestru. Many neuter and masculine inanimate nouns look unchanged: pro dítě, pro nový projekt. Masculine animate nouns—the names of male people and animals—often have an accusative that looks like the genitive: pro bratra (“for a brother”).

Do not assume that every English “for” becomes pro. English uses “for” for many unrelated ideas. Czech may use a different preposition or no preposition at all; see Usage Notes below.

O + locative: “about”

Use o + locative for the topic of speaking, reading, thinking, writing, or learning:

• mluvit o práci — to talk about work
• číst o Praze — to read about Prague
• přemýšlet o problému — to think about a problem
• kniha o historii — a book about history

The name locative can be misleading here: this case is not only about location. It is a preposition-dependent form, and after o it marks the topic. Its endings are varied: škola → o škole, Petr → o Petrovi, problém → o problému, počasí → o počasí. Because the locative is never used by itself, learn it in complete phrases with its preposition.

Personal pronouns after these prepositions

Pronouns—short words standing in for nouns, such as “I,” “you,” and “they”—have special case forms. These are worth memorizing as complete units.

Person	With: s + instrumental	Without: bez + genitive	For: pro + accusative	About: o + locative
me	se mnou	beze mě / bez mě	pro mě	o mně
you (singular, informal)	s tebou	bez tebe	pro tebe	o tobě
him	s ním	bez něj	pro něj	o něm
her	s ní	bez ní	pro ni	o ní
us	s námi	bez nás	pro nás	o nás
you (plural or formal)	s vámi	bez vás	pro vás	o vás
them	s nimi	bez nich	pro ně	o nich

Notice mně in o mně, but mě in pro mě and bez mě. Also notice the initial n- in third-person forms after prepositions: ním, ní, něj, něm, nich. Saying o on or pro on is not possible.

Agreement inside a longer phrase

Everything that belongs to the noun phrase follows the same case pattern.

Base form	After the preposition	English	What changed
můj nový kolega	s mým novým kolegou	with my new colleague	possessive, adjective, and noun
čerstvá káva	bez čerstvé kávy	without fresh coffee	adjective and noun
malá dcera	pro malou dceru	for a young daughter	adjective and noun
česká historie	o české historii	about Czech history	adjective and noun

This agreement may look like extra work, but it gives the phrase a clear grammatical shape. At first, master frequent ready-made combinations; then expand them with adjectives.

Examples in Context

Czech	English	Note
Dám si kávu s mlékem.	I’ll have coffee with milk.	s + instrumental; a combined ingredient
Jana přišla s malým synem.	Jana came with her young son.	the adjective and noun are instrumental
Jdu do kina s kamarádkou.	I’m going to the cinema with a friend.	feminine instrumental in -ou
Čaj bez cukru, prosím.	Tea without sugar, please.	a natural ordering phrase
Bez tebe tam nejdu.	I’m not going there without you.	genitive pronoun after bez
Nemůžu žít bez hudby.	I can’t live without music.	feminine genitive
Ten dárek je pro tebe.	That present is for you.	accusative pronoun after pro
Hledáme hotel pro rodiny s dětmi.	We’re looking for a hotel for families with children.	pro + accusative, then s + instrumental
Je tu volné místo pro dva?	Is there a free place for two?	pro marks the intended users
Mluvíme o počasí.	We’re talking about the weather.	o + locative marks the topic
Četl jsem článek o Praze.	I read an article about Prague.	Praha → Praze in the locative
Bavili jsme se o dětech.	We talked about the children.	plural locative
Je to kniha o české historii.	It is a book about Czech history.	both adjective and noun are locative
Půjdu tam s vámi, ale bez auta.	I’ll go there with you, but without a car.	two prepositions with different cases

Common Mistakes

Leaving the noun in its dictionary form

• Wrong: s mléko
• Right: s mlékem
• Why: Mléko is the dictionary form, but s meaning “with” requires the instrumental form mlékem.

Using s for a tool or means

• Wrong: Píšu s tužkou. (if you mean that the pencil is the tool)
• Right: Píšu tužkou.
• Why: Czech commonly uses the instrumental alone for the tool used to perform an action. Use s + instrumental for accompaniment or combination: káva s mlékem.

Using the wrong form of “I” after o

• Wrong: Mluví o mě.
• Right: Mluví o mně.
• Why: “About” takes the locative, so the pronoun is mně. The form mě appears in accusative pro mě and commonly in genitive bez mě.

Translating every English “for” as pro

• Wrong: Čekám pro autobus.
• Right: Čekám na autobus.
• Why: Czech pro means “for” mainly in the sense of an intended recipient, audience, or benefit. The verb čekat uses na + accusative.

Forgetting agreement on adjectives

• Wrong: o česká historie
• Right: o české historii
• Why: After topic-marking o, both the adjective and noun must be locative. Changing only the noun—or neither word—leaves the phrase ungrammatical.

Using a third-person subject form after a preposition

• Wrong: pro on / s ona
• Right: pro něj / s ní
• Why: Czech pronouns decline, and third-person pronouns normally gain n- after a preposition.

Usage Notes

The forms se and beze are pronunciation aids, not more formal alternatives. Common combinations are best learned by ear: se mnou, se sestrou, se psem; beze mě, beze slova. Elsewhere, the shorter forms are normal: s tebou, s Petrem, bez cukru.

English “for” needs special care. Use pro in dárek pro Janu (“a present for Jana”) or program pro děti (“a program for children”). But Czech says dvě hodiny for “for two hours,” za sto korun for “for one hundred crowns,” čekat na vlak for “wait for the train,” and prosit o pomoc for “ask for help.” Learn the Czech verb and its preposition together rather than translating the English preposition separately.

Word order is flexible enough for a prepositional phrase to move when the speaker changes the focus. Ten dárek je pro tebe neutrally identifies the recipient. Pro tebe je ten dárek can foreground “for you.” The case does not change when the phrase moves.

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master the following contrasts at A1, but they explain forms you will encounter later.

First, the case belongs to a meaning of a preposition, not always to its spelling in every sentence. Topic-marking o takes the locative: Mluvíme o filmu (“We are talking about the film”). In other constructions, o takes the accusative: Prosím o pomoc (“I am asking for help”), Bojují o vítězství (“They are fighting for victory”), and Opřel se o zeď (“He leaned against the wall”). These are different patterns and should be learned with the verb.

Similarly, s + instrumental is the normal “with” pattern, but s can occur with the genitive in a limited direction meaning “off” or “down from,” as in s kopce (“downhill/off the hill”). This is not an exception to s + instrumental = with; it is a separate meaning. Forms such as z kopce also occur in modern usage depending on the intended relationship and context, so beginners should keep the two learned patterns separate rather than guessing from English “from.”

The instrumental can express accompaniment with s or means without it:

Czech	English	Contrast
Jedu s Petrem.	I’m travelling with Petr.	Petr accompanies me: s + instrumental
Jedu vlakem.	I’m travelling by train.	the train is the means: instrumental alone
Krájím chleba nožem.	I cut bread with a knife.	the knife is the tool: instrumental alone
Chléb se sýrem	bread with cheese	the ingredients are combined: s + instrumental

Finally, cases can carry subtle differences in style and meaning through fixed verb–preposition combinations. Compare myslet na někoho (“think of someone,” na + accusative) with mluvit o někom (“talk about someone,” o + locative). Advanced fluency depends less on memorizing an English equivalent for each preposition and more on learning Czech combinations as units.

Practice Tips

1. Build four phrase families. Choose one familiar noun, then make realistic phrases rather than forcing all four prepositions: s kamarádem, bez kamaráda, pro kamaráda, o kamarádovi. Say each phrase aloud with its meaning.
2. Memorize pronouns in chunks. Practice useful pairs such as se mnou / bez mě / pro mě / o mně and s tebou / bez tebe / pro tebe / o tobě. This is faster and safer than trying to derive every pronoun during conversation.
3. Notice the meaning behind English “with” and “for.” When you see “with,” ask whether it means accompaniment or a tool. When you see “for,” ask whether it marks a recipient, duration, price, or a verb-specific relationship. Then choose the Czech construction.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Case System Introduction — explains why Czech words change form and introduces all seven cases.
• Next step: Nominative and Accusative Cases — develops the accusative pattern used after pro.
• Next step: Genitive Case — expands the forms and uses introduced by bez.
• Next step: Instrumental Case — covers accompaniment, tools, and additional instrumental prepositions.
• Next step: Locative Case — gives the full set of locative endings and prepositions, including topic-marking o.