Demonstrative Pronouns in Czech

In Brief

Czech ten, ta, to can mean “this” or “that,” while tenhle, tahle, tohle more clearly point to something close: “this one” or “this … here.” The form must normally match the noun in gender, number, and case: ten dům (that house), ta kniha (that book), to město (that city), but s tím domem (with that house).

Overview

A demonstrative is a pointing word: English uses this, that, these, and those. Czech calls these words ukazovací zájmena. They can stand before a noun (a word for a person, place, thing, or idea), as in ta kniha “that book,” or stand alone, as in Ta je moje “That one is mine.” Despite the English title “demonstrative pronouns,” the same Czech forms therefore do the work of both English “that” and “that one.”

This is an A1 topic because the basic choice is simple: learn ten for masculine singular nouns, ta for feminine singular nouns, and to for neuter singular nouns. In the plural, the important beginner forms are ti, ty, and ta. Czech does not have articles equivalent to English the and a, however, so you should not automatically put ten/ta/to before every definite noun.

The extra challenge is agreement. Czech has case, which means that a word changes form according to its job in the sentence or the preposition before it. As you progress, ten becomes forms such as toho, tomu, té, tu, tím, and těmi. The beginner rule and the full reference pattern are separated below: start with the nominative forms, then add the other cases as you meet them.

How It Works

The basic forms: ten, ta, to

Use these forms when the demonstrative is the subject (who or what the sentence is about) or when naming and identifying something after být “to be.” This is the nominative case, the dictionary-style form.

Noun type	Singular	Plural	Example
Masculine animate (people and animals)	ten	ti	ten student, ti studenti
Masculine inanimate (things and ideas)	ten	ty	ten dům, ty domy
Feminine	ta	ty	ta kniha, ty knihy
Neuter	to	ta	to město, ta města

Masculine gender splits into animate and inanimate. In plain terms, masculine words for people and animals usually belong to the animate group; most masculine objects belong to the inanimate group. This distinction matters especially in the plural: ti muži “those men,” but ty stoly “those tables.”

The demonstrative also controls adjective agreement:

• ten starý dům — that old house
• ta stará škola — that old school
• to staré auto — that old car
• ti milí lidé — those nice people

Czech ten is not exactly English that

English forces a distance contrast between this and that. Czech often uses plain ten/ta/to when the object is clear from context, whether English naturally says “this” or “that.” A gesture, the conversation, or a following description can identify the object:

• Vezmu si tu modrou košili. — I’ll take that/the blue shirt.
• Kde je ten klíč? — Where is that key? / Where is the key?

For an explicit “this one here,” everyday spoken Czech commonly uses tenhle, tahle, tohle. The ending still agrees with the noun:

Noun type	Singular	Plural
Masculine animate	tenhle	tihle
Masculine inanimate	tenhle	tyhle
Feminine	tahle	tyhle
Neuter	tohle	tahle

For something clearly farther away, Czech can use tamten, tamta, tamto: tenhle stůl “this table here” versus tamten stůl “that table over there.”

Standing before a noun or standing alone

A demonstrative before a noun agrees with that noun:

• Tahle káva je výborná. — This coffee is excellent.
• Neznám toho člověka. — I don’t know that person.

When the noun is left unspoken because everyone knows what it is, the demonstrative keeps the form that the missing noun would require:

• Kterou knihu chceš? — Tuhle. — Which book do you want? — This one.
• Kteří studenti jsou z Prahy? — Tihle. — Which students are from Prague? — These ones.

The full declension of ten

A declension is the complete set of case forms. The table below is a reference, not an A1 memorization assignment. “Direct object” means the person or thing directly affected by an action; “indirect object” is typically its recipient, as in “give something to someone.”

Case and common job	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Neuter singular	Masculine animate plural	Other plural
Nominative — subject	ten	ta	to	ti	ty (m. inanimate/f.), ta (n.)
Genitive — “of,” after many prepositions	toho	té	toho	těch	těch
Dative — indirect object, “to/for”	tomu	té	tomu	těm	těm
Accusative — direct object	toho animate / ten inanimate	tu	to	ty	ty (m. inanimate/f.), ta (n.)
Locative — after certain prepositions, often “in/about”	tom	té	tom	těch	těch
Instrumental — “with/by means of”	tím	tou	tím	těmi	těmi

The accusative shows a key Czech pattern. A masculine animate singular form looks like the genitive: Vidím toho studenta “I see that student.” A masculine inanimate form looks like the nominative: Vidím ten dům “I see that house.” Feminine ta changes to tu: Čtu tu knihu “I’m reading that book.”

How tenhle declines

With tenhle, the ten part changes and -hle stays attached. You can therefore build its forms from the table above:

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	tenhle	tahle	tohle	tihle / tyhle / tahle
Genitive	tohohle	téhle	tohohle	těchhle
Dative	tomuhle	téhle	tomuhle	těmhle
Accusative	tohohle animate / tenhle inanimate	tuhle	tohle	tyhle / tahle
Locative	tomhle	téhle	tomhle	těchhle
Instrumental	tímhle	touhle	tímhle	těmihle

For example, tenhle kolega becomes s tímhle kolegou “with this colleague,” and tahle žena becomes pro tuhle ženu “for this woman.” The noun changes case too.

The special presentational to

Czech very often uses to as a general pointing or identifying word in the pattern To je … “This/That/It is …” and To jsou … “These/Those are ….” In this construction, to normally stays to even when the person or thing identified is masculine, feminine, or plural:

• To je můj bratr. — That is my brother.
• To je naše učitelka. — This is our teacher.
• To jsou moji rodiče. — These are my parents.

Compare Ta je moje učitelka, which means “That woman/that one is my teacher.” Here ta points back to an understood feminine person. To je… presents an identity; ten/ta/to used normally selects a particular person or object and agrees with it.

Examples in Context

Czech	English	Note
Ten dům je starý.	That house is old.	Masculine inanimate singular
Ta kniha je moje.	That book is mine.	Feminine singular
Tohle je dobré.	This is good.	Standalone proximal form
Ti lidé jsou milí.	Those people are nice.	Masculine animate plural
Ty obchody jsou dnes zavřené.	Those shops are closed today.	Masculine inanimate plural
Ta okna jsou otevřená.	Those windows are open.	Neuter plural
Tahle polévka je moc slaná.	This soup is too salty.	Something close to the speaker
Chci tenhle stůl, ne tamten.	I want this table, not that one over there.	Near versus distant
Vidíš toho psa?	Do you see that dog?	Accusative masculine animate
Kupujeme tu červenou židli.	We’re buying that red chair.	Feminine accusative
Pomůžu tomu novému studentovi.	I’ll help that new student.	Dative after pomoci
Mluvíme o té nové restauraci.	We’re talking about that new restaurant.	Locative after o
Jdu s těmi přáteli do kina.	I’m going to the cinema with those friends.	Instrumental plural after s
Který hrnek chceš? — Tenhle.	Which mug do you want? — This one.	The noun is understood
To jsou naše děti.	These are our children.	Presentational to stays unchanged

Common Mistakes

Using one form for every noun

• Wrong: ten kniha
• Right: ta kniha
• Why: Kniha is feminine, so the demonstrative must be feminine too. Learn a noun together with its gender rather than treating ten as an unchanging translation of “that.”

Mixing up plural ti, ty, and ta

• Wrong: ti domy or ty studenti
• Right: ty domy; ti studenti
• Why: Use ti for masculine animate subjects, ty for masculine inanimate and feminine plural subjects, and ta for neuter plural subjects.

Ignoring case after a verb or preposition

• Wrong: Mluvím s tenhle kolegou.
• Right: Mluvím s tímhle kolegou.
• Why: The preposition s “with” requires the instrumental case here. Both the demonstrative and the noun must show that case.

Forgetting masculine animacy in the accusative

• Wrong: Vidím ten muž.
• Right: Vidím toho muže.
• Why: A masculine animate direct object takes the accusative form toho. The noun changes too: muž becomes muže.

Treating ten/ta/to as Czech versions of “the”

• Unnatural in a neutral statement: Ta káva je oblíbený nápoj.
• Natural: Káva je oblíbený nápoj. — Coffee is a popular drink.
• Why: Czech has no definite article. Add ta when you genuinely mean “that particular coffee,” when you point, contrast, or refer back to something already salient—not merely because English uses the.

Making to agree in To je…

• Wrong for a neutral introduction: Ta je moje sestra. when introducing a woman for the first time
• Right: To je moje sestra.
• Why: The usual identifying pattern is To je…, regardless of the person’s gender. Ta je moje sestra is possible only when ta means “that woman/that one,” selected from known people.

Usage Notes

Plain ten/ta/to is extremely common and flexible. Depending on context, English may translate it as “this,” “that,” or sometimes “the.” Czech speakers can make distance clear with a gesture or an adverb, so a one-to-one English translation is not always possible.

Tenhle/tahle/tohle is especially natural in conversation and makes closeness or immediate selection explicit. Tento/tato/toto also means “this,” but it is more typical of written, formal, administrative, or carefully worded language: tento dokument “this document.” You will certainly read it, but tenhle dokument sounds more conversational.

Tamten/tamta/tamto points farther away or contrasts one item with a nearer one. The contrast is useful in shops and other real situations: Ne tenhle. Tamten. “Not this one. That one over there.”

Czech speakers may also use ten to refer back to a person or thing already active in the conversation: A ten nový kolega je odkud? “And where is that/the new colleague from?” This does not turn ten into a fully obligatory article. Its presence still adds a pointing, familiar, contrastive, or conversational effect.

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master these details at A1, but they explain forms you will meet later.

First, tento/tato/toto follows the same case endings as ten: tohoto, tomuto, tuto, tomto, tímto; plural forms include tito, tyto, tato, těchto, and těmito. It is common in instructions, notices, contracts, and academic prose. In ordinary speech, tenhle is often the easier natural choice.

Second, Czech can strengthen a spoken demonstrative with combinations such as tenhleten, tahleta, tohleto or with a location phrase such as tenhle tady “this one here.” These forms are expressive and conversational. Recognize them, but use the simpler tenhle/tahle/tohle until their style feels familiar.

Finally, demonstratives can carry attitude as well as physical pointing. Stress on TEN may mean “that particular one,” while phrases such as ten náš soused can mean “that neighbor of ours,” presenting the person as already familiar in the conversation. Literary onen/ona/ono can mean “that” or “the aforementioned,” but it is not a normal substitute for everyday ten/ta/to.

Practice Tips

1. Learn nouns in four mini-phrases. For each new noun, say its singular and plural with a demonstrative: ten dům — ty domy, ta žena — ty ženy, to město — ta města. This trains gender and plural agreement together.
2. Point and change the distance. Choose objects around you and say tenhle hrnek, tahle židle, tohle okno. Then contrast them with tamten hrnek, tamta židle, and tamto okno.
3. Add one case at a time. Start with accusative pairs such as ten pes → vidím toho psa and ta kniha → čtu tu knihu. Later, build short preposition sets: o tom “about that,” s tím “with that,” and bez toho “without that.”

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Noun Gender — explains masculine, feminine, neuter, and the masculine animate–inanimate distinction that determines demonstrative agreement.