Czech Grammar

Subject pronouns: já, ty, on/ona/ono, my, vy, oni/ony/ona. Czech distinguishes masculine animate, masculine inanimate, feminine, and neuter.

Czech has three genders: masculine (dům, muž), feminine (žena), neuter (dítě). Masculine divides into animate and inanimate.

Czech has 7 cases: nominative (1.), genitive (2.), dative (3.), accusative (4.), vocative (5.), locative (6.), instrumental (7.).

Nominative for subjects. Accusative for direct objects: feminine -u, masculine animate = genitive, masculine inanimate/neuter = nominative.

The verb 'být' (to be): jsem, jsi, je, jsme, jste, jsou. Present negative: nejsem. Past: byl/byla/bylo.

The verb 'mít' (to have): mám, máš, má, máme, máte, mají. Used for possession and in expressions.

First conjugation pattern: -ám, -áš, -á, -áme, -áte, -ají. Common verbs: dělat (do), volat (call), čekat (wait).

Second conjugation pattern: -ím, -íš, -í, -íme, -íte, -í. Common verbs: mluvit (speak), vidět (see), prosit (ask).

Adjectives agree in gender, number, case: velký dům (m), velká žena (f), velké dítě (n), velcí muži (m-anim pl).

Negation with 'ne-' prefix on verb: nemluvím, nejsem. Double negation is standard: nikdo nic neví (nobody knows nothing).

Yes/no questions by intonation or word order. Question words: co (what), kdo (who), kde (where), kdy (when), jak (how), proč (why).

Possessives agree with noun: můj/moje/mé, tvůj, jeho/její, náš, váš, jejich. Third person forms don't decline.

Location prepositions take specific cases: v/na + locative (in/on), do + genitive (to), z/od + genitive (from), u + genitive (at).

Cardinals 0-100, ordinals. Complex number agreement: 1 + nom sg, 2-4 + nom pl, 5+ + gen pl. Telling time: kolik je hodin?

Third conjugation pattern: -u, -eš, -e, -eme, -ete, -ou. Common verbs: nést (carry), péct (bake), moct (can).

Fourth conjugation pattern: -uji, -uješ, -uje, -ujeme, -ujete, -ují. Common verbs: kupovat (buy), pracovat (work), cestovat (travel).

Plural nominative forms vary by gender and declension pattern. Masculine animate has special plural: muž→muži, student→studenti (consonant alternation).

Demonstratives: ten/ta/to (this/that), tenhle/tahle/tohle (this here). They decline for gender, number, and case.

Temporal prepositions: v + accusative (on a day), v + locative (in a month), o + locative (at/during), za + accusative (in, after).

Essential conjunctions: a (and), ale (but), nebo (or), protože (because), takže (so), i (also/and).

Modal verbs: muset (must), moct (can), chtít (want), smět (may), umět (know how). Used with infinitive.

Common adverbs of place, time, and manner: tady (here), tam (there), teď (now), dnes (today), dobře (well), rychle (quickly).

Essential greetings and polite expressions: ahoj (hi), dobrý den (good day), děkuji (thank you), prosím (please), na shledanou (goodbye).

Expressing existence: je/jsou (there is/are), není/nejsou (there isn't/aren't). With prepositions for location.

Core declension types: hard masculine (hrad/pán), hard feminine (žena), hard neuter (město). Regular endings across cases.

Important irregular verbs: jít (go), jíst (eat), vědět (know), chtít (want), říct (say). Irregular present tense forms.

Expressing preferences with rád/ráda + verb (I like doing). Agrees in gender: rád (m), ráda (f), rádo (n), rádi (pl).

Days of the week (pondělí-neděle), months (leden-prosinec), seasons (jaro, léto, podzim, zima). Used with prepositions v/na.

Common prepositions with fixed cases: s + instrumental (with), bez + genitive (without), pro + accusative (for), o + locative (about).

Verbs with stem changes in present: spát→spím, stát→stojím, brát→beru, psát→píšu. Consonant and vowel alternations.

Genitive (2. pád) for possession, negation, quantities, certain prepositions (bez, do, od, z, u). Various endings by declension type.

Past tense: l-participle + auxiliary (in 1st/2nd person). Gender/number: on psal, ona psala, oni psali. 3rd person drops auxiliary.

Imperfective (ongoing/repeated) vs perfective (completed/single). Pairs: psát/napsat, číst/přečíst, dělat/udělat.

Dative (3. pád) for indirect objects, with certain verbs (pomáhat, rozumět), and in expressions. Various endings by gender.

Instrumental (7. pád) for means/tools, with 'být' (predicate), prepositions s/za/mezi/nad/pod. M: -em, F: -ou.

Locative (6. pád) always with prepositions: v/na (in/on), o (about), po (after), při (during). Triggers consonant alternation.

Reflexive particle 'se' (accusative) or 'si' (dative): mýt se (wash oneself), učit se (learn), líbit se (appeal to).

Comparative (-ejší/-ší) and superlative (nej- + comparative). Irregular: dobrý→lepší→nejlepší, špatný→horší→nejhorší.

Accusative/dative pronoun forms: mě/mně, tě/tobě, ho/mu, nás/nám. Short (clitic) vs long forms and their positions.

Temporal conjunctions: když (when), než (before), po tom co (after), zatímco (while), dokud (until), od té doby co (since).

Soft declension for nouns ending in soft consonants: muž (m-anim), stroj (m-inan), růže (f), moře (n). Different endings from hard patterns.

Past tense of modals: musel jsem (I had to), mohl jsem (I could), chtěl jsem (I wanted). Gender agreement applies.

Perfective verbs: future = present perfective form. Imperfective: budu + infinitive. 'Být' future: budu, budeš, bude...

Commands from present stem: piš!, pišme!, pište! Polite forms with prosím. Negative imperatives: nepiš!

Conditional with l-participle + bych/bys/by/bychom/byste/by. Used for hypotheticals and polite requests.

Motion verbs have determinate/indeterminate pairs: jít/chodit (go on foot), jet/jezdit (go by vehicle), běžet/běhat (run).

Subordinate clauses with že (that), který (which/who), když (when), aby (in order to), protože (because). Relative pronouns decline.

Passive with být + passive participle (-n/-t). Reflexive passive with 'se' for general statements.

Relative pronouns který/která/které (who/which) decline for gender, number, and case. Also: jenž (literary), co (colloquial).

Impersonal expressions: je třeba (it is necessary), je možné (it is possible), dá se (one can). Weather and state expressions.

Purpose clauses using aby + conditional conjugation: abych, abys, aby, abychom, abyste, aby. Expresses intention and purpose.

Ordinal numbers (první, druhý, třetí...) decline as adjectives. Date format: genitive for day, month name, year.

Prepositions governing different cases with different meanings: na + acc (onto) vs na + loc (on), za + acc (in time) vs za + inst (behind).

Comparative and superlative of adverbs: rychle→rychleji→nejrychleji. Irregular: dobře→lépe→nejlépe, špatně→hůře→nejhůře.

Enclitics (se, si, mi, ti, mu, ho, jsem, bych) must come in second position (Wackernagel's law). Fixed ordering among clitics.

Vocative (5. pád) for direct address. M-anim: -e/-u, F: -o/-e, very common in spoken Czech unlike in some Slavic languages.

Reported speech with že-clauses. Czech often maintains original tense. Conditional for reported requests with aby.

Present active (-ící/-oucí), past active (-vší), passive (-ný/-tý). Used as adjectives or in subordinate constructions.

Real (jestli/když + indicative), unreal present (kdyby + conditional), unreal past (kdyby + past conditional).

Past conditional (byl bych dělal), future conditional (budu-li). Complex tense combinations expressing nuanced temporal relationships.

Fixed verb + preposition + case combinations: myslet na + acc (think of), mluvit o + loc (talk about), záležet na + loc (depend on).

Infinitive in various functions: subject (Plavat je zdravé), purpose (Přišel pomoci), after adjectives (snadný udělat).

Collective numerals (dvoje, troje), multiplicative (dvakrát, třikrát), fractional (půl, třetina), and indefinite (několik, mnoho).

Czech has relatively free word order but clitics must be in second position. Topic-focus structure determines information flow.

Systematic consonant changes in declension and conjugation: k→c, h→z, ch→š, r→ř, d→ď, t→ť, n→ň. Palatalization patterns.

Prefixes modify verb meaning: vy- (out), pří- (towards), od- (away), pro- (through), za- (begin), do- (complete).

Literary Czech: full declension endings, formal vocabulary, passive constructions, proper use of vocative, avoiding colloquialisms.

Literary verbal adverbs: present transgressive (-a/-ouc/-íc) and past transgressive (-v/-vši). Rare in speech, common in literary texts.

Productive derivation patterns: -ost (abstract nouns), -ný/-ní (adjectives from verbs), -tel (agent nouns), -ství (state/domain).

Multi-clause sentences with embedding: conditional within relative clauses, concessive clauses (ačkoli, přestože, i když), purpose within result.

Literary forms rarely used in speech: jenž (who/which), -li (if suffix), neboť (for/because), leč (but), nýbrž (but rather).

Converting clauses into noun phrases using verbal nouns (-ní/-tí), common in formal and academic writing.

Subtle meaning differences between prefix variants: obejít/vyjít/přijít/projít from jít. How prefixes create new aspect pairs.

Academic Czech conventions: hedging (zdá se, patrně), citation patterns, impersonal constructions, formal connectors.

Common Czech features: ej/ý alternation, -ma instrumental plural, dropped syllables, regional variations. Major diglossia situation.

Czech proverbs and idiomatic expressions: zabít dvě mouchy jednou ranou, vylévat vaničku i s dítětem, mít máslo na hlavě.

Moravian and Silesian dialect features: different vocabulary (šalina for tramvaj), vowel shifts, distinctive intonation patterns.

Legal and administrative Czech: nominal style, passive constructions, formulaic phrases, official document structure.

Advanced stylistic features: marked word order for emphasis, rhetorical questions, irony markers, hedging expressions in academic discourse.

Diminutives (-ek/-ík/-inka/-ička), augmentatives (-isko/-izna), pejoratives, and affectionate forms. Multiple diminutive layers.

Recognition and use of archaic Czech (biblical, literary) and modern neologisms (tech, social media). Stylistic range from historical texts to contemporary slang.