To be and greetings
In Czech, means “to be”. In everyday speech, subject pronouns are often optional: can mean “I am” without . In this module, you hear both full forms and shorter natural forms.
Useful greetings are , , and Czech has no articles, so means “This is a house / the house” depending on context.
The full present forms are . With polite , Czech uses plural verb forms: But adjectives and past forms still match one person, so later you will say things like or .
Neighbour words change by gender: for a male learner and for a female learner.
A pronoun stands in for a person or thing: , , , . Czech often omits it when the verb ending already makes the person clear. Plural means more than one person or thing.
Gender is a noun class: masculine and , feminine , neuter . Masculine nouns distinguish animate (living beings) and inanimate (things). An adjective describes a noun and matches its gender, number and case. A case is a form showing the noun’s role; learn the early short phrases before studying all endings.
An article is a word like English a or the. Czech has no articles; context tells you whether something is a house or the house.
| Form | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| I am in Lipov. | ||
| I am in Lipov. | ||
| Are you Eliška? | ||
| Are you Eliška? | ||
| That is my key. | ||
| That is my key. | ||
| We are at home. | ||
| We are at home. | ||
| You are the new neighbour. | ||
| You are the new neighbour. | ||
| They are upstairs. | ||
| They are upstairs. | ||
Já jsem nový soused.I am the new male neighbour.
Já jsem nová sousedka.I am the new female neighbour.
Vy jste paní Nováková?Are you Mrs Nováková?
To je můj klíč.That is my key.
Dobré ráno!Good morning!
Dobrou noc!Good night!
Ahoj, já jsem Jan.Hi, I’m Jan.
My jsme doma.We are at home.
Practice 1/6 · Finding words
Notice the useful pattern
Tap the form practised in this unit.
.
I am the new male neighbour.
.
I am the new female neighbour.
?
Are you Mrs Nováková?
.
That is my key.
Practice 2/6 · The right form
Choose the form
Use the English meaning and the pattern in this unit.
Já nový soused.
I am the new male neighbour.
Já nová sousedka.
I am the new female neighbour.
Vy paní Nováková?
Are you Mrs Nováková?
To můj klíč.
That is my key.
Dobré !
Good morning!
Dobrou !
Good night!
Ahoj, já Jan.
Hi, I’m Jan.
My doma.
We are at home.
Practice 3/6 · Fill the gaps
Complete the messages
Fill the gaps with the words from the box.
Já nový soused.
I am the new male neighbour.
Já nová sousedka.
I am the new female neighbour.
Vy paní Nováková?
Are you Mrs Nováková?
To můj klíč.
That is my key.
Dobré !
Good morning!
Dobrou !
Good night!
Ahoj, já Jan.
Hi, I’m Jan.
My doma.
We are at home.
Practice 4/6 · Building sentences
Build a sentence
Put the words in order.
I am the new male neighbour.
I am the new female neighbour.
Are you Mrs Nováková?
That is my key.
Hi, I’m Jan.
We are at home.
Practice 5/6 · In situations
What would you say?
Choose the right words for the situation.
I am the new male neighbour.
You say:
Use the meaning and Czech pattern explained in this unit.
I am the new male neighbour.
You say:
Use the meaning and Czech pattern explained in this unit.
I am the new female neighbour.
You say:
Use the meaning and Czech pattern explained in this unit.
I am the new female neighbour.
You say:
Use the meaning and Czech pattern explained in this unit.
Are you Mrs Nováková?
You say:
Use the meaning and Czech pattern explained in this unit.
Are you Mrs Nováková?
You say:
Use the meaning and Czech pattern explained in this unit.
That is my key.
You say:
Use the meaning and Czech pattern explained in this unit.
That is my key.
You say:
Use the meaning and Czech pattern explained in this unit.
Practice 6/6 · Matching
Connect messages and meanings
Match the pairs.
Unit complete
