Mluvím česky

Genitive: A form used after bez, do, z and in quantities.

Preposition: A linking word such as v, na, s, requiring a particular case.

Adverb: A word modifying an action, such as často.

Czech has no articles. Use Jsem Němec for a man and Jsem Němka for a woman. Learn Jsem z Německa as a whole expression for now. The preposition z needs a genitive form, which we practise more later.

Languages after speaking are adverbs: mluvím česky, německy, anglicky. After knowing, use noun objects: znám češtinu, němčinu, angličtinu. To ask for help, use Nerozumím. Pomalu, prosím. Ještě jednou, prosím.

Czech writing uses these letters (including letters used in foreign names): a, á, b, c, č, d, ď, e, é, ě, f, g, h, ch, i, í, j, k, l, m, n, ň, o, ó, p, q, r, ř, s, š, t, ť, u, ú, ů, v, w, x, y, ý, z, ž. The two letters ch form one alphabet entry after h. The letters q, w, x mainly appear in foreign words and names.

Long vowels have a mark: á, é, í, ó, ú, ů, ý. Long vowels are held longer; ú and ů have the same sound. Marks on consonants distinguish sounds, as in c/č, s/š, z/ž, r/ř, d/ď, t/ť, n/ň. Keep the marks when writing a name. The letter ě changes how the preceding consonant is pronounced and is not simply a long vowel.

Ten, ta, to

Czech nouns have three genders. Use ten with masculine nouns, ta with feminine nouns and to with neuter nouns: ten dům, ta lampa, to okno. These forms can mean that or the in context.

For one thing use Tady je...; for several use Tady jsou.... Negation is není or nejsou. For objects after having or wanting, feminine -a often becomes -u: mám lampu. We practise this next.

Nový, nová, nové

Hard adjectives usually end in -ý for masculine, -á for feminine and -é for neuter: nový dům, nová lampa, nové okno. Soft adjectives end in -í in all three genders: cizí dům, cizí lampa, cizí okno.

Colours follow the same agreement: červený, červená, červené. Common colours are bílý, černý, červený, modrý, zelený, žlutý, hnědý, šedý, oranžový, růžový, fialový.

Stoly, židle a okna

Accusative: The form commonly used for the direct object.

Nominative: The dictionary form, commonly the subject.

Common nominative plurals are masculine inanimate stůl/stoly, feminine lampa/lampy, židle/židle, and neuter okno/okna. Masculine animate plurals can change their consonant: soused/sousedé, kamarád/kamarádi. Learn each noun with its plural.

A direct object is commonly accusative. Singular feminine nouns in -a change to -u: mám lampu. Masculine inanimate and neuter nouns often stay unchanged: mám stůl, mám okno. Masculine animate nouns usually change: mám kamaráda.

Dělám, mluvím, pracuju

Present tense: A verb form for now, habits or scheduled future events.

Learn the full present patterns: dělám, děláš, dělá, děláme, děláte, dělají; mluvím, mluvíš, mluví, mluvíme, mluvíte, mluví.

For pracovat, natural spoken forms are pracuju, pracuješ, pracuje, pracujeme, pracujete, pracují. The forms pracuji and pracují are also standard. The pattern is not pracovám. Subject pronouns can be omitted because the ending shows the person. Polite vy takes děláte, mluvíte, pracujete.