Nouns - Podstatná jména¶
Main concepts¶
Nouns are words for living beings and things, including places, processes, ideas, qualitites, and concepts (including philosophical ones).
Czech nouns feature several categories that are both grammatically and semantically important.
Gender - Rod¶
We recognize three genders in the Czech language:
- mužský rod (masculine), e.g. student (student), pes (dog), počítač (computer)
- ženský rod (feminine), e.g. škola (school), sestra (sister), kočka (cat), restaurace (restaurant), láska (love)
- střední rod (neuter), e.g. kolo (wheel, bicycle), moře (see), nádraží (station)
Grammatical gender partly corresponds with natural gender, but it also applies to abstract nouns, animals, and inanimate objects. However, the masculine gender is more specific in distinguishing between animate and inanimate nouns.
A complete gender distribution in the Czech language is as follows:
- mužský životný rod (masculine animate, abbr. Ma), e.g. otec (father), slon (elephant)
- mužský neživotný rod (masculine inanimate, abbr. Mi), e.g. les (forest), sen (dream)
- ženský rod (feminine, abbr. F), e.g. matka (mother), smrt (death)
- střední rod (neuter, abbr. N), e.g. náměstí (square), kuře (chicken), zdraví (health)
Other words in a sentence agree with the gender of the noun they refer to:
Ten nový dům byl drahý.
Ta nová kniha byla drahá.
To nové auto bylo drahé.
Determining gender¶
Rules for determining gender are not absolute, but there are some general patterns. When a word in the nominative singular case ends in:
- 77% masculine
- 20% feminine
- 2.5% neuter
- 92% feminine
- 7% masculine
- 1% neuter
- 99% neuter
- 1% masculine
- 89% feminine
- 8% neuter
- 3% masculine
- 99% neuter
- 0.5% masculine
- 0.5% feminine
Gender lookup
There are online databases where you can search for words and find their gender:
- Czech Language Reference Book: https://prirucka.ujc.cas.cz/en
- Nechybujte: https://www.nechybujte.cz/
Number - Číslo¶
The Czech language distinguishes between singular (jednotné číslo) and plural (množné číslo).
Compare:
| CZE Singular CZE Plural |
ENG Singular ENG Plural |
|---|---|
| student studenti |
student students |
| počítač počítače |
computer computers |
| škola školy |
school schools |
| kolo kola |
bicycle bicycles |
Most nouns have both singular and plural forms, but some nouns exist only in singular form, e.g. uhlí (coal), listí (foliage), while others exist only in plural, e.g. kalhoty (trousers), nůžky (scissors), Vánoce (Christmas), peníze (money).
Grammatical number is indicated by agreement with adjectives, pronouns, numerals, and verbs:
Ten nový student přišel pozdě. (That new student came late.)
Ti noví studenti přišli pozdě. (These new students came late.)
Info
The distribution of grammatical number can be unclear, and it is necessary to check a dictionary or confirm with a native speaker.
Case - Pád¶
Like other inflected words, nouns have seven cases.
See the basic description of cases.