Subjectless clauses - Jednočlenné věty¶
Basic information¶
Subjectless clauses — traditionally called jednočlenné věty or bezpodměté věty in Czech linguistics — are types of clauses where the subject is not just hidden or omitted (as in ellipsis) but is completely absent and cannot be recovered from any other word in the sentence.
There are two main types of subjectless clauses in Czech:
- Clauses without an object, e.g.:
Prší. (It is raining., lit. *Rains.)
- Clauses with an obligatory object, e.g.:
Je mi dobře. (I am feeling well., lit. *Is me well.)
Because Czech verbs are conjugated according to person and number, it is generally agreed that the verb appears in the 3rd person singular in subjectless clauses. This is visible in past tense forms. Compare:
- Prší. (present) → Pršelo. (past)
- Není mi dobře. (present) → Nebylo mi dobře. (past) 1
Without object¶
Subjectless clauses without an object are very common in expressions about natural phenomena.
Examples:
| Present | Past | Infinitive | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prší. | Pršelo. | pršet | to rain |
| Sněží. | Sněžilo | sněžit | to snow |
| Mrholí. | Mrholilo. | mrholit | to drizzle |
| Fouká. | Foukalo. | foukat | to blow (wind) |
| Blýská se. | Blýskalo se. | blýskat se | There is lightning. |
| Hřmí. | Hřmělo. | hřmět | to thunder |
| Mrzne. | Mrzlo. | mrznout | to freeze |
With object¶
Subjectless clauses with an obligatory object are often used to describe physical or mental states.
In these sentences, the object (which corresponds to the personal subject in English) is usually marked in the dative or accusative case, depending on the verb. There is no simple rule for which case is used; it must be learned for each verb or collocation individually.
Examples:
| Czech | Case of object | English |
|---|---|---|
| Je mi dobře. | DAT | I am feeling well. |
| Petrovi je smutno. | DAT | Petr feels sad. |
| Stýská se ti po mně? | DAT | Do you miss me? |
| Bolí mě v krku. | ACC | I have a sore throat. |
| Píchá ho v boku. | ACC | He has a stich in his side. |
Note
See Second position rule for more information about why the word order differs in sentences like:
Je mi dobře.
Petrovi je dobře.
When the person is not the subject but the object, and the clause has an explicit subject (so it is no longer subjectless), this is closely related to another type of clauses, e.g.: Bolí mě hlava (I have a headache, literally *Hurts me head.). These will be described in more detail in the following chapter: Object-centered expressions.
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See Past tense for more details. ↩