I can say and ask where I'm going and where I'm coming from, on foot or by vehicle — do školy, z práce, na poštu, domů — and understand a passerby giving directions.
Kam? Odkud? jít, jet, and the genitive of place
Kam? Odkud? jít, jet, and the genitive of place
To say where you're going and where from, you need two verbs where English has one “go”: jít is to go on foot, jet to go by vehicle (see the table). A car or a train jede: auto jede, not jde. Far away is usually jet, nearby jít. The endings are almost like studuju: jdu, jdeš, jde… jedu, jedeš, jede…
Where to: do + the genitive (here: the form after do, z, od, u): do Prahy, do práce. With words that take na, “where to” is na + the accusative (as in Mám rád kávu): na univerzitu, na nádraží.
Where from: z + the same form: z práce, z Brna (you know z Ruska already); before some words ze: ze školy. From a person: od: od doktora. Near: u and vedle + the same form: u kavárny, vedle pošty.
With no preposition: domů “home” (doma is “at home”), sem “here, to this place”. kam? is “where to?”, odkud? “where from?”
A passerby gives directions in set phrases: jděte… “go…”, zahněte… “turn…”, zastavte… “stop…”; doprava “to the right”, doleva “to the left”, rovně “straight ahead”. napravo, nalevo say where (on the right, on the left); doprava, doleva say where to. “Přijdeš? — Přijdu.” (“Will you come? — I'll come.”)
Common mistakes:
• דAuto jde do Brna.” → Auto jede do Brna.
• דJedu do Praha.” → Jedu do Prahy.
• דJdu doma.” → Jdu domů.
jít and jet
The endings are almost like studuju: -u, -eš, -e, -eme, -ete, -ou.
| Person | jít (on foot) | jet (by vehicle) |
|---|---|---|
| já | jdu | jedu |
| ty | jdeš | jedeš |
| on, ona | jde | jede |
| my | jdeme | jedeme |
| vy | jdete | jedete |
| oni | jdou | jedou |
Where to? Where from? Next to what?
After do, z / ze, od, u, vedle: feminine -y (soft ones -e), masculine nouns for things -u, neuter and nouns for people and animals -a; words in -í don't change. For words with na, “where to” is na + the accusative.
| Word | Where to? | Where from? | Next to |
|---|---|---|---|
| škola | do školy | ze školy | u školy |
| banka | do banky | z banky | vedle banky |
| park | do parku | z parku | u parku |
| město | do města | z města | u města |
| doktor | — | od doktora | u doktora |
| pošta | na poštu | z pošty | u pošty |
Lesson notes
Kam? Odkud? jít, jet, and the genitive of place
To say where you're going and where from, you need two verbs where English has one “go”: jít is to go on foot, jet to go by vehicle (see the table). A car or a train jede: auto jede, not jde. Far away is usually jet, nearby jít. The endings are almost like studuju: jdu, jdeš, jde… jedu, jedeš, jede…
Where to: do + the genitive (here: the form after do, z, od, u): do Prahy, do práce. With words that take na, “where to” is na + the accusative (as in Mám rád kávu): na univerzitu, na nádraží.
Where from: z + the same form: z práce, z Brna (you know z Ruska already); before some words ze: ze školy. From a person: od: od doktora. Near: u and vedle + the same form: u kavárny, vedle pošty.
With no preposition: domů “home” (doma is “at home”), sem “here, to this place”. kam? is “where to?”, odkud? “where from?”
A passerby gives directions in set phrases: jděte… “go…”, zahněte… “turn…”, zastavte… “stop…”; doprava “to the right”, doleva “to the left”, rovně “straight ahead”. napravo, nalevo say where (on the right, on the left); doprava, doleva say where to. “Přijdeš? — Přijdu.” (“Will you come? — I'll come.”)
Common mistakes:
• דAuto jde do Brna.” → Auto jede do Brna.
• דJedu do Praha.” → Jedu do Prahy.
• דJdu doma.” → Jdu domů.