I can name several things — sýry, kávy, piva — and count to four: dva čaje, dvě kávy, tři piva.
Rohlíky a jablka: dva a dvě
Rohlíky a jablka: dva a dvě
Why: to talk about several things. This is the plural. For things, the ending depends on the gender. Masculine nouns take -y: sýr → sýry; after a soft consonant (č, j, š, ž, ř, c), -e: čaj → čaje. Feminine nouns in -a take -y: káva → kávy; in -e, no change: židle. Neuter nouns in -o take -a: pivo → piva; in -e, no change: vejce; a special word: rajče → rajčata. See the table.
The “whom? what?” form of several things is the same: Jím sýry. Adjectives: masculine and feminine -é (dobré sýry, dobré kávy), neuter -á (dobrá piva); naše too: naše sýry. “These”: ty (masculine and feminine) and ta (neuter): ty sýry, ta piva. The verb is jsou: Sýry jsou dobré. Brambory is always plural.
After 2–4 the noun is plural too: dva čaje (masculine), dvě kávy, dvě piva (feminine and neuter). Unlike English “two”, dva / dvě change with the gender; tři, čtyři go with any gender. From five on there's another form: next lesson.
Káva bez cukru is a set phrase: “coffee without sugar”. The stress is on the first syllable; the mark over a vowel shows only length: roh-lí-ky.
Common mistakes:
• ×dva kávy → dvě kávy
• ×dva jablka → dvě jablka
• ×Ryby je drahé → Ryby jsou drahé
One thing — many things
“Whom? What?” for several things — the same form.
| Gender | One | Many |
|---|---|---|
| masc. | sýr | sýry |
| masc., soft consonant | čaj | čaje |
| fem. in -a | káva | kávy |
| fem. in -e | židle | židle |
| neut. in -o | pivo | piva |
| neut. in -e | vejce | vejce |
| special word | rajče | rajčata |
2, 3, 4, and many
After 2–4 — the same form as for “many”.
| Gender | 2 | 3, 4 |
|---|---|---|
| masc. | dva čaje | tři čaje |
| fem. | dvě kávy | čtyři kávy |
| neut. | dvě piva | tři piva |
Lesson notes
Rohlíky a jablka: dva a dvě
Why: to talk about several things. This is the plural. For things, the ending depends on the gender. Masculine nouns take -y: sýr → sýry; after a soft consonant (č, j, š, ž, ř, c), -e: čaj → čaje. Feminine nouns in -a take -y: káva → kávy; in -e, no change: židle. Neuter nouns in -o take -a: pivo → piva; in -e, no change: vejce; a special word: rajče → rajčata. See the table.
The “whom? what?” form of several things is the same: Jím sýry. Adjectives: masculine and feminine -é (dobré sýry, dobré kávy), neuter -á (dobrá piva); naše too: naše sýry. “These”: ty (masculine and feminine) and ta (neuter): ty sýry, ta piva. The verb is jsou: Sýry jsou dobré. Brambory is always plural.
After 2–4 the noun is plural too: dva čaje (masculine), dvě kávy, dvě piva (feminine and neuter). Unlike English “two”, dva / dvě change with the gender; tři, čtyři go with any gender. From five on there's another form: next lesson.
Káva bez cukru is a set phrase: “coffee without sugar”. The stress is on the first syllable; the mark over a vowel shows only length: roh-lí-ky.
Common mistakes:
• ×dva kávy → dvě kávy
• ×dva jablka → dvě jablka
• ×Ryby je drahé → Ryby jsou drahé