Lesson 2. Jsem Anna. Jsem z Ruska: the verb být

Why: to say who you are and where you're from, and to ask others. být works like English “am / are / is”: Jsem z Ruska. A sentence without jsem, je, jsou is wrong. All the forms are in the table. The verb ending shows who it is, so já, ty, my are usually left out: Jsem Anna. Já jsem… is only for contrast. With být, ne- is joined to the verb: nejsem, nejsi, nejsme, nejste, nejsou. For on, ona, ono the form is special: není. A short answer with no subject can leave out the verb: Odkud jste? — Z Moskvy. A full sentence with “I” or a name needs jsem / je: Jsem z Moskvy. / Anna je z Moskvy. A yes/no question keeps the word order, and the voice goes up at the end: Jsi Rus? With odkud and jak the voice goes down: Odkud jste? A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a period, “?”, or “!”. Common mistakes: • × Já z Ruska. → Jsem z Ruska. • × Tomáš Čech. → Tomáš je Čech. • × Ne jsem Čech. → Nejsem Čech. • × On neje z Prahy. → On není z Prahy.

“Where from?” is Odkud jsi? (with ty) / Odkud jste? (with vy). The answer: Jsem z… English “from” changes nothing, but after z the place name changes its ending. For now, learn these forms as set forms: they're in the table. ze instead of z: usually before s, z, š, ž: ze Smolenska. Before other letters, z: z Prahy, z Brna. Nouns for people come in pairs: Rus — Ruska, Čech — Češka, cizinec — cizinka. A woman uses the -ka form about herself: Jsem Ruska. Capitalized: names, countries, cities, and the nouns for people from a country: Rus, Rusko, Praha. Your name: Jmenuju se Anna. Jak se jmenuješ? (with ty) / Jak se jmenujete? (with vy). Meeting someone: Těší mě. Introducing someone: To je Ivan. Where you live: Bydlím v Praze. / Bydlím v Moskvě. i means “both … and”, “… too”: Kateřina i Tomáš jsou z Brna.