I can address someone by first name and by last name — Ahoj, Jano! Dobrý den, pane Koláři! — give a woman's last name, and find the first name, last name, and title on a business card.
Pane Nováku! Addressing someone changes the name
Pane Nováku! Addressing someone changes the name
When you call someone or greet them by name, the name changes its form: this is the vocative. English has nothing like it; in Czech it happens every time, in polite speech too.
Men's names ending in a hard consonant (except k, h, ch, g) take -e (Ivan → Ivane, pan → pane); in k, h, ch, g, -u (pan Novák → pane Nováku); in a soft š, ž, č, ř, j, -i (Tomáš → Tomáši, pan Kolář → pane Koláři); doktor, profesor take -e: pane doktore.
Women's names in -a take -o (Jana → Jano); in -e they don't change (Julie!). A man's last name in -a also takes -o: pane Řího.
No change: paní with a last name (paní Nováková!, paní Šimková!) and last names in -ý (pane Novotný!). Marek → Marku: learn it as a set form.
pane / paní + last name or title: only with vy; the first name: with ty.
Common mistakes:
• × Ahoj, Jana! → Ahoj, Jano!
• × Promiňte, pan Kolář! → Promiňte, pane Koláři!
• × Dobrý den, pane Nováková! → Dobrý den, paní Nováková!
• × Čau, pane Novotný! → Na shledanou, pane Novotný! (pane goes with vy)
Addressing someone: the vocative
When you call someone or greet them, the name changes form.
| Usual form | Addressing someone | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Ivan | Ivane | -e: hard consonant (except k, h, ch, g) |
| pan | pane | -e: hard consonant (except k, h, ch, g) |
| pan Novák | pane Nováku | -u: after k, h, ch, g |
| Marek | Marku | memorize |
| Tomáš | Tomáši | -i: soft consonant |
| Ondřej | Ondřeji | -i: soft consonant |
| pan Kolář | pane Koláři | -i: soft consonant |
| pan doktor | pane doktore | -e: doktor, profesor |
| pan Říha | pane Řího | -a → -o |
| Jana | Jano | -a → -o |
| Kateřina | Kateřino | -a → -o |
| Julie | Julie | -e doesn't change |
| paní Nováková | paní Nováková | doesn't change |
| pan Novotný | pane Novotný | a last name in -ý doesn't change |
| paní Šimková | paní Šimková | doesn't change |
Lesson notes
Pane Nováku! Addressing someone changes the name
When you call someone or greet them by name, the name changes its form: this is the vocative. English has nothing like it; in Czech it happens every time, in polite speech too.
Men's names ending in a hard consonant (except k, h, ch, g) take -e (Ivan → Ivane, pan → pane); in k, h, ch, g, -u (pan Novák → pane Nováku); in a soft š, ž, č, ř, j, -i (Tomáš → Tomáši, pan Kolář → pane Koláři); doktor, profesor take -e: pane doktore.
Women's names in -a take -o (Jana → Jano); in -e they don't change (Julie!). A man's last name in -a also takes -o: pane Řího.
No change: paní with a last name (paní Nováková!, paní Šimková!) and last names in -ý (pane Novotný!). Marek → Marku: learn it as a set form.
pane / paní + last name or title: only with vy; the first name: with ty.
Common mistakes:
• × Ahoj, Jana! → Ahoj, Jano!
• × Promiňte, pan Kolář! → Promiňte, pane Koláři!
• × Dobrý den, pane Nováková! → Dobrý den, paní Nováková!
• × Čau, pane Novotný! → Na shledanou, pane Novotný! (pane goes with vy)
Nováková, Novotná: last name, first name, title
A woman's last name takes -ová: Novák → Nováková; a final -a drops: Říha → Říhová. A name in -ý takes -á: Novotný → Novotná.
A foreign woman in the Czech Republic also gets -ová: Anna Petrovová (her passport may say Petrova).
jméno is a name (on a form, “Jméno a příjmení” means first name and last name), křestní jméno is the first name, příjmení the last name.
Titles go on business cards: Ing. (engineer), Mgr. (master's degree), MUDr. (medical doctor). Out loud, to the person: pane doktore, paní doktorko, pane profesore, pane inženýre.
slečna is for a young unmarried woman; in business people say paní. Vážený pane / Vážená paní (“Dear Sir / Dear Madam”) is how a letter begins.
Common mistakes:
• × Anna Petrov → Anna Petrovová
• × paní Novotnová → paní Novotná
• × paní Říhaová → paní Říhová