I can talk about my family and ask about someone else's — To je můj bratr, moje sestra je vdaná — ask “whose?” — Čí je to? — and address my brother: Ahoj, bratře!
Můj, moje, náš: whose?
Můj, moje, náš: whose?
Why: to talk about your family and ask whose a person or a thing is.
Unlike English “my”, the form follows the gender of WHOM or WHAT you name after it, not the owner: můj bratr, moje sestra, moje auto. The same goes for tvůj / tvoje, náš / naše, váš / vaše: all the forms are in the table.
jeho (his), její (her), and jejich (their) never change, as in English: jeho dcera, její otec, jejich babička.
“Whose?” is čí: Čí je ta taška? — Moje. In books you'll see má, mé instead of moje: it's the same.
Váš, vaše are for one person you call vy, or for several people; to a friend, tvůj, tvoje.
Common mistakes:
• × moje bratr → můj bratr
• × můj sestra → moje sestra
• × Julie, to je váš manžel? (to a female friend) → Julie, to je tvůj manžel?
Whose? Possessives
The form follows the gender of WHOM or WHAT you name. Jeho, její, jejich don't change.
| Whose? | bratr (masc.) | sestra (fem.) | auto (neut.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| my | můj | moje | moje |
| your (informal) | tvůj | tvoje | tvoje |
| his | jeho | jeho | jeho |
| her | její | její | její |
| our | náš | naše | naše |
| your (formal; you all) | váš | vaše | vaše |
| their | jejich | jejich | jejich |
Lesson notes
Můj, moje, náš: whose?
Why: to talk about your family and ask whose a person or a thing is.
Unlike English “my”, the form follows the gender of WHOM or WHAT you name after it, not the owner: můj bratr, moje sestra, moje auto. The same goes for tvůj / tvoje, náš / naše, váš / vaše: all the forms are in the table.
jeho (his), její (her), and jejich (their) never change, as in English: jeho dcera, její otec, jejich babička.
“Whose?” is čí: Čí je ta taška? — Moje. In books you'll see má, mé instead of moje: it's the same.
Váš, vaše are for one person you call vy, or for several people; to a friend, tvůj, tvoje.
Common mistakes:
• × moje bratr → můj bratr
• × můj sestra → moje sestra
• × Julie, to je váš manžel? (to a female friend) → Julie, to je tvůj manžel?
Rodina: family and marital status
About a man: ženatý; about a woman: vdaná (English has one word, “married”). Svobodný / svobodná, rozvedený / rozvedená follow the gender, like nový / nová.
Note: svobodný means “single” (a free seat is volný), and a wife is manželka (žena means “woman”).
Learn each phrase about children as a whole: Kolik máte dětí? — Mám jedno dítě. Mám dvě děti. Nemám děti. After kolik it's dětí (with a long í); in the other phrases, děti.
To call your brother, say bratře: after a consonant + r, the form for calling someone ends in -ře: Bratře, pojď dál! To a sister: sestro, like Jano.
Common mistakes:
• × Tomáš je vdaný. → Tomáš je ženatý.
• × Ahoj, bratr! → Ahoj, bratře!