First Czech Sentence Patterns
A handful of patterns produce hundreds of real sentences. Learn these four and you can point things out, say what you have, ask simple questions, and say no.
To je — This Is
To je… ("this is / that is") is the all-purpose opener. It never changes for gender — to stays to whether what follows is masculine, feminine, or neuter.
To je moje káva.
This is my coffee.
Note: to je works for anything: To je Petr. To je problém. To je dobré.
Mám — I Have
Where Russian says "by me there is," Czech simply has a verb: mít (to have). Mám = "I have."
Asking Questions
Two easy tools cover most beginner questions.
1. Yes/no questions — just say the statement with rising intonation, or move the verb to the front. No helper word needed.
Máš čas? / Máte čas?
Do you have time?
Note: Same words as the statement Máš čas — the melody (or word order) asks the question.
2. Question words — put the question word first:
Negation Glues to the Verb
This is one of Czech's friendliest rules: to say not, attach ne- to the front of the verb. One word — no separate particle floating around.
Nerozumím, mluvte prosím pomaleji.
I don't understand, please speak slower.
Note: ne + rozumím → nerozumím. The two lifesaver phrases in one line.
Nevím a nemám čas.
I don't know and I don't have time.
Note: Every verb negates the same way — just add ne-.
Next up: start controlling nouns with noun gender, the key that makes the rest of Czech click.