2. Morphology
2.1 Inflectional morphology
Inflectional morphology is expressed in terms of synthetic terminal desinences which are added
to the stems of inflected parts of speech: nouns, adjectives, verbs, and most pronouns.
Inflectional desinences conflate all relevant categories (gender, number, and case for nouns and
adjectives; person and number for non-past conjugations; and gender, person, and number for
past conjugations) and consist of from zero to three morphemes. All native autosemantic stems
are inflected, as are the vast majority of foreign borrowings, sometimes with the help of a native
suffix which gives them a stem characteristic of the part of speech they belong to. Uninflected
borrowings, some of which are cited below, are rare.
2.1.0 Morphophonemic alternations in inflection
Vowel-zero alternations
Roots, suffixes, and (as mentioned in 1.2) prefixes and prepositions can all produce alternations
of e with a zero; this alternation, particularly in roots and suffixes, is identified with specific
morphemes: beru I take: brát take (infinitive), pes dog Nsg : psi dogs Npl, otec father
Nsg : otce father Gsg, deska board Nsg : desek boards Gpl. On rare occasions there may
be two vowel-zero alternations operative in consecutive syllables: švec cobbler Nsg : ševce
cobbler Gsg.
Qualitative vowel alternations
These alternations are evident in comparison of historically hard-stem (ending in b, d, f, g, h,
ch, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, z) and soft-stem (ending in b, c, č, d/d, j, l, m, n/ň, p, ř, s, š, t/t, v, z,
ž) paradigms (note that b, d, m, l, s, t, v, z appear on both lists and are associated with both hard
and soft stems). This distinction is active in all classes of inflected words. Where the hard-stem
and soft-stem paradigms differ, the hard stems will combine with desinences starting with a
back vowel, whereas the soft stems will combine with desinences commencing in a
corresponding front vowel . Despite the fact that they are phonologically indistinguishable, y/ý
counts as a back vowel, and i/í as a front vowel. Hard stems can combine with both e and e/ě
(note that e/ě is spelled ě after b, d, f, m, n, p, t, v, but e elsewhere):
a vs. e/ě moucha fly Nsg vs. práceĘwork Nsg
nesa carrying pres gerund vs. děkuje thanking pres gerund
ta that Nsgf vs. naše Nsgf
á vs. í druhá second Nsgf vs. první first Nsgf
e/ě vs. i mouše fly DLsg vs. práci work DLsg
o vs. e/ě moucho fly Vsg vs. práce work Vsg
u vs. i nesu I carry vs. děkujiĘI thank
mouchu fly Asg vs. práci work Asg
tu that Asgf vs. naši our Asgf
ou vs. í mouchou fly Isg vs. prací work Isg
yĘvs. i výbory committee Ipl vs. koši basket Ipl
stoly tables Npl vs. psi dogs Npl
ýĘvs. í druhý second Nsgm vs. první first Nsgm
Quantitative vowel alternations
Due to historical factors, some of these alternations also involve qualitative shifts. The last two
alternations are rare in inflection, limited primarily to stem shortening in imperatives:
á vs. a práce vs. prací work Nsg vs. Isg
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é vs. e nést carry vs. nesu I carry
í vs. e/ě sníh vs. sněhu snow Nsg vs. Gsg
ů vs. o hůl vs. hole cane Nsg vs. Gsg
ou vs. u koupit buy vs. kup buy!
ý vs. y mýlit se err vs. myl se err!
í vs. i navštívit visit vs. navštiv visit!
ů vs. u rozpůlit splitĘvs. rozpulĘsplit!
Type 1 (half-softening) consonant alternations
Type 1 alternations are characteristic of declension and appear primarily in the Nplanim of
nouns and adjectives, the Dsg, Lsg, and Lpl of nouns, and the formation of adverbs and
comparatives from adjectives. They are also encountered in past passive participles of verbs in
Đit and in imperatives. In this alternation, labials add j or ň, dentals shift to palatals, and velars
shift to dentals or palatals:
p vs. pj hloupý stupid vs. hloupě stupidly
b vs. bj skladba vs. skladbě composition Nsg vs. DLsg
f vs. fj harfa vs. harfěĘharp Nsg vs. DLsg
v vs. vj kráva vs. krávě cow Nsg vs. DLsg
m vs. mň strmý steep vs. strmější steeper
t vs. t studenty vs. studenti student Apl vs. Npl
d vs. d hrdý proud vs. hrdě proudly
n vs. ň královna vs. královněĘqueen Nsg vs. DLsg
r vs. ř sestra vs. sestře sister Nsg vs. DLsg
k vs. c kluk vs. kluci, klucích boy Nsg vs. Npl, Lpl
h vs. z drahý dear vs. draze dearlyĘ
g vs. z Olga vs. Olze OlgaĘNsg vs. DLsg
ch vs. š tichý quiet vs. tiše quietly
sk vs. št ruský vs. ruští Russian Nsgm vs. Nplanim
ck vs. čt anglický vs. angličtí English Nsgm vs. Nplanim
Type 2 (full-softening) consonant alternations
In Type 2, the dental/palatal stops lenite partially (t/t vs. c) or fully (d/d vs. z), whereas all
others shift toward palatals. These alternations are typically found in the Vsg of masculine
nouns, passive participles (and associated deverbal nouns), possessive adjectives, comparative
adjectives, and the non-past conjugation of certain verbs.
t/t vs. c platit pay vs. placen paid
d/d vs. z hodit throw vs. hozen thrown
s vs. š vysoký high vs. vyšší higher
z vs. ž mazat smear vs. mažu I smear
n vs. ň Hana Hana vs. Hanin Hanas Nsgm
r vs. ř mistr vs. mistře master Nsg vs. Vsg
sl vs. šl poslat sendĘvs. pošlu I send (rare)
st/st vs. št čistit clean vs. čištěn cleaned
zd/zd vs. žd jezdit ride vs. ježdění riding
k vs. č hezký pretty vs. hezčí prettier
c vs. č chlapec vs. chlapčeĘboy Nsg vs. Vsg
h vs. ž lhátĘlie vs. lžu I lie
g vs. ž Olga Olga vs. OlžinĘOlgas Nsgm
ch vs. š suchý dry vs. sušší drier
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Isolated and suppletive types
Some more drastic morphophonemic alternations exhibiting vowel-zero or consonant
alternations or both involve small classes of words or single lexical items; these are much more
frequent among verbs than nouns.
švec vs. ševce cobbler Nsg vs. Gsg čest vs. ctiĘhonorĘNAsg vs. GDLsg
psát write vs. píšu I write hnát chase vs. ženu I chase
vzít take vs. vezmu I take
vs. vzal took
krýt cover vs. kryji I cover
vs. kryl covered
žít live vs. žijiĘI live vs. žil lived začít begin vs. začnuĘI begin vs. začal
began
moci Ębe able vs. mohl could vs.
můžeš you can
péci bake vs. pekl baked vs.
pečeš you bake
mést sweep vs. metu I sweep jíst eat vs. jím I eat vs. jedl ate
2.1.1 Noun morphology
All nouns have grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), and with very few
exceptions (a handful of undeclinable borrowed words) all are declined for both number
(singular, plural; though some words occur only in one of the numbers, e.g., nůžky scissors,
which is plural only) and case (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, locative, and
instrumental). Each gender has its own set of characteristic paradigms, including hard-stem
types, soft-stem types, and special types. Masculine paradigms in addition regularly signal
animacy. The vocative is formally distinct only in the singular. Below we discuss the paradigms
for masculine, neuter, and feminine adding notes on case/number endings which require
commentary. The paradigms below are intended to be representative, but there is considerable
variation in many paradigms, and it is often hard to establish a definitive norm.
2.1.1.1 Masculine paradigms
Hard stems
Inanimate: rozbor analysis
sg pl
N rozbor rozbory
G rozboru rozborů
D rozboru rozborům
A rozbor rozbory
V rozbore
L rozboru rozborech
I rozborem rozbory
Animate: bratr brother
sg pl
N bratr bratři
G bratra bratrů
D bratrovi/-u bratrům
A bratra bratry
V bratře
L bratrovi/-u bratrech
I bratrem bratry
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Animacy
Masculine paradigms distinguish animate from inanimate in the singular through nominativeaccusative
syncretism for inanimates, as opposed to genitive-accusative syncretism for animates,
and in the plural through special Npl endings (-i, -é, -ové) for animate nouns. Variant endings in
the Gsg, Dsg, and Lsg also contribute to readings of animacy vs. inanimacy, although the
implementation of these endings does not always follow the exact parameters of the distinction
and may involve other factors. Simply stated, the class of animates includes all male (or
grammatically masculine) living creatures capable of motion (i.e., non-vegetable). In the case of
very small creatures, such as bacil bacillus, mikrob microbe animacy is open to
interpretation. There are additionally several classes of facultative animates, nouns which refer to
inanimate objects but display animate endings. Animal names used to refer to inanimates
regularly produce this phenomenon: koníček little horse; hobby is animate in both meanings.
Most other facultative animates show some close connection to human males, in terms of
appearance (sněhulák snowman, maňásek puppet), existence of homonyms referring to male
humans (talián Italian; Italian sausage, which motivates facultative animacy for other sausages,
such as vuřt wurst), and stereotypes of male-pattern behavior (drinking of alcohol: panák
shot; smoking of cigarettes: čmoud drag from a cigarette; card-playing: ferbl name of a card
game; sports: kraul crawl (swimming); and mathematics: násobenec multiplicand).
Facultative animacy primarily involves the GAsg and to a lesser extent the Npl, but does not
always extend to the DLsg.
Gsg: about 97% of inanimate masculine hard stem nouns have -u, 2% have -a, and 1%
permit both endings (Janda 1996: 128). Nouns with -a include, obviously, all facultative
animates, plus an assortment of common everyday words (zákon law, oběd lunch),
including, particularly, those designating buildings (kostel church), locations (Jičín, Tachov),
time periods (dnešek today, leden January), and shapes (trojúhelník triangle).
DLsg: most animate nouns in this paradigm admit both endings. -ovi tends to be favored for
viriles (male human referents), with rare but notable exceptions (člověk, člověku person, Bůh,
Bohu God), and can be used for most animals. In concatenations of titles and names, the last
word will have -ovi, but all others will have -u: panu doktoru Janu Novákovi Mr. Dr. Jan
Novák.
Lsg: 90% of inanimate masculine hard stem nouns have -u, less than 1% have -e/ě, and
about 9% permit both endings (Janda 1996: 148-9). Where -e/ě appears it conditions Type 1
alternations for velars and r, but stems ending in these consonants strongly prefer -u. More than
half of the stems that permit both desinences end in -s, and others end in -z, -k, -l, -r, -ch, or -n.
According to Bermel (1993), among nouns that permit both desinences -e/ě is typical in the
expression of familiar, predictable concrete locations, whereas -u is the default for all other uses.
Vsg: the -eĘdesinence conditions the Type 2 alternation for stems ending in tr and c: mistr,
mistře! master, otec, otče! father. Velar stems have -u instead (kluk, kluku! boy), thus
avoiding Type 2 alternation (but note: Bůh, Bože! God; člověk, člověče! person).
Npl: -i is by far the most common ending for animates and conditions the Type 1
alternation: student, studenti student; Polák, Poláci Pole. The endings -é -ové are used
primarily with certain viriles: soused, sousedé neighbor; syn, synové son.
Lpl: in addition to -ech, the Lpl has the variants -ích (used with some stems ending in
velars, labials, -s, -z, and -l) and -ách (used with some stems ending in velars). With velars -ích
conditions the Type 1 alternation, although the tendency is to replace -ích with -ách, which
obviates alternation. Compare the following Nsg and Lpl forms: práh, prazích threshold; les,
lesích forest; hotel, hotelích hotel; plech, plechách metal plate.
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Soft stems
Inanimate: koš basket
sg pl
N koš koše
G koše košů
D koši košům
A koš koše
V koši
L koši koších
I košem koši
Animate: malíř painter
sg pl
N malíř malíři
G malíře malířů
D malířovi/-i malířům
A malíře malíře
V malíři
L malířovi/-i malířích
I malířem malíři
DLsg: the distribution of -ovi vs. -i is similar to that of -ovi vs. -u in the animate hard stems,
although -i is somewhat more frequent in the soft paradigm than -u is in the hard paradigm.
Lpl: some nouns in this paradigm have the desinence -ech: cíl, cílech goal.
Stems alternating between hard and soft
kotel cauldron
sg pl
N kotel kotle/-y
G kotlu/-e kotlů
D kotlu/-i kotlům
A kotel kotle/-y
V kotli
L kotlu/-i kotlech/-ích
I kotlem kotli/-y
Nearly all stems of this type end in l or n (řemen strap, pramen source, kámen stone);
one ends in t (loket elbow).
Special types
There are two masculine paradigms with a vocalic desinence in the Nsg: the hard -a paradigm
and the soft -e paradigm. Both are exclusively virile (designate male humans) and therefore
animate.
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-a virile: přednosta chief, head
sg pl
N přednosta přednostové
G přednosty přednostů
D přednostovi přednostům
A přednostu přednosty
V přednosto
L přednostovi přednostech
I přednostou přednosty
Aside from the masculine DLsg -ovi, this paradigm has feminine endings in the singular,
but masculine endings in the plural.
Gsg, Apl, and Ipl: some stems in this paradigm end in consonant letters that do not combine
with y; these forms are then spelled with i, as in nicknames such as Míša, Míši Mike.
Npl: although most nouns in this paradigm use -ové, those ending in -ita and -ista use -é
(husita, husité Hussite, houslista, houslisté violinist).
Lpl: stems ending in a velar will have -ích and the concomitant Type 1 alternation: sluha,
sluzích servant.
-e virile: zachránce savior
sg pl
N zachránce zachránci
G zachránce zachránců
D zachráncovi/-i zachráncům
A zachránce zachránce
V zachránce
L zachráncovi/-i zachráncích
I zachráncem zachránci
DLsg: variation here parallels that of soft stem animate nouns.
Npl: some nouns also admit -ové (soudce, soudci/-ové judge).
Although a few borrowings are indeclinable (atašé attaché, zebu zebu, tangens
tangent), most foreign words decline even if their stems are incongruous with the stem shape
of native masculine nouns. Nouns ending in a vowel other than i/y will drop that vowel in all
forms other than the Nsg (and Asg for inanimates) and treat the preceding consonant as stem
final; maestro thus has a stem of maestr- to which desinences are added: GAsg maestra, DLsg
maestrovi, Vsg maestro, Isg maestrem, Npl maestrové, Gpl maestrů, Dpl maestrům, AIpl
maestry, Lpl maestrech. Following a similar strategy, foreign nouns ending in -us, -es, and -os
usually drop those segments for all other forms in the paradigm (NAsg komunismus, GDLsg
komunismu, Vsg komunisme, Isg komunismem; NAsg hádes, GDLsg hádu, Isg hádem; NAsg
kosmos, GDLsg kosmu, Isg kosmem). Foreign nouns and names ending in i/y (kuli coolie,
pony pony, Billy) have a mixed declension, with adjective type endings (with short vowels) in
the singular (GAsg kuliho, Dsg kulimu, LIsg kulim), but primarily noun-type endings in the
plural (Npl kuliové, Gpl kuliů, Dpl kuliům, Apl kulie, Lpl kuliech/-ích/-ch, Ipl kulii/-mi).
2.1.1.2 Neuter paradigms
Aside from the nominative and accusative forms, the neuter paradigms have the same endings as
masculine paradigms.
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Hard stems
město city
sg pl
N město města
G města měst
D městu městům
A město města
V město
L městě/-u městech
I městem městy
Nsg: a few nouns with stems ending in -en have a bookish variant Nsg form with an
abbreviated stem: břemeno/břímě burden; these nouns also have alternate endings Gsg
břemeno/břemene, Dsg břemenu/břemeni, and Lsg břemenu/břemeni/břemeně (similar to the
masculine kotel type above).
Lsg: many nouns use only -e/ěĘ(which conditions Type 1 alternations): okno, okně
window; some only -u (stems ending in velars always use -u): středisko, středisku center.
Lpl: as in masculine nouns, -ích can appear after velars (with Type 1 alternations), and is
frequently replaced by -ách.
Nouns referring to paired body parts, such as rameno/rámě shoulder, koleno knee, and
prsa chest, breasts have GLpl forms ramenou/ramen, kolenou/kolen, and prsou.
lýtko calf (leg) and bedroĘhip and some plural-only nouns (vrátka gate) admit both
neuter and feminine forms in the plural.
Soft stems
There are two types of neuter soft stems. One type involves a very small number of nouns with
a paradigm of: NGAVsg/NApl moře sea, DLsg/Ipl moři, Isg mořem, Gpl moří, Dpl mořím,
Lpl mořích. The other type involves a large number of nouns all of which are derived with -iště
and designate places, such as: NGAVsg/NApl letiště airport, DLsg/Ipl letišti, Isg letištěm, Gpl
letišt, Dpl letištím, Lpl letištích.
Special types
-ět-/-at- type: slůně baby elephant
sg pl
N slůně slůňata
G slůněte slůňat
D slůněti slůňatům
A slůně slůňata
V slůně
L slůněti slůňatech
I slůnětem slůňaty
The -ět-/-at- type is primarily associated with names of offspring (štěně puppy, nemluvně
infant), although this paradigm is used for some inanimates (koště broom) and at least one
virile (kníže prince).
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-í type: nábřeží waterfont
sg pl
N nábřeží nábřeží
G nábřeží nábřeží
D nábřeží nábřežím
A nábřeží nábřeží
V nábřeží
L nábřeží nábřežích
I nábřežím nábřežími
The -í type paradigm includes many deverbal nouns (placení paying) and is otherwise often
associated with collectives (křoví bushes) and nouns with abstract meaning (zdraví health); a
particularly common source of neuter -í nouns are prepositional phrases (the head noun here,
nábřeží is derived from the prepositional phrase na břehu on the bank).
Latin and Greek borrowings into the Czech neuter continue some aspects of their original
declensions in Czech. Nouns ending in -o, -on, and -um drop those final segments in all forms
but the NAsg and follow the standard hard declension (but those with a new stem ending in a
vowel have soft endings in the plural oblique cases): NAVsg enklitikon, Gsg/NApl enklitika,
DLsg enklitiku, Isg enklitikem, Gpl enklitik, Dpl enklitikům, Lpl enklitikách, Ipl enklitiky; NAVsg
rádio, Gsg/NApl rádia, DLsg rádiu, Isg rádiem, Gpl rádií, Dpl rádiím, Lpl rádiích, Ipl rádii;
NAVsg muzeum, Gsg/NApl muzea, DLsg muzeu, Isg muzeem, Gpl muzeí, Dpl muzeím, Lpl
muzeích, Ipl muzei. Neuter nouns ending in -ma add t to form their stem: NAVsg drama,
GDLsg dramatu, Isg dramatem, NApl dramata, Gpl dramat, Dpl dramatům, Lpl dramatech,
Ipl dramaty. Some neuter borrowings do not decline: klišé, taxi, tabu.
2.1.1.3 Feminine paradigms
Hard stems
žena woman
sg pl
N žena ženy
G ženy žen
D ženě ženám
A ženu ženy
V ženo
L ženě ženách
I ženou ženami
DLsg: the -e/ě ending conditions the Type 1 alternation.
ruka arm/hand has deviant NApl ruce and shares with noha leg special oblique plural
forms: GLpl rukou, nohou (but note also variants Gpl noh and Lpl rukách, nohách); Ipl
rukama, nohama.
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Soft stems
růže rose
sg pl
N růže růže
G růže růží
D růži růžím
A růži růže
V růže
L růži růžích
I růží růžemi
Gpl: as a rule, stems ending in -ic have a zero ending instead of -í: ulice, ulicĘstreet.
Variation between zero and -íĘis not uncommon, particularly among nouns in -yně; přítelkyně
girlfriend admits both Gpl forms: přítelkyň/přítelkyní.
Feminine nouns ending in a consonant
There are two paradigms of feminine nouns with a zero ending in the Nsg; all such nouns end in
a historically soft consonant.
Nsg in zero, -e/ě type: dlaň palm of hand
sg pl
N dlaň dlaně
G dlaně dlaní
D dlani dlaním
A dlaň dlaně
V dlani
L dlani dlaních
I dlaní dlaněmi
Nsg in zero, -i type: kost bone
sg pl
N kost kosti
G kosti kostí
D kosti kostem
A kost kosti
V kosti
L kosti kostech
I kostí kostmi
The -e/ě type and -i type paradigms are converging, resulting in frequent variations for
words of both paradigms in the desinences that do not match, cf. lod boat, which admits all
of the following forms Gsg lodi/-ě, NApl lodi/-ě, Ipl loděmi/lodmi.
paní Mrs. is indeclinable in the singular and has the following plural forms: NGApl paní,
Dpl paním, Lpl paních, Ipl paními.
Borrowed words ending in a vowel or j + a follow a mixed hard/soft declension, e.g.: Nsg
idea, Gsg idey/-je, DLsg ideji, Asg ideu, Vsg ideo, Isg ideou/-jí, NApl idey/-je, Gpl idejí, Dpl
ideám/-jím, Lpl ideách-jích, Ipl iedeami/-jemi. There are a few borrowed feminine indeclinable
nouns: whisky, party.
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2.1.1.4 Nouns of variable or indeterminate gender
Three neuter nouns do not have neuter endings in the plural:
dítě child: NAVsg dítě, Gsg dítěte, DLsg dítěti, Isg dítětem, NApl děti, Gpl dětí, Dpl
dětem, Lpl dětech, Ipl dětmi
oko eye and ucho ear: both have a neuter hard stem singular (with Lsg -u) and the
following plural: NApl oči uši, Gpl očí uší, Dpl očím uším, Ipl očima ušima.
Three pluralia tantum nouns naming holiday seasons, letnice Whitsunday, vánoce
Christmas, and velikonoceĘEaster, are listed in dictionaries as feminine pluralia tantum,
although they have Dpl -ům, which is characteristic of masculine and neuter paradigms: NApl
vánoce, Gpl vánoc, Dpl vánocům, Lpl vánocích, Ipl vánocemi.
Although the vast majority of names for people and animals have separate feminine and
masculine forms, there are some words that vary in gender and paradigm depending upon the
given referent: chot spouse declines as a soft stem masculine animate when referring to a
husband, but as a feminine type ending in a consonant when referring to a wife; nešika clumsy
person is an -a virile in reference to a male, but a hard stem feminine in reference to a female.
Most other common gender words, such as člověk person (masculine hard stem animate) and
osoba person (hard stem feminine) retain their paradigm and syntactic gender no matter whom
they refer to. Rukojmí hostage can be a substantivized adjective or an -í type neuter (Gsg
rukojmího/-í). A few inanimate nouns have more than one paradigm: potato exists as both
brambor (hard stem masculine) and brambora (hard stem feminine), and esej essay can be
declined as either masculine or feminine.
2.1.2 Adjectival morphology
Adjectives are declined to match the gender, case, and number of the nouns they modify.
Participles are declined like adjectives. The vast majority of adjectives occur only long, although
short forms do exist for a few common adjectives and are the norm for predicative past passive
participles. Adjectives can be qualitative (describing a quality, like chytrý smart, tvrdý hard)
or relational (describing a relationship to something, like Pražský Prague, as in Pražský hrad
Prague Castle, or místní local, as in místní správa local government). Comparative and
superlative forms and adverbs can be formed from adjectival stems; qualitative adjectives are
more likely to have these forms than are relational adjectives.
2.1.2.1 Long form adjectives
Like nouns, adjectives have both hard and soft stem paradigms. Soft stem adjectives are
primarily relational adjectives in -ní (večerní evening), where softness is imposed by the
suffix. Unlike nouns, adjectives do not have vocative case forms; when an adjective appears
with a noun in the vocative, the adjective is in the nominative. In combination with the Ipl of
feminine and variable gender nouns having a nominal desinence in -ma, the ending for
demonstratives and adjectives is also -ma rather than the customaryĘ-mi: těma špinavýma
rukama with those dirty hands. There are a few foreign borrowings that do not decline, such
as fajn fine, but these are considered colloquial, and can have nativized declinable variants,
such as fajnový fine.
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Hard stems
druhý second; other
singular plural
masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter
N
(anim:)
druhý druhá druhé druhé
druzí
druhé druhá
G druhého druhé druhého druhých
D druhému druhé druhému druhým
A
(anim:)
druhý
druhého
druhou druhé druhé druhé druhá
L druhém druhé druhém druhých
I druhým druhou druhým druhými
The Nplmasc animate conditions Type 1 alternations.
Soft stems
prvníĘfirst
singular plural
masculine & neuter feminine (all genders)
N první první první
G prvního první prvních
D prvnímu první prvním
A
(anim:)
první
prvního
první první
L prvním první prvních
I prvním první prvními
Possessive-relational adjectives are formed from nouns designating animals and God, and all are
soft stem adjectives: Bůh God, Boží Gods; ryba fish, rybí a fishs.
2.1.2.2 Short form adjectives and possessive adjectives
Short form adjectives
Short form adjectives are built from the same stems as long form adjectives but have nominal
instead of adjectival endings. Any short forms that do exist in Czech are used only predicatively.
There is only one adjective with only short forms: rád glad. Only a few other adjectives permit
short forms and these are used only predicatively in the nominative. For passive participles, as
stated above, short forms are the norm in the predicate: dopis byl napsán the letter was written
vs. napsaný dopis the written letter.
nemocný ill
singular short forms plural short forms
masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter
N
(anim:)
nemocen nemocna nemocno nemocny
nemocni
nemocny nemocna
As with long form adjectives, the Npl masculine animate ending triggers the Type 1 alternation.
Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives formed from names of human males (with suffix -ův) and females (with
suffix -in) have a distinct paradigm that mixes short and long types:
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bratrův brothers
singular plural
masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter
N
(anim:)
bratrův bratrova bratrovo bratrovy
bratrovi
bratrovy bratrova
G bratrova bratrovy bratrova bratrových
D bratrovu bratrově bratrovu bratrovým
A
(anim:)
bratrův
bratrova
bratrovu bratrovo bratrovy bratrovy bratrova
L bratrově/
-u
bratrově bratrově/ -
u
bratrových
I bratrovým bratrovou bratrovým bratrovými
2.1.2.3 Comparatives and superlatives
Comparative adjectives
All comparative adjectives end in -ší and, hence, decline like soft stem adjectives. The regular
formant for deriving comparatives from adjectival stems is -ější/-ejší, which conditions the Type
2 alternation for velars, but the Type 1 alternation of all other stem final consonants:
adjective gloss comparative adjective gloss comparative
chytrý clever chytřejší divoký wild divočejší
logický logical logičtější jistý certain jistější
blbý stupid blbější inteligentní intelligent inteligentnější
Two adjectives have a vowel alternation in the stem: bílý white bělejší, svatý holy světější.
Some adjectives form the comparative with the formant -ší, which often (though not
always) conditions Type 2 alternations; some adjectives can employ both -ější/-ejší and -ší.
Adjectives with stems ending in -k or -ok typically drop those segments, and occasionally stemfinal
-n is lost as well. Stem vowels in the comparatives are always short regardless of length in
the positive form:
adjective gloss comparative adjective gloss comparative
snadný easy snazší/
snadnější
mladý young mladší
suchý dry sušší čistý clean čist(ěj)ší
krotký tame krotší/
krotčejší
krátký short kratší
hluboký deep hlubší blízký near bližší
Some stems ending in -k drop the final consonant and use the formant -čí:
adjective gloss comparative adjective gloss comparative
křehký fragile křehčí/
křehčejší
hebký supple hebčí/
hebčejší
A number of common adjectives have irregular or suppletive comparative forms:
adjective gloss comparative adjective gloss comparative
daleký far další next dlouhý long delší
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dobrý good lepší špatný bad horší
vel(i)ký big větší malý small menší
Adjectives that do not commonly form comparatives (particularly relational adjectives)
frequently resort to an analytic paraphrase using více more: dřevěný wooden would thus
yield the comparative více dřevěný.
Superlative adjectives
All superlative adjectives are created by adding the prefix nej- to the comparative form:
nejchytřejší cleverest, nejsnazší / nejsnadnějšíĘeasiest, nejkřehčí / nejkřehčejší most fragile,
nejhorší worst, nejvíce dřevěný most wooden. An alternative superlative prefix sebe- is less
frequent and more emphatic: sebelepší best, sebemenšíĘsmallest.
2.1.2.4 Deadjectival adverbs
Adverbs formed from adjectives
Deadjectival adverbs can be formed from most qualitative adjectives and most of these adverbs
admit comparative forms as well.
Adjectives ending in -ský, -cký, and -zký form the adverb in -y: -sky and -cky can be used
with adjectives naming languages to describe language use: český Czech yields česky in a
Czech way, as in Mluvím česky I speak Czech.
The majority of adverbs formed from adjectives are formed with -e/ě (which conditions
Type 1 alternations): divoký wild yields divoce, blbý stupid, yields blbě, and dlouhý long
yields dlouze, as in Tato samohláska se vyslovuje dlouze That vowel is pronounced long.
Comparative adverbs
Only adverbs formed from adjectives have comparative forms, and most of these are created
with the -eji/-ějiĘformant. In the case of adjectival stems ending in a velar, this produces Type 2
alternations; for other stems the Type 1 alternation triggered in the -e/ě adverbial form remains:
adjective gloss adverb comparative
divoký wild divoce divočeji
logický logical logicky logičtěji
suchý dry suše sušeji
blbý stupid blbě blběji
Alternative comparative endings are -eĘ(conditioning Type 2 alternations) and zero; some
adverbs admit all three formants, and many admit two. Note that in comparative adverbs in -e
the stem vowel is always long, regardless of the length in the base adjective.
adjective gloss adverb comparatives
snadný easy snadně/snadno snadněji, snáze,
snáz
hluboký deep hluboce hlouběji, hloub
úzký narrow úzce úže, úžeji
drahý dear draze dráže, dráž
The irregular comparative adverbs correspond to the adjectives with irregular comparative
formations:
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adjective gloss adverbs comparatives
daleký far dalece, daleko dále, dál
dlouhý long dlouze, dlouho déle
dobrý good dobře lépe, líp
špatný bad špatně hůře, hůř
vel(i)ký big velice, mnoho více, víc
malý small málo méně, míň
Superlative adverbs
Like adjectives, adverbs form the superlative degree by prefixing comparative forms with nejand
occasionally sebe-: nejlogičtěji most logically, nejblběji most stupidly,
nejhlouběji/nejhloubĘmost deeply, nejlépe/nejlíp, sebelépe best, nejméněĘleast. Adverbs that
do not form comparatives and superlatives can achieve these degrees by means of paraphrase
with více more and nejvíce most or méně less and nejméně least.