Ɣ The pronoun SE remains unchanged for all persons.
Já se vidím. = Vidím se. I see myself.
Ty se vidíš. = Vidíš se. You see yourself.
On / Ona se vidí. = Vidí se. He / She sees himself/herself.
My se vidíme. = Vidíme se. We see ourselves.
Vy se vidíte. = Vidíte se. You see yourselves.
Oni se vidí. = Vidí se. They see themselves.
Ɣ
Word order:
The reflexive pronoun SE (as well as SI) is one of “enclitics“, i.e. unstressed words being placed at the second position, i.e. immediately following the introductory nominal or adverbial phrase (no matter how many words the phrase consists of).
1. 2. 3., 4. … 1. 2. 3. …
já se uþím þesky = uþím se þesky
ty se uþíš þesky = uþíš se þesky
on, ona se uþí þesky = uþí se
my se uþíme þesky = uþíme se þesky
vy se uþíte þesky = uþíte se þesky
oni se uþí þesky = uþí se þesky
1. 2. 3., 4. …
Jeho sestra Jana se uþí þesky. His sister Jane learns Czech.
V úterý a ve þtvrtek se uþíme þesky. We learn Cz. on Tuesdays and Thursdays..
Jak dlouho se uþíte þesky? How long have you been learning Cz?
MĤžu se na to podívat? May I have a look at it?
Proþ se smČjete? Why are you laughing?
Jak se jmenujete, prosím? What´s your name please?
Jmenuji se Martin Fišer. My name is M.F.
Náš þeský soused se jmenuje Novák. Our Czech neighbour´s name is Novák.
Co si pĜejete? What do you wish?
Prosím vás, jak se dostanu na nádraží? Excuse me, how can I get to the
In the past tense, the reflexive pronoun is placed immediately after the auxiliary verb, e,g.
1. 2.
A B
Já jsem se nesmál. I did not laugh.
Nesmál jsem se. -„-
V kolik hodin jste se vrátili? What time did you return?
Co jste si pĜál? What did you wish?
Vþera veþer jsme se dívali na televizi. We watched TV last night.
Na co jste se dívali? What were you looking at?
Nauþil jsem se ten text nazpamČĢ. I have learnt the text by heart. V kolik hodin jste se vrátili? What time did you come back?
Past Tense - 2nd person singular:
The expected combination jsi se is usually compressed into the form SES.
(Following illustrations use the sentence “I was learning Czech, you were learning Cz. …“) Já jsem se uþil(a) þesky. = Uþil(a) jsem se þesky.
Ty SES uþil(a) þesky. = Uþil(a) SES þesky. On se uþil þesky. = Uþil se þesky. Ona se uþila þesky. = Uþila se þesky. My jsme se uþili þesky. = Uþili jsme se þesky. Vy jste se uþili þesky. = Uþili jste se þesky. Oni se uþili þesky. = Uþili se þesky. In the same way, the expected combination jsi si is compressed into SIS:
(Folllowing illustrations use the sentence “I took a dictionary, you took a dictionary …“)
Já jsem si vzal(a) slovník. Vzal(a) jsem si slovník. Ty SIS vzal(a) slovník. Vzal(a) SIS slovník. On si vzal slovník. Vzal si slovník. Ona si vzala slovník. Vzala si slovník. My jsme si vzali slovník. Vzali jsme si slovník. Vy jste si vzali slovník. Vzali jste si slovník. Oni si vzali slovník. Vzali si slovník.
(jsi se) ĺ SES (jsi si) ĺ SIS
DECLENSIONS OF NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, PRONOUNS, NUMERALS Introductory information about
DECLENSION OF NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, PRONOUNS Úvodní informace o
skloĖování substantiv, adjektiv, zájmen
ŵ Chapters 4 – 9 presented the nominal category of gender (= rod), distinguishing masculine (maskulinum = mužský rod), feminine (femininum = ženský rod) and neuter (neutrum = stĜední rod). Only the forms of singular nominative have been mentioned so far.
Chapters 20 – 35 deal with the categories of case (= pád) and number (= þíslo).
The category of CASE (pád)
is the most salient manifestation of the inflectional character of Czech.
Nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals are inflected, i.e. their forms are changed in accordance with their syntactic functions.
This nominal type of inflexion is called DECLENSION (deklinace = skloĖování).
(Cf . we – us, my neighbour´s garden, etc. in English, or der – des – dem – den in German, etc.)
There are seven cases in Czech. Apart from being numbered (especially for primary school pupils), Latin names -in modified Czech version- are used:
anglicized terminology
první pád (first case) nominativ NOMINATIVE
druhý pád (second case) genitiv GENITIVE
tĜetí pád (third case) dativ DATIVE
þtvrtý pád (fourth case) akuzativ ACCUSATIVE
pátý pád (fifth case) vokativ VOCATIVE
šestý pád (sixth case) lokál LOCATIVE
sedmý pád (seventh case) instrumentál INTRUMENTAL
We are using the names (not numbers), and we present particular cases not in the order of the traditional numbering, but in a way that is more convenient for foreign learners.
In a step-by-step approach, the forms of each case are shown in connection with the syntactic functions.
So far, only the NOMINATIVE forms have been mentioned, the NOMINATIVE case being the lexical entry in dictionaries and vocabularies. Its syntactic function is mostly that of a subject.
Chapters 21–24 are focused on the forms of nouns, adjectives and pronouns in ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR, in comparison with the nominative case.
Chapters 25–27 introduce PLURAL forms of nouns, adjectives and pronouns in NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE.
Chapters 28 – 32 deal with both the morphology and syntactic functions of the remaining cases, i.e. genitive, dative, locative, instrumental, vocative.
An overall morphological overview of all the cases is presented in synoptic charts in chapters 33 – 35.
ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR - NOUNS
Akuzativ singuláru (= þtvrtý pád jednotného þísla) - substantiva The syntactic function of ACCUSATIVE is mostly that of a direct object. It can be stated in advance that there are no special accusative forms for neuters and for inanimate masculines (see the explanation a few paragraphs below).
Ź FEMININE (femininum = ženský rod):
In nouns, adjectives, possessive pronouns, and demonstrative pronouns, Ɣ every nominative ending is changed in accusative into -A ĺ -U -E ĺ -I -Á ĺ -OU Examples: NOMINATIVE ACCUSATIVE
in the syntactic function of subject or nominal part of the predicate
in the syntactic function of object
Ta nová mapa je na stole. Hledám tu novou mapu.
The new map is on the desk. I am looking for the new map.
To je moje nová adresa. Znáš moji novou adresu?
This is my new address. Do you know my new address?
Naše ulice je tamhle nalevo. Tamhle nalevo vidíte naši ulici.
Our street is there on the left. There on the left you (can) see our street.
Ɣ Feminine nouns ending in a consonant
(e.g. vČc = thing, matter, kanceláĜ = office, odpovČć = answer) remain unchanged.
Examples:
NOMINATIVE ACCUSATIVE
in the syntactic function of subject or nominal part of the predicate
in the syntactic function of object
To je dĤležitá VċC. Chci vám Ĝíct dĤležitou VċC.
It is an important thing/matter. I want to tell you an important thing.
Kde je ta druhá KANCELÁě? Hledám tu druhou KANCELÁě.
Where is the other office? I am looking for the other office.
Jaká je vaše ODPOVċĆ? PotĜebujeme znát vaši ODOVċĆ.
What is your answer? We need to know your answer.