Adverbs of place

A1 — Příslovce

Adverbs of place: tady/zde, tam, nahoře, dole, vlevo, vpravo

Can use place adverbs to describe locations and give simple directions

Examples

Lékárna je vpravo a pošta je vlevo. — The pharmacy is on the right and the post office is on the left.
Pojď sem! Tady je volné místo. — Come here! There is a free seat here.
Kancelář je nahoře ve druhém patře. — The office is upstairs on the second floor.

AdverbsA1

Adverbs of place

Adverbs of place: tady/zde, tam, nahoře, dole, vlevo, vpravo

Learning Goal

Can use place adverbs to describe locations and give simple directions

Exam Skills:ListeningSpeaking

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

Lékárna je vpravo a pošta je vlevo.

The pharmacy is on the right and the post office is on the left.

Pojď sem! Tady je volné místo.

Come here! There is a free seat here.

Kancelář je nahoře ve druhém patře.

The office is upstairs on the second floor.

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

English once had three words for "here": here (in this place), hither (to this place) and hence (from this place). Modern English kept only the first and lets here do all three jobs. Czech kept the whole set. So before you choose a word, ask the question Czech asks: kde? (where - at rest) or kam? (where to - movement).

Where? and where to?

kde? (location)	kam? (direction)	English
tady / zde	sem	here
tam	tam	there
nahoře	nahoru	upstairs, at the top / up
dole	dolů	downstairs, below / down
vlevo (nalevo)	doleva	on the left / to the left
vpravo (napravo)	doprava	on the right / to the right
vpředu	dopředu	at the front / forward
vzadu	dozadu	at the back / backwards
doma	domů	at home / home
venku	ven	outside / out

Only tam serves both questions. Every other pair splits, and none of these words ever changes its ending.

Where English speakers slip

Because English says "here" for both, the classic mistake is *Pojď tady! for "Come here!". Movement needs sem: Pojď sem! Tady je volné místo. - "Come here! There's a free seat here." The same split runs through the list:

Kancelář je nahoře, v pátém patře. - The office is upstairs, on the fifth floor. But Jděte nahoru. - Go upstairs.
Lékárna je vlevo. - The pharmacy is on the left. But Zahněte doleva. - Turn left.
Jsem doma. - I'm at home. But Jdu domů. - I'm going home.
Venku prší. - It's raining outside. But Pojďme ven. - Let's go out.

A good test: if you could add "to" in English without changing the meaning (go to the left, turn to the right), you want the kam? word.

tady, tu or zde?

All three mean "here, in this place". Tady is what people say; tu is just as everyday, and shorter. Zde belongs to writing and announcements: you will meet it on websites as Klikněte zde (Click here), and almost never hear it over a beer.

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

Practice Exercises

Learners confuse static location (kde? — tady, nahoře) with directional adverbs (kam? — sem, nahoru). 🇬🇧 English speakers: English 'here' covers both 'tady' (location) and 'sem' (direction). Saying *Pojď tady instead of Pojď sem is a common error.

Common Error Patterns

Used a static location adverb where a directional one is needed or vice versa

Ask kde? (where/static) → tady, nahoře, dole. Ask kam? (where to/direction) → sem, nahoru, dolů.

Used zde in casual speech or tady in formal writing

Use tady in everyday conversation and zde in formal/written contexts.

Lékárna je vpravo a pošta je vlevo.

The pharmacy is on the right and the post office is on the left.

vpravo (right) and vlevo (left) — static location adverbs, invariable.

Pojď sem! Tady je volné místo.

Come here! There is a free seat here.

sem = direction (come HERE), tady = static location (HERE is a seat). Different words for 'here'.

Kancelář je nahoře ve druhém patře.

The office is upstairs on the second floor.

nahoře = upstairs/above (static). For direction 'go upstairs' use nahoru: Jdi nahoru.

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2. Where is it?

Frequently asked questions

When do you use Adverbs of place?: English once had three words for "here": here (in this place), hither (to this place) and hence (from this place). Modern English kept only the first and lets here do all three jobs. Czech kept the whole set. So before you choose a word, ask the question Czech asks: kde? (where - at rest) or kam? (where to - movement).
How do you form Adverbs of place?: Only tam serves both questions. Every other pair splits, and none of these words ever changes its ending. Because English says "here" for both, the classic mistake is *Pojď tady! for "Come here!". Movement needs sem : Pojď sem! Tady je volné místo. - "Come here! There's a free seat here." The same split runs through the list: A good test: if you could add "to" in English without changing the meaning (go to the left, turn to the right), you want the kam? word. All three mean "here, in this place". Tady is what people say; tu is just as everyday, and shorter.
What are common mistakes with Adverbs of place?: Learners confuse static location (kde? — tady, nahoře) with directional adverbs (kam? — sem, nahoru). 🇬🇧 English speakers: English 'here' covers both 'tady' (location) and 'sem' (direction). Saying *Pojď tady instead of Pojď sem is a common error.

kde? (location)

kam? (direction)

English

tady / zde

sem

here

tam

there

nahoře

nahoru

upstairs, at the top / up

dole

dolů

downstairs, below / down

vlevo (nalevo)

doleva

on the left / to the left

vpravo (napravo)

doprava

on the right / to the right

vpředu

dopředu

at the front / forward

vzadu

dozadu

at the back / backwards

doma

domů

at home / home

venku

ven

outside / out

Frequently asked questions

When do you use Adverbs of place?

English once had three words for "here": here (in this place), hither (to this place) and hence (from this place). Modern English kept only the first and lets here do all three jobs. Czech kept the whole set. So before you choose a word, ask the question Czech asks: kde? (where - at rest) or kam? (where to - movement).

How do you form Adverbs of place?

Only tam serves both questions. Every other pair splits, and none of these words ever changes its ending. Because English says "here" for both, the classic mistake is *Pojď tady! for "Come here!". Movement needs sem : Pojď sem! Tady je volné místo. - "Come here! There's a free seat here." The same split runs through the list: A good test: if you could add "to" in English without changing the meaning (go to the left, turn to the right), you want the kam? word. All three mean "here, in this place". Tady is what people say; tu is just as everyday, and shorter.

What are common mistakes with Adverbs of place?

Learners confuse static location (kde? — tady, nahoře) with directional adverbs (kam? — sem, nahoru). 🇬🇧 English speakers: English 'here' covers both 'tady' (location) and 'sem' (direction). Saying *Pojď tady instead of Pojď sem is a common error.