Nominative case of nouns: subject function, kdo?/co? questions, basic declension patterns
Can identify and use the nominative case for subjects and after 'to je' in basic sentences
Regardez ces exemples. Pouvez-vous repérer le schéma grammatical ?
Student čte knihu.
The student is reading a book.
To je nová restaurace.
This is a new restaurant.
Počítač a telefon jsou na stole.
The computer and phone are on the table.
Faites attention aux parties en surbrillance. Qu'ont-elles en commun ?
The nominative is the noun in its basic shape, the one you find in the dictionary: student, káva, město. Czech calls it the first case (1. pád) and asks for it with kdo? (who?) for people and animals and co? (what?) for things.
English nouns never change for their role in the sentence, so English speakers have never needed the word "nominative". But English pronouns do change: "I see him" against "he sees me", "she" against "her". Czech does to every noun what English does only to "I" and "me". The nominative is the "I" form; the other six cases are variations on it, and you will meet them one by one.
For the subject, the one doing the action: Babička vaří guláš. (Kdo vaří? - Babička.) And on both sides of být (to be): Petr je učitel. Kdo je ten pán? - To je pan Dvořák, náš soused. Co je to? - To je svíčková. No article goes in front: "a teacher" is just učitel.
Note the small pair in that example: pan with a short a is "Mr" before a name (pan Dvořák); pán with a long á is "gentleman" (ten pán). One mark, two words.
Czech grammar sorts nouns into groups, each named after a model word (vzor). Nouns in the same group take the same endings in every case, so a dictionary or teacher will often say "declines like žena". You do not need them for the nominative itself, but this is where the groups come from:
| Gender | Model words | Nouns that follow them |
|---|---|---|
| masculine, animate | pán, muž, předseda, soudce | student, učitel, táta, průvodce (guide) |
| masculine, inanimate | hrad, stroj | dům, most (bridge); pokoj (room), čaj |
| feminine | žena, růže, píseň, kost | káva, ulice, tramvaj, radost |
| neuter | město, moře, kuře, stavení | pivo, letiště, rajče (tomato), náměstí |
Within one gender, the split is mostly between "hard" and "soft" groups, decided by the last consonant: soft ones end in sounds like ž, š, č, ř, c, j (muž, pokoj, ulice). From the accusative on, that difference starts to show in the endings.
Appliquez cette grammaire dans les exercices du cours A1
Exercices de pratiqueStudent čte knihu.
The student is reading a book.
Student is the subject (kdo čte?) → nominative. Knihu is accusative (what is being read).
To je nová restaurace.
This is a new restaurant.
After 'to je' (this is), use nominative. Restaurace is feminine, so nová has feminine ending.
Počítač a telefon jsou na stole.
The computer and phone are on the table.
Both subjects are in nominative (co je na stole?). Na stole uses locative (different case).
Pratiquer dans le cours
Appliquez cette grammaire dans les exercices du cours A1