The number-case system in full: 1 agrees, 2-4 nominative plural, 5+ genitive plural, and what happens in oblique cases
I can count things in all three zones and keep verb agreement right after large numbers.
例文を見てください。文法パターンを見つけられますか？
Na zahrádce sedělo šest štamgastů a dva turisté.
Six regulars and two tourists were sitting in the beer garden.
Objednali jsme čtyři knedlíky a k tomu pět piv.
We ordered four dumplings and five beers to go with them.
ハイライトされた部分に注目してください。共通点は何ですか？
In English a number changes nothing but the plural -s: one beer, two beers, five beers. In Czech the number decides the case of the noun and even the form of the verb. There are three zones.
| Number | Noun | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | agrees in gender and case | singular | Jeden rohlík stál pět korun. |
| 2, 3, 4 | nominative plural | plural | Dva kluci přišli. Tři kávy stály sto korun. |
| 5 and up | genitive plural | 3rd person singular, neuter in the past | Pět kluků přišlo. Čeká tam deset lidí. |
The verb rule is the part that surprises English speakers. With five or more, Czech treats the whole group as a singular "amount": Na zahrádce sedělo šest štamgastů, not *seděli. The same goes for words of quantity, which also take the genitive: Přišlo hodně lidí, několik studentů, málo turistů. A mass noun after these words stays singular: trochu cukru, hodně času.
The zones run through two everyday situations. Time: Je jedna hodina. Jsou dvě hodiny. Je pět hodin. Money: jedna koruna, dvě koruny, pět korun. Note that the verb follows the zone too: jsou for two to four, je for five and up.
This part of the rule is easy to miss. The "five + genitive plural" pattern is used only where the whole phrase is in the nominative or accusative. In any other case the numeral declines and the noun takes the case the sentence needs:
| Case needed | Phrase |
|---|---|
| nominative / accusative | Mám pět kamarádů. |
| instrumental (s) | Jedu na Sněžku s pěti kamarády. |
| locative (o) | Mluvili jsme o pěti pivech, která jsme ochutnali. |
| dative | Poslali jsme pozvánky pěti lidem. |
So *s pět kamarády and *o pěti piv are both wrong: the numeral has to decline (pěti), and the noun has to take the instrumental or locative.
Nouns like dveře (door), kalhoty (trousers) and noviny (newspaper) are plural in form even when there is only one. They count with special forms: jedny dveře, dvoje kalhoty, troje noviny. With trousers, many Czechs sidestep the form in speech: dva páry kalhot.
Člověk has the plural lidé, and in the genitive lidí: dva lidé, pět lidí. In everyday speech you will also hear dva lidi, which is colloquial. In writing, prefer lidé.
B1コースの練習問題でこの文法を応用しましょう
練習問題Na zahrádce sedělo šest štamgastů a dva turisté.
Six regulars and two tourists were sitting in the beer garden.
sedělo with 5+ (neuter sg.), turisté with 2-4 (nom. pl.).
Objednali jsme čtyři knedlíky a k tomu pět piv.
We ordered four dumplings and five beers to go with them.
Both zones in one order: čtyři knedlíky, pět piv.
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