Genitive case basics: possession, origin, quantities, and key noun endings
Can express possession, origin, and quantities using genitive case
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To je auto mého otce.
That is my father's car.
Jsem z České republiky.
I am from the Czech Republic.
Na kurzu je deset studentů.
There are ten students in the course.
Зверніть увагу на виділені частини. Що у них спільного?
English says "of" or adds 's. Czech has the 2nd case (genitive) for those jobs and many more. It answers koho? čeho? - of whom? of what? - and it is one of the cases you will hear most, because it follows quantities, a whole group of prepositions and every number from five up.
| Type | Ending | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine, people (hard) | -a | student → studenta, bratr → bratra |
| Masculine, people (soft) | -e | Tomáš → Tomáše, učitel → učitele |
| Masculine, things (hard) | -u, some -a | dům → domu, obchod → obchodu; sýr → sýra, chléb → chleba |
| Masculine, things (soft) | -e | čaj → čaje, pokoj → pokoje |
| Feminine in -a | -y | žena → ženy, Praha → Prahy, káva → kávy |
| Feminine in -e | no change | ulice → ulice |
| Feminine in a consonant | -i or -e | noc → noci, věc → věci; kancelář → kanceláře, tramvaj → tramvaje |
| Neuter in -o | -a | město → města, pivo → piva, Brno → Brna |
| Neuter in -e / -í | no change | moře → moře, náměstí → náměstí |
Two rows need a word list rather than a rule. Masculine things mostly take -u, but a group of everyday words take -a (sýra, chleba, lesa). Feminine nouns ending in a consonant split between -i and -e. Learn the genitive with the noun, the way a dictionary prints it: sýr, -a; kancelář, -e.
English speakers look for a preposition to translate "of" and reach for z: *auto z Petra, *šálek z kávy. There is nothing to translate. The genitive ending is the "of": Petrovo auto or auto Petra, šálek kávy.
You may also read that Czech uses the genitive after negation. Today that survives mainly in fixed phrases such as není divu (no wonder) and nebylo tam ani živáčka (there wasn't a living soul). In ordinary sentences the object stays in the accusative: Nemám čas.
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу A1
Вправи для практикиTo je auto mého otce.
That is my father's car.
Genitive for possession: otec → otce (genitive). Word order: possessed + genitive owner.
Jsem z České republiky.
I am from the Czech Republic.
Z/ze + genitive for origin: Česká republika → České republiky.
Na kurzu je deset studentů.
There are ten students in the course.
Numbers 5+ require genitive plural: student → studentů. (2-4 use nominative plural.)
Практикувати в курсі
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу A1