4. pád – přídavná jména

When a noun becomes the object of a sentence, the adjective in front of it changes along with it: Mám nového kolegu. Dám si velkou kávu. In English "new" and "big" never move. In Czech the adjective follows the same logic as the noun, but with its own endings.

Read the table as two short rules. A hard adjective changes in two places only: -ého with a person or animal of masculine gender, -ou with any feminine noun. A soft adjective changes in one place only, -ího with a masculine animate. Everything else stays exactly as in the dictionary.

Mám staršího bratra a mladší sestru. - "I have an older brother and a younger sister." Both adjectives are soft: starší changes because bratr is a man, mladší does not because sestra is feminine.

Do not copy the noun's ending

The commonest slip is to give the adjective the noun's -u: *novu knihu, *velku kávu. The noun takes -u, the adjective -ou: novou knihu. Say them together until the rhyme stops bothering you. The second slip is the animate ending on things: *Mám nového telefon. A phone is not alive: Mám nový telefon.

Dishes that are adjectives

Several Czech dishes are named by an adjective standing alone, and they take these endings when you order them. Svíčková is short for svíčková na smetaně, beef sirloin in cream sauce, so "I'll have the svíčková" is Dám si svíčkovou. The same goes for women's surnames: paní Nováková becomes Znám paní Novákovou.

The small words too

"This/that" and possessives follow the same pattern, so a whole phrase moves as one: Znáš toho vysokého kluka? Vidíš tu červenou tramvaj? Hledám svou novou bundu. In speech you will often hear moji or tvoji for the feminine (Znáš moji sestru?); mou, tvou sound a little more formal. Both are correct.