Czech language and literature
What this domain covers
Czech language and literature tests basic linguistic facts, formal and informal address, the place of Czech among Slavic languages, and major literary periods and authors. Questions may ask how many cases Czech has, what 'vykání' means, or who wrote a famous work.
Core facts
- Czech is a West Slavic language, closely related to Slovak and Polish. It is the official language of Czechia and is written in the Latin alphabet with diacritics. The alphabet has 42 letters; 'ch' is treated as a single letter.
- Nouns have three genders and seven grammatical cases. Verbs have aspect (perfective and imperfective). Word order is flexible but not arbitrary; information structure matters.
- Formal address uses the second-person plural ('vy') - vykání - with strangers and in professional settings. Informal address uses the second-person singular ('ty') - tykání - with family, friends and children. Using 'ty' with a stranger can seem rude.
- Literature includes medieval legends and chronicles; Jan Hus and John Amos Comenius; the national revival with Palacký and Mácha; realism with Božena Němcová and Jan Neruda; Karel Čapek, Jaroslav Hašek, Bohumil Hrabal, Milan Kundera and Václav Havel.
- Czech and Slovak are mutually intelligible to a considerable degree, but they are separate standard languages. After 1993, Czech remains the official language of Czechia.
Worked example
A shop assistant addresses a new customer with 'Jak se máš?' Is that appropriate? 'Jak se máš?' is informal singular (tykání). With a stranger, the expected form is 'Jak se máte?' (vykání). The choice signals social distance; using the informal form too early can be perceived as disrespectful.
Traps
Czech has seven cases, not six or four. 'Ch' is one letter in the alphabet, even though it is typed with two characters. Czech and Slovak are not the same language, despite mutual intelligibility. Karel Čapek did not write in the 19th century; he died in 1938.