Czech A1 cheat sheet

A1 listening tasks use short, slow dialogues: greetings, shopping, directions, times, prices; answer options are usually pictures or three short phrases.

Numbers are the highest-frequency trap: čtrnáct (14) vs čtyřicet (40), devatenáct (19) vs devadesát (90); stress falls on the first syllable, so the ending -áct/-desát is what distinguishes them.

Prices are heard as celkem/stoji + number + korun; watch for "dohromady" (in total) versus a unit price.

Times appear as "v sedm hodin", "v půl osmé" (= 7:30, half toward the next hour), "ve tři čtvrtě na čtyři" (= 3:45).

Directions vocabulary to catch: vlevo, vpravo, rovně, doprava/do leva, nahoru, dolů, za rohem, naproti, vedle, u nádraží.

Days and dates: v pondělí, v úterý, ve středu, ve čtvrtek, v pátek, v sobotu, v neděli; "ve" replaces "v" before awkward consonant clusters.

Negation flips meaning: "nechci", "nemám", "není tady"; listen for ne- at the start of the verb, not for a separate word.

Polite request forms signal the task type: "Prosím tě/vás", "Mohl byste…?", "Chtěl bych…" usually precede the information you must record.

A1 texts are 40-80 words: SMS, e-mail, notice, sign, menu, timetable, short advertisement; one question per text, answer choices are short paraphrases.

Scan for the question word first: kdo (who), kde (where), kdy (when), co (what), kolik (how much), proč (why), jak (how).

Signs to decode instantly: Otevřeno/Zavřeno, Vstup zakázán, Pozor, Prodejna, Ordinace, Nástupiště, Odjezd/Příjezd, Zákaz kouření.

Timetable layout: column headers Odjezd/Příjezd + destination; "přímý spoj" = direct connection, "přestup" = change.

In e-mails find the greeting (Dobrý den, Ahoj), the request (Prosím, Pošli mi…), and the closing (S pozdravem, Měj se); the question usually targets the request.

Case endings carry the role: -u/-a after "do" (do Prahy, do obchodu), -ě/-e after "v" (v Praze, v obchodě); use them to tell destination from location.

False friends and cognates: "pozor" = attention (not "poser"), "sklep" = cellar, "rodina" = family; do not guess from English.

Unknown words: identify the part of speech from the ending (-ost = noun fem., -ový/-ní = adjective) and infer from context rather than stopping.

A1 writing tasks: fill in a form (jméno, příjmení, adresa, datum narození, telefon, e-mail), write a short SMS/e-mail of 20-40 words, or complete a dialogue.

Standard opening: "Ahoj [name]," or "Dobrý den,"; standard closing: "Měj se hezky", "S pozdravem", "Ahoj".

Fixed frame for invitations: "Chtěl/a bych tě pozvat na…" + time "v sobotu v sedm hodin" + place "do restaurace".

Fixed frame for apology: "Promiň, že nemůžu přijít, protože…" + reason with "protože" + verb.

Date format: 5. května 2024 or 5. 5. 2024; months are lowercase (leden, únor, březen, duben, květen, červen, červenec, srpen, září, říjen, listopad, prosinec).

Address order: street + number, postal code + city (e.g., Dlouhá 12, 110 00 Praha 1); the postal code precedes the city.

Diacritics are graded: háček and čárka change words (byt/apartment vs být/to be, drát/wire vs drát? - write ě, š, č, ř, ž, ý, á, í, é, ú/ů).

Keep sentences to subject-verb-object; A1 raters reward correct short sentences over ambitious broken ones.

A1 speaking has three typical parts:自我介绍-style introduction, a short monologue on a picture/topic, and a role-play dialogue with the examiner.

Self-introduction formula: Jmenuji se…, Je mi … let, Bydlím v…, Pracuji/Studuji…, Mám rád/a…, Učím se česky… .

Introduce family with possessives: můj bratr, moje sestra, moji rodiče; note moje for feminine and neuter, můj for masculine.

Role-play functions to prepare: pozdravit, představit se, zeptat se na cenu/čas/cestu, objednat si (Dám si…), zaplatit (Zaplatím, prosím).

Question formation at A1: intonation questions (Máš čas?), "Kde je…?", "Kolik to stojí?", "Jak se dostanu do…?", "Můžeš mi pomoct?".

Pronunciation rules: stress on the first syllable of every word; "ch" is one sound; "ř" is raised; final voiced consonants devoice (led sounds like let).

Fillers that keep you talking: no tak, prostě, vlastně, hmm; better to say "Nevím, ale myslím, že…" than to stop.

Past tense for simple narration: byl/byla jsem, šel/šla jsem; the auxiliary jsem is mandatory in 1st person.

Seven cases, but A1 needs mainly nominative (subject), accusative (object: Mám knihu), and locative after v/na (v Praze, na stole).

Verb "být" present: jsem, jsi, je, jsme, jste, jsou; negative is formed with ne- attached: nejsem, nejsi, není, nejsme, nejste, nejsou.

Verb classes by 3rd person: -á (dělá), -í (mluví), -e (píše), -uje (studuje); conjugate from the 3rd person singular stem.

Accusative singular endings: masc. animate -a (vidím Petra), masc. inanimate = nominative (mám čaj), fem. -u (mám vodu), neuter = nominative.

Gender cues: nouns ending -a are usually feminine, -o/-í neuter, consonant masculine; -ost and -ice are feminine.

Adjective agreement: dobrý čaj (masc.), dobrá káva (fem.), dobré pivo (neut.); plural dobré/dobří.

Numbers 1-5 govern nominative singular/plural (dva roky, pět let), 5+ takes genitive plural (pět korun, deset minut).

Basic prepositions and case: do + genitive, v/na + locative, s + instrumental, pro + accusative; memorize as chunks (do školy, v škole? - v Praze, s kamarádem).