Czech A1 flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Dobrý den

Universal formal greeting usable all day in shops, offices, and with strangers; the informal equivalent among friends is Ahoj, and Na shledanou is the matching goodbye.

Jmenuji se

First-person phrase meaning 'my name is', followed by the name in the nominative; the question form is Jak se jmenujete? (formal) or Jak se jmenuješ? (informal).

Kolik to stojí?

Question asking the price of one item; answer with the number plus korun, for example Stojí to dvě stě korun. Use Kolik stojí…? when naming the item.

v půl osmé

Time expression meaning 7:30, literally 'in half of the eighth hour'. Czech counts toward the coming hour, so půl sedmé is 6:30, not 7:30.

čtrnáct versus čtyřicet

Minimal pair for listening: čtrnáct means 14 and čtyřicet means 40. The long -áct- ending marks the teens; -desát marks the tens from fifty upward.

Vstup zakázán

Public sign meaning 'no entry' or 'entry prohibited'. It appears on doors, construction sites, and staff-only areas, and is a frequent reading-comprehension answer option.

Otevřeno / Zavřeno

Shop and office signs meaning 'open' and 'closed'. They are short passive forms; Otevíráme v sedm is the fuller version naming the opening time.

nástupiště

Railway term for 'platform'. On a timetable or station sign it is followed by a number, for example nástupiště 3, and pairs with odjezd (departure).

přestup

Means 'change' or 'transfer' between connections in transport. Přímý spoj means a direct connection with no change; the verb přestoupit means to change trains.

S pozdravem

Formal closing for letters and e-mails, roughly 'best regards'. Informal messages end with Měj se hezky or Ahoj, and the opening is usually Dobrý den.

Chtěl bych tě pozvat

Invitation formula meaning 'I would like to invite you'. The female speaker says Chtěla bych; the invitation continues with na + accusative event and a time.

datum narození

Form field meaning 'date of birth'. Write it as day, month, year, for example 5. května 1990, and remember Czech months are written with a lowercase letter.

být: jsem, jsi, je

Present tense of 'to be' in the first three persons singular. Plural forms are jsme, jste, jsou; the negative is written as one word: nejsem, není.

akuzativ singular

The object case. Masculine animate adds -a (Petr → Petra), feminine adds -u (voda → vodu), while masculine inanimate and neuter keep the nominative form.

v Praze, do Prahy

Case pair worth memorizing: v/na plus locative expresses location (v Praze, na stole), while do plus genitive expresses direction or destination (do Prahy, do obchodu).

pět korun, deset minut

Numbers five and above take the genitive plural of the counted noun. Numbers one to four use nominative: dva roky, tři koruny, čtyři minuty.

Kde je nádraží?

Core direction question meaning 'where is the station?'. Typical answers use vlevo, vpravo, rovně, and za rohem, often with a landmark introduced by u or naproti.

Dám si kávu

Standard ordering phrase in a café or restaurant, meaning 'I'll have a coffee'. The object stands in the accusative; the bill is requested with Zaplatím, prosím.

Prosím vás

Polite attention-getter used with strangers and staff, close to 'excuse me'. It also serves as 'please' when handing something over or asking for a repeat.

Nerozumím, můžete to zopakovat?

Survival pair for the speaking and listening tests: 'I don't understand, can you repeat that?'. Můžete mluvit pomaleji? asks the examiner to speak more slowly.

Mám rád / ráda

Expresses liking a thing or activity, followed by the accusative: Mám rád českou hudbu. The form rád agrees with the speaker's gender: a woman says mám ráda.

předložka s + instrumentál

The preposition s ('with') governs the instrumental case: s kamarádem, s mlékem, s rodinou. Memorize these as whole chunks rather than deriving the ending each time.

rodina

Means 'family'. Core members: matka, otec, bratr, sestra, syn, dcera, babička, dědeček; the possessive forms are moje matka and můj otec.

ve tři čtvrtě na čtyři

Time expression meaning 3:45, literally 'three quarters toward four'. Similarly čtvrt na čtyři is 3:15 and tři čtvrtě na čtyři is 3:45.

Pozor!

Warning word meaning 'attention' or 'careful'. It appears on signs and in announcements; it is not the English word 'poser' and never means a model or pose.

příjmení

Form field meaning 'surname' or 'last name', paired with jméno (first name). Both appear on every Czech registration form, alongside adresa and telefon.

Měj se hezky

Informal closing meaning 'take care' or 'have a nice day', used with friends and peers. For formal writing use S pozdravem, which works in any professional context.

přítomný čas: -á, -í, -e

Three main present-tense patterns named by the third-person singular ending: dělat → dělá, mluvit → mluví, psát → píše. Conjugate by replacing that ending for each person.

Nechci, nemám

Negation is formed by attaching ne- directly to the verb: nechci (I don't want), nemám (I don't have), není (he/she/it isn't). There is no separate negative word.

Ordinace

Sign on a doctor's office or surgery, often with hours below it. Related reading items include lékárna (pharmacy), nemocnice (hospital), and objednat se (to book an appointment).

Bydlím v Brně

Self-introduction sentence: 'I live in Brno'. The city name after v takes the locative case, so Praha becomes v Praze and Brno becomes v Brně.

Kolik je hodin?

Question asking the time. Answers use Je jedna hodina, Jsou dvě hodiny, Je půl třetí (2:30), or v plus time when saying when something happens.