Czech Case: Instrumental

Among Czech cases, instrumental stands out as a versatile tool for expressing various relationships and functions within sentences.

In this article, we will show you how and why to use it, and give you some examples in Czech.

Read on to find out more about instrumental case in Czech!

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When Do I Use Instrumental Case?

Czechs use instrumental case to show how something is done or what is used to do it.

It can also show the condition or quality of something in specific situations.

It answers the questions "s kým?" (with whom?) or "s čím?" (with what?).

Here are some examples of instrumental case:

• Means or Instrumentality:
  • Píšu tužkou - I write with a pencil
  • Káva s mlékem - Coffee with milk
• Companionship or Association:
  • Jdu se svým spolubydlícím - I am going with my flatmate
  • Mám večeře s mámou - I have a dinner with mom

Of course we also need prepositions to form the instrumental case.
The most common one is s/se (with).

Some others are:

• mezi (between)
• nad (above)
• před (in front of)
• pod (under)
• za (behind)

Sometimes in Czech instrumental case, we don't need to use prepositions at all, even if we would use one in English.

Here are some examples:

• Cestuji autobusem - I am travelling by bus
• Maluji akvarelem - I am painting with watercolors
• Jdeme tunelem - We're going through the tunnel

Instrumental Vs. Accusative

One thing you should be aware of:
All the instrumental prepositions (except for "s") are also used with accusative case!

So how do you know when to use which case? It's easy!

Instrumental case is used for things in place, that are not moving,
or are moving within one location.
Accusative case is used for things that are in motion.
It means something is moving towards another place.

For example:

• Locative: pes je před mužem - the dog is in front of the man
• Locative: pes běží před mužem - the dog runs (continuously) in front of the man
• Accusative: pes skočí před muže - the dog jumps in front of the man
• Locative: kočka je nahoře na stromě - the cat is up in the tree
• Accusative: kočka běží na strom - the cat runs up the tree

Examples from Czech Republic

If you live in Prague, some bus and tram stops use locative case:

• Mezi Hřbitovy - Between the Cemeteries
• Pod Táborem - Below Tábor
• Pod Hradem: Below the Castle
• Pod Chodovem: Below Chodov
• Nad Parkem: Above the Park
• Nad Košíkem: Above Košík
• Za Horou: Behind the Mountain
• Za Avií: Behind Avia
• Za Kapličkou: Behind the Chapel

You also might hear this phrase:
"Chodec nemá přednost před tramvají" - "A pedestrian does not have priority before a tram".
Be careful! :)

How to Form Instrumental Case

As you've seen, "forming the dative case" means changing the endings of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns. Here's a simplified table of endings:

As usual, if you want to learn instrumental case, we always advise you to forget the tables!
Just practice using the case with our free tool. Once you get used to it you won't even have to think about it.

But anyway, if you need it, here's a simplified table of instrumental noun endings:

Noun ending (nominative)	Noun ending (genitive)	Example
Masculine animate/inanimate (any ending except masc. anim. ending with -a)	-em (-ěm)	pes - psem hrnek - hrnkem
Masculine animate (ending with -a)	-ou	ekologista - ekologistou
Feminine (ends with -a)	-ou	sestra - sestrou
Feminine (ends with -e/ě)	-í	ovce - ovcí
Feminine (consonant ending)	-í	postel - postelí
Neuter	-em	auto - autem gymnázium - gymnáziem slunce - sluncem

In conclusion, Czechs use instrumental case very often in daily conversation.

But it's quite easy: Just try to add -m, and if it's female try to add -u!
If it feels weird to say with those letters, add -í.

You will learn it in no time. Practice and using the language daily will make you confident in Czech. Happy learning!!

Practice what you learned in this article for free: