Quick Rundown: Pronouns, Modal Verbs
In this article, you'll learn something about pronouns and modal verbs in the Czech language.
Pronouns are words like I, you, he/she, it...etc. They tell you the subject of the sentence - who you're talking about.
Modal verbs are a special kind of verb, that can be combined with other verbs. We'll get into more detail below.
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Pronouns
Pronouns (zájmena) are very important words that you will use in any conversation.
Pronouns are words that replace nouns in a sentence.
For example, in english you could say, "You are teachers."
In Czech that would be: "Vy jste učitelé."
You and Vy are both pronouns.
You will see below that Czech pronouns are not used as frequently as in English, but you will still need them on a daily basis.
In Czech, the pronouns are as follows:
Pro tip:
to means "it", and ono means "they".
Both are singular. to is for an object, and ono is for a person.
For example, the word "child" (dítě) is neutral gender. You might say, Ano, to je moje dítě (Yes, it is my child).
Or you could say, Ono je už vysoké (He/she is already tall).
| English | Czech |
| I | já |
| you | ty/Vy |
| he | on |
| she | ona |
| it | to/ono |
| we | my |
| they | oni |
Another pro tip:
oni is actually the masculine form of "they".
In a book, you might see oni if the author is talking about a group of men or boys.
Alternatively, ony can be masculine or feminine (a group of only men, only women, or both)
And ona is neutral - perhaps used for a group of children, for example.
But you can use oni all the time to keep it simple!
| English | Czech |
| I | já |
| you | ty/Vy |
| he | on |
| she | ona |
| it | to/ono |
| we | my |
| they | oni |
Pro tip:
to means "it", and ono means "they".
Both are singular. to is for an object, and ono is for a person.
For example, the word "child" (dítě) is neutral gender. You might say, Ano, to je moje dítě (Yes, it is my child).
Or you could say, Ono je už vysoké (He/she is already tall).
Another pro tip:
oni is actually the masculine form of "they".
In a book, you might see oni if the author is talking about a group of men or boys.
Alternatively, ony can be masculine or feminine (a group of only men, only women, or both)
And ona is neutral - perhaps used for a group of children, for example.
But you can use oni all the time to keep it simple!
Formal Address
Like many other languages, Czech has two ways to say you. It's called formal or informal address, and it's used to show respect or closeness to the people you communicate with. If you speak another Slavic or European language, you may already be familiar with this concept.
In Czech you can translate you as ty (friendly vibe) or Vy (stranger, older person).
You should use the polite version (Vy) when you talk to:
- A stranger (the cashier at the grocery store, someone in a shop)
- Someone older than you, or someone forty years old or older (depends on the person and the situation)
- Someone you meet for the first time
- Someone you respect (a teacher, doctor, etc.)
- People in your workplace
You can use the informal ty in all other situations.
A few caveats:
- If you are unsure when to use formal address, it is better to use it with all strangers until you get the hang of it.
- You may get teased about being too formal, but it is much better than offending someone by being too informal.
- Older people might not appreciate formal address, if they feel it makes a statement about their age - for example, if you are being more formal with them in the workplace than your younger colleagues.
- Nowadays in corporate offices, where many foreigners and young people are working, it is common to use informal address from the very first introduction.
- The same is true for parties - you can use informal address with people you have been introduced to in a casual setting by one of your friends.
- In official correspondence, if you want to show respect to the addressee, write pronouns with a capital letter (Vy, not vy)
When you meet a person for the first time you can ask them:
Můžu Vám tykat? (can I address you informally?)
Or just offer them:
Můžete mi tykat (you can say ty to me)
You may also hear:
můžeme si tykat? (can we speak informally to each other?)
Usually this will not be the very first thing you say to each other, rather it will come after you have already done a bit of small talk.
Of course there are some social norms, concerning who can ask this question of whom. But you will have to find it out on your own.
Don't worry too much if you get it wrong, most Czechs are really nice people :)
Now, let's talk about when not to use pronouns in Czech, and start looking at some Czech verbs.
We'll start with the most important verb in Czech - být, "to be"...
I Am, Verb Basics
The most important modal verb in Czech is být, "to be". Here are its forms:
| English | Czech |
| I am | jsem |
| you are (informal) | jsi |
| you are (formal) | jste |
| he/she/it is | je |
| we are | jsme |
| they are | jsou |
As you can see, the forms of the verb are quite different from each other.
This means you can leave out the pronoun, because you can tell who we're talking about from the verb.
Most of the time you will not hear pronouns by themselves, they can be replaced by the verb in the sentence.
So instead of: Já jsem student
(I am a student)
You will hear: Jsem student
However, pronouns are necessary when speaking about the 3rd person (he, she, it), if it's not clear from the context if "it" is he or she.
For example: Je v práci (___ is at work)
We are not sure if he is at work or she is at work.
So we can say, for example: Ona je v práci (she is at work)
Using the pronoun is not grammatically wrong. It is just redundant. If you use it all the time, you will sound like a foreigner.
But you can use pronouns to emphasise exactly who or what you are talking about.
For example: Ne, já jsem student, ne ona. Ona je učitelka. (No, I am the student, not her. She is the teacher.)
Let's see how this will play out with some other Czech verbs.
Modal Verbs
Modal verbs (způsobové sloveso) are a very useful set of verbs. They can be combined with other verbs to add some extra information.
For example, in English you can say something like: "He wants to go home."
Both "wants" and "go" are verbs in this sentence, but "wants" is a modal verb.
Because you can combine modal verbs in so many ways, you can learn to say a lot of things while learning only a few Czech words.
Here are some of the more common modal verbs:
| English | Czech |
| to have | mít |
| to be able to, can | moci |
| to have to, must | muset |
| to be allowed to, may | smět |
| to want | chtít |
| to know how to | umět |
| to intend | hodlat |
You can pair modal verbs with:
- Another verb (in infinitive) - Chci vědět (I want to know)
- A noun (in a specific case) - Chci čaj (I want tea)
- A place (with a preposition and noun) - Chci do supermarketu (I want (to go) to the supermarket)
Even if you don't know much Czech, you can create many understandable sentences by just combining modal verbs like "to want", "to need" or "to know" in these 3 simple ways.
Pro tip:
You can use almost any verb in infinitive with a modal verb to make a sentence:
Musím jít (I have to go)
Musíme se setkat (We have to meet)
Chceš jíst? (Do you want to eat?)
Mohou pracovat (They can work)
Potřebuje odejít (He needs to leave)
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