Adverbs and Their Formation

01

The Endings

• -e or -ě is the usual one: dobrý gives dobře, hlasitý gives hlasitě
• -o on a smaller group, mostly about weather and states: teplý gives teplo
• -sky or -cky from adjectives in -ský: český gives česky

• Mluv hlasitěji, prosím.

  Speak louder, please.

• Dnes je docela vlhko a teplo.

  It's quite humid and warm today.

02

Languages

The -sky adverbs are how Czech says that you speak a language. The noun for the language exists as well, but it is used after a preposition, not with a verb of speaking.

• Umím anglicky a korejsky.

  I speak English and Korean.

• Jak se to řekne v portugalštině?

  How do you say that in Portuguese?

03

Comparing Them

Adverbs form comparatives much as adjectives do, with -eji or -ěji, and the superlative again adds nej-. The same handful of common words is irregular.

• dobře, lépe, nejlépe
• hodně, více, nejvíce
• brzy, dříve, nejdříve

• Budete se cítit lépe.

  You'll feel better.

• Nejdřív se osprchuji.

  First I'll take a shower.

04

Adverbs With No Adjective

Many of the commonest adverbs are not built from anything: words for time, place and degree simply are adverbs, and they are learned as vocabulary.

• Teď musíme odejít.

  We have to leave now.

• Tvoje sestra je moc vysoká.

  Your sister is very tall.

05

Adverbs as Whole Sentences

An adverb in -o can carry a sentence on its own, with no subject and only je in front of it. This is how Czech reports the weather and the state of a place.

• Je tu tak hlučno.

  It's so noisy here.

• Dnes je docela vlhko a teplo.

  It's quite humid and warm today.

06

Where They Stand

An adverb of degree goes in front of the word it modifies. Adverbs of time and place move freely, and putting one first is the ordinary way to set the scene.

• Zítra si jdu umýt vlasy.

  Tomorrow I'm going to wash my hair.

• Vždycky mi stříhá vlasy.

  He always cuts my hair.

• Obvykle pivo moc nepiju.

  I don't usually drink much beer.