Nouns: Accusative Case

01

The Endings

Singular

• masculine animate: -a - kluk becomes kluka
• masculine inanimate: unchanged - stůl stays stůl
• feminine: -u - žena becomes ženu
• neuter: unchanged - auto stays auto

• Vidím kluka.

  I see a boy.

• Vidím stůl.

  I see a table.

• Vidím ženu.

  I see a woman.

Plural

• masculine and feminine: -y - kluky, ženy
• neuter: -a - auta

• Mám ráda všechny filmy.

  I like all films.

• Koupila jsem nové boty.

  I bought new shoes.

Soft feminine nouns take -i rather than -u, and everything agreeing with the noun changes along with it.

• Znáš tu restauraci?

  Do you know that restaurant?

02

Adjectives Come Too

An adjective in front of an accusative noun takes an accusative ending of its own. The whole phrase moves together, and forgetting the adjective is the commonest slip.

• Potřebuji nový svetr.

  I need a new sweater.

• Chci zelenou šálu.

  I want a green scarf.

03

After Prepositions of Direction

Several prepositions take the accusative when they describe movement towards something. The same prepositions take a different case when they describe a position, and the case is what separates the two readings.

• na - onto, to
• pro - for, to fetch
• za - for, in exchange for
• přes - across

• Jdu na poštu.

  I'm going to the post office.

• Přišel pro peníze.

  He came for the money.

04

Time

The accusative also carries most expressions of when and for how long. Days of the week take v with the accusative, and a stretch of time is put in the accusative with no preposition at all.

• V pondělí mám čas.

  I have time on Monday.

• Každé odpoledne hraju basketbal.

  I play basketball every afternoon.

• Čekal jsem deset minut.

  I waited ten minutes.

05

The Pronouns

Personal pronouns have accusative forms of their own, and most of them come in a long and a short version. The short one is the everyday choice; the long one is used for emphasis and after a preposition.

• mě - me
• tě - you
• ho, ji - him, her
• nás, vás, je - us, you, them

• Vidíš mě?

  Do you see me?

• Znám ho.

  I know him.

06

Nouns That Refuse

A handful of borrowed nouns never change their ending at all. They still have an accusative - the sentence needs one - but the word itself is unaltered, and the adjective in front of it does the work of showing the case.

• Mám rád sushi.

  I like sushi.

• Už jsi dokoukal to DVD?

  Have you finished that DVD?

07

Free Word Order

Because the ending marks the object, the object does not have to follow the verb. Moving it to the front emphasises it and leaves the sentence perfectly clear, which is something English cannot do without changing the grammar.

• Tu knihu jsem četl.

  That book I have read.

08

Negation Changes Nothing

Negating the verb leaves the object in the accusative. Some Slavic languages move it into the genitive; Czech does not, and the object keeps the ending it had.

• Nemám auto.

  I don't have a car.

• Nevidím ten dům.

  I don't see that house.