Nouns: Gender

01

Reading the Ending

The nominative singular, the form a dictionary gives, is a good guide most of the time.

• ending in a consonant - usually masculine: dům, stůl, kamarád
• ending in -a - usually feminine: žena, kniha, škola
• ending in -o - neuter: auto, město, okno

• Ten dům je nový.

  That house is new.

• Ta kniha je stará.

  That book is old.

• To auto je malé.

  That car is small.

02

Where the Ending Misleads

Two groups break the pattern often enough to matter. Some nouns in -a name men and are masculine whatever their ending suggests. And a large set of feminines ends in a soft consonant, looking masculine from the outside.

• masculine in -a: kolega, táta
• feminine in a consonant: věc, postel, sůl

• Můj kolega je učitel.

  My colleague is a teacher.

• Podej mi sůl.

  Pass me the salt.

Nouns ending in -e can be feminine or neuter and simply have to be learned; the same is true of the many neuters in -í.

• Ta židle je rozbitá.

  That chair is broken.

03

What Gender Controls

Adjectives, possessives, demonstratives, numbers and the past participle all take their form from the noun's gender. Change the noun and everything around it changes with it.

• Můj starý počítač.

  My old computer.

• Moje stará židle.

  My old chair.

• Moje staré auto.

  My old car.

04

Gender and Sex Are Not the Same

For people, gender usually follows sex, but not always: děvče and dítě are neuter, and everything agreeing with them is neuter too, however plainly the child is a girl or a boy.

• To dítě je malé.

  That child is small.

05

The Same Word, Two Genders

A few nouns exist in both a masculine and a feminine form, one for each sex, and the pair is built with a suffix rather than by changing the word.

• učitel - učitelka
• kamarád - kamarádka

• Je učitelka.

  She is a teacher.

06

Gender in the Plural

Gender does not disappear in the plural. The three genders keep separate endings there, and the adjectives and verbs agreeing with them keep separate forms too.

• Ty knihy jsou nové.

  Those books are new.

• Ta okna jsou nová.

  Those windows are new.

07

Borrowed Words

A word taken into Czech is given a gender on arrival, usually from its ending. Those ending in a consonant become masculine and decline like any other; a few that end awkwardly refuse to decline at all but still carry a gender for agreement.

• autobus, hotel - masculine
• sushi, DVD - neuter, indeclinable

• To sushi je dobré.

  The sushi is good.

08

A Reliable Test

If you are unsure, try the demonstrative in front of the noun. Ten, ta and to pick out the three genders, and a Czech ear will accept only one of them.

• Ten stůl, ta lampa, to okno.

  The table, the lamp, the window.