Questions and Answers

01

The Question Words

These open the question and stay at the front of it; the rest of the sentence follows in its ordinary order.

• co - what
• kdo - who
• kde - where
• kdy - when
• proč - why
• jak - how
• kolik - how much, how many

• Kde je jídlo?

  Where is the food?

• Proč nemáš práci?

  Why don't you have a job?

02

Where To and Where From

Kde asks about a position. For movement Czech has two more words, and using kde for either of them is wrong.

• kam - where to
• odkud - where from

• Kam jdeš?

  Where are you going?

• Odkud jste?

  Where are you from?

03

They Decline

Kdo and co take case endings like any pronoun, and the case is chosen by the verb or the preposition in the question.

• Čemu nerozumíte?

  What don't you understand?

• S kým jsi tam byl?

  Who were you there with?

04

Asking Which and What Kind

Jaký asks what something is like; který asks which one out of a known set. Both are adjectives and agree with the noun.

• Jaký je tvůj oblíbený film?

  What's your favourite film?

• Kterou příchuť máš raději?

  Which flavour do you prefer?

05

Questions Inside Sentences

A question tucked into a larger sentence keeps its question word and its word order unchanged, and a comma goes in front of it.

• Nevím, kde to je.

  I don't know where it is.

• Řekni mi, co se děje.

  Tell me what's going on.

06

Answering

Ano and ne exist, but a Czech answer usually repeats the verb instead, positive or negative, which sounds far less abrupt.

• Nemáš práci? Nemám.

  Don't you have a job? No, I don't.

• Máte průjem? Ne, ale kašlu.

  Do you have diarrhoea? No, but I have a cough.