Relative Clauses — Czech Grammar

A relative clause describes a noun that has already been named. Czech builds one with , an adjective that agrees with that noun in gender and number - but takes its case from its own clause, not from the main one. That split is the whole difficulty and the whole rule.

Vyber si boty, které se ti líbí.
Choose the shoes you like.
Bydlím ve vesnici, kde je spousta krav.
I live in a village where there are lots of cows.

Gender and Number Look Back

The noun being described decides whether is masculine, feminine or neuter, singular or plural. This part is straightforward.

Muž, který tam stojí.
The man who is standing there.
Kniha, kterou čtu.
The book I'm reading.

The Case Looks Forward

The case comes from the job the word does inside its own clause. In the second example above, is accusative because it is the object of , even though is the subject of the main clause.

Kamarád, kterému jsem to dal.
The friend I gave it to.
Restaurace, o které jsem mluvil.
The restaurant I was talking about.

It Cannot Be Left Out

English drops the relative word freely - the book I'm reading. Czech never does. The clause must open with or another relative word, and a comma must precede it.

To je ten film, který jsem viděl.
That's the film I saw.

co and kdo

After , and similar words, Czech uses rather than . After meaning a person, it uses .

Není nic, co by nedokázal.
There is nothing he couldn't manage.
Jste první, kdo si toho všiml.
You're the first who has noticed.

Place and Time

For a place, is the ordinary choice and is shorter than a preposition with . It does not decline.

Ve vesnici, kde bydlím, je klid.
It's quiet in the village where I live.

Which Case After a Preposition

When the relative word follows a preposition, the preposition decides its case, exactly as it would for any noun. The preposition stays with the relative word at the head of the clause and cannot be left dangling at the end as in English.

Ten kluk, se kterým jsem mluvil.
The boy I spoke to.
Firma, ve které pracuji.
The company I work for.

Clauses Inside Clauses

A relative clause can sit inside another subordinate clause, and each keeps its own comma. The relative word still agrees with its own noun and takes its case from its own clause, however deep it is buried.

Myslím, že ta kniha, kterou čteš, je zajímavá.
I think the book you're reading is interesting.

What Kind, Not Which

introduces a clause describing what sort of thing is meant, where would pick out a particular one.

Chci takovou barvu, jakou máš ty.
I want the colour you have.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Czech course

5 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 286. A few of them, with the words “Relative Clauses” is about in bold:

Jste první, kdo si toho všiml!
You are the first person to notice!
Lesson 337
Bydlím ve vesnici, kde je spousta krav.
I live in a village with many cows.
Lesson 487

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