Czech/Pronouns

Details on and declination of personal pronouns

As other pronouns, also personal pronouns are declined in Czech language. As verbs used with pronouns are declined and it's easy for listener to guess person (first, second, third) and number (singular, plural), pronouns are not often use in their primary form - nominative. Examples with nominative written below are a little bit artificial structures. Czechs do not usually make sentences with nominative form of pronouns unless they want to emphasize the person.

I

Pronoun já [jaː] (I in English) substitutes speaker (first person) in a sentence.

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	já [jaː]		Já to umím. [jaː tɔ umiːm]	I can do it.
genitive	mě [mɲɛ]	mne [mnɛ]	Hráli si beze mě. [ˈɦraːlɪ sɪ ˈbɛzɛ mɲɛ]	They played without me.
dative	mně [mɲɛ]	mi [mɪ]	Maminko, povídej mi pohádku, prosím. [mamɪŋkɔ pɔviːdɛj mɪ poɦaːtkʊ prosiːm]	Mum, tell me a fairytale, please.
accusative	mě [mɲɛ]	mne [mnɛ]	Vidíš mě? [vɪɟiːʃ mɲɛ]	Can you see me?
vocative	*
locative	mně [mɲɛ]		Povídali si o mně. [pɔviːdalɪ sɪ ɔmɲɛ]	They talked about me.
instrumental	mnou [mnɔʊ̯]		Můžeš pracovat se mnou. [muːʒɛʃ prat͡sɔvat sɛ mnɔʊ̯]	You can work with me.

* Vocative of já is not used.

You (singular)

Ty [tɪ] (you in English) is used to replace speaker's partner (second person, singular). It's mostly used in informal conversation, i.e. when speakers are friends or members of same family, when one speaker is significantly older than the other or when the speaker abuses their partner. In formal conversations pronoun vy [vɪ] is broadly used to address speaker's partner.

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	ty [tɪ]		Ty jsi náš hrdina. [tɪ jsɪ naːʃ hrɟɪna]	You are our hero.
genitive	tě [cɛ]	tebe [tɛbɛ]	Od tebe jsem nic nečekal. [ot tɛbɛ ˈjsɛm ˈɲɪt͡s nɛt͡ʃɛkal]	I didn't expect anything from you.
dative	ti [cɪ]	tobě [tɔbjɛ]	Táta ti to poví. [taːta cɪ tɔ pɔviː]	Dad is going to tell you.
accusative	tě [cɛ]	tebe [tɛbɛ]	Uděláš-li chybu, opravím tě. [uɟɛlaːʃ lɪ xɪbʊ ɔpraviːm cɛ]	If you make mistake, I will correct you.
vocative	ty [tɪ]		Ty v tom modrém triku, pojď sem! [tɪ ftɔm mɔdrɛːm trɪkʊ pɔjc sɛm]	You, the one in blue t-shirt, come here!
locative	tobě [tɔbjɛ]		Ta kniha je o tobě. [ta kɲɪɦa jɛ ɔtɔbjɛ]	The book is about you.
instrumental	tebou [tɛbɔʊ̯]		Nad tebou je obloha. [nad tɛbɔʊ̯ jɛ ɔblɔɦa]	There is the sky above you.

He

Pronoun on [ɔn] (he in English) is a substitution for third person, singular, masculine gender. It substitutes masculine singular nouns in sentences. Unlike English there is no influence of animacy or humanity to use this pronoun, only gender of the substituted noun is relevant. Therefore in Czech on substitutes nouns strom (a tree), stroj (a machine) or hrad (a castle) as well as lékař (a doctor), otec (a father), majitel (an owner) or herec (an actor).

	form 1	form 2	form 3	form 4	form 5	Example	Translation
nominative	on [ɔn]					Tu smlouvu podepsal on. [tʊ smlɔʊ̯vʊ pɔdɛpsal ɔn]	It was he who signed the agreement.
genitive	ho [ɦɔ]	jej [jɛj]	něj [ɲɛj]	jeho [jɛɦɔ]	něho [ɲɛɦɔ]	Bez něj jsou Prokopovi ztraceni. [bɛzɲɛj sɔʊ̯ prɔkɔpɔvɪ strat͡sɛɲɪ]	The Prokops are lost without him.
dative	mu [mʊ]	jemu [jɛmʊ]	němu [ɲɛmʊ]			Jakub mu dal míč. [jakʊp mʊ dal miːt͡ʃ]	Jacob gave him a ball.
accusative	ho [ɦɔ]	jej [jɛj]	něj [ɲɛj]	jeho [jɛɦɔ]	něho [ɲɛɦɔ]	Jindřich jej provázel po celou cestu. [jɪndr̝ɪx jɛj prɔvaːzɛl pɔt͡sɛlɔʊ̯ t͡sɛstʊ]	Henry has accompanied him all the way.
vocative	*
locative	něm [ɲɛm]					Helena udržela tajemství - nic nám o něm neřekla. [ɦɛlɛna ʊdrʒɛla tajɛmstviː ɲɪt͡s naːm ɔɲɛm nɛr̝ɛkla]	Helen kept the secret - she did not tell us anything about him.
instrumental	jím [jiːm]	ním [ɲiːm]				Vstoupili s ním do první místnosti hradu. [fstɔʊ̯pɪlɪ sɲiːm dɔpr̩vɲiː miːsnɔscɪ ɦradʊ]	They entered with him to first room of the castle.

* Vocative of on is not used.

She

Ona [ɔna] (she in English) is third person singular, feminine gender. Pronoun ona substitutes feminine nouns (animate and inanimate ones), i.e. it can be is used to replace nouns as kočka (a cat), láhev (a bottle), vnučka (a granddaughter ) or lampa (a lamp).

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	ona [ɔna]		To ona připravila ten dort. [tɔ ɔna pr̝ɪpravɪla tɛn dɔrt]	It was she who made the cake.
genitive	jí [jiː]	ní [ɲiː]	Vrátil se bez ní. [vraːtɪl sɛ bɛzɲiː]	He came back without her.
dative	jí [jiː]	ní [ɲiː]	Děda požádal vnuka, abych jí to dal. [djɛda pɔʒaːdal vnʊka abɪ jiː tɔ dal]	My Granddad asked his grandson to give it to her.
accusative	ji [jɪ]	ni [ɲɪ]	Petr ji požádal o pomoc. [pɛtr̩ jɪ pɔʒaːdal ɔpɔmɔt͡s]	Peter asked her for help.
vocative	*
locative	ní [ɲiː]		Nevěděli jsme o ní nic. [nɛvjɛdjɛlɪ smɛ ɔɲiː nɪt͡s]	We didn't know anything about her.
instrumental	jí [jiː]	ní [ɲiː]	Jan s ní procestoval celý svět. [jan sɲiː prɔt͡sɛstɔval t͡sɛliː svjɛt]	John has travelled the whole world with her.

* Vocative of ona is not used.

It

Ono [ɔnɔ] (it in English) is a substitution for third person singular, neuter gender. It is used instead of neuter nouns, e.g. instead of auto (a car), vězení (a prison), zvíře (an animal).

	form 1	form 2	form 3	form 4	form 5	Example	Translation
nominative	ono [ɔnɔ]					Chytnul jsem kuře a ono mi uteklo. [xɪtnʊl sɛm kʊr̝ɛ a ɔnɔ mɪ ʊtɛklɔ]	I caught a chicken and it has escaped.
genitive	ho [ɦɔ]	jej [jɛj]	něj [ɲɛj]	jeho [jɛɦɔ]	něho [ɲɛɦɔ]	Moře - spatřil jej jen jednou. [mɔr̝ɛ - spatr̝ɪl jɛj jɛn jɛdnɔʊ̯]	A sea - he has seen it only once.
dative	mu [mʊ]	jemu [jɛmʊ]	němu [ɲɛmʊ]			Rodiče uviděli staveniště a šli k němu. [rɔɟɪt͡ʃɛ ʊvɪɟɛlɪ stavɛɲɪʃcɛ a ʃlɪ kɲɛmʊ]	Parents saw construction site and went to it.
accusative	ho [ɦɔ]	je [jɛ]	ně [ɲɛ]	jej [jɛj]	něj [ɲɛj]	To je obilné pole? Ano, maluji jej. [tɔ jɛ ɔbɪlnɛː pɔlɛ - anɔ malʊjɪ jɛj]	Is that cornfield? Yes it is - I just am painting it.
vocative	*
locative	něm [ɲɛm]					Jiří si koupil sako, ale neřekl mi o něm. [jɪr̝iː sɪ kɔʊ̯pɪl sakɔ alɛ nɛr̝ɛkl mɪ ɔɲɛm]	George bought a coat but he did not say to me about it.
instrumental	jím [jiːm]	ním [ɲiːm]				Měli s sebou jasné světlo, došli s ním až do města. [mɲɛlɪ sɛbɔʊ̯ jasnɛː svjɛtlɔ dɔʃlɪ sɲiːm aʒ dɔ mɲɛsta]	They had a bright light and went with it to the town.

* Vocative of ono is not used.

We

Pronoun my [mɪ] (we in English) substitutes first person plural.

	form 1	Example	Translation
nominative	my [mɪ]	My máme maso, ó, my se máme! [mɪ maːmɛ masɔ ɔː mɪ sɛ maːmɛ]	We had meat, oh, we are so lucky!
genitive	nás [naːs]	Je nás na ten úkol málo. [jɛ naːs na tɛn uːkɔl maːlɔ]	It's too little of us to manage the task.
dative	nám [naːm]	Jeho bratranec nám otevřel bránu. [jɛɦɔ bratranɛt͡s naːm otɛvr̝ɛl braːnʊ]	His cousin has opened the gate for us.
accusative	nás [naːs]	Nás se to netýká. [naːsɛ tɔ nɛtiːkaː]	It does not concern us.
vocative	my [mɪ]	My, hasiči, pojďme hasit! [mɪ ɦasɪt͡ʃɪ pɔjcmɛ ɦasɪt]	We, firemen, let's quensch!
locative	nás [naːs]	Ten příběh vypráví o nás. [tɛn pr̝iːbjex vɪpraːviː ɔnaːs]	The story talks about us.
instrumental	námi [naːmɪ]	Tomáš a Marie s námi pobyli týden u moře. [tɔmaːʃ a marɪɛ snaːmɪ pɔbɪlɪ tiːdɛn ʊmɔr̝ɛ]	Thomas and Mary have stayed with us at the seaside for a week.

You (plural)

Pronoun vy [vɪ] (you in English) substitutes second person plural. It is used not only to address a group of speaker's partners but also in formal speech called vykání. In that speech pronoun vy is used and verbs are declined in plural (except the declination in case of conditional and past tense).

English does not distinguish between you in singular and you in plural and it does not use vykání either. At English-to-Czech translation one must understand the context to use the appropriate forms of pronouns and verbs.

	form 1	Example	Translation
nominative	vy [vɪ]	Vy jste vyhráli pohár. [vɪ stɛ vɪɦraːlɪ pɔɦaːr]	You have won the cup!
genitive	vás [vaːs]	Vás dva Jeroným potřebuje. [jɛ naːs na tɛn uːkɔl maːlɔ]	Jerome needs the two of you.
dative	vám [vaːm]	Vám patří celé toto pole. [vaːm patr̝iː t͡sɛlɛː tɔtɔ pɔlɛ]	This whole field belongs to you.
accusative	vás [vaːs]	Vás obdivuju, skládáte pěkné písně. [vaːs ɔpɟɪvʊjɪ sklaːdaːtɛ pjɛknɛː piːsɲɛ]	I admire you, you compose very nice songs.
vocative	vy [vɪ]	Hej, vy tam - jděte z toho pozemku! [ɦɛɪ vɪ tam ɟɛtɛ stɔɦɔ pɔzɛmkʊ]	Hey you there - leave that land!
locative	vás [vaːs]	Ta hra je o vás, o vašem pokrytectví. [ta ɦra jɛ ɔvaːs ɔvaʃɛm pɔkrɪtɛt͡stviː]	The drama is about you, about your hypocrisy.
instrumental	vámi [vaːmɪ]	Váš vedoucí poletí do Londýna s vámi. [vaːʃ vɛdɔʊ̯t͡siː pɔlɛtiː dɔlɔndiːna svaːmɪ]	Your boss is going to fly with you to London.

They (masculine)

Pronoun oni [ɔnɪ] (they in English)

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	oni [ɔɲɪ]		Petr četl synům pohádku a oni poslouchali. [pɛtr t͡ʃɛtl sɪnuːm pɔɦaːtkʊ a ɔɲɪ pɔslɔʊ̯xalɪ]	Peter read a tale to their sons and they listened to him.
genitive	jich [jɪx]	nich [ɲɪx]	Mám mokré všechny své svetry a bez nich nemohu jít ven. [maːm mɔkrɛː vʃɛxnɪ svɛː svɛtrɪ a bɛsɲɪx nɛmɔɦʊ jiːt vɛn]	All my sweaters are wet and I can't go outside without them.
dative	jim [jɪm]	nim [ɲɪm]	Josef a Marek? Jim já důvěřuji. [jɔzɛf a marɛk jɪm jaː duːvjɛr̝ʊjɪ]	Joseph and Mark? I trust them.
accusative	je [jɛ]	ně [ɲɛ]	Vidíš ty žraloky? Ano! Vidím je! [vɪɟiːʃ tɪ rɪbɪ anɔ vɪɟiːm jɛ]	Could you see the sharks? Yes! I can see them!
vocative	*
locative	nich [ɲɪx]		Řekl mi o nich, že jsou dobří hráči. [r̝ɛkl mɪ ɔɲɪx ʒɛ sɔʊ̯ dɔbr̝iː ɦraːt͡ʃɪ]	He told me about them that they were good players.
instrumental	jimi [jɪmɪ]	nimi [ɲɪmɪ]	Zadíval se na míčky a pak jimi pohnul. [zaɟiːval sɛ na miːt͡ʃkɪ a pak jɪmɪ pɔɦnʊl]	He took a look at the balls and then he moved with them.

* Vocative of oni is not used.

They (feminine)

Pronoun ony [ɔnɪ] (they in English)

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	ony [ɔnɪ]		Tu tabuli pomalovaly ony - Petra s Monikou! [tʊ tabʊlɪ pɔmalɔvalɪ ɔnɪ pɛtra smɔnɪkoʊ̯]	They scrawled over the blackboard, they - Petra and Monika.
genitive	jich [jɪx]	nich* [ɲɪx]	Pavel má rád kočky. Bez nich by mu bylo smutno. [pavɛl maː kɔt͡ʃkɪ raːt bɛsnɪɣ bɪ mʊ bɪlɔ smʊtnɔ]	Paul likes cats. He would feel lonely without them.
dative	jim [jɪm]	nim* [ɲɪm]	Mým babičkám? Jim to jednoduše vysvětlím. [miːm babɪt͡ʃkaːm jɪm tɔ jɛdnɔdʊʃɛ vɪsvjɛtliːm]	To my grandmothers? I will explain it to them easily.
accusative	je [jɛ]	ně* [ɲɛ]	Koukej na ty lokomotivy! Vidíš je? [koʊ̯kɛj na tɪ lɔkɔmɔtɪvɪ vɪdiːʃ jɛ]	Look at those locomotives! Can you see them?
vocative	+
locative	nich [ɲɪx]		Max má dvě důvěrné přítelkyně. Neřekl mi o nich vůbec nic. [maks maː dvjɛ duːvjɛrnɛː pr̝iːtɛlkɪɲɛ nɛr̝ɛkl mɪ ɔnɪɣ vuːbɛc ŋɪc]	Max has two intimate girlfriends. He did not say a word about them.
instrumental	jimi [jɪmɪ]	nimi* [ɲɪmɪ]	Oblékni si tyto rukavice - práce ti s nimi půjde sama. [ɔblɛːkɲɪ sɪ tɪtɔ rʊkavɪcɛ praːt͡sɛ tɪ sɲɪmɪ puːjdɛ sama]	Wear those gloves and your work will get easy with them.

* This form is used after preposition only.

+ Vocative of ony is not used.

They (neuter)

Pronoun ona [ɔna] (they in English)

	form 1	form 2	Example	Translation
nominative	ona [ɔna]		Rodí se kuřata? Ona se nerodí, líhnou se. [rɔɟiː sɛ kʊr̝ata ɔna sɛ nɛrɔɟiː liːɦnɔʊ̯ sɛ]	Are chickens born? They are not born, they are hatched.
genitive	jich [jɪx]	nich* [ɲɪx]
dative	jim [jɪm]	nim* [ɲɪm]
accusative	je [jɛ]	ně* [ɲɛ]
vocative	+
locative	nich* [ɲɪx]
instrumental	jimi [jɪmɪ]	nimi* [ɲɪmɪ]

* This form is used after preposition only.

+ Vocative of ona is not used.