All Czech nouns have a grammatical gender. There are three genders (masculine, feminine, neutral). Although there is no direct connection with the English, there are certain rules which help to memorise the gender.
It can be understood like this:
- Waiter is used for men
- Waitress is used for women
- Waiting staff is a neutral form
In Czech, it is crucial to know the gender of nouns as it may influence many other words in the sentence (adjectives, verbs, pronouns…).
It is logical when we describe people:
Masculine – HE
Feminine – SHE
Neutral – IT
However, in the Czech language, even inanimate objects have grammatical genders. In English, words such as cup, book and bicycle are always neutral – it. In Czech, they can be he, she or it.
Masculine – HE
Feminine – SHE
Neutral – IT
Unfortunately, there is not any logical explanation why words have certain gender. There are some basic rules based on which the gender can be recognised, however, there are many exceptions and the gender should be always learned together with the noun.
Masculine (ten)
The word indicating masculine gender is ten. It can be translated as the in English.
The dog is big. = Ten pes je velký.
The vast majority of masculine words end in a consonant.
dog
train
house
banana
There are also some -a ending words which are masculine. However, this is not as widespread as the previous category. In rare cases, there can be even -e or -í endings.
bread
colleague
tourist
tour guide
Feminine (ta)
The word indicating feminine gender is ta. It is again translated as the in English.
The cat is small.= Ta kočka je malá.
The most typical ending for feminine nouns is -a.
cat
shoe
school
hand
Words which end in -e and -ě are commonly feminine, too. Some feminine words can also end in a consonant, which means consonant-ending words are not exclusively masculine.
restaurant
fridge
road
office
Neutral (to)
The word indicating neutral gender is to. It also means the in English.
The car is slow. = To auto je pomalé.
Most neutral nouns end in -o.
car
window
T-shirt
soap
Another typical ending is -í. There are also words ending in -e and -ě, which means these are not solely feminine ending.
square
station
egg
tomato
During your studies, you will encounter endings being linked with an unusual gender. These irregularities were caused by natural language development over hundreds of years and have to be memorised.
Grammar Flashcards
Do not forget to take a look at our flashcards. They enable you to generate random words for certain grammar points.
ten stolek, ta pohovka, to křeslo, to okno, ta knihovna, ta lampa, to… Read more »
ten pes, to okno, ta lednice, to tricko, ta ruka, ta bota, to… Read more »
To kolo, ten květiny, ta taška, ten motocycl, ten bankomat, ta hora, ten… Read more »
Ten mobil, ta kocka, ta kava, ten muz, ta zena, ta lampa, ta… Read more »
Ta kava, to kalendář, ta hodiny, ta židle, ten kelímek, ten pes, to… Read more »
Ta židle, ten stůl, ta lampa, ten véšák, ta dekorace, to okno, ten… Read more »
Ta Kniha, ta bota, to rajce, to pero, to vino, ten postel, ten… Read more »
Ta židle, ten stůl, ta skříňka, to okno, ta dveře, ta lampa, to… Read more »
ten medvidek, ta pohovka, to mydlo, to okno, ta lednice, ta bota, ten… Read more »
Ten pocitac, to svetlo, ta kniha, ta penezenka, ta kabelka, ten zapisnik, ta… Read more »
ta židle, to okno, to světlo, ta kytka, ten závěs, ten obrázek, ten… Read more »
ten stůl, ta židle, to okno, ta bota, ten pes, ta police, ta… Read more »
ta tužka; ten mobil, to okno, ta voda, ten dům, ra zěna, ten… Read more »
To okno, to tričko, ta ruka, ta kočka, ten chleba, ten dům, ten… Read more »
ten mobil, ta voda, ten stůl, ta kniha, ta lampa, ta postel, ta… Read more »
to okno, ta židle, ten počítač, ta dveře, ten koberec, ta lampa, ten… Read more »
to onko, ten hrnek, ten pes, ta Žena, ten múz, ten banán, ta… Read more »
To okno, to kolo, ta bota, to tričko, ta kniha, ta ruka, to… Read more »
ta skříň, ta židle, to kamna, ta rostlina, ta klec, ta stolička, ta plyšová… Read more »
Ten chléb, ten počítač, ten kalendář, ta hruška, ta lednice, to mléko, to… Read more »
Lesson 1 Homework Choose 10 different objects around you and name them in… Read more »
ten stůl, ten počítač, ta lampa, ta kniha, to pero, ten hrnek, to… Read more »
ten počitač, ta postel, ta propiska, ten batoh, ta lampa, to zrcadlo, ten… Read more »
Ten stul, ta židle, ta kniha, ta tužka, to pero, ta televize, ten… Read more »
Ten stul,ta zidle.to křeslo, Ta knihova. Ten stolek, ta sedačka. Ta televise, Ten… Read more »
Ten stul,ta zidle.to křeslo, Ta knihova. Ten stolek, ta sedačka. Ta televise, ten… Read more »
ta židle ten sešit to okno ten závěs ta váza ta knihovna ta… Read more »
Ta tužka 2. To okno 3. Ten banan 4. Ten hrnek 5. Ten… Read more »
ta skříňka, to křeslo, to okno, ta knihovna, ta lampa, ten stolek, ten… Read more »
1. To mýdlo 2. To zrdzadlo 3. Ta vanna 4. Ta zubata pasta 5. Ta dveře 6. Ta lampa… Read more »
ten pocitac
ta klávesnice, ten kotel, ten počítač, ta police, ta brýle, to sluchátko, ta… Read more »
To okno Ten psací stůl Ten obraz Ten závěs Ta kytka Ta pohovka… Read more »
To okno. Ta lampa. Ta židle. Ta skřéň. Ta dekorace. Ten koberec. Ten… Read more »
Ten stůl Ten větrák Ta žárovka Ta knihovna Ten prádelník Ten batoh Ten… Read more »
TA SKŘÍŇ, TEN STOLEK, TA KYTKA, TA KNIHOVNA, TEN HRNEK , TA TISKÁRNA,… Read more »
ten teleskop ta kočka ta lampa ten hroch ten obrázek ten glóbus ten… Read more »
ten notebook. Ta květiny. Ten dalekohled. To okna. Ta Čínská kočka. Ta svíčky.… Read more »
počítač (m) tískárna (f) láhev (f) kniha (f) obrázek (m) květina (f) krabička… Read more »