Czech/Nouns/Case/Genitive

Genitive Case in Czech (2nd) The genitive case in Czech is used to express possession, after certain prepositions, with numbers, and in various other constructions. It often corresponds to the English "of" or possessive "'s".Holá Lidá Česky krok za krokem 1 Akropolis 2016 9788074701290 216 en Czech Step by Step 1 Declension Genitive declension is quite varied, and not very similar to any other declension. +NumberGenderGroup 1Group 2Group 3 sgMadoktoralekaře, učitelekolegy, turistyMihradučajeFkavykancelářeradostiNautaletištěnádražíplMadoktorůlekařů, učitelůkolegů, turistůMihradůčajůFkavkanceláříradostíNautaletišťnádraží Singularatterns Group 1 (hard endings): Ma: nouns whose nom.sg ends in a consonant without háček (doktor) add -a → doktora Mi: nouns whose nom.sg ends in a consonant without háček (hrad) add -u → hradu F: nouns ending in -a change to -y → kava → kavy N: nouns ending in -o change to -a → auto → auta Group 2 (soft endings): M: nouns ending in a consonant with háček, or -e/ě, -c, -j, -tel take -e → učitel → učitele, čaj → čaje Group 3: Ma: nouns whose nom.sg ends in -a change to -y → kolega → kolegy F: nouns ending in -st add -i → radost → radosti N: nouns ending in -í remain unchanged → nádraží → nádraží Plural patterns Group 1 (hard endings): Ma: add -ů → doktor → doktorů Mi: add -ů → hrad → hradů F: drop final -a, no ending → kava → kav N: drop final -o, no ending → auto → aut Group 2 (soft endings): M: add -ů → učitel → učitelů, čaj → čajů (some with -e/ě have stem alternations) F: add -í → kancelář → kanceláří N (various patterns): nouns in -e often change to -í → moře → moří, pole → polí nouns in -ě often change to -í with consonant alternations → letiště → letišť some (esp. young animals) take -at → kuře → kuřat, tele → telat, prase → prasat nouns in -í remain unchanged → nádraží → nádražíN: add -í → letiště → letišť Group 3: Ma: add -ů → kolega → kolegů, turista → turistů F: add -í → radost → radostí N: usually unchanged → nádraží → nádraží Some common words have irregular genitive plurals,Danaher David Outline Of Czech Grammar http://cokdybysme.net/outlineczgramm.html 2024-07-18 for example lidé > lidí, peníze > peněz přátelé > přátel obyvatelé > obyvatel moře > moří restaurace > restaurací Uses To express possession Kniha učitele – The teacher's book Kola studentů – The students' bicycles With proper nouns When expressing possession with proper nouns, the same principle applies. The possessor's name is put into the genitive case: Auto Cyrila – Cyril's car Knihy Cyrila – Cyril's books Note that there are two ways to express possession: Using the genitive case of the name (Cyrila) after the noun; and using the possessive adjective form (Cyrilův, Cyrilova, Cyrilovo), which agrees in gender and number with the possessed object. Cyrilův dům – Cyril's house Cyrilova sestra – Cyril's sister Both forms are correct and commonly used. The possessive adjective form is more common in spoken language, while the genitive form might be perceived as slightly more formal. Examples with other proper nouns: Evin počítač or Počítač Evy – Eva's computer Petrovy brýle or Brýle Petra – Petr's glasses Martinův pes or Pes Martina – Martin's dog After certain prepositions Some common prepositions that take the genitive case include: bez – without Káva bez mléka – Coffee without milk do – to, into Jdu do kanceláře. – I'm going to the office. Vložil jsem peníze do banky. – I deposited money into the bank. z/ze – from, out of Přijel jsem z Prahy. – I came from Prague. Vystoupil ze školy. – He dropped out of school. od – from (a person), since (a time) Dostal jsem dopis od doktora. – I received a letter from the doctor. Pracuji zde od ledna. – I've been working here since January. u – at, by Byl jsem u lékaře. – I was at the doctor's. Stůl je u okna. – The table is by the window. vedle – next to, beside Sedí vedle učitele. – He's sitting next to the teacher. kolem – around, about Běžel kolem parku. – He ran around the park. Film je kolem druhé světové války. – The movie is about World War II. podle – according to, along Podle předpovědi bude pršet. – According to the forecast, it will rain. Šli jsme podle řeky. – We walked along the river. během – during Během přednášky si dělal poznámky. – He took notes during the lecture. mimo – outside of, except for Pracuje mimo města. – He works outside of the city. Všichni přišli mimo Petra. – Everyone came except for Petr. okolo – around (similar to kolem) Procházeli jsme se okolo jezera. – We walked around the lake. podél – along Jeli jsme podél pobřeží. – We drove along the coast. prostřednictvím – by means of, through Komunikujeme prostřednictvím internetu. – We communicate through the internet. uprostřed – in the middle of Strom stojí uprostřed náměstí. – The tree stands in the middle of the square. Note that some prepositions can take different cases depending on their meaning or usage. The examples provided here specifically demonstrate their use with the genitive case. Partitive Expressions and Quantifiers To express a part of something (partitive) Kousek chleba – A piece of bread Polovina jablka – Half an apple With numbers above 5 (genitive plural) Pět studentů – Five students Dvacet aut – Twenty cars Pět litrů vody – Five liters of water Note that after numbers 5 and above, the genitive plural is always used, regardless of whether the noun is countable or uncountable. In Pět litrů vody. The word litrů is genitive plural, while vody is genitive singular. After some units With mass nouns, the genitive singular is used: Kilo cukru – A kilo of sugar Litr mléka – A liter of milk Sklenice vody – A glass of water Hrnec polévky – A pot of soup Metr látky – A meter of fabric Centimetr sněhu – A centimeter of snow With count nouns, the genitive plural is used: Pár bot – A pair of shoes Tucet vajec – A dozen eggs Krabice sirek – A box of matches Skupina studentů – A group of students Kilogram jablek – A kilogram of apples Time units Hodina času – An hour of time Týden dovolené – A week of vacation Měsíc práce – A month of work Rok studia – A year of study Kolik (how much/many) Kolik always requires the genitive case: Kolik studentů je ve třídě? – How many students are in the class? Kolik vody potřebujeme? – How much water do we need? Nevím, kolik času to zabere. – I don't know how much time it will take. Other quantifiers Mnoho lidí – Many people Málo peněz – Little money Několik dní – Several days Dost jídla – Enough food Indefinite quantifiers Trochu soli – A bit of salt Hodně práce – A lot of work Spousta problémů – A bunch of problems Více možností – More options Všechno, každý, žádný These words meaning "every" and "no" also require the genitive case in certain constructions: Každý z nás – Each of us Žádný z těch lidí – None of those people After certain verbs Some verbs always take the genitive case: bát se – to be afraid of Bojím se pavouků. – I'm afraid of spiders. zeptat se – to ask Zeptám se učitele. – I'll ask the teacher. užít si – to enjoy Užili jsme si dovolené. – We enjoyed the holiday. všimnout si – to notice Všiml jsem si chyby. – I noticed the mistake. dotknout se – to touch Nedotýkej se skla! – Don’t touch the glass! dosáhnout – to reach, achieve Dosáhla cíle. – She reached the goal. nechat (se) – to leave, let (in some uses) Nechal jídla. – He left (some) food. zbavit (se) – to get rid of Zbavil se starostí. – He got rid of his worries. vážit si – to respect, value Vážím si tvé pomoci. – I respect / value your help. They are mainly perfective verbs with the prefix se-/si Negative sentences In negative sentences, the direct object often changes to the genitive case: Nemám peněz. – I don't have (any) money. (Compare to the affirmative: Mám peníze. - I have money.) Neviděl jsem žádného člověka. – I didn't see any person. Note that in modern colloquial Czech, the accusative is often used instead of the genitive in negative sentences, but the genitive is still considered more correct in formal language. In dates The genitive case is used in expressing dates in Czech. Days of the month When expressing a specific date, the day is in the genitive case: prvního ledna – (on) the first of January desátého května – (on) the tenth of May dvacátého třetího prosince – (on) the twenty-third of December Note that the ordinal number (first, second, third, etc.) is in the genitive case, as is the month. Months The names of months are always in the genitive case when used in dates: ledna – of January února – of February března – of March dubna – of April května – of May června – of June července – of July srpna – of August září – of September (září is indeclinable, so it doesn't change) října – of October listopadu – of November prosince – of December Years When expressing a full date including the year, the year is typically in the genitive case as well: prvního ledna dva tisíce dvacátého čtvrtého roku – (on) the first of January, 2024 (literally: of the two thousand twenty-fourth year) However, in informal speech, the nominative form of the year is often used. Examples of full dates Narodil jsem se třináctého dubna tisíc devět set devadesátého pátého roku. – I was born on the thirteenth of April, 1995. Svátek je sedmnáctého listopadu. – The holiday is on the seventeenth of November. Schůzka je naplánována na dvacátého druhého července tohoto roku. – The meeting is scheduled for the twenty-second of July this year. Note that in Czech, unlike in English, prepositions are typically not used before dates. The genitive case itself indicates the temporal relationship. References