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".

Declension

Number	Gender	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
sg	Ma	doktora	lekaře, učitele	kolegy, turisty
	Mi	hradu	čaje
	F	kavy	kanceláře	radosti
	N	auta	letiště	nádraží
pl	Ma	doktorů	lekařů, učitelů	kolegů, turistů
	Mi	hradů	čajů
	F	kav	kanceláří	radostí
	N	aut	letišť	nádraží

• Group 1:
  • Ma: nouns whose nom/sg end in a consonant without háček (doktor) add -a
  • Mi: nouns whose nom/sg end in a consonant without háček (hrad) add -u
  • F: nouns ending in -a change to -y
  • N: nouns ending in -o change to -a
• Group 2 (soft ending):
  • M: nouns ending in a consonant with háček, -e/ě, -c, -j, -tel change -e to -e
• Group 3:
  • Ma: nouns whose nom/sg end in -a change to -y
  • F: nouns ending in -st add -i
  • N: nouns ending in -í remain unchanged

Some common words have irregular genitive plurals, for example

• lidé > lidí,
• peníze > peněz
• přátelé > přátel
• obyvatelé > obyvatel
• moře > moří
• restaurace > restaurací

Uses

To express possession

1. Kniha učitele – The teacher's book
2. 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:

1. Auto Cyrila – Cyril's car
2. 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.

1. Cyrilův dům – Cyril's house
2. 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:

1. Evin počítač or Počítač Evy – Eva's computer
2. Petrovy brýle or Brýle Petra – Petr's glasses
3. Martinův pes or Pes Martina – Martin's dog

After certain prepositions

Some common prepositions that take the genitive case include:

bez – without

1. Káva bez mléka – Coffee without milk

do – to, into

1. Jdu do kanceláře. – I'm going to the office.
2. Vložil jsem peníze do banky. – I deposited money into the bank.

z/ze – from, out of

1. Přijel jsem z Prahy. – I came from Prague.
2. Vystoupil ze školy. – He dropped out of school.

od – from (a person), since (a time)

1. Dostal jsem dopis od doktora. – I received a letter from the doctor.
2. Pracuji zde od ledna. – I've been working here since January.

u – at, by

1. Byl jsem u lékaře. – I was at the doctor's.
2. Stůl je u okna. – The table is by the window.

vedle – next to, beside

1. Sedí vedle učitele. – He's sitting next to the teacher.

kolem – around, about

1. Běžel kolem parku. – He ran around the park.
2. Film je kolem druhé světové války. – The movie is about World War II.

podle – according to, along

1. Podle předpovědi bude pršet. – According to the forecast, it will rain.
2. Šli jsme podle řeky. – We walked along the river.

během – during

1. Během přednášky si dělal poznámky. – He took notes during the lecture.

mimo – outside of, except for

1. Pracuje mimo města. – He works outside of the city.
2. Všichni přišli mimo Petra. – Everyone came except for Petr.

okolo – around (similar to kolem)

1. Procházeli jsme se okolo jezera. – We walked around the lake.

podél – along

1. Jeli jsme podél pobřeží. – We drove along the coast.

prostřednictvím – by means of, through

1. Komunikujeme prostřednictvím internetu. – We communicate through the internet.

uprostřed – in the middle of

1. 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)

1. Kousek chleba – A piece of bread
2. Polovina jablka – Half an apple

With numbers above 5 (genitive plural)

1. Pět studentů – Five students
2. Dvacet aut – Twenty cars
3. 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:

1. Kilo cukru – A kilo of sugar
2. Litr mléka – A liter of milk
3. Sklenice vody – A glass of water
4. Hrnec polévky – A pot of soup
5. Metr látky – A meter of fabric
6. Centimetr sněhu – A centimeter of snow

With count nouns, the genitive plural is used:

1. Pár bot – A pair of shoes
2. Tucet vajec – A dozen eggs
3. Krabice sirek – A box of matches
4. Skupina studentů – A group of students
5. Kilogram jablek – A kilogram of apples

Time units

1. Hodina času – An hour of time
2. Týden dovolené – A week of vacation
3. Měsíc práce – A month of work
4. Rok studia – A year of study

Kolik (how much/many)

Kolik always requires the genitive case:

1. Kolik studentů je ve třídě? – How many students are in the class?
2. Kolik vody potřebujeme? – How much water do we need?
3. Nevím, kolik času to zabere. – I don't know how much time it will take.

Other quantifiers

1. Mnoho lidí – Many people
2. Málo peněz – Little money
3. Několik dní – Several days
4. Dost jídla – Enough food

Indefinite quantifiers

1. Trochu soli – A bit of salt
2. Hodně práce – A lot of work
3. Spousta problémů – A bunch of problems
4. Více možností – More options

Všechno, každý, žádný

These words meaning "every" and "no" also require the genitive case in certain constructions:

1. Každý z nás – Each of us
2. Žádný z těch lidí – None of those people

After certain verbs

Some verbs always take the genitive case:

bát se – to be afraid of

1. Bojím se pavouků. – I'm afraid of spiders.

zeptat se – to ask

1. Zeptám se učitele. – I'll ask the teacher.

Negative sentences

In negative sentences, the direct object often changes to the genitive case:

1. Nemám peněz. – I don't have (any) money. (Compare to the affirmative: Mám peníze. - I have money.)
2. 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:

1. prvního ledna – (on) the first of January
2. desátého května – (on) the tenth of May
3. 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:

1. ledna – of January
2. února – of February
3. března – of March
4. dubna – of April
5. května – of May
6. června – of June
7. července – of July
8. srpna – of August
9. září – of September (září is indeclinable, so it doesn't change)
10. října – of October
11. listopadu – of November
12. prosince – of December

Years

When expressing a full date including the year, the year is typically in the genitive case as well:

1. 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

1. Narodil jsem se třináctého dubna tisíc devět set devadesátého pátého roku. – I was born on the thirteenth of April, 1995.
2. Svátek je sedmnáctého listopadu. – The holiday is on the seventeenth of November.
3. 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.