ten / ta / to

Basic Gender Demonstratives

Level 1

In Czech, ten (masculine), ta (feminine), and to (neuter) are the basic words for 'that' or 'this'. They point out specific things and must match the gender of the noun they describe.

How It Works

While ten, ta, and to are neutral about distance and can mean 'this' or 'that', you can use specific words for 'this' (tenhle or formal tento) and 'that over there' (tamten). Additionally, the neuter form to is frequently used as the pronoun 'it' (e.g., To je dobré. - It is good).

Agreement with Nouns:
When placed directly in front of a noun (like "that car" or "this woman"), these demonstratives act like adjectives. They must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. Just like adjectives, these demonstratives decline and change their endings in all grammatical cases.

Identifying Things:
However, when pointing something out and saying "This is..." or "That is...", always use the neuter to je for singular, and to jsou for plural, regardless of the noun's actual gender. The pronoun to stays fixed!

  • To je ten muž. (That is the man.)
  • To jsou ti muži. (Those are the men.)
  • To je ta žena. (That is the woman.)

The Accusative Shift (Direct Objects):
When these demonstratives are used as the direct object of a sentence (in the accusative case), they change based on gender and number:

  • Feminine Singular: ta changes to tu. (Vidím tu ženu. - I see that woman.)
  • Masculine Animate Singular: For living people or animals, ten changes to toho. (Vidím toho muže. - I see that man.)
  • Masculine Inanimate & Neuter Singular: These do not change. (Vidím ten dům. / Vidím to auto.)
  • Plural Forms: In the accusative plural, the masculine animate ti shifts to ty (Vidím ty muže). This means the accusative plural is simply ty for all masculine and feminine nouns, and ta for neuter nouns.

Other Cases and Compound Forms:
For singular oblique cases, masculine and neuter share the forms toho (Genitive), tomu (Dative), tom (Locative, which is always used with a preposition, e.g., o tom), and tím (Instrumental). Feminine uses té (Genitive, Dative, Locative - e.g., o té) and tou (Instrumental). For other plural cases, the stem changes to tě- and is identical for all genders: Genitive and Locative use těch (e.g., o těch), Dative uses těm, and Instrumental uses těmi. When declining compound demonstratives like tento or tenhle, the base pronoun (ten, ta, or to) declines, while the suffix stays fixed at the end (e.g., tohoto, této, tohohle).

Colloquial 'The':
In formal written Czech, you don't use words for 'the'. However, in everyday spoken Czech, people frequently use ten/ta/to just like the English word 'the' to refer to something already mentioned. Just be careful not to overuse it in formal writing, as it can sound overly emphatic or childish.

Examples (6)

  1. Ta kniha je velmi zajímavá.

    That book is very interesting.

    Word by Word: That book is very interesting.

    Uses ta because kniha is a feminine noun in the subject position.

  2. To auto je nové.

    That car is new.

    Word by Word: That car is new.

    Uses to because auto is a neuter noun.

  3. Ten dům je velký.

    That house is big.

    Word by Word: That house is big.

    Uses ten because dům is a masculine inanimate noun.

  4. To je můj bratr.

    That is my brother.

    Word by Word: It is my brother.

    Even though bratr is masculine, we use the neuter to because we are identifying someone using the "That is..." structure.

  5. Vidím toho muže.

    I see that man.

    Word by Word: I_see that man.

    The masculine demonstrative changes to toho because muž is a singular animate noun and is the direct object (accusative case).

  6. Čtu tu knihu.

    I am reading that book.

    Word by Word: I_read that book.

    The feminine demonstrative ta changes to tu because the book is the direct object (accusative case).

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'ten' where 'to' is expected when introducing someone.

    Different MeaningTen je můj kamarád.
    To je můj kamarád.

    'Ten je můj kamarád' is a good sentence, but it points out one particular man ('That one is my friend'). To introduce or identify someone, use the neuter to je whatever the gender: 'To je můj kamarád.' Ten and ta are for pointing at one among several, or when they stand before a noun (ten kamarád = that friend).

  • Guessing the wrong gender and using the wrong demonstrative.

    Ta auto je rychlé.
    To auto je rychlé.

    The word auto ends in -o and is neuter, so it must take to. A great way to remember noun genders is to always learn the word with its demonstrative (e.g., memorize 'to auto' instead of just 'auto').

  • Using 'ten' to connect sentences instead of a relative pronoun.

    To je ten muž, ten bydlí tady.
    To je ten muž, který bydlí tady.

    Ten points to a noun ('that man'), but it cannot connect two parts of a sentence. To say 'the man that lives here', you must use the relative pronoun který.

How It Connects

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ten / ta / toLevel 1Basic Gender Demonstratives

Learn This First

To use the basic demonstratives 'ten', 'ta', and 'to' correctly, a learner must first understand the concept of grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter) in Czech nouns, as the choice of demonstrative depends entirely on the gender of the noun it modifies.

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