Hard adjective agreement

Hard adjectives form the largest adjective group in Czech. You can identify them because they have three distinct dictionary endings: -ý (masculine), -á (feminine), and -é (neuter).

1. Basic Agreement
They must match the noun in gender, number, and case. For example:

• Masculine: nový dům (a new house)
• Feminine: nová škola (a new school)
• Neuter: nové auto (a new car)

2. Accusative Case Changes
Note: Czech has 7 cases in total. This guide focuses on the Nominative and Accusative cases as an introduction.
When using hard adjectives in the accusative case (direct object), specific forms change depending on whether they are singular or plural:

• Feminine Singular: The ending changes from -á to -ou (e.g., Vidím novou školu. - I see a new school.)
• Masculine Animate Singular: When describing a person or animal, the ending changes from -ý to -ého (e.g., Vidím nového studenta. - I see a new student.). Note that for masculine animate nouns and adjectives, the Accusative form is identical to the Genitive form.
• Masculine Animate Plural: The ending changes from -í (nominative) to -é (e.g., Vidím nové studenty. - I see new students.)
• For inanimate masculine and neuter adjectives (both singular and plural), as well as feminine plural adjectives, the accusative forms are identical to their nominative forms.

3. Plural Forms
In the nominative plural, hard adjectives have specific rules:

• Neuter Plural: The ending changes from -é to -á (e.g., nová auta - new cars). Be careful not to confuse this with the feminine singular!
• Masculine Animate Plural: The ending changes to -í (e.g., nový → noví). If the stem ends in certain consonants, this triggers a mandatory spelling or pronunciation change (softening):
  • k → c: velký → velcí kluci (big boys)
  • h → z: drahý → drazí přátelé (dear friends)
  • ch → š: hluchý → hluší psi (deaf dogs)
  • r → ř: dobrý → dobří lidé (good people)
  • sk / ck → št / čt: český → čeští sportovci (Czech athletes)
  • d, t, n → ď, ť, ň (pronunciation only): mladý → mladí (pronounced with a soft ď)
• Feminine and Masculine Inanimate Plural: Both use the ending -é (e.g., nové školy, nové domy).

4. Hard vs. Soft Adjectives
Do not confuse them with soft adjectives (like moderní), which use the same -í ending for all three genders in the singular.

5. Spoken Czech Note
In formal Czech, you must use the standard endings. However, in casual spoken Czech in Bohemia (Common Czech), you will often hear the masculine singular -ý change to -ej (dobrej kluk). Furthermore, the ending -ý is used universally for the neuter singular (dobrý pivo) AND for all genders in the plural (dobrý kluci, dobrý školy, dobrý auta).

Note on Pronunciation: The acute accent (čárka) on the endings (-ý, -á, -é) indicates vowel length, not word stress. Word stress in Czech is always on the first syllable.