zvolit / jmenovat + Instrumental

In Czech, when someone is assigned a new title, role, or function after specific verbs, the resulting status is primarily expressed using the instrumental case. While the instrumental often denotes a temporary or acquired role in other contexts, with verbs like zvolit (to elect), jmenovat (to appoint), and stát se (to become), using the bare nominative for a noun complement is strictly incorrect and always ungrammatical. With stát se, using a bare nominative for a noun complement is a genuine error, not just a colloquial slip, although adjective complements can sometimes appear in the nominative. However, in passive constructions, using the nominative changes the meaning entirely by making the noun the subject (e.g., Byl jmenován ředitel means 'A director was appointed', not 'He was appointed director'). The instrumental is the primary grammatical pattern, though alternative prepositional constructions exist for many of these verbs (see the alternatives section below).

1. Active vs. Passive Voice and Subject Complements

• Active: The verb takes a direct object in the accusative, followed by the new role in the instrumental. This acts as an object complement (doplněk). Example: Zvolili ho (Accusative) prezidentem (Instrumental) - 'They elected him president'.
• Passive: The person becomes the subject in the nominative, but the role remains in the instrumental. Example: (On - Nominative implied) byl jmenován ředitelem (Instrumental) - 'He was appointed director'.
• Subject Complement: The reflexive verbs stát se / stávat se (to become) act as copula verbs (sponová slovesa), linking the subject to its new state. Because of this, they trigger this pattern for the subject. In Czech syntax, this is considered the nominal part of the predicate (jmenná část přísudku) rather than a doplněk. Example: Stal se prezidentem - 'He became president'.

2. Common Verbs
This pattern is triggered by verbs of electing, appointing, making, declaring, and becoming, such as zvolit (to elect), jmenovat (to appoint), ustanovit (to appoint/establish), udělat (to make), vyhlásit (to declare/announce), stát se (to become), and its imperfective counterpart stávat se (to become repeatedly/gradually).

Tip: Many of these roles are masculine animate nouns, which often take the instrumental ending -em (e.g., prezidentem, ředitelem, manažerem, králem). However, masculine animate nouns ending in -a take -ou (e.g., předsedou, starostou). Similarly, feminine roles also take the ending -ou (e.g., ředitelkou, prezidentkou, manažerkou).

3. Important Distinctions and Alternatives
Learners often try to use a bare nominative because of English (e.g., 'They elected him president'). In Czech, this is grammatically incorrect because active verbs cannot assign the nominative case to an object complement. The bare instrumental is the primary, unmarked standard form in modern Czech across all registers.

However, there are specific alternatives depending on the verb:

• Jmenovat vs. Jmenovat se: Be careful not to confuse the transitive verb jmenovat (to appoint), which requires the instrumental for the role (e.g., Jmenovali ho ředitelem - 'They appointed him director'), with the reflexive verb jmenovat se (to be named/called). The reflexive jmenovat se strictly takes the nominative case for the name (e.g., Jmenuje se Pavel - 'His name is Pavel').
• For verbs of electing and appointing (e.g., zvolit, jmenovat), you might encounter the structure za + accusative (e.g., zvolit za prezidenta - 'to elect as president'). This is perfectly grammatical but sometimes viewed as slightly archaic, bookish, or influenced by Slovak. However, the verb vyhlásit (to declare) is an exception; using za + accusative with it (e.g., vyhlásit za vítěze - 'to declare the winner') is entirely standard, extremely common, and often preferred.
• Považovat (to consider): English speakers often assume the verb považovat (to consider) follows this same instrumental pattern (e.g., 'They consider him a leader'). However, this is a common trap. Považovat strictly requires the structure za + accusative (e.g., Považují ho za lídra - 'They consider him a leader') and does not take the instrumental.
• For verbs of appointing (e.g., jmenovat, ustanovit), a very common and natural alternative, especially in news or business Czech, is using do funkce + genitive (e.g., Byl jmenován do funkce ředitele - 'He was appointed to the position of director').
• After the verb stát se (to become), nouns strictly require the bare instrumental (e.g., Stal se učitelem - 'He became a teacher'). If the complement is an adjective, the instrumental is heavily preferred in standard Czech (e.g., Stal se slavným - 'He became famous'), though the nominative is marginally acceptable in some contexts.
• Another very common construction is stát se + z + genitive (e.g., Stal se z něj prezident - 'He became president'). In this specific structure, the role (prezident) becomes the grammatical subject and must be in the nominative case.
• For the verb udělat (to make someone something), the most common and natural alternative to the instrumental in everyday spoken Czech is z + genitive (e.g., Udělali z něj ředitele - 'They made him director').
• Another very common alternative for roles and titles is using jako + nominative (e.g., Byl jmenován jako ředitel - 'He was appointed as director', Pracuje jako učitel - 'He works as a teacher'). This allows you to safely use the nominative case.