-ný / -tý (trpný přívlastek)

Passive participial adjectives (slovesná přídavná jména trpná) are formed by taking the verb stem and adding the suffixes -ný, -ený, or -tý. They decline exactly like standard hard adjectives.

Transitivity Restriction: These adjectives are formed almost exclusively from transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object in the accusative case, e.g., dělat něco, psát něco). Intransitive verbs (like jít or spát) generally cannot form passive adjectives. Instead, standard intransitive verbs use the active -lý participle (e.g., usnout → usnulý, zestárnout → zestárlý) to express a completed state. However, many reflexive verbs can also form these adjectives to describe a completed state of the subject (e.g., vyspat se → vyspaný, zamilovat se → zamilovaný, zamyslet se → zamyšlený). Crucially, adjectives formed from these reflexive verbs carry an active meaning (e.g., vyspaný = having slept), contrasting with the passive meaning of those derived from transitive verbs.

1. Morphological Rules:

• -ný: Typically for verbs ending in -at (dělat → dělaný), -át (psát → psaný), and -ovat (plánovat → plánovaný, kupovat → kupovaný).
• -tý: Typically for verbs ending in -nout, -ít, -ýt (zvednout → zvednutý, mýt → mytý). Note that some -nout verbs like zamknout often prefer the mutated -ený form in everyday Czech (zamčený).
• -ený: Typically for verbs ending in -it, -et/-ět, or consonants. For irregular verbs ending in consonants (like -st), the suffix is added to the present/past stem rather than the infinitive stem (e.g., číst (stem: čt-) → čtený, krást (stem: krad-) → kradený). Exceptions: Verbs ending in -řít take -ený (zavřít → zavřený), and many verbs ending in -nout take -ený with consonant mutation (táhnout → tažený).
• -tý after -a-: For verbs ending in -jmout, -čít, and vzít, the -tý suffix is added to a past stem ending in -a- (e.g., přijmout → přijatý, začít → začatý, vzít → vzatý).

2. Phonological Changes:

• Consonant Mutation: The -ený suffix triggers palatalization of the final stem consonant. Common mutations include t > c (platit → placený), d > z (uklidit → uklizený) or d > ď (vidět → viděný), s > š (nosit → nošený), and z > ž (kazit → kažený). Consonant clusters also mutate, such as st > šť (pustit → puštěný), zd > žď (zpozdit → zpožděný), and sl > šl (myslet → myšlený). Velar consonants also mutate before the -ený suffix, which is crucial for verbs ending in -ct or -ci: k > č (péct → pečený), c > č (říct → řečený), and h > ž (pomoci → pomožený).
• Vowel Shortening: Long vowels in monosyllabic roots and their prefixed derivatives typically shorten (e.g., á > a in psát → psaný; í > i in pít → pitý; ý > y in mýt → mytý; ou > u in zout → zutý). Other common shortening patterns include é > e (nést → nesený, péct → pečený) and í > e (říct → řečený). Polysyllabic verbs usually retain their length (e.g., zpívat → zpívaný).

3. Register and Usage:
Unlike short passive participles (e.g., napsán, zavřen), which are formal and strictly predicative, these long forms (napsaný, zavřený) are stylistically neutral and ubiquitous in all registers.

Attributive Use: Their primary function is attributive, acting as normal adjectives placed directly before a noun to modify it (e.g., napsaný dopis 'the written letter', zavřené okno 'the closed window'). In this position, both perfective and imperfective verbs are frequently used. Imperfective verbs often describe properties, methods, or ongoing states (e.g., ručně dělaný 'handmade', milovaný 'loved').

Predicative Use: In everyday spoken Czech, they are also heavily used in predicative positions to express states, forming a stative passive result. When used this way, the construction overwhelmingly relies on perfective verbs to express a completed state. For example, Je to udělané. (It is done). Note that in everyday spoken Czech, you will often hear the Common Czech colloquial ending -ý for the neuter instead of the standard -é (e.g., Je to udělaný.).