ě

While the letter ě is pronounced as "je" after the consonants b, p, v, and f, a common mistake is thinking it sounds like this everywhere. In fact, the letter ě is strictly limited to just eight consonants in Czech: b, p, v, f, d, t, n, and m. Note that fě is extremely rare and usually only appears in the Dative and Locative cases of specific words, like žirafa (giraffe) becoming k žirafě (to a giraffe) or o žirafě (about a giraffe), or harfa (harp) becoming na harfě (on a harp).

Also, be aware that the sounds [bje] and [vje] are sometimes literally spelled bje and vje when a prefix ending in b or v attaches to a root starting with je (for example, vjezd (entrance), objetí (embrace), or words with the root jem like objem (volume) and vjem (perception)). Additionally, foreign words of Latin origin containing the root -ject- are an exception and are spelled with bje (such as objekt or subjekt). However, because there are no Czech prefixes ending in p, the sound [pje] is always spelled pě (like in pět (five) or zpěv (singing)), and pje is never written in native Czech words (a rare foreign exception is Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia).

When you see dě, tě, ně, do not pronounce them as "d-yeh" or "t-yeh". They are single, fused soft sounds. Because the ě already tells us the consonant is soft, we never write ďe, ťe, ňe in standard Czech orthography.

In standard Czech, when you see mě, it is pronounced [mňe], not "m-yeh" (though in Moravian dialects it is commonly pronounced [mje]). This is why words like město (city) sound like they have an "ň" in them. However, note that the sound [mňe] can also be spelled mně in certain words (like zapomněl (forgot), classic nouns like domněnka (assumption) or pomněnka (forget-me-not), or the pronoun mně), so hearing [mňe] doesn't automatically mean you should write mě.

Here are some helpful rules for choosing between mě and mně:

• Adverbs: Look at the related adjective. If the adjective ends in -mný or -mní (like rozumný -> rozumně), use mně. If it ends in -mý (like soukromý -> soukromě), use mě.
• Verbs: For verbs like zapomněl, look for an 'n' in related verb forms (like zapomene).
• The pronoun já (I): Use mě for the Genitive and Accusative cases, and mně for the Dative and Locative cases (note that the 7th case, Instrumental, avoids ě entirely and uses se mnou). A helpful trick is to use the pronoun ty (you): if you would say the short word tě, write the short word mě (2 letters); if you would say the longer word tobě (4 letters), write the longer word mně (3 letters).
• The trick word tamější (local): It is spelled with mě because it is derived from tam + -ější, with no 'n' in the root. Native speakers frequently misspell it as tamnější because they confuse it with the related adjective tamní (which actually does have an 'n').

You will see this letter everywhere in Czech, from basic vocabulary to location phrases and personal pronouns.