Adjectives in Czech

Czech adjectives are primarily divided into two groups for declension: hard and soft. This classification is based on the stem-ending of the adjective.

Hard Adjectives (Tvrdá adjektiva)

  • Nominative Masculine Singular Ending: Usually ends in -ý.
  • Examples: 
    • nový (new)
    • mladý (young)
    • dobrý (good)
  • The endings are characterized by hard vowels, particularly -ý, -á, -é. For instance, the masculine nominative singular is -ý, while the feminine is -á and the neuter -é.

Soft Adjectives (Měkká adjektiva)

  • The stem ends in a soft consonant such as c, j, ž, š, č, ř, but also endings such as -ní or -cí.
  • Nominative Masculine Singular Ending: Always ends in -í.
  • Examples:
    • cizí (foreign)
    • jarní (spring, of spring)
    • rybí (fish, of fish)
  • Declension Pattern: The endings are consistently characterized by the soft vowel -í across all genders and numbers. For example, the nominative singular for all genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter) is -í. There are no changes like -ý to -á. The only change occurs in the plural dative case, where it becomes -ím, and in the locative/instrumental cases, which can have different endings depending on gender and number.

Thus, the basic form of an adjective describes a quality without any comparison. For example:

  • pomalý (slow)
  • krásný (beautiful)
  • starý (old)

Comparative Form

The comparative form is used to compare two things. In Czech, this is typically formed by adding the suffix –ejší, -ější or -ší to the adjective. For example:

  • pomalejší (slower) from pomalý
  • krásnější (more beautiful) from krásný
  • starší (older) from starý

It expresses a higher degree of quality compared to another object/person.
It is formed using the suffixes:
-jějí: for adjectives ending in a consonant (eg: more beautiful, stronger, smarter)
-ejší: for adjectives ending in -ý, -í (eg: harder, more expensive, nicer)
-ší: for some adjectives ending in -ký, -oký, -ný, -ní (e.g.: thinner, heavier, longer)
Irregular forms: good – better, bad – worse, tall – taller, etc.
Used with prepositions than or as (eg: more beautiful than you, as smart as him)

Superlative Form

The superlative form is used to describe the highest degree of a quality among three or more things. This is usually formed by adding the prefix nej- to the comparative form. For example:

  • nejpomalejší (slower) from pomalejší
  • nejkrásnější (more beautiful) from krásnější
  • nejstarší (older) from starší
Irregular comparative and superlative forms

In Czech, there are several irregular comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs. These follow the typical pattern of adding suffixes like “-ší” or “ejší/-ější” for comparatives and “nej-” for superlatives, but the root of the word also changes.

Some examples of irregular forms:

  • dobrý (good) – lepší (better) – nejlepší (best)
  • špatný (bad) – horší (worse) – nejhorší (worst)
  • velký (big) – větší (bigger) – největší (biggest)
  • malý (small) – menší (smaller) – nejmenší (smallest)
  • lepší (better) from dobrý
  • větší (bigger) from velký
  • menší (smaller) from malý
  • nejlepší (best) from lepší
  • největší (biggest) from větší
  • nejmenší (smallest) from menší

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