Czech language

The official language of the Czech Republic is Czech. As everywhere in the world, there are different dialects here depending on the region, so much so that a resident of Prague might not understand certain terms from Moravia, for example.

Czech is a member of the Slavic language family, like Polish, Slovak, Russian, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian... Even though Slovaks speak a different language, we generally understand each other (although generations born after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993 are starting to have difficulties understanding).

It is difficult to learn Czech, not only because of its phonetics (like the sound "ř" and the many consonants that follow each other) but also because of the declension of nouns (there are 7 cases). But unlike English, we do not use articles in front of nouns (e.g., "a dog" / "the cats" – we simply say "pes" / "kočky").

Don't be afraid, in most cities you can now speak English without difficulty.

Czech alphabet

Czechs use the Latin alphabet, as in English. Most consonants are pronounced in the same way as in English.

Czech often accumulates consonants one after the other, sometimes seeming to completely ignore the use of vowels... a nice challenge for English speakers, and a lot of laughter if you try to read the signs and posters in the streets of Prague! Try twisting your tongue by pronouncing "Pařížská" – Paris Street, which leads to Old Town Square.

Czech uses three accents: an acute accent reserved for all vowels (ý, í, á, é, ó, ú), a small circle reserved only for the vowel "u" (ů), and a caron for some consonants (š, č, ř, ž) and for the vowel "e" (ě).

Vowels with the acute accent or small circle (ů) are long.

The caron, on the other hand, changes the pronunciation of the letter: for example, 's' is pronounced as in English, but 'š' is pronounced [sh]; 'c' is pronounced [ts]; 'č' is pronounced [cz] and 'ě' is pronounced [iè].

Some useful expressions

Although Czech is a very difficult and sometimes confusing language if you hear or read it for the first time, we advise you to try to learn some expressions. Czechs will appreciate this effort and will be more willing to help you.

| English | Czech | Pronunciation |