Nový? Nová? Nové? Don’t Panic — It’s Just Czech Adjectives
When you open a Czech dictionary and look up an adjective, you’ll usually see just one form: the masculine singular nominative.
For example: nový (“new”).
That’s nice and tidy… until you realize that Czech adjectives are like chameleons. They happily change their endings depending on gender, number, and case. If you only know nový, you’ll quickly get into trouble.
The “default” dictionary form
Czech dictionaries show you the masculine form:
nový dům – a new house (masculine)
nový učitel – a new teacher (masculine animate)
But the moment you talk about a woman, a car, or an airport, things shift:
nová zpráva – a new message (feminine)
nové auto – a new car (neuter)
nové letiště – a new airport (neuter)
Adjectives love to dress up
Think of Czech adjectives as little fashionistas. They don’t just put on one outfit and call it a day. No, they keep a whole wardrobe. Depending on what noun they’re describing, they pick a different ending:
Masculine: nový učitel (new teacher)
Feminine: nová učitelka (new teacher, female)
Neuter: nové auto (new car)
Different endings of Czech adjectives
Watch out for the doft ones!
Most adjectives are what grammars call hard adjectives (like nový), but there are also soft adjectives. They look like this:
cizí jazyk – a foreign language
cizí země – a foreign country
cizí jméno – a foreign name
Notice something? Yep — they don’t change their endings across genders in the nominative singular. Lazy little things!
Real-life funny mix-ups
It’s easy to mix up endings and sometimes it leads to hilarious sentences:
❌ Můj učitel je milá.
(My teacher is nice — but with a feminine adjective. Oops, you just accidentally said your male teacher is a woman.)❌ To auto je malá.
(The car is small — but you used a feminine ending. Your Czech friends will giggle.)
The correct versions:
Můj učitel je milý.
To auto je malé.
Adjectives with “to”
When you’re using an adjective without any noun, Czech plays it safe: the adjective goes to neuter.
To je dobré. – That’s good.
To je hezké. – That’s nice.
To je drahé. – That’s expensive.
So if you’re not sure, the “neuter trick” can save you.
Plurals – when adjectives start showing off
In the singular, you just have to worry about -ý, -á, -é. But once you step into plural land, adjectives start flexing all their endings — and even change some consonants.
Here’s the overview (nominative plural):
Czech hard adjectives in plural
My best tips
Always learn adjectives together with a noun. Don’t just memorize nový. Memorize nový dům, nová kniha, nové auto.
Listen for patterns. The difference between -ý, -á, -é will start to feel natural.
Laugh at your mistakes. Czech people will. And they’ll love you for trying.
Want a life raft?
Czech adjective endings are closely tied to gender and cases. If you want to master this without drowning in charts, grab my two cheat sheets:
Together, they’ll help you figure out not only what gender a noun is, but also how your adjectives should “dress up” to match.
