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                                                                      Alphabet
                                                                        Abeceda

1. Nominative case ( Nominativ Páde!): case of the subject of the sentence, of the predicate nominative (after the verb "to be"), and of a noun standing alone (unless in direct address or understood as part of an incomplete sentence): Answers the questions
   • KDO? - or who? is the doer of, or subjected to, some action.
     • Who is writing a letter? -- Kdo píše dopis?
     • Father is writing a letter. -- Otec píše dopis. - - The word "otec" is in the 1st case as it is the answer to "who".
   • CO?- or what? something is said about.
     • What is there: -- Co je tam?
     • There is a forest there. -- Tam je les. - - The work "les" is in the 1st case as it is the answer to "what".
2. Genitive (Genitiv Páde!), similar to English possessive case (My friend's home).
   • A word is in the 2nd case when it answers the question "whose" or "of whom", Èí, or "of what:, Èeho (second case of Co.)

     Èeho barva je hnìdá? The color of what is brown?	Barva stolu je hnìdá The color of the table is brown.
     Èí je to svetr?	Je to svetr mého bratra

   • This case is used to indiate the relation of "belonging to", which sometimes amounts to actual possession,
   • while in other instances it expresses the quality, quantity or size of a person or thing.
     

     mnoho papíru

     much paper

   • It is also used in certain time phrases and after certain prepositions, e.g.,

     do	into	Jdu do divadla
     z	out of, from within	Jdu z divadla	Jedu z Prahy (I come from Prague)
     s	down from
     od	from, away from (in which one has not been inside)	Jdo od bratra	Jdu od Prahy I am traveling in a direction away from Praque
     u	near, by, at the house/place of
     vedle	beside, next to
     bez	without

3. Dative (Dativ Páde!)
   • The dative case is the case of the indirect object. It tells for whose benefit the action is performed supplies an asnwer to the question "to whom?" (komu?)[and ocassionally "for whom" or "to what?"(èemu?). Note that the preposition to and for are not always expressed in English:

     Dávám bratrovi knihu	I give my brother a book ( i.e., to my brother.)
     Komu píšeš To whom are you writing?	Píšu bratovi I am writing to my brother
     Komu píšete To whom are you writing?	Píši panu Novákovi I am writing to Mr. Novák
     Ke komu jdete? To whom are you going?	Jdu k øezníkovi I am going to the butcher's

   • A word is in the 3rd case when it follows a verb that expresses "giving" or any other act directed to the object of a sentence. It is used after a verb like giving [to give - dávati], sending, saying [to say - øíkati], answering [to answer - odpovídati], writing something to someone.
   • The dative is always used with the preposition k (ke before words beginning with a group of consonants: ku before the labials p, b, m followed by a second consonant.) K means towards, to the vicintu of, in the direction of. to the house (office, store, etc,) of. Thus, its use corresponds to that of u and od with the genitive.

     Jdu k bratrovi	I go to Brother (Brother's)	dative
     Jsem u bratra	I am at brother's.	genitive
     Jdu od bratra	I come from Brother (Brother's)	genitive
     Jedu k mìstu	I go towards the city (but not into it)	dative
     Jsem u mìsta	I am near the city	genitive
     Jedu od mìsta	I come away from the city (but have not been it it)	genitive

   • In espressions of time, k means towards:

     k veèeru

     towards evening.

4. Accusative Case (Akuzativ Páde!) is used for
   • the direct object of transitive verbs, that is , it tells what person is directly affected by the action of the verb. (direct object case which marks the receiver of the action or the thing acted upon by the subject). It answers the questions Whom? What? [Hledám Janu. Jana is nominative],

     Koho vidí Hoch Whom does the boy see?	Hoch vidí pána The boy sees a gentleman
     Co nese listonoš? What does the postman carry	Listonoš nese balík. The postman carries a parcel.

   • after some prepostions (e.g., na on to, for, pøes, across, pro for, on behalf of) [Èekám na Janu., Jana i snominative case],
   • and in phrases of time duration [Èekám celý den.].
   • The acusative is also used when asking for something: [Tužku, prosím.]

   Co tam vidíš?	Vidím tam matku.	Matka (f) is the nominative case
   Koho jsi tam vidìl?	Vidìl jsem matku. or Vidìl jsem tam pøítele.	matka (f) is nominative case pøítel (m) is nominative case

5. Vocative case (Vokativ Páde! ), or 5th case, is used
   • to address [Otèe náš. Teto má.]
   • or call a person [Nováku, pojdte jsem. Novák is nonimative and ends in k.]
   • Milena: Ahoj, Mileno! = Hi, Milena!
   • Katka: Nazdar, Katko! = Hi, Katka!
   • Julie: Ahoj, Julie! =
   • Marie: Èau, Marie!
   • Milan - - Milane!
   • ludvík - - Ludvíku!
   • Bedøidh - - Bedøichu!
   • Miloš -- Miloši
   • Tomáš - - Tomáši!
6. Locative case (Lokativ Páde!), or 6th case, is only used after perpositions v (ve) 'in", na "on", o "about", po "after", pøí "beside".

   v (ve)	in (=inside whom? what?) [not "into" for indicating direction] v kom? v èem? inanimate maculines, with some exceptions, have -ì after labials and dentals (p,b, m, v, t, d,n), otherwise -2;But those which have stems ending in - r or velar sounds (spelt, -h, -ch, -k) usually add -u. les - v lese; obchod - v obchodì; kábat - v kábatì; dùm - v domì; park - v parku; vzduch - ve vzduchu; divadlo - v divadle; mìsto - v mìstì; kino - v kinì; okno - v oknì; slovenslo = na slovensku; jezero - v jezeru	Je v Praze He is in Prague
   na	on, upon (whom? what) na kom? na èem	Leži na podlazae. He is lying on the floor.
   o	of or about (whom? what") o kom? o èem? mostly used after the verbs mluviti (o kom? o èem?) = to speak of or about slyšeti (o kom? o èem?)= to hear of or about (whom? what?) vìdìti (o kom? o èem?) =to know of or about (whom" what?) and other similar verbs.. It also means: at (what time?)	Mluví o Praze. He is talking about Prague.
   po	after (i.e., following whom" what?) po kom? po èem	Po obìd spí. After lunch he sleeps.
   pøí	at, by=near (whom? what?) pøí kom? pøí èem	Sedí pøí okní He is sitting by/at/beside the window

7. Instrumental. (Instrumentál Páde!)
   • The instrumental is used to express the means, instrument, or agent by which an action is performed.

     Žák píše tužkou.	The pupil writes with a pencil.	Autem nebo vlakem? - By car of train?
     Jedeme autem to Prahy.	We are going by car to Prague.	Proè píšeš tím špatným pérem? - Why are you writing with this bad pen?
     Bratr kývá hlavou.	Brother nods (with) his head.	Kterou cestou jsi šel do mìsta - How=by what way?
     Praha mne pøekvapila svou vanoèní náladou. - Pague surprised by with its Christmas spirit.

   • Place of motion. when motion occurrs in, on, or through a certain place, the noun denoting that place is often put into the instrumental.
   • The instrumental, or 7th case, is used after the following Prepostions:

     s, se	s kým? s èím? =with (whom? what?)	Píše s Janu dopis. He is writing a letter with Jana. with (in company with) Prosím vás, pane profesore, mohu s vámi mluvit?
     mezi	mezi kým? mezi èím? =between (whom? what?)
     nad	nad kým? nad èím? =above, over (whom? what?)	Letadlo kroužilo nad naším mìstem. The aeroplane circled over the town.
     pod	pod kým? pod èím? =under, underneath, below, beneath (whom? what?)	Pod stromem leželo mnoho jablek.
     pøed	pøed kým? pøed èím? =before (whom? what?)	Vaclav na nás èekal pøed Národním divadlem.
     za	za kým? za èím? =behind (whom? what?)	Sedí za oknem. He/she is sitting behind the window. Za tím lesem je hluboké jezero.

     Note: when mezi, nad, pod, pøed, za used with a sense of motion the accusative case is used.
     The demonstrative adjective is tím: to péro - tím pérem.