3.12 – Czech Counting Rule
When you are counting objects, the rule for which form you need is as follows:
1 (jeden, jedna, jedno)
With the number 1, you will use the singular of a noun. Make sure it agrees with the gender and case of the noun!
Dám si jednu kávu.
‘I’ll have one coffee.’
Tady je jenom jedno okno.
‘There is only one window here.’
Znám tady jednoho profesora.
‘I know one professor here.’
2-4
When you have 2, 3, or 4 of something, follow it by the normal plural forms of the noun.
Tady jsou dva studenti.
‘There are two students here.’
Mám dva dobré kamarády.
‘I have two good friends.’
5
The numbers 5 and above are followed by the genitive plural in Czech.
Mám pět dobrých knih.
‘I have five good books.’
Tady je deset nových studentů.
‘There are ten new students here.’
*NOTE* – As a final note, you may have noticed that the sentence above used the 3rd person singular form je. Typically when numbers 5 are the subject of the sentence, they will be used with a 3rd personal singular verb. We already saw this in the phrase Kolik je hodin? ‘What time is it?’ Je šest hodin ‘It’s 6:00’. This rule applies not only to numbers 5 , but also any of the quantity expressions:
málo few, little
hodně a lot, much, many
mnoho (bookish) a lot, much, many
moc a lot, much, many; too much
spousta a bunch, a lot
víc, více (bookish) more
míň, méně (bookish) less
kolik how much, how many
několik a few, several
tolik so much, so many
dost enough
trochu a little
|
Quantity Word |
Form of Noun |
Form of Verb |
|
1 |
singular
jedna hodina jeden profesor |
singular
Je jedna hodina.
Je tady jeden profesor. |
|
2-4 |
plural
dva profesoři dvě knihy |
plural
Jsou tady dva profesoři.
Na stole jsou tři knihy. |
|
5 quantity words like hodně, mnoho, moc, kolik, několik, etc. |
genitive plural
pět studentů šest hodin několik knih |
*singular verb*
Je tady pět studentů.
Je šest hodin.
Na stole je několik knih. |