Czech Colors & Descriptions: černý, černá, černé
Colors are the friendliest way to learn Czech's most important habit: adjectives change their ending to match their noun. Master six colors and the habit comes free.
The Six to Know
| Czech | English |
|---|---|
| bílý | white |
| černý | black |
| červený | red |
| modrý | blue |
| zelený | green |
| žlutý | yellow |
Colors Are Adjectives — They Agree
Like dobrý/dobrá/dobré from the gender lesson, every color wears the ending of its noun: -ý for masculine, -á for feminine, -é for neuter.
| Gender | Example |
|---|---|
| masculine | černý pes — a black dog |
| feminine | černá káva — black coffee |
| neuter | černé pivo — dark beer |
Dám si černou kávu.
I'll have a black coffee.
Note: After dám si the adjective follows its noun into -ou: černou kávu. Just notice it for now.
Describing Things
Beyond color, the first descriptive pairs: velký/malý (big/small), nový/starý (new/old), hezký (pretty). Ask about color with «Jakou barvu má…?» — what color is…?
Jakou barvu má tvoje auto?
What color is your car?
Je červené. Malé a staré, ale hezké.
It's red. Small and old, but pretty.
A Rex?
And Rex?
Rex je černý a velký!
Rex is black and big!
Common Mistakes
- One ending for everything. černý káva grates on Czech ears — káva is feminine: černá káva.
- Neuter -o thinking. The neuter adjective ending is -é, not -o: dobré pivo, černé pivo.
- žlutý vs zelený. Both start alive with color; ž = yellow, z = green. The háček decides.
What You Can Do Now
You can describe things by color and size with endings that agree, order černou kávu, and answer jakou barvu má — the agreement habit is planted.