Czech Participles for Readers: mluvící, zavřeno, zákaz kouření
Written Czech is full of forms nobody says aloud — and every page leans on them. The strategy: decode, don't produce. Unfold them in your head and read straight through.
-ící = který + Verb
The active participle compresses a relative clause: mluvící = který mluví (who is speaking); čekající = který čeká. Meet it in print, unfold it, keep reading.
žena čekající na tramvaj
a woman waiting for the tram
Note: Unfold: žena, která čeká na tramvaj. Same meaning, spoken shape.
The Signs Speak Participle
Czech public space runs on the short passive participles:
Hotovo — Done
The same -no/-to forms live happily in speech as states: Hotovo! — done! Zaplaceno — paid. Domluveno — agreed (your old friend from arrangements). Short, satisfying, and fully yours to produce.
Tak. Hotovo. Zaplaceno. Jdeme.
Right. Done. Paid. Let's go.
Note: Three participles, zero verbs, complete communication.
Zákaz — the Forbidding Noun
Signs also love the verbal noun in -ní/-tí: zákaz kouření — no smoking (a "ban of smoking"), zákaz vstupu — no entry, zákaz parkování. Verbs in suits: kouřit → kouření, čekat → čekání.
Common Mistakes
- Producing -ící in speech. Say který mluví; leave mluvící to the page.
- Reading Vyprodáno as a verb. It's a state: sold out, full stop, no tickets.
- zákaz + infinitive. The ban takes the noun: zákaz kouření, not zákaz kouřit.
What You Can Do Now
You can read prose without stumbling on participles, obey (or knowingly defy) every sign in the country, and announce hotovo with the satisfaction it deserves.