Czech Plurals
Making a Czech noun plural means swapping its ending, and the ending you pick depends on the noun's gender. Start with the regular patterns below — they cover the large majority of everyday nouns — and pick up the exceptions as you meet them.
This lesson shows only the dictionary (nominative) plural — the form you'd list in a vocabulary set. Plural endings shift again in other cases, but the shapes here are your anchor.
The Regular Patterns
| Gender | Singular → Plural | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine (inanimate) | consonant → -y | hrad → hrady (castles) |
| Feminine | -a → -y | žena → ženy (women) |
| Neuter | -o → -a | město → města (cities) |
Mám dva bratry a tři sestry.
I have two brothers and three sisters.
Note: bratr → bratry, sestra → sestry — masculine and feminine both land near -y.
Soft endings behave a little differently. Nouns ending in a soft consonant or in -e/-ě take -e instead of -y: růže → růže (roses), moře → moře (seas). And neuter nouns in -í don't change at all: nádraží → nádraží (stations).
People Are Special
Masculine nouns for people (animate) take -i in the plural, and the final consonant often softens with it:
| Singular | Plural | Consonant shift |
|---|---|---|
| student | studenti | none |
| kluk (boy) | kluci | k → c |
| pes (dog) | psi | drops -e- |
| Čech | Češi | ch → š |
The Everyday Rebels
A few very common words go their own way — and because they're common, they're worth memorising directly:
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| člověk | lidé | person → people |
| dítě | děti | child → children |
| oko | oči | eye → eyes |
| ucho | uši | ear → ears |
| ruka | ruce | hand → hands |
Na náměstí byli lidé a děti.
There were people and children in the square.
Note: lidé and děti are the go-to irregulars — you'll use them daily.
Plurals in a real conversation — tap the speakers to listen:
💬 Lost and found
Kde jsou klíče?
Where are the keys?
Na stole, vedle knih.
On the table, next to the books.
A kde jsou děti?
And where are the children?
Venku na hřišti, s kamarády.
Outside at the playground, with friends.
Common Mistakes
- One plural ending for everything. Each gender has its own: studenti (m. animate -i), ženy (f. -y), města (n. -a). Borrowing across genders is the most common slip.
- Forgetting animacy. Masculine people take -i with softening (student → studenti, kluk → kluci); things take -y (hrad → hrady). Mixing them is instantly heard.
- Regularising the irregulars. Členové? No — člověk → lidé, dítě → děti. The five in the table above resist all rules and appear daily.
- Ignoring the k → c shift. Kluki doesn't exist; the k softens before -i: kluci.
- Leaving the adjective singular. The phrase pluralises together: dobří kamarádi, dobré kávy — adjective and noun in step.
What You Can Do Now
You can pluralise the everyday nouns of each gender, handle the five famous irregulars (lidé, děti, oči, uši, ruce), and keep adjectives in step. Next, count those plurals with numbers & counting — where Czech quantities have a twist of their own.