Czech Pronouns & the Verb 'To Be'
Two building blocks unlock most first sentences: the personal pronouns, and the verb být (to be). Unlike Russian — which drops "to be" entirely in the present — Czech keeps a full set of forms, and they're worth knowing cold.
The Cast of Pronouns
| Czech | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| já | I | |
| ty | you (informal) | one friend/child |
| on / ona / ono | he / she / it | by grammatical gender |
| my | we | |
| vy | you (formal or plural) | strangers, elders, groups |
| oni | they |
On / ona / ono follow grammatical gender, not just people: a masculine noun like stůl (table) is on, feminine káva is ona, neuter pivo is ono. You'll meet gender properly in noun gender.
Být — To Be
| Pronoun | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| já | jsem | Jsem student. — I'm a student. |
| ty | jsi | Jsi doma? — Are you home? |
| on/ona/ono | je | Ona je z Prahy. — She's from Prague. |
| my | jsme | Jsme tady. — We're here. |
| vy | jste | Jste připraveni? — Are you ready? |
| oni | jsou | Jsou doma. — They're home. |
Jsem z Ameriky a jsem tady na dovolené.
I'm from America and I'm here on holiday.
Note: One já covers both clauses — jsem already means 'I am'.
Drop the Pronoun
Because each ending already tells you who, Czech normally drops the pronoun. Jsem can only mean "I am," so já is unnecessary. You add the pronoun back only for emphasis or contrast.
| With pronoun | Natural Czech | When to keep it |
|---|---|---|
| Já jsem Petr. | Jsem Petr. | Keep já to stress 'I' (I'm Petr — who are you?) |
| Ty jsi z Brna? | Jsi z Brna? | Keep ty for contrast |
| My jsme tady. | Jsme tady. | Keep my to emphasise 'we' |
Saying 'I'm Not'
To negate být, glue ne- onto the front of the verb — one word, no separate particle:
| Positive | Negative | English |
|---|---|---|
| jsem | nejsem | I'm not |
| jsi | nejsi | you're not |
| je | není | he/she/it isn't (irregular!) |
| jsme | nejsme | we're not |
| jste | nejste | you're not |
| jsou | nejsou | they're not |
The one to memorise is není — "isn't" — which breaks the pattern (not neje).
Nejsem z Prahy, jsem z Brna.
I'm not from Prague, I'm from Brno.
Note: ne- attaches directly: ne + jsem → nejsem.
To není moje káva.
That's not my coffee.
Note: není — the irregular negative of je. You'll hear it constantly.
Hear the forms of být in a real mix-up — tap the speakers to listen:
💬 Wrong person
Ahoj, ty jsi Marek?
Hi, are you Marek?
Ne, nejsem. Marek je tamhle.
No, I'm not. Marek is over there.
Promiň! A kdo jsi ty?
Sorry! And who are you?
Já jsem Tomáš. My jsme kolegové.
I'm Tomáš. We're colleagues.
Common Mistakes
- Dropping jsem like Russian does. Já student is broken Czech — the verb is always there: Jsem student.
- Saying neje. The negative of je is irregular: není. Everything else is regular (nejsem, nejsi…), which makes není easy to forget.
- Overusing pronouns. Já jsem, já mám, já bydlím… — the endings already say who. Keep já for emphasis and introductions.
- Confusing jsi and si. "You are" is jsi; si is a different word (the reflexive particle). Learners' texts mix them constantly.
- Using ty jsi with the wrong person. With strangers the pair is vy jste: Vy jste pan Novák? — one slip undoes your polite dobrý den.
What You Can Do Now
You can say who you are and aren't, where you're from, ask the same politely or casually, and answer with the right form of být every time. That's the skeleton of Czech small talk. Next: turn these blocks into real sentences with first sentence patterns.