with an emphasis on grammar
Words with irregular plural form
In this observation we shall look at certain frequent words that have some kind of exception in the 1st (nominative) case in the plural. Specifically we will talk about the words lidé, děti, rodiče, oči, uši, ruce, koně and přátelé.
As in many other languages, the singular and the plural forms of the words člověk – man and dítě – child are formed in Czech from different base words:
| Každý člověk hledá lásku. | Všichni lidé hledají lásku. |
| Onemocnělo jedno dítě. | Onemocněly všechny děti. |
We will hardly encounter the word lidé in ordinary speech. It is used virtually only in official addresses and documents. The commonly used form of the 1st (nominative) case is lidi, which coincides with the form of the 4th (accusative) case.
In the singular, the word dítě has the neuter gender (to dítě), while in the plural the gender changes to the feminine (ty děti).
The peculiarity of the word rodiče – parents consists in the fact that in the plural it does not take the -i ending of the masculine animate gender (we say oba hasiči, oba řidiči, oba potápěči, but oba rodiče):
| Na schůzku přišel jeden rodič. | Na schůzku přišli všichni rodiče. |
The words oko – eye and ucho – ear have the neuter gender and in the plural should have had the -a ending, just like the words okna or auta. However these are rather old words that do not follow the regular declension and have the form oči and uši in the plural:
| Jedno oko bylo poraněno. | Obě oči viděly dobře. |
| Jedno ucho mu při vzletu zalehlo. | Zrůžověly jí obě uši. |
In the singular the words oko and ucho have the neuter gender (to oko, to ucho), however in the plural the gender changes to the feminine (ty oči, ty uši).
The forms oči and uši are used only when speaking about the organs of sight and hearing, respectively. The forms oka and ucha also exist, but they denote objects shaped similarly to the human eye or ear. But these forms are not very frequent.
The words ruka – hand, arm and kůň – horse have special declension that needs to be learnt. In the 1st (nominative) case in the plural they have the forms ruce and koně:
| Jedna jeho ruka byla v sádře. | Na tleskání jsou zapotřebí dvě ruce. |
| Kůň se pásl na louce. | Koně se pásli na louce. |
Even though the word přítel – friend in the plural takes one of the regular endings for the masculine animate case -é, a vowel change takes place in the root from í to á:
| Můj přítel hledá práci. | Moji přátelé hledají práci. |
The vowel á persists in the root in the plural in all other grammatical cases as well: přátel, přátelům, přátele, přátelích and přáteli.
You can always find word forms in all cases and numbers in the Internet Language Reference Book maintained by the Institute of the Czech Language.
Now let’s consolidate the newly acquired knowledge. Write 5 to 10 sentences with these words and send them to me to check:
Read on:
- Learn the words with a vowel change ů to o (and also í to ě)
- Who all belongs to the masculine animate gender
- Which verbs are used with each grammatical case
- Which prepositions are associated with each grammatical case
- Concurrence between the 2nd case in the singular and the 1st case in the plural