Czech Declension - Prepositions With Certain Cases

Prepositions With Certain Cases

Czech prepositions are matched with certain cases of nouns. They are usually not matched with the nominative case, which is primarily used as the subject in sentences. However, there are some exceptions to this rule: foreign prepositions (kontra, versus, etc.) are matched with the nominative, but their use is very rare. No prepositions are matched with the vocative, because it is used for addressing people only.

Genitive:

od – from (e.g. odstup od něj - step away from him)

z – from, out of (e.g. kouř z komínu - smoke out of a chimney)

do – (in)to; till (e.g. jít do bytu - to go into a flat; čekat do tří - to wait until 3:00)

bez – without (e.g. bez dcerky neodejdu - I won't go without my daughter)

vyjma/mimo – except for, excluding (e.g. vyjma tebe všichni souhlasí - all agree except for you; less frequent)

krom(ě) - except, besides (e.g. kromě něj tam byla i ona - besides him, she was there too)

místo – instead of (e.g. místo tebe hrál náhradník - a substitute played instead of you)

podle – along; according to (e.g. podle normy - according to norm)

podél/kolem - along (e.g. šel kolem potoka - he walked along the brook; šel jsem kolem - I went by)

okolo - about, around, circa/roughly (e.g. tráva okolo studny - a grass around the well)

u – by, next to, at (e.g. vchod u rohu - entrance at the corner; u stolu - at/around the table, jsem u tebe - I'm at your house)

vedle – next to, besides (e.g. na té fotce stojí Lucie vedle Moniky - in the photo, Lucie is standing next to Monika)

během – during, while (e.g. během prázdnin - during holiday)

pomocí - with the help of (e.g. pomocí klacku ho dostali z bažiny - with a help of a stick they got him out of a marsh)

stran - regarding (rare)

prostřednictvím - through, with a device/instrument of

s - from higher place to lower (obsolete)

Dative:

k – to(wards) (e.g. jedeme k jezeru - we're going to(wards) the lake, jdu k tobě - i'm coming to your house)

(na)proti – against, opposite to (e.g. je proti tobě - (s) he's against you; je to naproti lékárně - it's opposite to the pharmacy)

oproti - opposite to, unlike (e.g. oproti teoriím věřím faktům - unlike the theories, I believe the facts)

kvůli - due to, because of, for (e.g. udělej to kvůli mě - do it for me; udělal to kvůli mě - he did it because of me)

vůči - in the face of, toward(s) (e.g laskavost vůči někomu - kindness towards someone)

díky - thanks to (e.g. díky němu (my) máme naše peníze zpět - thanks to him, we have our money back)

Accusative:

pro – for (e.g. udělal to pro mě - he did/made it for me)

za – for (less frequent); instead of; behind (direction); per (e.g. kandidoval za demokraty - he made a candidature for the democrats; 1 porce za 5 korun - 1 portion for 5 (Czech) crowns)

před – in front of (direction) (e.g. vyvěs to před dům - (go) hang it in front of the house)

mimo - besides, off, out of, parallel to (place) (e.g. mimo Prahu - outside of Prague; mimo terč - off the bullet; mimo provoz - out of order; mimo - out/miss/no hit)

na – (on)to (direction) (e.g. dej to na stůl - put it on the table)

pod – under, below (direction)

nad – over, above (direction)

mezi – between, among (direction)

krom(ě) - except (for), besides, among (e.g. krom ostatního - among other things)

skrz – through

o – by, for (e.g. zvýšit o 1 - increase by one; zápas o 3. místo - match for the 3rd place)

v - in (e.g. věřit v boha - to believe in God)

Locative:

o - about, of (e.g. mluvit o ní - to talk about her)

na - on (e.g. skvrna na sukni - stain on a skirt)

v - in (e.g. ruka v rukávu - arm in a sleeve)

po - after (e.g. po obědě - after lunch; jdu po čáře - I walk the line)

při – by; during (e.g. při obřadu - during the ceremonial; stůj při mě - stand by me/be my support)

Instrumental:

s – with (e.g. s tebou - with you)

za – behind, beyond, after (place), in/after (time); (e.g. stát za rohem - to stay behind corner; kdo za tím je? - who's behind (it)?/what's the meritum?; za horizontem - beyond the horizon; za hodinu tam budeme - we will be there in an hour)

před – in front of (place); before; ago; from; against (e.g. přímo před tebou - right in front of you; před mnoha lety - many years ago; uniknout před pronásledovateli - to escape from pursuers; varovat před ním - to warn against him)

pod – under(neath), below (place) (e.g. pod stolem spí pes - a dog is sleeping under the table)

nad – over, above (place)

mezi – between, among (place) (e.g. mezi póly - between poles; mezi kuřaty - among chicken)

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