Declension
Main article: Czech declensionCzechs typically refer to the noun cases by number and learn them by means of the question to which they are the answer. These numbers do not necessarily correspond to numbered cases in other languages (e.g., the Slovene locative and instrumental are known as the 5th and 6th cases). When learning a new word, Czech children recite the cases using a set of example phrases, shown as follows:
| 1. | kdo/co? (who/what?) | nominative |
| 2. | (bez) koho/čeho? (without whom/what?) | genitive |
| 3. | (ke) komu/čemu? (to whom/what?) | dative |
| 4. | (vidíme) koho/co? (We see whom/what?) | accusative |
| 5. | oslovujeme/voláme (We address/call) | vocative |
| 6. | (o) kom/čem? (about whom/what?) | locative |
| 7. | (s) kým/čím? (with whom/what?) | instrumental |
The case used depends on a number of variables.
Read more about this topic: Czech Language, Syntax and Morphology
Famous quotes containing the word declension:
“And what if my descendants lose the flower
Through natural declension of the soul,
Through too much business with the passing hour,
Through too much play, or marriage with a fool?”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“And from the first declension of the flesh
I learnt man’s tongue, to twist the shapes of thoughts
Into the stony idiom of the brain....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)