Comparison With než and With the Genitive | Czech Grammar

Once you can form a comparative — vyšší "taller," starší "older," lepší "better" (see forming comparatives) — you need a way to say what you are comparing to. Czech offers two. The everyday, universal one is the conjunction než "than," after which the second term keeps the same case as the first. The second, tighter and more bookish, drops než and puts the second term in the genitive. Knowing both — and knowing that než is the safe default — keeps your comparisons natural and your cases correct.

The default: než + the same case

The conjunction než is the workhorse. The crucial rule: the standard of comparison after než takes the same case as the thing it is compared with, because než introduces a reduced clause and the second term plays the same grammatical role as the first.

When you compare two subjects, both are nominative:

Petr je vyšší než Pavel.

Petr is taller than Pavel (both nominative).

Praha je větší než Brno.

Prague is bigger than Brno.

Jsem o rok starší než ty.

I'm a year older than you (ty, nominative).

When you compare two objects, both are accusative:

Mám radši kávu než čaj.

I like coffee more than tea (both accusative).

Znám tě líp než jeho.

I know you better than I know him (both accusative objects).

Why the case matches: než hides a whole clause

This is the part English speakers have to internalise, because English gets it wrong by its own logic. Než is short for a full second clause, and the term after it carries the case of its role in that clause. "Petr is taller than Pavel" unpacks to "…than Pavel is (tall)," so Pavel is the subject of the hidden verb — nominative. "I like coffee more than tea" unpacks to "…than I like tea," so čaj is the object — accusative.

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The fix for the commonest error: English says "taller than me" with an object pronoun, but Czech says vyšší než já — nominative — because the hidden clause is "than I am." Don't let English "than me" push you into the accusative mě. Ask: in the full clause, is this term the subject or the object? Use that case.

Můj bratr je vyšší než já.

My brother is taller than I am (já, nominative — not 'než mě').

Mám víc peněz než on.

I have more money than he does (on, nominative — 'than he has').

In both, the second term is the subject of an understood verb (než já jsem; než on má), so it stays nominative even though English would reach for "me" and "him."

The genitive of comparison: drop než, use the genitive

The second construction is more compact and more (literary). You drop než entirely and put the standard straight into the genitive. Petr je vyšší než Pavel becomes Petr je vyšší Pavla; Jsem starší než ty becomes Jsem starší tebe.

Petr je vyšší Pavla.

Petr is taller than Pavel (genitive of comparison, literary).

Moje sestra je o dva roky starší mě.

My sister is two years older than me (genitive mě, literary/concise).

This construction is neat — it sidesteps the case-matching puzzle entirely, since the standard is always genitive — but it is limited and elevated. It works best with a single short noun or pronoun and sounds bookish or even slightly archaic in casual speech. It does not combine comfortably with quantity comparatives (víc / míň "more / less" + a noun already in the genitive), and most native speakers default to než in conversation. So treat the genitive of comparison as something to recognise in writing and reach for sparingly, while než remains your reliable everyday choice.

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When in doubt, use než. It is universal, works in every situation, and is the spoken norm. The genitive of comparison is a stylistic option, not a requirement — reserve it for writing, fixed phrases, and moments when concision matters.

The degree of difference: o + accusative

To say by how much one thing exceeds another — "a head taller," "two years older," "an hour earlier" — Czech uses the preposition o followed by the accusative. This slots in before the comparative and combines freely with než.

Je o hlavu vyšší než já.

He's a head taller than me (lit. taller by a head).

Sestra je o tři roky mladší než bratr.

My sister is three years younger than my brother.

Přišli jsme o hodinu dřív, než bylo třeba.

We arrived an hour earlier than necessary.

Note o hlavu, o tři roky, o hodinu — all accusative — measuring the gap. You can stack this onto either "than" construction: o rok starší než já (with než) or o rok starší mě (with the genitive).

než as a conjunction before a whole clause

Než also links a comparative to an entire clause with its own verb — and here it is unmistakably a conjunction, often paired with a comma. This overlaps with než in its time sense ("before"); the comparison and time uses are sorted out at než for comparison and time.

Je to jednodušší, než sis myslel.

It's simpler than you thought.

Trvalo to déle, než jsme čekali.

It took longer than we expected.

The (literary) variant nežli means exactly the same as než and is purely a matter of style and rhythm in elevated prose.

Quick reference

Construction	Form	Example	Register
než + same case (subjects)	nominative	vyšší než Pavel	neutral, default
než + same case (objects)	accusative	radši kávu než čaj	neutral, default
genitive of comparison	genitive, no než	vyšší Pavla	literary, limited
degree of difference	o + accusative	o hlavu vyšší	neutral
než + full clause	conjunction	jednodušší, než sis myslel	neutral

Common Mistakes

❌ Můj bratr je vyšší než mě.

Incorrect — the hidden clause is 'than I am', so it's nominative já, not the object form mě.

✅ Můj bratr je vyšší než já.

My brother is taller than I am.

❌ Mám radši kávu než čaje.

Incorrect — both terms are objects, so the second is accusative čaj, not genitive čaje.

✅ Mám radši kávu než čaj.

I like coffee more than tea.

❌ Je starší než mě o dva roky.

Incorrect — after než use nominative já ('than I am'); the genitive mě belongs only to the než-less construction.

✅ Je starší než já o dva roky.

He's two years older than I am.

❌ Je vyšší o hlavou než já.

Incorrect — the degree of difference takes 'o' + accusative (hlavu), not the instrumental.

✅ Je o hlavu vyšší než já.

He's a head taller than me.

❌ Praha je větší jako Brno.

Incorrect — 'jako' means 'like/as (equal)'; comparison of inequality needs než.

✅ Praha je větší než Brno.

Prague is bigger than Brno.

Key Takeaways

než is the default "than": the second term takes the same case as the first, because než introduces a reduced clause.
Match the role, not the English habit: vyšší než já (nominative, "than I am"), not než mě.
The genitive of comparison (vyšší Pavla) drops než and is always genitive — concise but literary and limited; prefer než in speech.
The degree of difference is o + accusative: o hlavu vyšší, o rok starší.
Comparison of inequality uses než, never jako — jako is for likeness and equality.

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