The Accusative for Measure, Price, and Distance

When Czech states how much — how much something costs, how much it weighs, how far it reaches, how long it is — it reaches for the accusative case, with no preposition. Stojí to sto korun (it costs a hundred crowns), váží to pět kilo (it weighs five kilos), ušli jsme deset kilometrů (we walked ten kilometres). English uses a bare noun phrase in all of these ("it costs a hundred crowns"), so English speakers tend not to notice there is a case at work at all — until they need to inflect it. This page shows the pattern, explains why it is the accusative and not the subject, and untangles the numeral-plus-genitive that hides inside every measure phrase.

The core idea: extent is an object

A measure phrase answers kolik? (how much / how many) or jak daleko? (how far). Czech treats this quantity as a kind of complement of the verb — a thing the action "covers" — and complements that aren't subjects default to the accusative. The price is not who or what costs; the price is the amount the costing reaches. So to (it) is the subject and sto korun (a hundred crowns) is the accusative measure.

The numeral hides a genitive — and that's normal

Here is the part that trips people up. The measure phrase as a whole is accusative, but inside it the counted noun obeys the numeral's own rules. After numerals five and above (and after kolik, pár, několik), the counted noun goes into the genitive plural — this is the genitive of quantity, and it operates regardless of the case the whole phrase sits in.

So in stojí to sto korun:

• the phrase sto korun is the accusative measure of the verb stát;
• but korun is genitive plural, because sto (a hundred) governs the genitive plural.

The two facts are not in conflict; they live at different layers. The numeral sets the form of the noun next to it; the verb sets the role of the phrase as a whole.

(In dvě koruny, the numeral dvě takes the plain plural koruny; from five up it switches to genitive plural korun. The whole phrase is still the accusative measure either way.)

stát — to cost

The verb stát (to cost) is the workhorse here. Its subject is the thing being priced; its accusative complement is the amount. Note that stát "to cost" looks identical to stát "to stand," but the meanings separate cleanly in context.

You can buy something for a price with za + accusative — and here too the amount is accusative, this time governed by the preposition za:

Weight, length, and other measures

The same logic extends to any measurable extent. The verbs vážit (to weigh), měřit (to measure / be a certain length or height) take the accusative amount directly.

You can also describe a dimension with být plus an adjective and an accusative-measure specifier — je to metr dlouhé (it's a metre long), je to deset centimetrů široké (it's ten centimetres wide):

Distance with ujít / ujet

Distance covered is a measure of extent par excellence, and motion verbs take it in the accusative. Ujít (to cover on foot) and ujet (to cover by vehicle) are the perfective verbs for "to travel a given distance."

Here dvacet kilometrů and dvě stě tisíc kilometrů are accusative measures (with kilometrů in the genitive plural after the numeral, exactly as before).

Contrast: the accusative of measure vs the genitive of quantity

It is easy to confuse two different jobs the genitive and accusative do here. Keep them apart:

• Accusative of measure — the whole phrase is the verb's complement: how much it costs / weighs / extends. Stojí to sto korun. The phrase answers kolik to stojí?
• Genitive of quantity — a partitive relationship inside a noun phrase, "a quantity of X": sklenice vody (a glass of water), kilo jablek (a kilo of apples), hodně lidí (a lot of people). Here the genitive marks the substance being measured, and the phrase can itself be a subject or object.

The two often coincide on the surface (both involve a genitive after a number) but they are answering different questions. In koupil kilo jablek za třicet korun (he bought a kilo of apples for thirty crowns), jablek is a genitive-of-quantity (a kilo of apples), while třicet korun is an accusative-of-price after za.

Common mistakes

Treating the price as the subject and putting it in the nominative-feeling slot with a preposition, the way some languages do:

(Za belongs with koupit/prodat — "buy/sell for" — not with stát "to cost.")

Failing to put the counted noun into the genitive plural after a higher numeral:

Using a preposition with a distance verb, on the English model "we walked for twenty kilometres":

Confusing weight/length verbs with a copula construction and dropping the accusative:

Key takeaways

• Price, weight, length, and distance are stated in the accusative, with no preposition: stojí to sto korun, váží to pět kilo, ušli jsme deset kilometrů.
• The whole measure phrase is the verb's accusative complement; inside it, the counted noun still obeys the numeral (genitive plural after 5+).
• stát (cost), vážit (weigh), měřit (measure), ujít/ujet (cover a distance) all take this accusative.
• Buy/sell for a price uses za
  • accusative; "to cost" never uses za.
• Don't confuse the accusative-of-measure (how much it costs) with the genitive-of-quantity (a quantity of something).