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The Genitive of Negation

There is an old rule in Slavic grammar that the object of a negated verb goes into the genitive instead of the accusative. Czech once obeyed it firmly — nevidím domu "I don't see the/a house" — and Russian and Polish still do, to varying degrees. In modern Czech this genitive of negation (genitiv záporový) has largely collapsed: the everyday choice today is the accusative, exactly as in a positive sentence. I have no time is nemám čas, with the accusative, not the older nemám času. This page tells you where the genitive of negation survives, what nuance it still carries, and — crucially for an English speaker — why you should not generate it productively.

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The single most useful takeaway: in contemporary Czech, negation does not change the case of the object. Mám knihu (acc.) → Nemám knihu (acc.). Learn the genitive-of-negation forms as fixed phrases to recognize, not as a rule to apply.

The modern default: accusative, even under negation

When you negate a transitive verb, the object stays in whatever case it would take in the positive sentence — for most verbs, the accusative. This is the form you should use and the form you will hear almost all the time.

Nemám čas, musím běžet.

I don't have time, I have to run. (accusative čas — the normal modern form)

Tu knihu jsem ještě nečetl.

I haven't read that book yet. (accusative tu knihu under negation)

Nevidím tady žádný problém.

I don't see any problem here. (accusative problém)

So the contrast that grammars set up — vidím dům (positive) vs. nevidím domu (negated genitive) — is now a historical one. The living language says nevidím dům, keeping the accusative.

The fossilized genitive: set phrases and emphasis

The genitive of negation has not vanished; it has retreated into idiom. In a small set of fixed and semi-fixed expressions, the genitive object survives and even sounds more natural than the accusative. These often carry a partitive, emphatic flavour — "no X at all", "not a scrap of X" — which is exactly the partitive logic of the genitive (a non-existent part of a mass).

Nemá peněz nazbyt.

He hasn't got money to spare. (fossilized genitive peněz — note the partitive 'no money to speak of')

Nemějte obav, všechno dopadne dobře.

Have no fears, everything will turn out fine. (genitive obav in a set, slightly elevated phrase)

Neztrácej času, pospěš si!

Don't waste time, hurry up! (genitive času — idiomatic; the accusative neztrácej čas also exists)

Compare the two flavours directly. The accusative simply negates; the genitive adds an emphatic "none whatsoever":

Nemám čas.

I don't have time. (neutral, accusative — the everyday sentence)

Na takové hlouposti nemám času.

I have no time at all for such nonsense. (genitive času — emphatic, slightly literary)

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The genitive here is doing the work of English "any" or "a bit of" under negation — nemá peněz ≈ "hasn't any money". When you feel that emphatic "none at all", you are in genitive-of-negation territory. But it is a stylistic colour, not a grammatical requirement; the accusative is never wrong.

The genitive after the negative existential není

There is one place where the genitive after negation is not optional and not archaic: the negated existential není ("there isn't") and its plural nejsou. When you state that something does not exist or is not available, the thing typically stands in the genitive, not the nominative. This is alive and obligatory in standard Czech.

Na to teď není čas.

There's no time for that now. (in everyday speech the nominative čas is common; the elevated existential genitive není času also occurs — see below)

Bohužel není místa, posaďte se jinam.

Unfortunately there's no room, please sit elsewhere. (genitive místa after není — the standard existential pattern). (formal)

O tom není pochyb.

There's no doubt about that. (genitive plural pochyb — a frozen, very common phrase)

This není + genitive is the existential cousin of the genitive of negation, and it is the one pattern an English speaker genuinely needs to produce. The most useful frozen examples — není pochyb ("no doubt"), není divu ("no wonder"), není zbytí ("there's no choice") — are worth memorizing whole.

Není divu, že je unavený — pracoval celou noc.

No wonder he's tired — he worked all night. (frozen není divu + genitive)

Není zbytí, budeme muset zaplatit.

There's no choice, we'll have to pay. (frozen není zbytí)

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Keep two things apart. Negated transitive verb (nemám čas) → modern accusative, genitive only as fossil/emphasis. Negated existentialnení / nejsou (není pochyb, není místa) → genitive, standard and obligatory. They look similar but follow different rules.

Why English speakers should hold back

English has no case at all, so there is no instinct pulling you toward the genitive — the danger is the opposite: once a learner discovers the genitive of negation, they tend to over-apply it, producing stiff, bookish Czech (nevidím domu, nečetl jsem knihy) that no one says anymore. Resist. Treat the genitive of negation as a reading skill and a stock of idioms:

  • For negated objects, use the accusative: nemám čas, neznám ho, nečetl jsem ten článek.
  • Recognize and reuse the frozen genitives: není pochyb, není divu, nemějte obav, nemá peněz nazbyt.
  • Use není + genitive for "there isn't": není místa, není času (in the existential sense).

Common Mistakes

❌ Nečetl jsem té knihy.

Over-applied — productively negating an object into the genitive sounds archaic; modern Czech keeps the accusative.

✅ Nečetl jsem tu knihu.

I haven't read that book.

❌ Neznám toho člověka... → forced genitive everywhere

Incorrect instinct — don't reach for the genitive just because the verb is negated; znát takes the accusative, negated or not.

✅ Neznám toho člověka.

I don't know that person. (accusative toho člověka)

❌ O tom není pochyba.

Unidiomatic — the fixed existential phrase uses the genitive plural, not the nominative singular.

✅ O tom není pochyb.

There's no doubt about that. (genitive plural pochyb)

❌ Není divo, že je unavený.

Wrong word and case — the frozen phrase is 'není divu' (genitive of div), not 'divo'.

✅ Není divu, že je unavený.

No wonder he's tired.

Key Takeaways

  • Modern Czech negates the object in the accusative: nemám čas, nečetl jsem tu knihu. Negation does not change the case productively.
  • The genitive of negation survives mainly in set phrases and as an emphatic partitive ("none at all"): nemá peněz, nemějte obav, neztrácej času.
  • The negated existential není / nejsou takes the genitive as standard: není místa, není pochyb, není divu, není zbytí.
  • As an English speaker, don't generate the genitive of negation — recognize it, and learn the idioms whole.

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Related Topics

  • The Partitive GenitiveA2 — Why a container, measure or portion forces the substance it holds into the genitive — sklenice vody, kilo masa, šálek kávy — with no word for 'of'.
  • Verbs That Govern the GenitiveB1 — The set of Czech verbs whose object stands in the genitive rather than the accusative.
  • Multiple Negation (Negative Concord)A2 — Czech requires every negative element in a clause to be negative, including the verb — stacked negatives agree, they don't cancel.
  • Existential Sentences: 'there is / there isn't'B1 — Expressing existence with být and word order, and the negative existential with není.
  • Verbs Governing the GenitiveB2 — A core set of everyday Czech verbs — fear, asking, noticing, reaching, riddance — whose object stands in the genitive, not the accusative English speakers expect.