The genitive (in Czech genitiv, the 2. pád) is the great "of" case, and its most fundamental use — the one you meet first and reach for daily — is possession. Whenever you want to say that something belongs to someone, or express the relationship English handles with 's or with of ("the brother's book," "the roof of the house"), Czech puts the possessor into the genitive. The question that finds it is koho? čeho? — of whom? of what?
For an English speaker there are two things to get right, and they are independent. First, the word order: Czech places the possessed thing first and the possessor (in the genitive) second — the reverse of the English 's construction. Second, the ending: the possessor changes its form to the genitive. Get both right and you have one of the most useful patterns in the language.
The shape of the construction
The template is fixed:
[possessed thing, in its own case] + [possessor, in the genitive]
Take "the brother's book." The possessed thing is the book (kniha), the possessor is the brother (bratr). Czech says the book first, then the brother in the genitive:
To je kniha bratra.
That's the brother's book.
Literally this is "book of-brother." Bratr has become bratra — that -a ending is the genitive. Compare the English order, "the brother's book," which puts the possessor first; Czech flips it.
Střecha domu je nová.
The roof of the house is new.
Here the possessed thing is střecha (roof) and the possessor is dům (house), which becomes domu in the genitive. "Roof of-house."
Líbí se mi barva auta.
I like the colour of the car.
The colour (barva) of the car (auto → genitive auta). Once you see the pattern — possessed noun, then possessor-in-genitive — you can build these endlessly.
The typical possessor endings
To put the possessor into the genitive, you change its ending. The exact ending depends on the noun's gender and type, but four patterns cover the great majority of everyday nouns. Here are the workhorses for the singular.
| Gender / type | Dictionary form | Genitive (possessor) | Example phrase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine animate (hard) | bratr (brother) | bratra | kniha bratra (the brother's book) |
| Masculine inanimate (hard) | dům (house) | domu | střecha domu (the roof of the house) |
| Feminine (hard) | žena (woman) | ženy | kabát ženy (the woman's coat) |
| Neuter (hard) | město (town) | města | střed města (the centre of the town) |
Three observations make these easier to hold in memory. Masculine animate nouns (people, animals) take -a, while masculine inanimate nouns (objects, places) take -u — animacy matters, as it does across much of the case system. Neuter nouns also take -a, lining up with masculine animates. And feminine hard nouns take -y.
Kabát ženy visí na věšáku.
The woman's coat is hanging on the hook.
Bydlíme blízko středu města.
We live near the centre of the town.
Pamatuješ si jméno toho pána?
Do you remember that gentleman's name? (animate masculine: pán → pána)
These are the hard-stem patterns; soft-stem nouns (like muž → muže) and the full set of endings across all the declension types are gathered in the wider genitive material, but the four above will carry you through most beginner sentences.
The fixed word order matters
It is worth dwelling on the order, because English habits fight it. In English you can say "the brother's book," front-loading the possessor. In Czech the possessor in the genitive follows the possessed noun — you cannot front it the way 's does.
auto mého souseda
my neighbour's car (literally: car of-my-neighbour)
The car comes first, then the possessor souseda (and its modifier mého, also in the genitive to agree). Reversing this into souseda auto is not how Czech expresses possession — that order is simply ungrammatical for this meaning.
Human and non-human possessors behave the same
The genitive of possession does not care whether the possessor is a person or a thing — the construction is identical. "The brother's book" and "the colour of the car" are built the same way; only English makes them feel different (one uses 's, the other uses of).
Dveře toho obchodu jsou zavřené.
The doors of that shop are closed. (thing possessor: obchod → obchodu)
Telefon mojí sestry je rozbitý.
My sister's phone is broken. (person possessor: sestra → sestry)
Both follow possessed-then-possessor-in-genitive. The mental model is one pattern, not two.
The pitfall: leaving the possessor in the nominative
The single most common error is forgetting to change the possessor at all — keeping it in the dictionary form. This is direct interference from English, where the possessed-of relationship in "the colour of the car" leaves "car" unchanged. In Czech the possessor must move to the genitive.
❌ To je kniha bratr.
Incorrect — the possessor 'brother' is left in the dictionary (nominative) form.
✅ To je kniha bratra.
That's the brother's book. (possessor in the genitive: bratra)
If you only fix one thing about your genitives, make it this: the possessor is never in its plain form. Ask čeho? / koho? ("of what? of whom?") and the answer must wear a genitive ending.
Common mistakes
❌ barva auto
Incorrect — the possessor 'auto' is left in the nominative.
✅ barva auta
the colour of the car (possessor in the genitive: auta)
❌ střecha dům
Incorrect — inanimate masculine possessor not put in the genitive.
✅ střecha domu
the roof of the house (dům → domu)
❌ bratra kniha
Incorrect — putting the genitive possessor first, copying English word order.
✅ kniha bratra
the brother's book (possessed noun first, then the genitive possessor)
❌ kabát ženu
Incorrect — that's the accusative ending; the possessor needs the genitive.
✅ kabát ženy
the woman's coat (feminine genitive: žena → ženy)
Key takeaways
- The genitive (2. pád, koho? čeho?) expresses possession and the English 's / of relationship.
- Word order is possessed noun + possessor-in-genitive — the reverse of English 's.
- Typical singular endings: masculine animate -a (bratr → bratra), masculine inanimate -u (dům → domu), feminine -y (žena → ženy), neuter -a (město → města).
- The construction is the same for human and non-human possessors.
- The classic error is leaving the possessor in the dictionary form — the possessor must always take a genitive ending.
Now practice Czech
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Start learning Czech→Related Topics
- The Seven Cases and Their QuestionsA1 — The names of the seven Czech cases and the question word that identifies each one.
- What Cases Are and Why Czech InflectsA1 — An introduction to the Czech case system and how grammatical relationships are marked by endings rather than word order.
- Possessive Adjective vs Genitive of the NounB2 — When to say bratrův dům vs dům bratra; the possessive adjective vs the genitive of the noun, and the limits of each.
- Prepositions That Take the GenitiveA2 — The large family of genitive prepositions — do, z, od, bez, u, vedle, podle, kolem, během, místo, kromě, uprostřed — and why the case is fixed no matter what they mean.
- The Nominative as SubjectA1 — Using the nominative case for the subject of the sentence — the doer of the action.