'Some', 'Certain', 'Other': nějaký, některý, jiný | Czech Grammar

English smears a single word, "some", across several distinct meanings: "I have some problem" (a vague, unidentified one), "some of the books are expensive" (a subset of a known group), "give me another one" (a different one). Czech splits these jobs among separate determiners — nějaký, některý, jiný, další, ostatní — and picking the wrong one is one of the most persistent B1 errors. The good news: they all decline like ordinary hard adjectives (the mladý pattern), so once you know which one to reach for, the endings come for free. This page draws the lines between them.

nějaký — "some, a (unspecified)"

nějaký points to a thing whose identity is unknown or irrelevant. It is the closest Czech has to the English indefinite article "a/an" when you want to flag vagueness: "some guy", "a problem of some kind".

Přišel nějaký muž a ptal se na tebe.

Some man came and asked about you.

Mám nějaký problém s počítačem.

I've got some kind of problem with my computer.

Zavolal mi nějaký novinář.

Some journalist called me.

The defining feature is that you cannot or need not say which one. It does not mean "a subset of a group" — that is the job of některý. Use nějaký when the noun is simply not pinned down.

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If you could replace English "some" with "a certain unspecified" and the sentence still works ("a certain unspecified man came"), it's nějaký. If you mean "a portion of a known set", it's některý.

některý — "some, certain (one of a set)"

některý is partitive and selective: it picks out part of a known group — "some of the books", "certain days", "some people but not others". There is a definite set in the background, and některý selects a subset of it. It is most natural in the plural.

Některé knihy jsou drahé, jiné levné.

Some books are expensive, others cheap.

Některé dny se prostě nedaří.

Some days just don't go well.

Někteří lidé tomu nikdy neuvěří.

Some people will never believe it.

The contrast with nějaký is sharp. Přišel nějaký muž = "some (unidentified) man came". Někteří muži přišli pozdě = "some of the men (a subset of a known group) came late". Swap them and the meaning shifts: nějací muži přišli would suggest a few random, unidentified men rather than a subset of an expected group.

Nějaké děti hrály na ulici fotbal.

Some children were playing football in the street.

Některé z těch dětí už znám.

I already know some of those children.

Note the construction některý z + genitive ("some of…"), which makes the partitive sense explicit: některý z nich ("some of them"), některá z těch knih ("one of those books").

jiný — "(an)other, different"

jiný means "different" or "another (a different one)". It contrasts one thing with a different thing of the same kind: jiný člověk ("a different person"), jiný den ("another / a different day").

To je úplně jiný problém.

That's a completely different problem.

Musíme najít jiné řešení.

We have to find a different solution.

jiný also pairs with the ně- indefinite pronouns to mean "someone else", "something else", "somewhere else": někdo jiný, něco jiného, někde jinde.

To ti řekne někdo jiný, já o tom nic nevím.

Someone else will tell you that; I know nothing about it.

Dáš si něco jiného k pití?

Will you have something else to drink?

The pitfall is confusing jiný ("a different one") with další ("one more of the same"). They are opposites in a sense: jiný swaps the thing out, další adds another of the same kind.

další — "another, next, further (one more)"

další means "another in the sense of one more, the next, an additional one". It does not imply difference — quite the reverse, it usually means more of the same.

Dáme si ještě další kávu?

Shall we have another coffee?

Další otázka, prosím.

Next question, please.

Potřebujeme získat další informace.

We need to obtain further information.

The minimal pair that fixes this for good:

Dej mi další sklenici, tahle je rozbitá.

Give me another glass — this one's broken.

Tahle sklenice se mi nelíbí, dej mi jinou.

I don't like this glass, give me a different one.

In the first, you want another glass — one more glass, the same kind (další). In the second, you want a different glass (jiný/jinou). English "another" hides this distinction; Czech forces you to choose.

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jiný = a different one (swap it out). další = one more of the same (add to the pile). When English "another" means "a different one", use jiný; when it means "one more", use další.

ostatní — "the rest, the other(s)"

ostatní refers to the remaining members of a group — "the others", "the rest". Unlike the determiners above, it is definite: it points to everyone or everything left over after some have been singled out. It is most often plural and frequently used as a noun on its own (ostatní = "the others", "everyone else").

Já zůstanu tady, ostatní můžou jít napřed.

I'll stay here; the others can go ahead.

Tahle bota je v pořádku, ale ostatní jsou špinavé.

This shoe is fine, but the rest are dirty.

Contrast jiný and ostatní: jiné boty = "different shoes (some other shoes)", while ostatní boty = "the remaining shoes (the rest of this set)".

They all decline like hard adjectives

Every one of these — nějaký, některý, jiný, další, ostatní — takes hard-adjective endings and agrees with its noun in gender, number, and case. (další and ostatní happen to be soft-stemmed adjectives, so they use the soft set, but the principle is identical: they agree.) A quick illustration with nějaký:

Case	Masc. inan.	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	nějaký problém	nějaká kniha	nějaké auto
Genitive	nějakého problému	nějaké knihy	nějakého auta
Accusative	nějaký problém	nějakou knihu	nějaké auto
Locative	nějakém problému	nějaké knize	nějakém autě

Mluvili jsme o nějakém problému, který nikdo nechápal.

We were talking about some problem that nobody understood.

For the parallel ně- indefinite pronouns (někdo, něco, někde), which often appear right alongside these determiners, see the ně- series.

Common mistakes

Using nějaký where the partitive některý is meant:

❌ Nějaké z těch knih jsou drahé.

Incorrect — for a subset of a known set, use the partitive některý.

✅ Některé z těch knih jsou drahé.

Some of those books are expensive.

Using jiný when you mean "one more" (další):

❌ Dáme si jinou kávu, ta první byla skvělá.

Incorrect — wanting one more of the same calls for další, not jiný.

✅ Dáme si další kávu, ta první byla skvělá.

Let's have another coffee — the first one was great.

Using další when you mean "a different one" (jiný):

❌ Tohle se mi nelíbí, ukažte mi další model.

Incorrect — wanting a different one is jiný; další would mean simply the next in line.

✅ Tohle se mi nelíbí, ukažte mi jiný model.

I don't like this one, show me a different model.

Reaching for jiný when you mean "the rest" (ostatní):

❌ Jeden balík dorazil, jiné ještě ne.

Incorrect — the remaining members of a known group are ostatní.

✅ Jeden balík dorazil, ostatní ještě ne.

One parcel arrived, the rest haven't yet.

Leaving the determiner uninflected after a preposition:

❌ Bavili jsme se o nějaký problém.

Incorrect — o takes the locative, so the determiner and noun must inflect.

✅ Bavili jsme se o nějakém problému.

We talked about some problem.

Key takeaways

nějaký = a vague, unidentified one ("some guy").
některý = a subset of a known set, partitive ("some of the books").
jiný = a different one ("another / a different solution").
další = one more of the same ("another coffee, the next question").
ostatní = the remaining members ("the rest, the others").
All agree with their noun in gender, number, and case like adjectives.

For the related determiners of totality and quantity, see všechen "all" and každý "each, every".

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