'All' and 'Whole': všechen, všechno, všichni, celý

English uses one word — all — for a lot of jobs: "all the water," "all the people," "all of it," "everything," "everyone." Czech splits this across forms of the determiner všechen, which changes shape by gender and number like an adjective and declines through all the cases. On top of that, English "whole/entire" (which English speakers love to translate as "all") is a completely different word in Czech, celý. The two are easy to confuse and mean genuinely different things: všechen covers a multiplicity ("all the X's"), while celý describes one undivided thing ("the whole X"). This page sorts out the forms and nails down the všechen vs celý distinction.

The forms of všechen

Všechen agrees with its noun in gender and number, just like an adjective. The nominative forms you need first are these:

The masculine singular všechen is actually the least common form in daily speech — čas is a typical noun that takes it. Far more frequent are the plurals and the standalone neuter, which we get to next.

The animacy split in the plural: všichni vs všechny

Here is the form English speakers stumble on most. In the nominative plural, the masculine animate form is všichni (for people, animate beings), while everything else — masculine inanimate, feminine, and the accusative across the board — is všechny. Neuter plural is všechna. This is the same animate-vs-inanimate distinction that runs through all Czech masculine plurals.

In všichni lidé the noun is masculine animate (people), so we get všichni. In všechny ženy the noun is feminine, so všechny. And in všechny brambory — feminine plural in the accusative — again všechny. Get the animacy wrong and a native speaker hears it instantly, the same way všichni domy (for inanimate houses) would sound wrong.

Standalone: všichni = everyone, všechno = everything

Both forms double as pronouns standing on their own. Všichni alone means everyone (it's the masculine-animate plural, used as the default for "all people"). Všechno alone means everything (the neuter singular, the catch-all for "all of it / the whole situation").

Notice the verb agreement: Všichni odešli is plural ("everyone... have left"), while Všechno je is singular. Všichni is grammatically a plural even though it translates the English singular-feeling "everyone."

všechno vs vše

There is a tidier, slightly more formal twin of všechno: the indeclinable vše, also meaning "everything." In everyday speech všechno dominates; vše shows up in writing, fixed phrases, and elevated register.

Vše is most at home in set wishes (vše nejlepší) and in formal or written contexts (vše výše uvedené, "all of the above"). In casual conversation, všechno is the natural choice. They mean the same thing; the difference is register: vše (formal/literary), všechno (neutral/informal).

všechen declines through the cases

Všechen is not frozen — it declines fully, agreeing with its noun in case as well as gender and number. The stem is vš- and the endings follow the demonstrative/hard pattern. The most useful non-nominative forms:

The forms všech, všem, všemi are high-frequency and worth drilling on their own — vám všem ("to you all") and se všemi ("with everyone") come up constantly.

celý: the "whole" word, an ordinary adjective

Now the other half. Celý means whole / entire — one single, undivided thing taken in its entirety. It is a regular hard adjective (celý, celá, celé), so it declines like mladý. Crucially, it describes one object, not a collection.

Celý den is one day, taken entirely (every hour of it). Compare that with všechny dny (all the days, several of them). This is the contrast the rest of the page hammers on.

The core contrast: celý (one whole) vs všechny (all, several)

Put them on the same noun and the difference is sharp. Celý takes one item and means "the entirety of it"; všechny takes several items and means "every one of them."

Read those two pairs slowly: celý den / všechny dny, celé město / všechna města. Singular celý = the whole of one; plural všechny / všechna = the totality of many. English "all the day" doesn't even work — and that mismatch is exactly why English speakers reach for the wrong Czech word.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• všechen = "all," and it agrees with its noun by gender/number/case: všechen čas, všechna voda, všechno mléko, všichni lidé, všechny ženy, všechna okna.
• In the nominative plural, všichni is reserved for masculine animate ("all the men/people"); everything else is všechny, and neuter is všechna.
• Standing alone, všichni = everyone, všechno (formal/literary vše) = everything.
• Všechen declines fully: všech, všem, všemi.
• celý is a separate adjective meaning whole / entire, for one undivided thing: celý den (the whole day) vs všechny dny (all the days).
• The big English-speaker trap is using všechen for "whole" — it means "all." When you mean one entire thing, use celý.

See also každý — each / every for the related "each" determiner, quantifiers with the genitive, and the declension of ten / ta / to, which shares much of the všechen pattern.