Agreeing and Disagreeing | Czech Grammar

Once you can hold an opinion in Czech, the next thing you need is the toolkit for reacting to other people's opinions — agreeing warmly, disagreeing politely, hedging when you only half-buy it, and not getting tangled up answering negative questions. This page is the speech-act companion to emotions and opinions: that page is about stating what you think; this one is about responding to what someone else thinks.

Strong agreement

The plain workhorse is Souhlasím ("I agree"). It comes from souhlasit s + instrumental ("to agree with"), but you rarely need the full government in conversation — a bare Souhlasím does the job. When you do spell out what or whom you agree with, watch the case: souhlasit governs s ("with") + the instrumental, so "I agree with you" is souhlasím s tebou and "I agree with that" is souhlasím s tím. English "agree with" maps onto it neatly except for one thing — English speakers forget that s forces the instrumental, and produce a nominative or accusative instead. Keep s tebou, s tím, s vámi as fixed chunks and you avoid the trap.

Czech also lets you simply confirm the verb of the previous sentence rather than say "I agree" at all. If someone says Měli bychom jít ("We should go"), a natural agreement is just Měli ("We should") — echoing the modal. This verb-echo habit runs through the whole language and is the same reflex you will need for negative questions below.

For emphatic, "couldn't-agree-more" agreement, Czechs reach for Přesně tak ("exactly so") and Rozhodně ("definitely, absolutely"). These are the punchy, enthusiastic affirmations.

Souhlasím, mělo by se s tím něco udělat.

I agree, something should be done about it.

Přesně tak, to jsem chtěl říct.

Exactly, that's what I wanted to say.

Rozhodně. S tím nemůžu než souhlasit.

Absolutely. I can't help but agree with that.

Two more very common ways to affirm a statement are To je pravda ("that's true") and Máš pravdu ("you're right"). The second one is worth a close look.

Máš pravdu — "you have truth"

English says "you are right". Czech says "you have truth": Máš pravdu (informal) / Máte pravdu (formal/plural), literally máš ("you have") + pravdu (the accusative of pravda, "truth"). Right and wrong are things you possess in Czech, not states you are in. The negative is Nemáš pravdu ("you're wrong", literally "you don't have truth").

Máš pravdu, na to jsem vůbec nepomyslel.

You're right, I didn't think of that at all.

Myslím, že máte pravdu, ale chtěl bych to ještě ověřit.

I think you're right, but I'd like to verify it.

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Right/wrong = mít / nemít pravdu ("to have / not have truth"), never být. Máš pravdu = you're right; Nemáš pravdu = you're wrong. The truth is something you hold.

Disagreement, politely

The direct counterpart of Souhlasím is Nesouhlasím ("I disagree"). It is perfectly usable but can sound blunt, so softer, more face-saving options are common:

To si nemyslím — "I don't think so" (literally "that I don't think to myself"; note the reflexive si).
To není pravda — "that's not true" (the negated counterpart of To je pravda).
Myslím, že ne — "I think not / I don't think so."
Ale ne — "oh no / not at all", a gentle, almost protesting "no".
Naopak — "on the contrary", when you think the opposite is true.

To si nemyslím, podle mě je to složitější.

I don't think so; in my view it's more complicated.

To není pravda, nikdy jsem to neřekl.

That's not true, I never said that.

Naopak, mně se ten film moc líbil.

On the contrary, I really liked that film.

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To disagree without sounding harsh, prefer To si nemyslím or Myslím, že ne over a flat Nesouhlasím. They frame the disagreement as your opinion rather than a verdict.

Partial agreement and hedging

Most real conversation lives in the grey zone of "yes, but…". Czech has a rich set of hedges for half-agreeing:

Asi máš pravdu — "you're probably right" (asi = "probably, I suppose").
Možná, ale… — "maybe, but…".
Z části souhlasím / Částečně souhlasím — "I partly agree".
Nejsem si jistý / jistá — "I'm not sure" (note the gender: jistý for a man, jistá for a woman).
To záleží — "it depends".

Asi máš pravdu, ale stejně to zkusím po svém.

You're probably right, but I'll try it my own way anyway.

Možná, ale nejsem si tím úplně jistý.

Maybe, but I'm not entirely sure about it.

Z části souhlasím, jen ten konec bych udělal jinak.

I partly agree; I'd just do the ending differently.

Pravda vs. mít pravdu — two different "true"s

It is worth separating two expressions that English blurs into "right/true". To je pravda ("that's true") comments on a statement — the proposition is correct. Máš pravdu ("you're right") credits the person — you, the speaker, hold the truth. In practice they overlap, but the nuance is real: you confirm a fact with To je pravda and you concede a point to someone with Máš pravdu. Their negatives, To není pravda and Nemáš pravdu, split the same way — one rejects a claim, the other tells a person they are mistaken, which is why Nemáš pravdu lands harder and is best softened.

To je pravda, ceny letos hodně vzrostly.

That's true, prices have gone up a lot this year.

Máš pravdu, měl jsem ti to říct dřív.

You're right, I should have told you sooner.

Answering negative questions — the polarity trap

This is where English speakers reliably go wrong. English answers a negative question by the truth of the underlying fact: "You're not coming? — No (I'm not)." Czech answers by agreeing or disagreeing with the negative statement as phrased, and a bare ano/ne often comes out with the opposite polarity from what you intended. The native fix is to echo the verb rather than risk the ambiguity.

Take Nepřijdeš? ("Aren't you coming? / You're not coming?"):

If you are coming, don't say a bare ano and hope — say Ale ano ("Yes, actually I am") or echo the verb: Přijdu ("I'll come").
If you are not coming, say Ne, nepřijdu ("No, I won't come"), echoing the negated verb.

The safest, most native strategy across the board is the verb echo: repeat the verb (positive or negated) so the polarity is unmistakable.

Nepřijdeš na oběd? — Ale ano, přijdu, jen se trochu zpozdím.

Aren't you coming to lunch? — Yes I am, I'll just be a bit late.

Ty to nevíš? — Ne, nevím.

You don't know? — No, I don't.

Nebydlíš ve městě? — Bydlím, jen na okraji.

Don't you live in the city? — I do, just on the edge.

Notice Ale ano in the first example. That little ale is the dedicated Czech tool for contradicting a negative question — it signals "actually, contrary to what you assumed, yes". English has nothing as neat; it falls back on stress ("Yes I am").

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To say "yes, actually" against a negative question, use Ale ano. To remove all doubt, echo the verb: Přijdu / Nepřijdu beats a bare ano / ne every time. This polarity-matching is covered in depth at answering negative questions.

A natural exchange

— Myslím, že bychom měli odjet dřív, bude zácpa. — Asi máš pravdu, ale rezervace je až na sedmou. — To je pravda. Tak v půl šesté? — Přesně tak.

Myslím, že bychom měli odjet dřív, bude zácpa.

I think we should leave earlier, there'll be traffic.

Asi máš pravdu, ale rezervace je až na sedmou.

You're probably right, but the reservation isn't until seven.

Common mistakes

❌ Jsi pravdu.

Incorrect — right/wrong uses mít, not být.

✅ Máš pravdu.

You're right.

❌ Já nesouhlasím s ty.

Incorrect — souhlasit s takes the instrumental, so it must be s tebou.

✅ Nesouhlasím s tebou.

I disagree with you.

❌ Nepřijdeš? — Ne.

Trap — if you mean 'yes, I am coming', a bare Ne reads the opposite: it agrees with the negative, i.e. you're NOT coming.

✅ Nepřijdeš? — Ale ano, přijdu.

Aren't you coming? — Yes I am, I'll come.

❌ To nemyslím.

Incorrect — 'to think so' here is reflexive; the si is obligatory.

✅ To si nemyslím.

I don't think so.

❌ Naopak mně se líbil ten film, souhlasím s tebou.

Incorrect — naopak signals the opposite view, so it can't sit next to souhlasím.

✅ Naopak, mně se ten film líbil.

On the contrary, I liked that film.

Key takeaways

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Three reflexes to build: Máš pravdu (right = "have truth"), To si nemyslím (the soft disagree), and echo the verb when answering a negative question. With those, you can navigate any opinion exchange politely.

For the contrastive particles that flavour these reactions, see vždyť / přece and the all-purpose no particle; for the deeper polarity logic, answering negative questions.

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