Declining Foreign Place Names | Czech Grammar

English speakers expect foreign place names to be off-limits to grammar — London is London whether you live there, fly there, or talk about it. Czech does not grant that exemption. A foreign toponym is treated like any other noun: Czech reads a gender off its ending and declines it. Londýn gives v Londýně ("in London"); Paříž gives do Paříže ("to Paris"). The surprise for learners is not that some foreign names stay fixed — it is that so many of them decline, and decline by exactly the native patterns you already know. This page sorts foreign names into "nativised and declining" versus "left fixed", and shows how to tell which is which. Its companion is declining Czech place names, whose paradigms apply here too.

The default: nativise, then decline

The Czech instinct is to assimilate a foreign name to the nearest native pattern and decline it from there. A name ending in a hard consonant becomes a masculine inanimate of the hrad type; a name ending in -a becomes a feminine of the žena type; and so on. The famous Czech spelling adaptation (Londýn with ý, Vídeň for Vienna, Řím for Rome) is part of the same nativising reflex — once the name looks Czech, it declines like a Czech word.

Name (nom.)	Gender / type	Genitive (do/z)	Locative (v)
Londýn	masc., hrad	do Londýna	v Londýně
Berlín	masc., hrad	do Berlína	v Berlíně
Řím	masc., hrad	do Říma	v Římě
Paříž	fem., soft (píseň)	do Paříže	v Paříži
Vídeň	fem., soft (píseň)	do Vídně	ve Vídni
Moskva	fem., žena	do Moskvy	v Moskvě

Two things in that table catch English speakers. First, the masculine locative softens the stem just like a native town: Londýn → v Londýně (n → ně), Řím → v Římě (m → mě). Second, Paříž is feminine — it ends in the soft consonant -ž, so Czech reads it as a píseň-type feminine, and it loses the -i of the locative to v Paříži. Vídeň (Vienna) is feminine too, with a fleeting -e- that drops: do Vídně, ve Vídni.

Strávili jsme v Londýně tři dny a stejně to nestihli celé.

We spent three days in London and still didn't see all of it. (Londýn → v Londýně, locative)

Z Berlína do Prahy jede vlak skoro pět hodin.

The train from Berlin to Prague takes almost five hours. (Berlín → z Berlína, genitive)

Příští léto chceme jet do Paříže.

Next summer we want to go to Paris. (Paříž → do Paříže, feminine genitive)

Ve Vídni jsme byli jen na otočku.

We were in Vienna only on a quick trip. (Vídeň → ve Vídni, feminine locative)

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Don't ask "is this name foreign?" — ask "what does its ending look like?" A nativised foreign name reads its gender off its ending exactly like a Czech noun: consonant → masculine hrad, -a → feminine žena, soft consonant → feminine píseň. The grammar doesn't care where the city is.

Countries decline too

Country names are nouns like any other and almost all of them decline. The very common ones to drill:

Country	Type	Genitive (z)	Locative (v)
Německo	neuter, město	z Německa	v Německu
Rakousko	neuter, město	z Rakouska	v Rakousku
Francie	fem., -ie (růže-like)	z Francie	ve Francii
Anglie	fem., -ie	z Anglie	v Anglii
Itálie	fem., -ie	z Itálie	v Itálii

The -ie countries (Francie, Anglie, Itálie, Belgie, Austrálie) all behave alike: the genitive keeps -ie and the locative doubles into -ii — ve Francii, v Anglii, v Itálii. That double -ii is one of the most reliable little tells of a learner getting it right, because the temptation is to write a single -i.

Pracoval jsem dva roky v Německu.

I worked in Germany for two years. (Německo → v Německu)

Vrátili jsme se z Anglie minulý týden.

We came back from England last week. (Anglie → z Anglie, genitive)

Ve Francii se moc dobře nedomluvíš anglicky.

In France you won't get very far with English. (Francie → ve Francii, the -ii locative)

The v / na split reaches foreign geography

Just as native Czech says na Moravě and na Slovensku rather than v, several foreign and neighbouring places take na ("on") instead of v ("in"). The split is partly historical, partly about places once felt as borderlands or regions rather than enclosed countries.

na Slovensku (in Slovakia), na Ukrajině (in Ukraine), na Islandu (in Iceland), na Maltě (in Malta), na Kypru (in Cyprus).
But v for the enclosed-country cases: v Německu, v Polsku, v Maďarsku, v Rakousku, ve Francii.

There is no fully predictive rule — na Slovensku but v Polsku, both neighbours — so the na set is a memory item. Islands and peninsulas lean toward na (na Krétě, na Sicílii), which is the one half-reliable heuristic.

Loni jsme byli na dovolené na Slovensku.

Last year we holidayed in Slovakia. (na Slovensku, not v)

Moje sestra teď studuje na Ukrajině.

My sister is studying in Ukraine right now. (na Ukrajině)

Na Islandu prý skoro neexistují stromy.

They say there are almost no trees in Iceland. (na Islandu)

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The v / na choice for places is lexical, not logical — na Slovensku but v Polsku, both neighbours. Islands and peninsulas tend to take na (na Sicílii, na Krétě). Everything else, memorise the na set and default to v. See v vs na for places.

When a foreign name stays fixed

A foreign name is left indeclinable when its ending does not map onto any native pattern — most often when it ends in a vowel Czech cannot comfortably attach endings to, or in a stressed vowel that would look bizarre inflected. These names keep one shape, and the case is shown entirely by the preposition and any accompanying words.

Bordeaux → v Bordeaux, do Bordeaux (the silent French ending blocks declension).
Tokio → here Czech actually does nativise: v Tokiu, do Tokia (treated as a město-type neuter). Older or careful usage sometimes keeps it fixed, but the declined forms are standard today.
Oslo → declines as a neuter: v Oslu, do Osla — though v Oslo is also heard and tolerated.
Peru, Bilbao, Marseille, Calais → typically left fixed: v Peru, z Bilbaa is awkward, so z Bilbao.

The honest rule: if the name can be wedged into a native paradigm without looking strange, Czech declines it; if not, it freezes. That leaves a genuine grey zone — Tokio and Oslo sit on the line, and you will hear both declined and fixed forms from educated speakers. This is one of the places where even reference grammars hedge.

To víno jsme přivezli z Bordeaux.

We brought that wine back from Bordeaux. (Bordeaux — indeclinable, fixed)

V Tokiu jsem se málem ztratil v metru.

In Tokyo I almost got lost in the metro. (Tokio → v Tokiu, nativised as a neuter)

Letíme přes Oslo do Reykjavíku.

We're flying via Oslo to Reykjavík. (Oslo here kept fixed in the bare form)

V Peru se mluví španělsky a kečuánsky.

In Peru they speak Spanish and Quechua. (Peru — indeclinable)

Common Mistakes

❌ Bydlím v Londýn už pět let.

Incorrect — Londýn is nativised and declines; the locative is v Londýně.

✅ Bydlím v Londýně už pět let.

I've lived in London for five years. (Londýn → v Londýně)

❌ Jedeme do Paříž na víkend.

Incorrect — Paříž is a feminine soft noun and declines; the genitive of direction is do Paříže.

✅ Jedeme do Paříže na víkend.

We're going to Paris for the weekend. (Paříž → do Paříže)

❌ Studoval jsem ve Francie.

Incorrect — the locative of Francie is the doubled -ii: ve Francii.

✅ Studoval jsem ve Francii.

I studied in France. (Francie → ve Francii)

❌ Byli jsme na dovolené v Slovensku.

Incorrect — Slovakia takes na, not v: na Slovensku.

✅ Byli jsme na dovolené na Slovensku.

We were on holiday in Slovakia. (na Slovensku)

❌ Koupil to víno v Bordeauxu.

Incorrect — Bordeaux can't take a native ending and stays fixed: v Bordeaux.

✅ Koupil to víno v Bordeaux.

He bought that wine in Bordeaux. (Bordeaux — indeclinable)

Key Takeaways

The Czech default is to nativise and decline a foreign name by its apparent gender: Londýn → v Londýně (masc., hrad), Moskva → v Moskvě (fem., žena), Paříž → do Paříže (fem., soft píseň).
Countries decline too: v Německu, z Anglie, ve Francii — and the -ie countries take the doubled locative -ii.
A foreign name stays fixed only when no native pattern fits comfortably, typically a silent or stressed final vowel: v Bordeaux, v Peru. Tokio/Oslo sit on the line and are heard both ways.
The v / na split reaches foreign geography: na Slovensku, na Ukrajině, na Islandu but v Polsku, v Rakousku — memorise the na set. See v vs na for places and the locative of place names.
The classic English error is leaving a declinable foreign name in the nominative (*v Londýn). If it has a Czech-shaped ending, decline it.

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