Text: Public Signs and Notices

Public signs are the first Czech most travellers actually have to read, and they are written in a clipped, impersonal style that follows its own grammar. A door doesn't politely ask you to pull; it just says Táhnout. A wall doesn't forbid smoking in a sentence; it nominalises the whole idea into Zákaz kouření. This page reads four classic signs slowly and pulls out the three grammatical habits behind almost all Czech signage.

The text

Zákaz kouření. Táhnout / Tlačit. Pozor, vlak! Nevstupujte!

Four notices you will meet on your first day: a no-smoking sign, a pair of door labels, a level-crossing warning, and a barrier. Naturally: "No smoking. Pull / Push. Caution, train! Do not enter!"

Word by word

Zákaz kouření.

• Zákaz — a noun, "a ban / prohibition," from the verb zakázat "to forbid." It is in the nominative, simply naming the thing posted on the wall.
• kouření — "smoking," a verbal noun built from kouřit "to smoke." It is in the genitive: zákaz governs a genitive, so this is "a ban of smoking." For neuter -í nouns the genitive looks identical to the nominative (kouření → kouření), so the case is invisible here but very real, as the next sign will show.

Táhnout / Tlačit.

• Táhnout — the bare infinitive of táhnout "to pull." On a door it functions as a depersonalised instruction: "(to be) pulled," i.e. "Pull."
• Tlačit — the infinitive of tlačit "to push." Same logic: "Push." Czech signs reach for the infinitive where English uses the bare imperative.

Pozor, vlak!

• Pozor — "Caution / Watch out," an interjection-like noun used as a standalone alarm.
• vlak — "train," nominative. The full, unclipped warning would be Pozor na vlak! with na + accusative; the sign drops the preposition for brevity, leaving the noun bare.

Nevstupujte!

• Nevstupujte — a negative imperative, second person plural (the polite/general form), from vstupovat "to enter." It breaks down as ne- (negation) + vstupujte (the command). "Do not enter."

Grammar in action

Zákaz + the genitive verbal noun

The most productive sign-pattern in Czech is prohibition noun + genitive of a verbal noun. Zákaz is followed by the genitive of whatever is being banned, and that "whatever" is usually a noun spun out of a verb. English would say "No smoking" with a gerund; Czech says Zákaz kouření, literally "a-ban of-smoking."

Verbal nouns are formed very regularly: most verbs take -ní on the infinitive stem, while a handful of short verbs take -tí. This machinery is set out on the verbal nouns and deverbal nouns pages.

Verb	Verbal noun	Sign (noun in genitive)	Meaning
kouřit	kouření	Zákaz kouření	No smoking
parkovat	parkování	Zákaz parkování	No parking
fotografovat	fotografování	Zákaz fotografování	No photography
koupat se	koupání	Zákaz koupání	No swimming

The genitive becomes visible the moment the banned thing is a plain noun rather than an -í verbal noun. Vstup "entry" gives Zákaz vstupu — the -u ending is the genitive singular, the same one you would use after do "into." So the rule is not "use a special sign-word"; it is simply "zákaz takes the genitive," every time.

The infinitive as an impersonal instruction

On doors, machines, and forms, Czech uses the bare infinitive to give a depersonalised order — one aimed at no one in particular. Táhnout and Tlačit are the everyday pair, but you will see the same convention on instructions everywhere. Because the infinitive names the action without a person, it feels neutral and official, which is exactly the register a sign wants. The wider range of this is on the uses of the infinitive page.

Negative commands default to the imperfective

Nevstupujte! shows a quiet rule of Czech: negated commands normally use the imperfective verb. The affirmative "come in" would be the perfective Vstupte!, but the prohibition flips to the imperfective vstupovat, giving nevstupujte. The logic is that a positive command tends to ask for one completed act (perfective), whereas a prohibition is about not doing the action at all — an open-ended, general "don't," which is the imperfective's territory. This aspect-and-polarity split is the subject of the aspect in affirmative vs negative commands page.

The warning Pozor na + accusative

Spoken and signed warnings hang on Pozor. In full sentences it takes na + accusative: Pozor na vlak!, Pozor na psa!, Pozor na schod! The sign may drop na and leave just Pozor, vlak!, but the moment you say it aloud to someone, the preposition comes back.

Usage and culture note

Czech officialese loves the noun and the infinitive and avoids addressing you directly. Where an English sign barks "Do Not Enter" or "No Smoking," Czech prefers the abstract Zákaz vstupu and Zákaz kouření — a banned thing, not a told-off you. In the most formal register you will also meet the passive participle: Vstup zakázán "Entry forbidden," Kouření zakázáno "Smoking forbidden," where the participle agrees with the noun (vstup masculine → zakázán; kouření neuter → zakázáno). All three styles — Zákaz kouření, Kouření zakázáno, and the blunt Nekuřte! — coexist; the noun phrase is the neutral default, the participle is bureaucratic, and the direct imperative is the most personal and least common on public signs.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Prohibitions are built as noun + genitive: zákaz
  • the genitive of a verbal noun (Zákaz kouření) or a plain noun (Zákaz vstupu).
• Verbal nouns end in -ní / -tí and turn any verb into the "no-X-ing" of a sign.
• Doors and machines give orders with the bare infinitive (Táhnout, Tlačit), not the imperative.
• Negative commands default to the imperfective (Nevstupujte!, Nedotýkejte se!).
• Spoken warnings use Pozor na + accusative (Pozor na vlak!); the most formal signs use a passive participle (Vstup zakázán).