Tato stopa je důležitá.

Tato is the feminine singular form of this in standard Czech. It matches the noun stopa, which is feminine.

A very simplified pattern is:

• masculine: ten
• feminine: ta / tato
• neuter: to

Both ta and tato can mean this/that depending on context, but tato is often clearer and a bit more explicit as this.

So:

• ta stopa = that track/clue or sometimes the track/clue
• tato stopa = this track/clue

Because the adjective must agree with the noun it describes.

The noun stopa is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative here

So the adjective důležitý (important) changes to the feminine singular nominative form:

• masculine: důležitý
• feminine: důležitá
• neuter: důležité

Since stopa is feminine, we get důležitá.

A good first clue is the ending. Many Czech nouns ending in -a are feminine, and stopa is one of them.

In the nominative singular:

• stopa = feminine

That is why it takes:

• tato for this
• důležitá for important

Both words show feminine agreement.

Stopa can mean several related things depending on context, such as:

• track
• footprint
• trace
• clue

If the meaning has already been given to the learner, the important grammar point is that Czech uses the same noun for several ideas that English may translate differently. The surrounding context tells you which English word fits best.

For example, in a detective context, stopa often means clue or lead. In a physical context, it could mean track or footprint.

Here je means is.

In the present tense, Czech normally does use the verb být (to be) in sentences like this:

• Tato stopa je důležitá. = This clue is important.

So you generally should not omit it here.

That is different from Russian, for example, where the present tense to be is often omitted. In Czech, je is standard and necessary in this kind of sentence.

Yes, Czech word order is more flexible than English, and Důležitá je tato stopa is possible.

The neutral, straightforward order is:

• Tato stopa je důležitá.

If you change the order, you often change the emphasis:

• Tato stopa je důležitá. = neutral statement
• Důležitá je tato stopa. = emphasis on important
• Tato důležitá stopa = this means this important clue/track, which is a different structure because the adjective is now directly attached to the noun

So word order can shift, but the most basic version is the original sentence.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Tato ≈ TAH-to
• stopa ≈ STO-pa
• je ≈ ye
• důležitá ≈ DOO-leh-zhi-TAH

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• Czech stress is usually on the first syllable of each word.
• j is pronounced like English y in yes.
• ž sounds like the s in measure.
• ů is pronounced like a long oo sound.

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

TAH-to STO-pa ye DOO-leh-zhi-TAH

In modern pronunciation, ů and ú are usually pronounced the same: a long oo sound.

So in důležitá, the ů sounds like long oo.

The difference is mainly historical and spelling-based:

• ú usually appears at the beginning of a word or after a prefix
• ů usually appears inside a word

For a learner, the main thing here is: in pronunciation, treat dů- like doo-.

It is in the nominative singular.

Why?

Because stopa is the subject of the sentence:

• Tato stopa = this clue/track
• je důležitá = is important

In Czech, the subject is typically in the nominative case. The demonstrative tato and adjective důležitá also match that nominative feminine singular form.

Yes, that is possible.

Ta stopa je důležitá is natural Czech and can mean something like:

• That clue is important
• This clue is important
• sometimes even The clue is important

The exact meaning depends more on context and emphasis.

If you specifically want to point to this clue, tato stopa is often clearer.

The dictionary form is usually the masculine singular nominative:

• důležitý = important

From that base form, Czech changes the ending to match gender, number, and case:

• důležitý = masculine singular
• důležitá = feminine singular
• důležité = neuter singular or some plural uses

So when you learn adjectives, you will often see them listed in dictionaries as the masculine form, even if the sentence uses a different one.

Yes, sometimes, if the noun is understood from context.

For example:

• Tato je důležitá. = This one is important.

But in your sentence, the noun stopa is stated explicitly, which is clearer for learners and in many normal contexts.

Czech has no articles like English a/an and the.

That means Czech often expresses definiteness through:

• context
• word order
• demonstratives like ten, ta, to, tento, tato, toto

So English might say:

• This clue is important
• The clue is important
• A clue is important

Czech does not use articles for those distinctions in the same way. In your sentence, tato gives the idea of this clearly.

No. The adjective itself means important, but its form changes.

Compare:

• Tato stopa je důležitá. — feminine singular
• Ten důkaz je důležitý. — masculine singular
• To rozhodnutí je důležité. — neuter singular

So důležitá is just the feminine version of the adjective, not a separate word with a different meaning.