Nářadí je v kůlně.

Because nářadí is usually treated as a singular neuter collective noun in Czech.

So even though English often says the tools are..., Czech can say:

• Nářadí je v kůlně. = The tools are in the shed.

Grammatically, Czech is treating nářadí more like tool equipment or a set of tools than like a normal plural noun.

That is why the verb is je (is) rather than jsou (are).

Kůlně is in the locative singular.

The basic dictionary form is:

• kůlna = shed

After the preposition v when it means in a place, Czech normally uses the locative:

• v kůlně = in the shed

So:

• kůlna → basic form
• v kůlně → locative form after v

This is a very common pattern in Czech.

V means in.

So:

• v kůlně = in the shed

This sentence describes location, not movement.

Compare:

• Nářadí je v kůlně. = The tools are in the shed.
• Jdu do kůlny. = I am going into the shed.

So:

• v + locative = being somewhere
• do + genitive = movement into somewhere

Usually, in a sentence like this, nářadí is grammatically singular, even though it refers to multiple tools as a group.

That is why we get:

• Nářadí je...

not

• Nářadí jsou... in normal usage

You can think of it as a collective/mass noun like equipment in English.

English:

• The equipment is...
• The tools are...

Czech often uses nářadí in a way closer to equipment grammatically.

Nářadí is neuter.

You can tell this partly from the verb agreement in other contexts and from typical noun patterns ending in -í.

In this sentence, that matters because neuter singular nouns take:

• je = is

So the grammar is:

• nářadí = neuter singular
• je = singular form of to be

A rough pronunciation guide is:

NAA-rzha-dee ye f KOOL-nye

A few important points:

• á, í, ů are long vowels
• ř is the famous Czech sound that is hard for English speakers; it is not just a normal r
• ně sounds roughly like nye
• v is often pronounced more like f before a voiceless consonant, so v kůlně often sounds like f kůlně

A more careful approximation:

• Nářadí ≈ NAA-rzhah-dee
• je ≈ ye
• v kůlně ≈ f kool-nye

Because Czech does not have articles like a/an and the.

So:

• Nářadí je v kůlně.

can mean, depending on context:

• The tools are in the shed
• Tools are in the shed
• sometimes even The equipment is in a shed

English must choose an article, but Czech usually leaves that to context.

Yes. Czech word order is much more flexible than English word order.

The neutral version here is:

• Nářadí je v kůlně.

But you could also say:

• V kůlně je nářadí.

Both are grammatical. The difference is mainly focus:

• Nářadí je v kůlně. → neutral, talking about the tools and saying where they are
• V kůlně je nářadí. → emphasizes the location a bit more, like There are tools in the shed

So the meaning stays very similar, but the information focus changes.

The dictionary form is the verb být = to be.

Je is the 3rd person singular form:

• je = is

So in this sentence:

• Nářadí je v kůlně.
• literally: The tool-equipment is in the shed

Other forms of být include:

• jsem = I am
• jsi = you are
• je = he/she/it is
• jsme = we are
• jste = you are
• jsou = they are

The basic form is kůlna, and it is a feminine noun.

That is why, after v, it changes to:

• v kůlně

This follows a common feminine declension pattern. So when learning vocabulary, it is useful to remember:

• kůlna = shed
• feminine noun
• locative singular: kůlně

That will help you build similar phrases correctly later.