Tato služba je drahá.

Because služba is a feminine singular noun in the nominative case, and the demonstrative this has to agree with it.

The Czech forms of this are:

• ten for masculine
• ta for feminine
• to for neuter

But in standard Czech, the more specific this forms are:

• tento for masculine
• tato for feminine
• toto for neuter

So with feminine služba, you use tato.

You may also hear ta služba in everyday speech, but tato služba is the clearer standard equivalent of this service.

Služba is a feminine noun.

One clue is the ending -a, which very often marks feminine nouns in Czech. That is not true in every single case, but it is a very common pattern.

Because služba is feminine, other words connected to it must match it:

• tato is feminine
• drahá is feminine

This matching is called agreement.

Because adjectives in Czech must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since služba is feminine singular nominative, the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative.

So the basic adjective drahý changes like this in the singular nominative:

• drahý = masculine
• drahá = feminine
• drahé = neuter

That is why the sentence uses drahá.

It is in the nominative singular.

In this sentence, služba is the subject of the sentence, and subjects are normally in the nominative case.

You can think of the structure as:

• Tato služba = the subject
• je = the verb
• drahá = the predicate adjective describing the subject

Because the noun is nominative, the adjective agreeing with it is also nominative.

In normal Czech, je is needed here.

Unlike some languages, Czech usually does not omit the present tense of být (to be) in standard sentences like this one.

So:

• Tato služba je drahá. = correct
• Tato služba drahá. = not standard Czech

The verb je is the 3rd person singular form of být:

• jsem = I am
• jsi / jseš = you are
• je = he/she/it is

Not always.

The adjective drahý / drahá / drahé can mean:

• expensive
• dear, in the emotional sense

In this sentence, with service, the natural meaning is expensive.

Context decides which meaning is intended. For example:

• drahý hotel = an expensive hotel
• drahý přítel = a dear friend

The neutral, straightforward order is:

• Tato služba je drahá.

Czech word order is more flexible than English, so other orders are possible for emphasis or contrast. For example:

• Drahá je tato služba.
• Je tato služba drahá? if asking a question

But for a basic declarative sentence, Tato služba je drahá is the most natural and neutral version.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker would be:

• Tato ≈ TAH-to
• služba ≈ SLOOZH-ba
• je ≈ yeh
• drahá ≈ DRAH-haa

A few important points:

• ž sounds like the s in measure
• j is pronounced like English y
• á is a long vowel, so it is held longer than a short a

So the long á in drahá is important.

They matter.

In Czech, accent marks are part of the spelling and often show vowel length. They are not optional in standard writing.

For example:

• a = short vowel
• á = long vowel

So drahá must be written with á. The length difference is real and important in Czech pronunciation.

Yes. Tahle služba je drahá is a very common everyday alternative.

Very roughly:

• tato služba = more neutral or formal this service
• tahle služba = more conversational this service

Both are correct, but tato is often the form learners first meet in textbooks because it is neat and standard.

The dictionary forms are:

• tento = this
• služba = service
• být = to be
• drahý = expensive / dear

In the sentence, some words appear in forms that match the grammar:

• tento becomes tato to agree with a feminine noun
• drahý becomes drahá for feminine singular nominative
• být becomes je in the present tense

This is very normal in Czech, where many words change form depending on their role in the sentence.