Tento dům je z minulého století.

Czech does not have articles like the or a/an.

So dům can mean house or the house, depending on context. In this sentence, tento already helps make it specific, so tento dům is this house.

Tento is a demonstrative word meaning this.

It must agree with the noun it goes with. Here, dům is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So the matching form is tento.

You may also hear more conversational forms like tenhle dům, which also means this house.

Dům is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence.

The structure is basically:

• Tento dům = subject
• je = is
• z minulého století = from the last century / dating from the last century

So dům stays in its basic dictionary form here.

Je is the 3rd person singular of být (to be), so it means is.

In this sentence, it is needed. Czech often omits subject pronouns like he, she, it, but it does not normally omit the verb to be in standard sentences like this one.

So:

• Tento dům je z minulého století. = correct
• Tento dům z minulého století. = not a normal complete sentence in standard Czech

The preposition z usually means from or out of.

Here it shows origin in time: the house comes from or dates from a certain period.

So z minulého století literally means from the last century.

This is a very natural Czech way to describe the age or historical origin of something.

Because z requires the genitive case.

That means the words after z must be in genitive, not nominative.

So the basic form:

• minulé století = the last century

changes after z to:

• z minulého století = from the last century

This is a very common Czech pattern:

• z domu = from the house
• z města = from the town
• z minulého století = from the last century

Because minulý/minulá/minulé is an adjective, and it has to agree with století in case, number, and gender.

The noun století is:

• neuter
• singular
• here in the genitive because of z

So the adjective also has to be genitive singular neuter, which gives minulého.

Compare:

• minulé století = nominative/accusative
• z minulého století = genitive after z

It is changing grammatically, but in this noun the nominative singular and genitive singular happen to look the same.

So:

• století = nominative singular
• století = genitive singular

The case is shown mainly by the adjective minulého and by the preposition z.

This can be confusing at first, but it is normal in Czech. Some noun forms are identical in different cases.

It describes století, not dům.

The phrase is built like this:

• z
  • minulého století

So minulého století is one unit meaning of the last century.

It does not mean that the house itself is grammatically past in any way. The adjective belongs only to století.

Yes, but the original order is the most neutral and natural:

• Tento dům je z minulého století.

Czech word order is flexible, but changes usually add emphasis or special focus.

For example:

• Je tento dům z minulého století? = Is this house from the last century?
• Z minulého století je tento dům. = possible, but marked; it emphasizes from the last century

So learners should usually stick with Tento dům je z minulého století unless they have a reason to emphasize something.

Yes. A very common alternative is:

• Tento dům pochází z minulého století.

Here pochází means comes from / originates from.

Both sentences are natural, but they feel slightly different:

• je z minulého století = simple, direct description
• pochází z minulého století = a bit more explicit about origin or date

Both are good Czech.