Bankovní účet je nový.

Because Czech often uses an adjective where English uses a noun modifier.

• bankovní = bank / banking-related
• účet = account

So bankovní účet literally means bank-related account, but in natural English that is simply bank account.

You would not normally say banka účet for this meaning.

Účet is masculine inanimate.

A common clue is that it ends in a consonant, which often means a Czech noun is masculine. In this case, it is specifically masculine inanimate, not masculine animate.

That matters because adjectives have to agree with the noun’s:

• gender
• number
• case

So nový is matching účet.

Because nový agrees with účet.

Here, účet is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective is also in the matching form: nový.

Compare:

• Bankovní účet je nový. = masculine singular
• Bankovní karta je nová. = feminine singular
• Bankovní konto je nové. = neuter singular
• Bankovní účty jsou nové. = plural

So the ending changes to match the noun.

It actually is agreeing with účet; it just belongs to a different adjective pattern.

Bankovní is a soft adjective, and in the nominative singular it has the same form for all genders:

• bankovní účet
• bankovní karta
• bankovní konto

So it may look like it is not changing, but that is just how this adjective type works.

In other cases, it does show different endings, for example:

• bez bankovního účtu = without a bank account
• o bankovním účtu = about a bank account

Both are in the nominative.

• účet is nominative because it is the subject
• nový is nominative because it is a predicate adjective after je

So:

• Bankovní účet = nominative subject
• je nový = is new, with nový in nominative

A learner might wonder about novým, but that would be wrong here. With predicate adjectives, Czech normally uses the nominative.

Because Czech does not have articles.

So Bankovní účet je nový can mean:

• A bank account is new
• The bank account is new

The exact meaning depends on context.

Czech usually expresses definiteness through:

• context
• word order
• stress
• sometimes other words like ten if needed

But there is no direct equivalent of English a/an/the used in ordinary sentences.

In a normal full sentence, je should be included.

• je = is
• It is the 3rd person singular of být = to be

So:

• Bankovní účet je nový. = normal standard sentence

If you omit it:

• Bankovní účet nový

that sounds incomplete in normal speech, though something like that might appear in notes, headlines, labels, or very informal shorthand.

The given word order is the most neutral and natural one:

• Bankovní účet = subject
• je = verb
• nový = predicate adjective

So Bankovní účet je nový. is the default way to say it.

Czech word order is fairly flexible, but changes usually add emphasis or contrast. For example, moving nový forward could sound contrastive, something like It’s the bank account that is new.

One important point: bankovní stays with účet, because it directly modifies that noun.

They are both adjectives, but they do different jobs.

• bankovní is an attributive adjective: it stands directly before the noun and describes what kind of account it is
• nový is a predicate adjective: it comes after je and says something about the subject

So the structure is:

• bankovní účet = bank account
• je nový = is new

In other words:

• bankovní is part of the noun phrase
• nový is part of the predicate

Roughly:

BANK-ov-nee OO-chet ye NO-vee

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• Czech stress is usually on the first syllable of each word:
  • BÁNkovní
  • Účet
  • NOvý
• č sounds like ch in church
• je sounds roughly like ye
• long vowels matter:
  • í, ú, ý are pronounced longer than short vowels

So:

• bankovní has a long í
• účet starts with a long ú
• nový ends with a long ý