Motor je při zkušební jízdě tichý.

to be

Breakdown of Motor je při zkušební jízdě tichý.

• tichý: quiet
• při: during
• zkušební jízda: the test drive

Questions & Answers about Motor je při zkušební jízdě tichý.

Why is motor in the basic form here?

Because motor is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative singular.

• motor = nominative singular
• It is a masculine inanimate noun

In this sentence, motor is the thing being described as tichý.

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What does je do in this sentence?

Je is the 3rd person singular present tense of být = to be.

So the structure is:

• Motor = the engine
• je = is
• tichý = quiet

Literally: The engine is quiet during the test drive.

In standard Czech, you normally do need je in a sentence like this. Czech often omits subject pronouns, but not the verb to be here.

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Why is tichý used, and not some other form like tiché or tichá?