Repatriace po hospitalizaci je drahá.

Because it comes after the preposition po, and po usually requires the locative case when it means after in time.

• dictionary form: hospitalizace
• after po: po hospitalizaci

So in this sentence:

• po hospitalizaci = after hospitalization

This is a very common pattern:

• po obědě = after lunch
• po válce = after the war
• po operaci = after the operation

With hospitalizace, the locative singular happens to look like hospitalizaci.

Because it agrees with repatriace, which is a feminine singular noun.

In Czech, adjectives must match the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• repatriace = feminine singular
• so the adjective is drahá = feminine singular

Compare:

• ten pobyt je drahý = that stay is expensive masculine
• to auto je drahé = that car is expensive neuter
• repatriace je drahá = repatriation is expensive feminine

A good clue is the ending -e in this type of noun. Many Czech nouns ending in -ace are feminine, especially learned or international words.

Examples:

• informace
• organizace
• operace
• hospitalizace
• repatriace

These are typically feminine, so they take feminine adjective forms:

• náročná operace
• dlouhá hospitalizace
• drahá repatriace

The most reliable way is still to learn the noun together with its gender, but -ace nouns are very often feminine.

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

So:

• je = is

In this sentence, it links the subject and the adjective:

• Repatriace po hospitalizaci je drahá.
• Repatriation after hospitalization is expensive.

In standard Czech, you normally do use je in the present tense. Czech does not usually drop the present-tense to be the way some other Slavic languages do.

So Repatriace po hospitalizaci drahá would sound incomplete or nonstandard.

The neutral, standard order is:

• Repatriace po hospitalizaci je drahá.

But Czech word order is fairly flexible, because case endings show grammatical relationships. You can change the order for emphasis or style.

Possible alternatives:

• Po hospitalizaci je repatriace drahá.
• Drahá je repatriace po hospitalizaci.

These are grammatically possible, but they sound different in focus:

• the original sentence is the most neutral
• starting with po hospitalizaci emphasizes the time/context
• starting with drahá strongly emphasizes expensive

So learners should usually stick with the original order unless they have a reason to change the emphasis.

Because Czech has no articles.

English says:

• the repatriation
• a hospitalization

Czech simply uses the noun:

• repatriace
• hospitalizace

Whether the meaning is definite or indefinite is understood from context.

So:

• Repatriace po hospitalizaci je drahá.

could correspond to English with or without an article depending on context.

This is completely normal in Czech.

It can mean more than one thing.

Drahý / drahá / drahé can mean:

1. expensive
2. dear / beloved

In this sentence, it clearly means expensive, because we are talking about repatriation after hospitalization, which is something with a cost.

Examples:

• To auto je drahé. = The car is expensive.
• Moje drahá přítelkyně = My dear girlfriend

So the context tells you which meaning is intended.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

Repatriace po hospitalizaci je drahá
reh-pa-tree-AH-tseh po hos-pih-tah-lih-ZAH-tsih yeh DRAA-haa

A few useful points:

• Czech stress is usually on the first syllable of each word:
  • REpatriace
  • PO
  • HOspitalizaci
  • JE
  • DRAhá
• ch in Czech is a separate sound, but it does not appear in this sentence.
• h in hospitalizaci and drahá is pronounced clearly.
• j in je sounds like English y in yes.

If you want a more Czech-like approximation:

• RE-pa-tri-a-tse
• po
• HOS-pi-ta-li-za-tsi
• ye
• DRA-haa

Yes, it is fairly formal and medical/administrative.

Hospitalizace means hospitalization and is common in:

• medical contexts
• insurance documents
• official communication
• healthcare discussions

In everyday conversation, people might sometimes say things in a simpler way, depending on context, for example talking about being in the hospital instead of using the abstract noun.

But in a sentence like this one, hospitalizace is perfectly natural, especially in formal or institutional language.

Because it functions as a modifier of repatriace and the sentence is using a very natural, neutral order.

Structure:

• Repatriace = subject
• po hospitalizaci = prepositional phrase modifying the subject
• je drahá = predicate

So the whole subject is basically:

• repatriace po hospitalizaci = repatriation after hospitalization

Czech often places this kind of descriptive phrase right after the noun it belongs to. That makes the sentence easy to process.

You could also say:

• Po hospitalizaci je repatriace drahá.

But that shifts emphasis to after hospitalization.

Here repatriace is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence.

You can see this from the structure:

• Repatriace ... je drahá.
• Repatriation ... is expensive.

The thing being described as expensive is repatriace, so it is the subject, and subjects are normally in the nominative.

The adjective drahá also matches it in nominative feminine singular.

Yes. Once you know the pattern, you can swap in other feminine singular adjectives.

For example:

• Repatriace po hospitalizaci je komplikovaná. = Repatriation after hospitalization is complicated.
• Repatriace po hospitalizaci je možná. = Repatriation after hospitalization is possible.
• Repatriace po hospitalizaci je nutná. = Repatriation after hospitalization is necessary.

The key is that the adjective must stay in the feminine singular form, because it still agrees with repatriace.