Ta hora je vysoká.

Ta is the feminine singular nominative form of the demonstrative ten.

Because hora (mountain) is feminine, the demonstrative has to match it:

• ten = masculine
• ta = feminine
• to = neuter

So:

• ta hora = that mountain
• sometimes, depending on context, it can feel a bit like the mountain, because Czech has no articles.

In Czech, every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter.

Hora is a feminine noun. One clue is its ending: many feminine nouns end in -a.

Because it is feminine, other words that describe or point to it must agree with it:

• ta hora
• vysoká hora
• ta hora je vysoká

So the gender of hora controls the form of both ta and vysoká.

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

Since hora is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

the adjective must also be:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

That gives vysoká.

Compare:

• vysoký dům = a tall/high house (masculine)
• vysoká hora = a high mountain (feminine)
• vysoké město? = would be neuter if the noun were neuter

So vysoká is simply agreement.

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

So:

• já jsem = I am
• ty jsi = you are
• on / ona / ono je = he / she / it is

In Ta hora je vysoká, je means is.

Unlike in some other Slavic languages, Czech normally does use the present-tense form of to be, so you should not leave it out in a normal sentence.

All three key words here are in the nominative singular:

• ta — nominative feminine singular
• hora — nominative singular
• vysoká — nominative feminine singular

Why nominative?

• hora is the subject, so nominative makes sense.
• After být (to be), a predicate adjective like vysoká is also in the nominative.

So this is a very basic subject + to be + adjective pattern.

No. Czech does not have articles like English a/an and the.

That is why hora by itself can mean:

• a mountain
• the mountain

depending on context.

Adding ta makes the noun more specific, often something like:

• that mountain
• sometimes the mountain in conversation, when both speakers know which one is meant

But ta is not a true article in the same way as English the.

Yes.

• Hora je vysoká = The/A mountain is high (depending on context)
• Ta hora je vysoká = That/The mountain is high

Adding ta makes the noun more specific or more pointed. Without it, the sentence is more neutral.

So both are grammatical; they just differ slightly in emphasis and reference.

Yes. Czech word order is more flexible than English word order.

The neutral order here is:

• Ta hora je vysoká.

But other orders are possible, depending on emphasis:

• Hora je vysoká.
• Vysoká je ta hora.
• Ta vysoká hora... = that high mountain... (if used inside a bigger sentence)

Even though Czech allows movement, the basic learner-friendly pattern is still:

subject + je + adjective

So Ta hora je vysoká is the safest and most neutral version.

Czech vysoký / vysoká / vysoké covers both English high and tall.

So the same adjective can be used for:

• a person = tall
• a building = tall/high
• a mountain = high

In English, high and tall are divided more strictly, but Czech uses vysoký much more broadly.

So hora je vysoká is completely normal Czech.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

ta HO-ra ye vi-SO-kaa

A few notes:

• h in Czech is always pronounced, unlike in some English words
• j is pronounced like English y in yes
• á is a long vowel, so vysoká ends with a longer aa sound
• stress in Czech usually falls on the first syllable of each word:
  • TA
  • HOra
  • JE
  • VYsoká

A more careful approximation:

TA HO-ra ye VY-so-ká

In many beginner explanations, ta is taught as that because it comes from the demonstrative ten/ta/to.

But in real Czech, ten/ta/to is often used very broadly. Depending on context, ta hora can sound like:

• that mountain
• the mountain
• sometimes even a fairly neutral pointing/reference word

If you want a clearer this, Czech often uses:

• tato hora = this mountain

So:

• ta hora = often that mountain / the mountain
• tato hora = more clearly this mountain

Yes, eventually — but you can learn them step by step.

For a sentence like this, the important pattern is:

• feminine noun in -a
• demonstrative agrees: ta
• adjective agrees: vysoká

A useful mini-pattern is:

• ten dům je vysoký — masculine
• ta hora je vysoká — feminine
• to město je vysoké — neuter, though this particular example is not very natural semantically

This helps you see the agreement system:

• masculine: -ý
• feminine: -á
• neuter: -é

So yes, agreement endings matter a lot in Czech, and this sentence is a very typical example of that system.