Včera ráno svítilo slunce.

the morning

Breakdown of Včera ráno svítilo slunce.

• včera: yesterday
• svítit: to shine
• slunce: the sun

Questions & Answers about Včera ráno svítilo slunce.

Why is there no article before slunce?

Czech does not use definite or indefinite articles (no “the” or “a”). The noun slunce can mean “sun” or “the sun” depending on context without extra words.

What case is slunce in this sentence?

It’s in the nominative case, because slunce is the subject performing the action “svítilo” (“shone”).

Why does the verb end in -lo (“svítilo”) instead of -l or -la?

In Czech past tense, the ending agrees with the gender and number of the subject:

• -l for masculine singular
• -la for feminine singular
• -lo for neuter singular
  Since slunce is a neuter noun, the past-tense form is svítilo.

What exactly does včera ráno mean, and why isn’t there a comma?

Včera ráno is a single adverbial time expression meaning “yesterday morning.” It’s not two separate clauses, so no comma is needed.

Could I say Slunce včera ráno svítilo instead?