Learn Hardcore Czech: Noviny a novináři jsou důležití pro svobodu. - Newspapers and journalists are important for freedom.

je = is (3rd person singular) – for one thing:
- Novinář je důležitý. – The journalist is important.
jsou = are (3rd person plural) – for more than one thing:
- Noviny a novináři jsou důležití. – Newspapers and journalists are important.

Because the subject here is two plural nouns (noviny + novináři), the verb must be plural: jsou.

Why does důležití end in -í and not -é or something else?

The ending of důležití shows gender and number and must agree with the subject.

noviny = grammatically feminine plural
novináři = masculine animate plural

When you have a mixed group that includes masculine animate, Czech uses the masculine animate plural ending for adjectives and past participles.

Adjective důležitý (important):

masculine animate plural: důležití
feminine plural: důležité
neuter plural: důležitá

So:

Noviny jsou důležité. – Newspapers are important. (only feminine plural)
Novináři jsou důležití. – Journalists are important. (masc. animate plural)
Noviny a novináři jsou důležití. – Mixed group → use masc. animate plural.

What gender and number is noviny? Is there a singular form?

Noviny is:

gender: feminine
number: plural only (pluralia tantum)

It normally does not have a singular form in the meaning newspaper(s). Czech grammars list it as:

noviny (ž, pl.) – newspapers, the press

There is a word novina (singular), but:

it means a piece of news (usually in fixed phrases)
dobrá novina – good news (quite literary/archaic sounding)
it does not mean “one newspaper” like a newspaper.

For “one copy of a newspaper”, people say, for example:

jedny noviny – one (set of) newspaper(s)
kup si noviny – buy a newspaper / buy the paper

So just remember noviny behaves grammatically like a feminine plural noun, even when you’re talking about “the press” in general.

What about novináři? What is the singular, and what gender is it?

Novináři is:

gender: masculine animate
number: plural

The singular is novinář (a journalist, male / generic if gender is not specified).

Basic forms:

singular nominative: novinář
plural nominative: novináři

For a female journalist:

novinářka (singular)
novinářky (plural)

But novináři can be used generically for a mixed group of journalists.

Why is it svobodu and not svoboda?

This is about case.

Dictionary form: svoboda – freedom (nominative singular)
In the sentence we have pro svobodu – pro always takes the accusative.

Accusative singular of svoboda (feminine) is svobodu.

So:

svoboda – subject form:
- Svoboda je důležitá. – Freedom is important.
svobodu – object form with pro:
- Noviny a novináři jsou důležití pro svobodu. – … important for freedom.

Does pro always take the accusative? What does pro svobodu really mean?

Yes, the preposition pro always takes the accusative case.

Meaning of pro includes:

for / in favor of / in support of
intended for / meant for
sometimes because of / on behalf of, depending on context

Examples:

bojovat pro svobodu – to fight for freedom
dárek pro maminku – a present for mum
hlasovat pro návrh – to vote for a proposal

So pro svobodu here means something like “in the interest of freedom / for the sake of freedom.”

Could we also say za svobodu instead of pro svobodu? Is there a difference?

Both exist, but they are not identical:

pro svobodu – more neutral, “for freedom”, “in favour of freedom”
za svobodu – often suggests:
- fighting/struggling for freedom
  - bojovat za svobodu – to fight for freedom
- being on the side of freedom, on behalf of freedom

In your sentence:

Noviny a novináři jsou důležití pro svobodu. – standard, neutral statement.
… jsou důležití za svobodu. – sounds odd in standard Czech; you would more likely change the verb:
- Noviny a novináři bojují za svobodu. – Newspapers and journalists fight for freedom.

So pro svobodu is the natural choice with jsou důležití.

Why are there no words like “the” or “a” in the Czech sentence?

Czech has no articles (no equivalents of a, an, the). Whether English uses a or the or no article is understood from context in Czech.

Noviny a novináři can mean:

newspapers and journalists in general, or
the newspapers and the journalists in a specific situation, if context implies it.

To make it more specific, Czech uses other words:

těchto novinářů – these journalists
těchto novin – these newspapers
těch novinářů – those / the journalists (previously mentioned)

But there is still no dedicated article word like the; it’s all context and demonstratives.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Novináři a noviny jsou důležití pro svobodu?

Yes, Czech word order is more flexible than English. Both are correct:

Noviny a novináři jsou důležití pro svobodu.
Novináři a noviny jsou důležití pro svobodu.

The difference is mainly emphasis or style:

The first version slightly foregrounds noviny (newspapers).
The second one slightly foregrounds novináři (journalists).

You can also move the pro svobodu part:

Pro svobodu jsou důležité noviny a novináři.
Noviny a novináři jsou pro svobodu důležití.

All are grammatically fine; word order is used to highlight what you consider important.

Could I leave out jsou and say Noviny a novináři důležití pro svobodu?

In neutral, standard written and spoken Czech, you cannot leave out jsou here. You must say:

Noviny a novináři jsou důležití pro svobodu.

Dropping jsou is possible in certain headline or note styles (newspaper titles, bullet points, slogans), for example:

Noviny a novináři důležití pro svobodu – as a heading in an article.

But this is understood as a compressed headline style, not a normal full sentence.

How do I pronounce noviny, novináři, jsou důležití?

Key points:

Stress: always on the first syllable of each word:
- NO-viny, NO-vi-ná-ři, JSOU, DŮ-le-ži-tí, pro, SVO-bo-du
jsou:
- pronounced roughly like [soʊ], similar to English “sow” (as in cow), but with a pure vowel.
ř in novináři:
- this is a special Czech sound, somewhere between r and ž.
- tongue position like r, but with frication like ž.
- don’t worry if it’s hard; a slightly “soft r/zh” sound is usually understood.
Long vowels:
- důležití – ů is long [uː]; í at the end is also long [iː].
- So it’s roughly [ˈduːlɛʒɪtiː].

So an approximate slow pronunciation:
NO-viny a NO-vi-NÁ-ři jsou DŮ-le-ži-tí pro SVO-bo-du.

How would I make this sentence negative?

You negate the verb jsou by adding ne-:

jsou → nejsou

The rest stays the same:

Noviny a novináři nejsou důležití pro svobodu.
– Newspapers and journalists are not important for freedom.

Adjective důležití does not change for negation; only the verb does.