Questions & Answers about Naše škola je blízko parku.
In Czech, blízko works like a preposition that requires the genitive case.
- The basic (dictionary) form is park – nominative singular.
- After blízko, you must use genitive singular: parku.
So the pattern is:
- blízko + genitive → blízko parku = near the park
- Other similar prepositions also take genitive, e.g. u domu (at the house), vedle školy (next to the school).
Parku is genitive singular of park. Park is a masculine inanimate noun with a regular hard declension:
- Nominative sg.: park (ten park) – subject form
- Genitive sg.: parku – used after blízko, u, bez, etc.
- Dative sg.: parku
- Accusative sg.: park
- Locative sg.: v parku / o parku
- Instrumental sg.: parkem
In this sentence we use the genitive because of the preposition-like word blízko.
Naše must agree with škola in gender, number, and case.
- škola is feminine, singular, nominative (it is the subject of the sentence).
- The matching form of the possessive pronoun náš (our) in feminine nominative singular is naše.
Some forms of náš:
- Masculine animate nominative sg.: náš (náš učitel – our teacher)
- Masculine inanimate nominative sg.: náš (náš park – our park)
- Feminine nominative sg.: naše (naše škola – our school)
- Neuter nominative sg.: naše (naše auto – our car)
Naší is another case form (e.g. feminine genitive/dative/locative), so you’d use it in contexts like:
- Jdu do naší školy. – I’m going to our school. (genitive/locative)
Here školy is not the subject anymore, so the case changes, and so does the pronoun: do naší školy.
No, that would be incorrect in standard Czech.
In this sentence, škola is the subject and must be in the nominative case: škola.
The possessive pronoun must also be nominative feminine singular: naše.
So the correct combination is:
- Naše škola je blízko parku.
Naší školy would be correct in a different case, for example:
- Do naší školy chodí hodně žáků. – Many pupils go to our school.
In this sentence, blízko is used as an adverb/preposition-like word, not as a normal adjective.
- blízko = near, close (used with genitive: blízko parku)
- blízký = close, nearby (adjective, must agree with a noun)
You can use blízký, but that creates a different structure:
- Naše škola je blízká parku. – grammatically possible, but sounds formal/literary and not very natural in everyday speech.
In normal modern Czech, people strongly prefer:
- Naše škola je blízko parku.
No. In standard Czech, blízko is followed directly by the genitive without any extra preposition:
- ✅ blízko parku
- ❌ blízko k parku
If you want to use k, you usually need another word, for example:
- blízko k tomu, aby… – close to (doing something)…
But for places, the natural pattern is simply blízko + genitive.
The basic neutral word order is:
- Naše škola je blízko parku.
But Czech word order is relatively flexible, so you can say:
- Blízko parku je naše škola.
This is also correct. It puts emphasis more on the location first (“Near the park is our school.”). It sounds slightly more like you’re describing where the school is, maybe in contrast to some other buildings.
Both are grammatically fine; the difference is mostly in emphasis and context.
In standard Czech, you should not drop je here. The natural, complete sentence is:
- Naše škola je blízko parku.
Without je, it sounds:
- very telegraphic (like a note, title, or sign), or
- like broken/foreign Czech.
Spoken or written standard sentences normally keep the verb je in this kind of construction.
Blízko means near / close to, but it doesn’t specify exact contact or “next door”.
- blízko parku – somewhere near the park (could be across the street, around the corner, etc.)
- u parku – (right) at the park / by the park, often a bit closer
- vedle parku – next to the park (side-by-side, more specific)
So Naše škola je blízko parku just says the school is not far from the park, but doesn’t say exactly how close or in which direction.
Approximate pronunciation (in English-like spelling):
- Naše – NA-she (stress on NA, š = sh in shoe)
- škola – SHKO-la (stress on SHKO)
- je – ye
- blízko – BLEEZ-ko (í is long ee; z as in zoo)
- parku – PAR-koo (stress on PAR)
Key points:
- Czech stress is almost always on the first syllable of the word.
- š = English sh.
- Long vowels like í are held longer than short ones (this can change meaning in other words).
The possessive pronoun náš changes form to agree with the gender of the noun:
- náš – masculine (náš park – our park, náš učitel – our teacher)
- naše – feminine (naše škola – our school)
- naše – neuter (naše auto – our car)
Because škola is feminine, you must use naše, not náš.
You need plural forms of škola and být (to be):
- Naše školy jsou blízko parku.
– Our schools are near the park.
Changes:
- škola → školy (feminine nominative plural)
- je → jsou (3rd person plural of být)
- naše stays the same (feminine plural nominative is also naše)
- parku stays in genitive singular, because the preposition-like blízko only cares about the case, not about the number of the subject.
Yes. Blízko can also be used on its own as an adverb:
- Naše škola je blízko.
– Our school is nearby / Our school is close.
In that case, you are not specifying near what, just that it’s close (to the current place being discussed, for example).