Můj pes je větší než tvoje kočka.

My dog is bigger than your cat.

Breakdown of Můj pes je větší než tvoje kočka.

• být: to be
• můj: my
• pes: the dog
• kočka: the cat
• tvůj: your
• než: than
• větší: bigger

Questions & Answers about Můj pes je větší než tvoje kočka.

Why is it můj pes and not moje pes? What’s the difference between můj and moje?

Czech possessive “my” changes form to agree with the gender, number and case of the noun it modifies.

• můj = my (masculine singular, nominative)
• moje = my (feminine singular or any plural, nominative)
• (there is also a shorter, more formal feminine form má)

Because pes (dog) is masculine animate, in the nominative singular, you must use můj:

• můj pes = my dog
• moje kočka / má kočka = my cat (feminine)
• moje děti = my children (plural)

So moje pes is grammatically wrong; the gender doesn’t match.

Why is it tvoje kočka and not tvůj kočka? What’s the system for tvůj / tvoje / tvá?

Tvůj is the informal singular possessive “your”, and it works like můj:

• tvůj = your (masculine singular, nominative)
• tvoje = your (feminine singular, and any plural, nominative; common, neutral style)
• tvá = your (feminine singular, nominative; more formal/literary)

Since kočka (cat) is feminine, nominative singular, you choose:

• tvoje kočka (normal, everyday Czech)
• or tvá kočka (a bit more formal)

Tvůj kočka is incorrect, because tvůj only matches masculine singular nouns:

• tvůj pes = your dog
• tvůj bratr = your brother

What cases are pes and kočka in, and why don’t they change after než?

Both pes and kočka are in the nominative singular.

• Můj pes = subject of the sentence
• je větší = verb + predicate adjective
• než tvoje kočka = “than your cat”, comparing another (implied) subject

In a full, “un-shortened” version, you could imagine:

• Můj pes je větší, než (je) tvoje kočka.
  = My dog is bigger than your cat (is).

Because tvoje kočka is like the subject of that implied (je), it also stays in the nominative.
Než here acts as a conjunction (“than”), not as a preposition with a special case.

How is větší formed from velký? Why does the stem change?

Větší is the comparative of velký (big).

For most adjectives, the comparative is formed by adding -ější / -ější or -ší, often with some stem changes. Velký is irregular:

• velký (big) → větší (bigger)
• malý (small) → menší (smaller)
• dobrý (good) → lepší (better)
• špatný (bad) → horší (worse)

The vowel change e → ě in velký → větší is just an irregular pattern you have to memorize.
Větší then declines like other adjectives in -í (like lepší), but in the nominative singular the form větší looks the same for masculine, feminine, and neuter.

Does větší agree with pes in gender and number?

Yes. Predicate adjectives in Czech agree with the subject in gender, number, and case.

Here, the subject is pes (masculine animate, singular, nominative), so the adjective is also masculine, singular, nominative. However, for comparatives like větší, the nominative singular form is the same for all three genders, so you don’t see the difference:

• Můj pes je větší. (masc)
• Moje kočka je větší. (fem)
• Moje auto je větší. (neuter)

All use větší on the surface, but grammatically it is agreeing in gender and number each time.

When should I use než and when jako in comparisons?

Basic rule:

• než = than (for inequality, “bigger than”, “smaller than”)
• jako = as / like (for equality, “as big as”)

Examples:

• Můj pes je větší než tvoje kočka.
  = My dog is bigger than your cat.

• Můj pes je tak velký jako tvoje kočka.
  = My dog is as big as your cat.

So with comparatives (větší, menší, lepší, horší etc.), you normally use než.
With expressions of equality (tak … jako, stejně … jako), use jako.

Why is the verb just je? Could I say Můj pes to je větší než tvoje kočka or Můj pes je to větší…?

In this sentence, you just need the simple copula je (= is):

• Můj pes je větší… = My dog is bigger…

The structure je to (“it is”) is used when “it” is the subject, often in sentences like:

• To je můj pes. = That is my dog.
• Je to pes. = It’s a dog.

Here, the subject is clearly Můj pes, so you don’t use to:

• Můj pes je větší než tvoje kočka. ✔
• Můj pes to je větší než tvoje kočka. ✘ (wrong)
• Můj pes je to větší než tvoje kočka. ✘ (wrong)

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say Větší než tvoje kočka je můj pes?

Yes, Czech word order is quite flexible, and Větší než tvoje kočka je můj pes is grammatically correct. The differences are mainly in emphasis and style.

• Můj pes je větší než tvoje kočka.
  – neutral, most natural order; focus is generally on the comparison itself.

• Větší než tvoje kočka je můj pes.
  – sounds more marked/emphatic, like “The one that is bigger than your cat is my dog.”

Other orders, like splitting než from the adjective, are wrong:

• Můj pes je než tvoje kočka větší. ✘ (ungrammatical)

Could I shorten the sentence to avoid repeating kočka or pes?

Yes, Czech often drops repeated nouns when it’s clear from context.

Some natural options:

• Můj pes je větší než tvoje.
  = My dog is bigger than yours.
  (Here tvoje stands for tvoje kočka.)

• Ten můj je větší než ten tvůj.
  = Mine is bigger than yours. (both nouns omitted)

You normally wouldn’t drop pes in the first clause altogether, because then you’d lose the subject:

• Je větší než tvoje kočka.
  = (He/it) is bigger than your cat. (You’d need context to know who/what.)

What’s the difference between tvoje and vaše for “your”?

Both mean “your”, but they differ in politeness and number.

• tvoje = your (informal, singular “you” – talking to one person you know well)
• vaše = your
  
  • formal singular “you” (to one person politely), and
  • also plural “you all”

So:

• Můj pes je větší než tvoje kočka.
  – talking informally to one person.

• Můj pes je větší než vaše kočka.
  – either polite to one person, or talking to several people about their cat.

How do I pronounce the special letters in Můj pes je větší než tvoje kočka?

Key points for these diacritics:

• ú / ů: both are a long u sound.

  • Můj has ů: long u; roughly like “mooy” (with a long oo).

• ě: after a consonant, it palatalizes that consonant a bit and is pronounced like ye.

  • větší ≈ vye-t-shee (the vye part is one syllable).

• š: like English “sh”.

  • Not present in this sentence, but same rule as ž / č below.

• ž: like the sound in English “measure”.

  • než ≈ “nez” with that zh sound.

• č: like English “ch” in “church”.

  • kočka ≈ koch-ka (with a hard ch, not like “koshka”).

• á: long a, held a bit longer than short a.

  • Not in this specific sentence, but common in words like má.

Czech is very phonetic: once you learn what each letter stands for, you can usually read words reliably.