Learn Hardcore Czech: Včera jsme navštívili galerii, která je vedle muzea. - Yesterday we visited a gallery which is next to the museum.

In this sentence, galerii is the direct object of the verb navštívili (we visited what? → the gallery), so it must be in the accusative case.

Declension (simplified, singular only):

Nominative (dictionary form): galerie – the gallery (subject)
Accusative (direct object): galerii – the gallery (object)

So:

Galerie je velká. – The gallery is big. (subject → nominative)
Navštívili jsme galerii. – We visited the gallery. (object → accusative)

Why is it muzea and not muzeum?

Muzea here is the genitive singular of muzeum.

The preposition vedle (next to, beside) always takes the genitive case:

vedle domu – next to the house
vedle školy – next to the school
vedle muzea – next to the museum

For muzeum (neuter):

Nominative: muzeum – the museum (subject)
Genitive: muzea – used after vedle, od, bez, etc.

So we say:

Muzeum je nové. – The museum is new. (nominative)
Galerie je vedle muzea. – The gallery is next to the museum. (genitive after vedle)

How do I know which case to use after navštívili and vedle?

You need to know two separate things:

Verb + object
The verb navštívit (to visit) takes a direct object in the accusative:
- navštívit galerii / muzeum / školu – to visit the gallery / museum / school
So the visited place will be in accusative.
Preposition + noun
Prepositions in Czech are fixed with certain cases. Vedle always takes genitive:
- vedle domu, vedle školy, vedle muzea

There isn’t a general rule you can “derive” from English; you mostly have to learn verb government and preposition–case combinations as vocabulary items:

navštívit + accusative
vedle + genitive

Why do we say navštívili and not navštívit?

Navštívili is the past tense form, while navštívit is the infinitive (“to visit”).

The past tense in Czech is formed like this (for we visited):

auxiliary verb být in 1st person plural: jsme
past participle of navštívit: navštívili (for a group including at least one male, or mixed/unspecified)

So:

(my) jsme navštívili – we visited

You cannot use the infinitive navštívit as a finite verb:

❌ Včera jsme navštívit galerii – incorrect
✅ Včera jsme navštívili galerii – correct

What is the infinitive and aspect of navštívili, and how would the meaning change with navštěvovali?

Infinitive: navštívit
Aspect: perfective

Perfective navštívit describes a single, completed action:

Včera jsme navštívili galerii. – Yesterday we visited the gallery (once, completed).

The related imperfective verb is navštěvovat:

Včera jsme navštěvovali galerii. – Yesterday we were visiting the gallery / we spent time visiting the gallery / we used to visit the gallery (repeatedly or as an ongoing activity).

So:

navštívili → one completed visit, result-focused
navštěvovali → repeated / ongoing visiting, process-focused

Why is the auxiliary jsme in the second position? Can I say Včera navštívili jsme galerii?

Short forms like jsme, jsem, jsi, jste behave as clitics in Czech. They usually stand in second position in the clause, after the first stressed word or phrase.

In your sentence:

Včera (1st element)
jsme (2nd-position clitic)
navštívili (main verb)

So:

✅ Včera jsme navštívili galerii.
❌ Včera navštívili jsme galerii. – sounds wrong / ungrammatical.

With a subject pronoun, it works like this:

✅ My jsme včera navštívili galerii.
(Here my is the first element, jsme stays in 2nd position.)

The exact placement of jsme is quite strict compared with English word order.

Where is the pronoun we? Why don’t we say my jsme navštívili?

Czech is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (like já, ty, my, vy) are usually omitted when the person and number are clear from the verb form.

In jsme navštívili, the form jsme already tells you:

person: 1st
number: plural

So my (we) is not needed:

✅ Včera jsme navštívili galerii. – normal, neutral
✅ My jsme včera navštívili galerii. – also correct, but emphatic (“we (as opposed to someone else) visited the gallery…”)

So the pronoun is optional and mainly used for emphasis or contrast.

Why is there a comma before která?

The part která je vedle muzea is a relative clause (in Czech: vedlejší věta přívlastková), introduced by the relative pronoun která.

In Czech, relative clauses are normally separated by a comma from the main clause, regardless of whether English would use a comma or not.

So:

Včera jsme navštívili galerii, která je vedle muzea.

You would also write a comma in similar sentences:

To je dům, který stojí u řeky.
Znám muže, který tam pracuje.

Why is it která and not který, které, kterou, etc.?

The relative pronoun který must agree in gender and number with the noun it refers to, and its case is determined by its function inside the relative clause.

Here:

Antecedent (the noun it refers to): galerii
- gender: feminine
- number: singular
In the relative clause která je vedle muzea, this pronoun is the subject of je, so it is in nominative case.

Nominative singular forms of který:

masculine animate: který
masculine inanimate: který
feminine: která
neuter: které

Since galerie is feminine, we use která:

galerie, která je vedle muzea – the gallery that is next to the museum
Compare:
- muž, který… (masc.)
- auto, které… (neuter)

Could I drop která je and simply say Včera jsme navštívili galerii vedle muzea?

Yes, that is possible and correct, but the structure changes slightly.

With the relative clause:
- Včera jsme navštívili galerii, která je vedle muzea.
  You explicitly state a full sentence (která je vedle muzea) – which is next to the museum.
Without it, as a prepositional phrase attached to the noun:
- Včera jsme navštívili galerii vedle muzea.
  Here vedle muzea directly modifies galerii: We visited the gallery next to the museum.

The meaning is very similar. The version with která je feels slightly more like adding an extra descriptive sentence; the shorter version is more compact and is very common in everyday speech.

How flexible is the word order? Can I say Navštívili jsme včera galerii, která je vedle muzea or Galerii jsme včera navštívili?

Czech word order is relatively flexible, but not completely free. All of these are grammatical, with different emphasis:

Včera jsme navštívili galerii, která je vedle muzea.
Neutral focus on the action (visiting) and when it happened.
Navštívili jsme včera galerii, která je vedle muzea.
Still fine; slightly more focus on navštívili (the visiting).
Galerii jsme včera navštívili, která je vedle muzea.
The first part (Galerii jsme včera navštívili) is okay; you’d usually say:
Galerii, která je vedle muzea, jsme včera navštívili.
→ emphasis on the gallery next to the museum (contrast: that gallery, not another one).

The key constraints:

Clitics like jsme stay in 2nd position in their clause.
Word order mainly changes information structure (what is new vs. known, what is emphasized), not basic meaning.

Why is there no word for “the” in galerii or muzea? How do we know it’s the gallery?

Czech has no articles (no equivalents of English a/an or the).

Specificity and definiteness are expressed by:

context
word order
sometimes demonstratives like ta, ten, to (“that / this”).

In English, you must choose a gallery vs. the gallery. In Czech, galerii can correspond to either, depending on context:

Včera jsme navštívili galerii.
→ Yesterday we visited a gallery / the gallery (context decides).

In your sentence, English naturally chooses the gallery that is next to the museum, because the relative clause identifies a specific gallery. But Czech doesn’t need an article to show that; the relative clause already makes it clear which gallery is meant.