Questions & Answers about Tento film není můj oblíbený.
Czech often uses a demonstrative (like tento, tenhle, ten) where English uses just this or sometimes nothing at all.
- Tento film = this film (a bit more formal/literary than tenhle film)
- Ten film = that film (or sometimes just “that movie we were talking about”)
You could say just Film není můj oblíbený, but it sounds incomplete or too abstract in normal conversation. You usually want to point to a specific movie, so you add tento / tenhle / ten.
All three can translate as this / that, but they differ in style and nuance:
- tento – more formal, bookish, or written style
- Tento film – typical in written reviews, articles, school essays
- tenhle – very common in everyday spoken Czech, more colloquial
- Tenhle film – what most people say in casual speech
- ten – neutral that, often referring to something slightly more distant or already known from context
- Ten film, o kterém jsme mluvili – that film we talked about
In everyday speech, Tenhle film není můj oblíbený is probably the most natural version.
The verb být (to be) normally links two parts of the sentence that both stand in the nominative case:
- Tento film – nominative (subject)
- můj oblíbený (film) – nominative (complement / predicate)
In Czech, after je / není you do not switch to accusative like in some other languages; you keep nominative:
- To je film. – That is a film.
- Tento film není můj oblíbený. – This film is not my favorite.
Czech forms negation by adding the prefix ne- to the verb, not by adding a separate word:
- je – is
- není – is not
So:
- Tento film je můj oblíbený. – This film is my favorite.
- Tento film není můj oblíbený. – This film is not my favorite.
You almost never separate ne from the verb in modern standard Czech; it’s written and spoken as a single word.
The possessive pronoun můj / moje must agree with the gender and number of the noun it refers to.
- film is masculine inanimate singular.
- Masculine singular: můj film
- Feminine singular: moje kniha (my book)
- Neuter singular: moje auto (my car)
Because the hidden noun is film (masculine), you must say:
- můj oblíbený (film) – not moje oblíbený.
Moje oblíbený would be grammatically wrong here.
Czech often omits a noun when it is clear from context, especially with to be and adjectives:
- Tento film není můj oblíbený (film).
- Literally: This film is not my favorite (film).
můj oblíbený here is shorthand for můj oblíbený film.
Because film is already mentioned earlier in the sentence, repeating it is optional and can sound a bit heavy.
Both are correct:
- Tento film není můj oblíbený. – very natural
- Tento film není můj oblíbený film. – also correct, slightly more explicit/emphatic
Literally:
- oblíbený – liked, beloved, popular, favored
- nejoblíbenější – the most favorite, the favorite of all (true superlative)
In real usage, oblíbený often functions like English favorite, especially when you add můj:
- můj oblíbený film – my favorite film (one I particularly like)
If you want to be very strict and say “my absolute number one favorite”, you can use:
- můj nejoblíbenější film – my most favorite film
So:
- Tento film není můj oblíbený. – This film is not one of my favorites / not a favorite of mine.
- Tento film není můj nejoblíbenější. – This film is not my absolute top favorite.
Czech word order is flexible, but not every permutation sounds natural.
Some acceptable alternatives, each with slightly different emphasis:
- Tento film není můj oblíbený. – neutral, standard.
- Tento film můj oblíbený není. – stresses není; “This film is not my favorite.”
- Můj oblíbený film to není. – “That’s not my favorite film.” (emphasis on that isn’t it).
Můj oblíbený tento film není is awkward; Czechs would normally avoid that ordering.
They are related but not identical:
Tento film není můj oblíbený.
- Literally: This film is not my favorite.
- Neutral, could mean “I like it, but I have others I like more,” or “It’s okay but not a favorite.”
Tento film se mi nelíbí.
- Literally: This film does not please me.
- More clearly negative: I don’t like this film.
So není můj oblíbený is softer; it doesn’t necessarily mean you dislike it, just that it’s not in your “favorites” category.
Both můj and oblíbený agree with the (implied) noun film:
- film – masculine inanimate singular, nominative
- můj – masculine singular nominative (possessive pronoun)
- oblíbený – masculine singular nominative (adjective)
Typical pattern in nominative singular:
- Masculine: můj oblíbený film
- Feminine: moje oblíbená kniha
- Neuter: moje oblíbené auto
So the -ý / -á / -é endings show gender, and můj / moje changes too.
Approximate pronunciation (using English-friendly hints):
- Tento – TEN-toh (stress on first syllable)
- film – like English film (short i)
- není – NEH-nyí (nění would be [ˈnɛɲiː]; the í is long)
- můj – something like mooy, a diphthong [uj]
- oblíbený – O-blee-beh-nyí (stress on O, long í, long ý at the end)
Full IPA (for precision):
/ˈtɛnto ˈfɪlm ˈnɛɲi ˈmuj ɔˈbliːbɛniː/
Stress in Czech is almost always on the first syllable of each word.
Yes, but there is a nuance:
- Tento film – usually closer, more like English this film, maybe one you’re just talking about or pointing at.
- Ten film – often like that film; can refer to something a bit more distant in space or just previously mentioned in conversation.
In many contexts, the difference is small, and both would be understood. In very casual conversation, Tenhle film není můj oblíbený is probably what you’ll hear most often.
Yes, in a clear context:
- If both speakers know you are talking about a film (e.g., pointing at a poster, talking about last night’s movie), you can simply say:
- To není můj oblíbený. – That’s not my favorite.
Here to (“that/it”) stands in for ten film. Czech frequently uses to like this when the object is obvious from context.