Tento film není můj oblíbený.

to be

Breakdown of Tento film není můj oblíbený.

• můj: my
• film: the film
• tento: this

Questions & Answers about Tento film není můj oblíbený.

Why is it Tento film and not just Film or Ten film?

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.

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What is the difference between tento, tenhle, and 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.

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Why is film in the form film (nominative) and not something like filmu (a different case)?